Acey-Deucey Rules

Blitz · Joined: 14 Jun 2007 Posts: 18

Every time I play Acey-Deucey against a particular friend of mine I have the sneaking suspicion that he is changing the rules around me so he can win. Can anyone tell me the real rules for Acey-Deucey so my friend can’t continue cheating like this? I know the rules to regular backgammon, but Acey-Deucey is quite new to me.

Shaker · Joined: 14 Jun 2007 Posts: 20

Sure! Acey-Deucey is one of my favorite backgammon games… I’ll give the rules as detailed as possible so no one can change them on you in the future!

The object of the game of Acey-Deucey is to be the first player to move all of your checkers around to your home board and then to bear them off. The major difference between this game and regular backgammon is that both players begin with all of their checkers off the board and enter into their opponent’s home board.

To begin the game, both players roll to see who goes first. The player that rolls the higher number re-rolls both dice to start the game. Players may enter checkers to valid points in their opponent’s home board. If you roll a 5-2 then you place one checker on the 5-point and one on the 2-point. After your first turn you may use your following rolls to move more checkers onto the board and/or to move the checkers forward that are already on the board. There are no rules stating anything like you have to enter all of your checkers before you can move forwards, as there are in some backgammon variations.

Most of the rules that apply to moving your checkers around the board are the same as regular backgammon—you may not land on a point with two or more opposing checkers; if you land on a point with an opposing blot you send it back to the bar where your opponent must roll to re-enter the checker before moving any other checkers; when you roll a double it is played twice; dice rolls count as two separate moves—you may move two checkers or just one, provided the half-way move is to an open point.

A big difference between the games however, which gives Acey-Deucey its name, is the “Acey-Deucey” roll. When you roll 1-2 (Acey-Deucey) a few things happen. First, you play the 1-2 normally. Following that, you can call out any double roll that you want and play the double. Then you roll the dice again and play this roll as well. If you roll 1-2 again then the process begins again! Acey-Deucey is my favorite part of the game—once I got three in a row!

If you can’t use a part of your Acey-Deucey roll then you have to stop there and must forfeit the rest of your play, so in order for you to be able to call out a double you must be able to play both the 1 and 2.

Finally, scoring is based on something much different than gammons and backgammons. In Acey-Deucey you win one point for each checker that your opponent has not yet borne off when you win.

Hope this helps!