My First Backgammon Club: Where Skill Meets Wit and Laughter is the Ultimate Prize 

Thanks so much! That means a lot to hear! 😀 I couldn't agree more. I heard the analogy of it being a good teacher for life pretty early on and I thought that was an incredible way to look at it, and it couldn't be more true. Certainly something I want to teach my son when he's old enough to play. Thanks for watching and cheers!

I totally agree! It was quite the departure but so much fun. I said in one of my first videos that Backgammon is fun even when losing. There’s definitely the competitive side of me that wants to win, but that statement still held true at the club. It was just awesome being around so many likeminded and kind people. I can see how much there is to learn yet (a lifetime worth of learning) and that’s really exciting to me! One building block at a time! Thank you for the kind words and thanks for watching! 😃

Hi Jeff! Thanks for the comment and the kind words! I'm glad you're enjoying the videos. 😀 They're a lot of fun to make and I'm loving the game. My channel is still pretty new. I've been coming across a lot of really kind, helpful and overall great people in the community though, which has been phenomenal! I appreciate you sharing the video, that means a lot! Best of luck to you in your games as well! Cheers! 😀

Hi Keene! Thanks so much for the warm welcome! It was honestly such a joy. We can't wait to head back. Hopefully sooner rather than later! 😀 Thanks for watching!

Hi Jordan! Thanks so much! 😀 It's a great game. I stumbled upon it during COVID too when my wife and I were looking for fun two player games, haha. I'd love to! I was just checking out your channel. My first endeavor into RU-vid was a pipe channel, haha. I haven't enjoyed a pipe much since my wife and I had a little guy, but I've got a whole bunch of pipe tobacco cellaring. Thanks for watching and cheers! 😀

Hi Dem! Crisloid is great! What’s your favorite board of there’s? Glad you’re enjoying the channel and thank you for the kind words! 😃 Nick plays a much larger part in my most recent video on XG if you haven’t seen that. Thanks for watching and cheers to you as well! 😃

Thanks! I’ll just be spectating and running around doing video for Cherry Blossom, but I’m really excited for it. I am planning on playing in the Chicago Open though! Cool stuff for sure! 😃

Hi Grant! Thank you! I'm glad it came across well. Thanks for watching and cheers! 😀

Hi Jamie! It sure is a great game, isn't it? Welcome to the community! 😃 I definitely get a lot of games in on my phone whenever I have any down time or need a little break. Having friends and family over to play or teach them the game is just such a FUN time. I'm so glad the play throughs have been helpful to you! They sure are a lot of fun to make. Thanks for watching and cheers! 😀

Hi eddie! Time will tell, haha. I sure am having fun on the journey of learning though that's for sure! 😀 Thanks for watching!

Hi Chris! I've thought about that! I haven't pulled the trigger yet, but it's certainly a potential. I'm itching to get back to Madison again though once schedules line up in the mean time. That was such a FUN night! I can definitely see how that would be incredibly frustrating. I wonder how to up the engagement.... Yeah the Queens Gambit really ramped up chess. I have to admit I went out and bought a board after having not played for many years as well. A backgammon show would be SOO cool. Perhaps in time... Until then we'll just keep going. I share the game with anyone who is willing to learn, haha. Also, I just recorded a playthrough yesterday and you'll be happy to know we used the doubling cube 😉 Hoping to have that out later this week. Sorry for the long comment! Cheers! 😀

Hi Héctor! I've been trying to teach as many friends and family members who were willing to learn. I now have a few who I play with regularly, so that was helpful. 😀 But you're right, it sure is a beautiful game! Thanks for watching and cheers!

@@blunderblots Hi friend. Yes it is, it is a beautiful game. I teach my wife and mi sister to play and my sister loves it, my wife i have to beg a lot to play with me jaja, so, when i finally play with her it is only 3 games and i don`t taste much playing like that because as we know, this game is played with matches of minimum 5 points, so practically i never used the doubling cube. With my sister we play a lot Crazy Narde and Acey Deucey but she don`t think well the plays so i almost always win jaja. That`s why i wish someone were good to play to sometimes win and lose jeje. Cheers friend and happy friday, hope you play a lot backgammon tonight with your friends, family and have a great time.

@@hectorrangel1580 Hello! 👋 That’s great that you have them to play with! I play without the cube with most of my friends and family as well. My wife and I have been using the cube a lot more now though. I haven’t played the Acey Deucey or Crazy Narde variants of the game. I looked them up though and they look interesting! Are there any clubs anywhere near you? My closest one is a little over an hour and a half away, so it’s definitely a hike to get there. The same to you! Have a great Friday and I hope you get some fun backgammon in as well. Cheers! 😁

@@blunderblots Thank you very much. Yesterday after i saw this video immediately search a backgammon club in my city but no, no luck. you and your wife try to play Acey Deucey European version, it is a lot of fun and it is a more luck game. Crazy Narde it is too very interesting game, when i play alone i play more Acey Deucey than backgammon, i recomended so muh, try it with caution because it is addictive jaajaja just kidding. Cheers with a beer friend.

@@hectorrangel1580 Bummer! Perhaps with time one will pop up and/or hopefully you’ll find more backgammon players in your area. 😃👍🏻 We will have to give them a try! I’ve definitely seen Crazy Narde before but haven’t played either. I hear you though. Most things with backgammon are very addicting haha! 😃

Hi Marc! I'm glad you enjoyed it! Backgammon Galaxy's RU-vid channel and your book From Basics to Badass were some of the first things I jumped into when starting the game. They're both extremely helpful and I thank you for that. 😀 I just started reading Cube Like A Boss and I'm excited to get into that more as well! Thanks for watching and cheers! 😀

I’m so glad I did! I’m already itching to get to the next one! I would definitely agree I’m in deep now! 😅 And thank you for the kind words! I really have been having so much fun making these. I have a huge list of more videos to make! Just have to keep chipping away at them 😂 How’s that Crisloid board been treating you? Enjoying playing on it? Thanks as always for watching! 😃

Hello! Thank you so much for the kind words! It really means a lot. 😃 It sure has been a fun journey so far. I'm finding there's always something new to learn (which I love) and I know I'll be saying the same thing at 25 years. I'm glad to have you here and thanks for watching! Cheers! 😀

Hello! Oh, that's awesome! Yeah, Madison is a great club. I really enjoyed my time there as well. If only it was a little closer to me. Great to drop into like you said though. Definitely start one up if time permits! I met someone from my area at the Madison tournament and she started up a weekly club which has been just awesome. Cheers!

Thanks Grizzly! We've been playing for roughly the same amount of time then. Maybe we can play against each other at some point! 😀 My wife and I have so much fun playing together. It's a great way to end a lot of nights. I don't know if you've been using the cube, but that was a great way to "go to the next level" in our games. I'd definitely encourage you both to check out your local club. My wife joined for this one too and it makes it easier having someone there with you. At least it did for me. So fun! Hey! That's a great idea! I wrote it down and I'll see what I can come up with. Thanks for watching and cheers! 😀

Hi Joe! Thanks so much! That means a lot. 😀 Backgammon, especially with good people, is such a blast. I'm glad the videos have been helpful for you. You never know! Maybe we will see each other at a tournament. They're a lot of fun and I definitely recommend them. Cheers! 😀

Hello! That’s so cool to hear! It was certainly a lot of fun and I’m really looking forward to getting back there that’s for sure! Keene definitely does an excellent job! Thanks for watching! Cheers! 😃

Thanks Nick, that means a lot! It was such a pleasure and a great learning experience. Virginia is going to be awesome and we can't wait! 😃

The veteran showing the ropes to the rookie. I hope, somewhere in the future, you two can find a topic to do a colab video on. You two are great ambassadors for the game 🎉

@@Somedutcher stay tuned for my next video on XG 😉 Nick will be making an appearance there 😃

Hey Jason! Thanks! This one was really cool. Definitely had a blast and the people were indeed great! 😀 I'd love to head down there! It'd be great to make this into a series with visiting different clubs all over. Perhaps sometime this summer! 😀 Yes! Chicago is going to be great! Can't wait! Cheers!

The invitation is always open Jason! Hey, I also play on DailyGammon. My name on their is SpentGrain. If you find yourself on there, send me a match invite. It's slower paced (more like BG by mail lol) but it gets you looking at several positions a day and making decisions. Good place to practice counting the race too.

Hey Curtis! Hah, indeed you are 👋 Thanks for watching and cheers! 😀

Hi Thamios! Wisconsin, you are correct! The club was held at a German influenced restaurant/bar. I really enjoyed the atmosphere there and the smells coming from the kitchen were excellent! 😃 I'm definitely looking forward to going back. Thanks for watching! 😀

I definitely haven't played on one. As far as seeing one in the wild, I'm not sure. I've seen similar boards in passing, but a lot of times I'm not able to see or ask who the maker is. Those are some really beautiful boards though! Cheers!

Hi David! See you there! Flag me down, as I love meeting new people in the community! 😀

Hi Chad! Great question! I love my Crisloid board, but of the other boards at the club, the Earth board was a real joy to play on! I had never played on an FMGammon board before that and it was definitely an enjoyable experience! 😃 I also played on an FTH which was really cool! Thanks for watching!

@@blunderblots I saw a Taki board in the video too. I have heard they are a nice board too

@@cjfetters that was the board with the blue and white checkers, right? That one was a real beauty, but I didn’t get to play on it sadly.

I don’t, but I’m trying to find out! I’ll report back if I find anything! 😃

Just heard back. It's a Wycliffe Brothers board. Not sure what year it was made because I haven't seen another red one like it. It was a pleasure to play on though. Cheers! 😁

Hi Neil! Mary was great! We had a great conversation after about gameplay in general. I knew it was close, but what can you do. I'm hoping to bring a lot more cube decisions to my upcoming videos. I'm so terrible at it, haha, but it's such a FUN part of the game. I"m excited to get input from everyone on the decisions as well because I know I'll be making plenty of blunders with the cube. Practice makes perfect. 👍 Thanks for watching and cheers! 😃

@@blunderblots Prime vs prime cube decisions are some of the hardest to assess. For a beginner, a good rule of thumb is that most pvp doubles are takes. Be patient with learning how to use the doubling cube ... it takes a lot of experience and learning through analysis to become reasonably good. Initially, focus on d/nd and t/p decisions at normal scores, in as many position types as you can. Notice how things change if you have an anchor vs no anchor, a checker on the bar, many spares vs no spares, volatility vs no volatility, etc, etc. Play around with position types to learn what features are important when making your assessment. Develop an understanding for what is a gammonish position and how this affects doubling. Practise estimating your winning chances in a position, and you and your opponent's gammon chances. This will make it easier when you need to adjust for match score. Once you're better at money cubes, then you can learn the match score adjustments (I noticed a pile of Nick's book in your video). There's so many fun things in bg to learn and continually improve on, it'll last you a lifetime, and remember, even the best players sometimes make big cubing blunders. Bg's not easy, but that's what makes it addictive.

@@neilwaldock6272 This is all incredibly helpful, Neil! I really appreciate you writing all of this up. Any insight into the cube is helpful! I'm hoping to start recording more matches with the cube and running it through XG to really figure out the cube positions. Referencing a lot of your points here will be really helpful to guide me along the way! 😀 Yes! I've been trying to read as much as possible. I've been really eager a lot of times and I think I read a bit too much sometimes, haha. I need to slow down and focus a bit more. You're so right though. BG isn't easy, but it definitely is addictive. The more I learn the more I'm loving it too. Great game! Thanks again! 😃

@@blunderblots My main advice would be to analyse, analyse, analyse. Analyse more than you play. XG can tell you what the correct bot play is (remember, this may vary when playing a mortal human), but it doesn't tell you why. I feel that knowing why is the most important thing in getting better in bg. Why do you do one play and not another? XG will guide you but you have to delve beneath that and work out why for yourself. Of course, there's lots of help along the way from youTube channels and commentaries (highly recommend watching XG annotated commentaries, one of the quickest ways to pick up practical pointers) and books (for doubling, read Cube Like A Boss first ... you're not ready for Nick's book yet. BG bookcamp is great too for cube action, and has good chapters on back games). Happy to help with my limited knowledge, any time.

@@neilwaldock6272 Thanks again Neil! This really is all incredibly helpful! Cube like a boss has been on my to buy list for a while. I just ordered it so I’ll be working through that. I think your points on analyzing really is the key though. I’ve mostly been playing a lot, but the deeper I’ve been getting with Backgammon the more I’m hearing that same sentiment. Digging into positions and understanding the why. It’s really exciting stuff! Do you attend tournaments? Maybe I’ll see you at one. I’ll be at Cherry Blossom (spectating and making videos) and also the Chicago Open (playing in the novice division). Hopefully I can get to more too. 😃

I had to use Google translate. Are you asking what application I used to edit my videos? 😃

@@blunderblots to play on your phone ! I had to use a translator

@@NavotnaStoechka The phone app is eXtreme Gammon 😃

@@NavotnaStoechka XG Mobile is the name for eXtreme Gammon on smartphone

Hi Robert! “Anyone can win against anyone.” I love it! I agree as well. Not being brutalized as a beginner really is a great part of the game, and the fact you can teach it so quickly too. Great game! I’m glad you stumbled on my channel. Great to have you here! Honolulu is on my must see list! Not sure when I’ll get there, but I’ll definitely let you know when I do! Thanks for watching and cheers! 😃