Ace Deuce Rules
Ace Deuce is our family version of backgammon. Each player races 15 checkers around the board, can bump exposed opposing checkers, and wins by bringing all 15 checkers back home first.
1. Setup and goal
- Each player has 15 checkers.
- All 15 checkers begin in that player's Starting Home.
- The goal is to enter every checker, move them around the board, collect them in your final six spaces, and then bring all 15 back home.
- The first player to bring all 15 checkers home wins.
2. Getting your checkers out of Starting Home
At the beginning of the game, your rolls place checkers onto the board. For example, if you roll a 6 and a 2, place one checker on your 6-space and one checker on your 2-space.
No checker already on the board may move forward until all 15 of your checkers have left Starting Home.Until then, every available move is used to enter another checker.
3. Normal rolls
On a normal roll, use each die once. A roll of 6 and 2 gives one 6-space move and one 2-space move. Normal rolls may be played in either order, as long as the moves are legal.
4. Doubles
Doubles are stronger than standard backgammon doubles. When doubles are rolled, you receive four moves of the rolled number followed by four moves of the number on the opposite side of the die.
| Roll | Required order |
|---|---|
| Double 6 | four 6s, then four 1s |
| Double 5 | four 5s, then four 2s |
| Double 4 | four 4s, then four 3s |
| Double 3 | four 3s, then four 4s |
| Double 2 | four 2s, then four 5s |
| Double 1 | four 1s, then four 6s |
The order is mandatory. If you roll double 6s, all available 6-space moves must be completed before any 1-space move can be used. The same rule applies to every set of doubles. A checker may be used more than once; the four moves do not have to use four different checkers.
5. Ace Deuce — rolling 1 and 2
A roll of 1 and 2 is Ace Deuce. First you must use the Ace (1), then the Deuce (2). After both have been handled, choose any set of doubles from 1 through 6.
Your chosen doubles use the full doubles rule. For example, if you choose double 5s, you must make four 5-space moves first, followed byfour 2-space moves. You cannot mix the order.
6. Blocking, hitting, and the Bump
- A space containing two or more opposing checkers is blocked and cannot be landed on.
- If a space contains exactly one opposing checker, you may land there, hit that checker, and send it to the Bump.
- A checker on the Bump must re-enter on its own side and then travel around the board again.
- While you have any checker on the Bump, you may not move any other checker.
- You may leave the Bump only by rolling doubles or Ace Deuce. A normal non-double roll cannot release a bumped checker.
Re-entering consumes the move used. Example: with two checkers on the Bump, double 6s puts two bumped checkers onto your 6-space using two of the four 6s. You then have two more 6-space moves, followed by all four 1-space moves.
7. The final six spaces
When one of your checkers reaches your final six spaces, it stays on the exact space where it lands. You may not voluntarily move it farther while you are still bringing the rest of your checkers around the board.
Final-six checkers are not automatically safe. If you leave only one checker on a final-six space, your opponent may still hit it. A hit checker goes to the Bump and must re-enter and travel around the board again.
8. Bringing checkers home
Once all of your remaining checkers are in your final six spaces, you may begin removing them from the board and placing them back in Home Again. You need the exact die number for the space occupied by the checker.
| Final board point | Die needed to bring it home |
|---|---|
| Point 19 | Roll a 6 |
| Point 20 | Roll a 5 |
| Point 21 | Roll a 4 |
| Point 22 | Roll a 3 |
| Point 23 | Roll a 2 |
| Point 24 | Roll a 1 |
The first player to move all 15 checkers into Home Again wins the game.
Required-move rule
During ordered special rolls, you must use the required number before moving to the next number in the sequence. If none of the remaining moves of that required number are legally possible, those unusable moves are forfeited and play advances to the next required number.