Acey-deucey

Acey-deucey is a table game, one of a family of board games that includes backgammon. Since the First World War it has been a favorite game of the United States Navy, Marine Corps and Merchant Marine, and some evidence shows it was played aboard US Navy ships in the early 1900s. The game is believed to be rooted in the Middle East, Greece or Turkey, where there were variants that began with pieces off the board. Compared with standard backgammon it plays more like a race than a strategy game, with a different starting position, opening play and endgame rules, and it has no doubling cube. Because pieces may be kept in the opponent's home board, it offers substantial opportunities for backgame play.