Understanding Backgammon Game Equity

admin · Site Admin Joined: 15 May 2007 Posts: 862

There are several terms that are used in the game of backgammon that player should familiarize themselves with in order to understand their positions and those of their opponents. One such concept is the backgammon game equity. Essentially, the backgammon game equity means the value of your game, ie. how much it is worth. Obviously, you cannot 'buy' a backgammon game, but you can value it to see what it’s worth (by using a mathematical equation) and compare your game equity to your player's.

So how does the backgammon game equity work? Let us take the example of a game where your chances of winning a single point are 75%. In addition, your chances of winning a gammon are 10% and your chances of losing are a further 15%. The mathematical equation to evaluate your backgammon game equity will thus be as follows: .75 + .10 *2 - 15, or .80. Your game is thus worth .80 to the dollar and this is considered the equity of your game.

There is another type of equity - different to backgammon game equity - called match equity. This essentially describes your relative position in an overall backgammon match for any number of points. The difference between match equity and game equity is that the latter represents your overall relative position with one single game. In a nutshell, therefore backgammon game equity is the proportion of the game's stake that you'd be willing for your opponent to pay if the game was suddenly halted at that moment.