Game similar to backgammon
Acey-Deucey of the first quarter of the twentieth century. This colorful Acey-Deucey board was printed on canvas 😄 and incorporates a seahorse, mermaid, compass rose, U.S. Navy Officer Rank Insignias and U.S. Navy Enlisted Rating Badges.
Acey-deucey is a 😄 tables game, a family of board games that includes backgammon. Since World War I, it has been a favorite game 😄 of the United States Navy, Marine Corps, and Merchant Marine.[1] Some evidence shows that it was played in the early 😄 1900s aboard U.S. Navy ships. The game is believed to be rooted in the Middle East, Greece, or Turkey, where 😄 there were variants in which the game started with pieces off the board.[2]
Compared to standard backgammon, acey-deucey is more like 😄 a race than a strategy game.[3] It features a differing starting position, opening play, and rules for the endgame. There 😄 is no doubling cube.[1] Because pieces may be retained in one's opponent's home board, the game offers substantial opportunities for 😄 backgame play.
Other meanings [ edit ]
Gambling [ edit ]
Acey Deucey is a gambling game using playing cards in the same 😄 family as poker.
Horse racing [ edit ]
Acey-deucey is deliberately riding a horse with one stirrup shorter than the other. It 😄 is most often seen in racing in the United States, where a jockey will slightly lengthen the inside stirrup to 😄 gain better balance on turns, all of which are left-handed in America. Some riders believe this helps them.[4]
Initial setup [ 😄 edit ]
The opening position in acey-deucey is with no men on the board.
The equipment needed for Acey-Deucey comprises a tables 😄 board, 15 pieces per player, called men or stones, and two dice. All of both players' men are off the 😄 board when the game begins.[5]
Opening play [ edit ]
Men are entered onto the opponent's inner board – the 'entering table' 😄 or 'starting quarter' as if they were on the bar (known as the 'fence'). Once a man has been entered, 😄 it can be moved even though other men have not yet been entered.[3] One strategy in the game is to 😄 keep one man, called "Oscar", off the board until it is needed for defensive purposes.[6]
Play [ edit ]
Play passes back 😄 and forth, with each player rolling both dice. Players use each die roll to move one man the corresponding number 😄 of points in the direction of march. A player may use both rolls for one man, as long as both 😄 the intermediate point and destination point are not occupied by two or more enemy men. A man may move to 😄 a vacant point or one with men of the same colour. They may also move to a point occupied by 😄 one enemy man and 'kick' the man off the board. The kicked man must be re-entered.
A player who rolls doublets 😄 may move a total of four times, each move traversing as many spaces as the rolled amount (two fives rolled 😄 result in four moves of five points each). After rolling these doublets, the player takes another turn.
If a player rolls 😄 an acey-deucey (= a 1 and a 2, also called an Ace and a Deuce), he plays the 1-and-2; then 😄 they choose any number from 1 to 6 and act as if they had just thrown a doublet of it; 😄 then that player takes another turn.
After the opening, the rules of play are as follows:
After rolling and playing doubles or 😄 acey-deucey, the player must roll and move again. A roll of acey-deucey counts as a 1-2, and as doubles of 😄 the player's choice. Upon reaching one's own home board, also called the 'finishing quarter', a man may not be moved 😄 again until all the rest have arrived. An exact roll is required to bear off. A player can move men 😄 even if he has men on the fence.
Terminology [ edit ]
Playing acey-deucy on the USS Arkansas (BB-33)
The initial rolling of 😄 one die is called the peewee or piddle. The bar is the fence, and a single man is kicked rather 😄 than hit. The opponent's inner table is called the entering table or starting quarter, and one's own inner table is 😄 the finishing quarter.[5]
Variants [ edit ]
Variants of the above rules exist that make the game more restrictive:[citation needed]
Upon rolling acey-deucey, 😄 the player does not choose doublets for their next move. Instead, they roll one die and use that number for 😄 the doublet choice. If a player rolls acey-deucey but is unable to utilize both the 1 and 2 (most likely 😄 because he is blocked), their turn ends. They do not get a doublet, and they do not get another roll. 😄 If a player rolls doublets but is unable to utilize all 4 moves (most likely because they are blocked), their 😄 turn ends. They do not get another roll. This rule also holds for doublets following an acey-deucey. Men may be 😄 freely moved inside one's home (bear-off) area until all other men have arrived. This is the opposite from the description 😄 above. Once all men have arrived in the player's home area, they may not move any more. Players may only 😄 bear off men that exactly match the die roll. For instance, if the 6 and 5 points are open and 😄 the player rolls a 6-5, they may not use that roll to bear off a man from the 4-point. Men 😄 may be only moved from the fence upon rolling doublets. The ability to take extra rolls for doublets and acey-deucey 😄 during bearing off have the same rules stated above. If a player rolls an acey-deucey but cannot bear a man 😄 off from both the 1-point and the 2-point, that player is not entitled to a roll for doublets or another 😄 turn. If a player rolls a 6-6 and only has three men on the 6-point to bear off, that player 😄 may not take another turn (although he or she can bear off the three men from that point). At the 😄 beginning of the game, no man may be put into play unless a doublet is rolled. In other words, a 😄 player may not enter a man without first rolling a doublet. After the initial doublet, any man may be entered 😄 as desired.
