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Wacky backgammon board

Posted By: Casper van der Tak
Date: Thursday, 3 February 2011, at 7:09 a.m.

In Response To: Wacky backgammon board (Leonardo Jerkovic)

We played the game in China in public and did not end up in prison... But there is a difference between playing on a small scale (or against yourself) and in an organized format. Definitely, you need to be aware that the game is considered gambling and thus formally forbidden. And the rule against gambling is general (unless I am mistaken it is one of the 'old vices' along with drugs that is considered to have held China down in pre-communist times)

Incidentally, what people consider gambling differs from country to country. At one point, my friends and I were forbidden to play international checkers in France, because it was gambling, which surprised us (there is no random element in the game, and we were not playing for money or anything of value).

China does have many rules and laws that it does not apply, or does not apply consistently. Mahjong, for all I know, is played for money and has a big chance element in it (drawing of tiles = type of playing cards), yet trying to do anything against that would trigger a revolution in South China. Thus you can hear the clatter of Mahjong tiles from Chengdu to Guangzhou. I am not sure it is legal, but in practice it is allowed.

Bridge I believe is formally legal (Deng Xiaoping liked the game). But trying to popularize a new game with a chance element in it, and lots of references to gambling and playing for money on websites would be tricky. You won't end up in prison, Chinese police would give out warnings first and I'd expect the police to be fairly relaxed (they usually are and have a sense of humor), but in the end, they will close it down.

If you want to make it an organized sport, the way to go is to become part of China Qiyuan, the Chinese mindsports federation. That would make it legal. But it would be an uphill battle because you'd need to have an international infrastructure in place.

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