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BGonline.org Forums
Is gamesmanship always a bad thing?
Posted By: Rich Munitz
Date: Thursday, 4 March 2010, at 5:27 p.m.
I actually find the differences between backgammon and poker interesting in this regard. In poker it is part of the game to do or say things to elicit responses from your opponent in an attempt to gain information and it is considered a skill to mask or produce misleading reactions when your opponent does this. The banter and these probing exchanges is one of the things that makes poker interesting and fun to watch. In backgammon, such antics can be considered poor sportsmanship and we have rules in place like "capricious cube handling" to protect players from such behavior.
Ultimately, the rules need to be clear and we all need to know what is and is not acceptable.
But it is good to have an open mind and I can't help but wonder if permitting additional psychological gamesmanship in Backgammon (like being able to intentionally touch a cube to get a reaction) could actually be a good thing for the game? Anything that helps to make backgammon a game between interacting people rather than number crunching robots could have greater appeal to the general public.
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