Offering and Refusing Doubles – The Basics

So you play backgammon and have always wondered what that large cube with the multiples of "2" is all about. The "doubling cube" is used when backgammon games are played for cash, and it has an interesting strategic use in the game of backgammon.

Each money game of backgammon is played for a "stake" per point, and each game starts at one point. Say, you and a pal are playing $1 a point and you win the game - he owes you a dollar. But let's say he is winning and offers a double - if you accept, the stake is now doubled, and the winner will take $2 off the loser. You can always refuse the offer, but that will forfeit the game, and you automatically owe your pal $1.

Let's say you accept the double and the game goes on. You now have possession of the cube, which is set to "2" - and that means you are the only one who can offer a new double. If you do, your opponent must accept and play the game for $4, or concede and pay you $2. There is no limit to the number of "redoubles", or times you double the game after the first double, unless there is a house rule.

If you've ever noticed how high the number goes on a doubling cube, then you can imagine how expensive a really competitive game of backgammon can become.

Playing for Stakes in Backgammon – The Twists

When playing backgammon for stakes, the doubling cube comes into play. Through the use of the doubling cube a game that starts off at $1 can skyrocket if both players are gutsy, but there are a few twists to the way the stakes are paid out that the serious backgammon player should understand.

After the game ends the losing player pays the value shown on the doubling cube (the number times they agreed upon stake.) This applies as long as the player managed to bear off at least one checker. If the loser has not, then he is in trouble.

If the losing player was gammoned, then the winner got all his or her checkers out and the loser got zero, and now must pay twice the value of the doubling cube. So a $1 game that got up to a $24 game is now a $48 dollar game. But can it get worse? Indeed.

If a player loses with zero pieces born off into their home area and either has a checker on the bar in the middle or a checker in the winner's home board, he is "backgammoned." This is bad, not only in terms of play but in terms of pocketbook, as the loser must pay three times the value of the doubling cube, or $72 in the above example. New players who run the risk of being backgammonned or gammoned at all might be better off refusing the double the first time offered.

Backgammon Home Rules - Automatic Doubles

When playing backgammon there are the rules, and the regular rules should be understood with at least some degree of proficiency when sitting down to play, especially if stakes are on the line. When backgammon players play for cash, then they are serious about their game, and you should be too. The next part of the rules you should know are the Home Rules - those tricky things that can get you in trouble if you are not careful, such as the Automatic Doubling Rule.

With the Automatic Doubling Rule you could end up paying more for a game than you bargained for. In a normal doubling situation, one player offers a double and the other player has the chance of refusing and paying out one point worth of stake. With this home brewed rule you don't get a choice in the matter.

The Automatic Doubling Rule states that if, on the very first roll of the game, doubles are thrown on the dice than the game is automatically doubled in stakes. The doubling cube is turned to 2 and stays in the middle, waiting for some one with the nerve to offer a double to 4. Typically this is reserved to one Auto Double per game, else a second roll of doubles could prove very costly, indeed.

Backgammon Beavers

While "backgammon beavers" might sound like the mascots for an after school club, the term actually comes from a home game rule that is very popular in the backgammon community, the auto-redouble that gives the person accepting a double a bit of strategic advantage, and is called a "beaver."

In the normal course of a backgammon game that is played for stakes, a player can offer a double to his opponent, essentially asking if he would like to play for double the stakes - if the opponent accepts, he gets possession of the cube. The new cube holder may then re-double, making the same offer and giving up the cube if accepted - unless he first uses the beaver rule.

When a player beavers, he not only accepts the double but automatically redoubles. If the other player accepts he does NOT get the cube-the beaver player keeps it. The other player can always refuse the beaver, paying out the freshly doubled stakes that he himself offered the beaver player.

One can just imagine the strategy employed here - it is similar to coming "over the top" of a player in a hand of poker. One player raises the pot a sizable sum, basically saying "I have a hand that can beat yours" and then another player raises him right back, saying "I don't believe you - prove it." The beaver is the same thing - one player offers a double, knowing if the other player refuses he has to forfeit - but then the other player beavers on him, saying "Now you have to prove you can play the game you say you can play."

Run the Race

Backgammon, at its heart, is a race. You and your opponent are trying to move your checkers off the board before each other in order to win the game, the points, and eventually, the match. Your first priority, then, should be moving all your checkers off the board as soon as possible.

Backgammon also gives you the ability to remove your opponent's checkers and force them to reenter, and here is where a lot of inexperienced players make their first mistake. The temptation to slow down your opponent may lead you to make poor moves that don't serve to move your checkers forward, and in the long run, serve to set you back.

One big mistake beginners often make is risking their own checkers to upset their opponent's moves. The chances are that this will end up with your opponent simply removing your offending checker in his next turn. In addition, a beginner may focus on harassing the opponent's checkers within the beginning player's home, instead of moving his checkers out of his opponent's home. Doing this, you'll end up with a lot of checkers building up at high positions, and your opponent will have sent most of his home.

Backgammon is essentially a race, and it is in your best interests to keep this as your first priority.