[pzhon]

[ QUOTE ]
I don't understand where the math is in backgammon? Isn't it just rolling the dice and moving your pieces?

[/ QUOTE ]
Backgammon involves skill and chance, just like poker. The main difference is that poker involves hidden information, but there is still a lot of depth to games with no hidden information.

Because of the doubling cube, modern backgammon players are used to judging objective probabilities in complicated situations. The idea of pot odds arises in match play, too. It is easier for decent backgammon players to ignore bad beats, to accept the idea that the right play may be punished by the dice. Players concentrate on making the right plays. Players believe there are right plays.

In poker, many people think the game is mostly psychology. Some don't believe there are correct plays, or that you can quantify the strength of a strategy. They ignore that there is a real game to learn. In addition to psychology, it is important to evaluate hands accurately, to interpret betting patterns, and to figure out the best way to make use of the possible actions.

Good habits of backgammon players carry over to poker.