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Backgammon - Is it Legal? |
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Recently, a U.S. court was
asked to decide whether backgammon is a game of skill or a game of
chance. The ruling will affect backgammon players and promoters
throughout the country. It all started early in 1981, when police in Portland, Oregon, arrested Ted Barr , a well-known backgammon writer and tournament director, just before the finals of his Portland Marriot Open. Barr was accused of promoting gambling, since the tournament offered cash prizes and charged an entry fee. Oregon statutes define gambling as risking something of value upon the outcome of a contest of chance. Similar laws are also in effect in New York and several other states. Barr decided to take a chance and fight the charge, hoping the court would follow the Alabama Supreme Court's 1976 ruling, which considered backgammon a game of skill, similar to chess or bridge. For his defense, Barr enlisted the help of several experts, such as former World Backgammon Champion Paul Magriel, the game's most articulate proponent. The issue hinged on the effect of the dice on the game. During his two hour expert testimony early this year, Magriel told a packed courthouse that, "Even after rolling, you may have as many as 30 or more options. The decision where to move your men after the dice have been cast - that is the essence of the game. Chance is not a material factor." The court agreed. Judge Stephen S. Walker concluded that backgammon is a game of skill, not a game of chance, and found Barr innocent of promoting gambling.
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