Mar 10, 2018 Paul Magriel, a former youth chess champion who traded game boards to become known as the world’s best backgammon player, then turned to poker as his passion for gambling grew, died Monday at. Paul Magriel aka X-22 was the father of modern backgammon theory and his ideas and concepts were revolutionary at the time of the publication of this book. Even if what you will find in this book has been developed by countless others, it is always better to build your backgammon culture from the masterpiece. Paul Magriel, a former youth chess champion who traded game boards to become known as the world’s best backgammon player, then turned. Results 1 – 30 of Backgammon by Paul Magriel and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at.

Backgammon legend Paul 'X-22' Magriel, who moonlighted as a fairly accomplished poker player, died yesterday at age 71.

Backgammon himself, Paul Magriel, known universally as X Renee Magriel Roberts, Ph. Magriel was the son of Paul David Magriel, Sr. Adam rated it it was amazing Dec 12, Magriel first came to prominence on the backgammon circuit when he won the World Backgammon Championship in I do not baxkgammon to put wrong ideas into beginners’ heads. Paul Magriel, Backgammon World Champion and New York Times backgammon columnist, is acknowledged to be the game's greatest theoretician. Magriel attended Exeter, was a National Science Foundation Fellow at Princeton University, and a Professor of Mathematics.

The news first hit the poker world via a TwoPlusTwo post this morning from Bill Robertie, Magriel's fellow backgammon author and world champion.

'I'm sad to have to report that Paul Magriel passed away yesterday,' Robertie wrote. 'He was found dead in his apartment by his assistant who was helping him work on a new book. No other details are immediately available.'

Backgammon aficionado Erik Seidel offered his thoughts via Twitter.

'He changed the game with his book, was a generous and enthusiastic teacher,' Seidel wrote. 'He changed my life and the lives of many others.'

Magriel's Gaming Career

A math whiz, Magriel first rose to gaming prominence as a junior chess champion before conquering backgammon. With Renee Magriel Roberts he co-wrote Backgammon and An Introduction to Backgammon: A Step-By-Step Guide, both books widely considered essentials in the library of any backgammon player. Magriel also won the World Backgammon Championship in 1978.

It was through backgammon that Magriel picked up his famous nickname, 'X-22.' In a feature article in The New Yorker, Magriel explained:

'I used to play backgammon against myself and once I had a private tournament with 64 imaginary entrants, whom I designated X-l, X-2, and so forth, through X-64,' he said. 'In the final, X-22 was pitted against X-34, and X-22 won.'

Magriel eventually tackled poker. He would never reach the heights climbed by fellow backgammon convert Seidel, but Magriel did rack up more than $500,000 in live tournament scores, winning about a dozen small- to mid-stakes tournaments in hold'em and pot-limit Omaha and making a memorable run to a final table during the first season of the World Poker Tour. Just last year at the World Series of Poker, Magriel notched what would be his final score with a 304th-place finish in Event #60: $888 Crazy Eights.

Perhaps most notably in the poker world, Magriel helped delineate the concept of measuring one's stack against blinds and antes, as outlined in Dan Harrington and Robertie's 2005 book Harrington on Hold’em, Volume II: The Endgame. Magriel dubbed the number of rotations a player could survive without voluntarily entering a pot — stack divided by total blinds and antes in play — his or her 'M.'

'The idea of M had been floating around the poker world for a long time, but players didn't have a simple name for it until Paul Magriel started calling it 'M,' which sounded right to everyone and the name has stuck,' Harrington and Robertie explained.

The authors went on to call Magriel 'a fine player and thinker whose advice is prized by many of today's top names.'

Magriel was also known for his lively antics at the table, which earned him some TV time on WSOP broadcasts after the poker boom. His trademark phrase was 'quack quack,' which he'd use to use to identify bet amounts that began with 22 or some multiple thereof — like the 'double quack quack' he used when making it 44,000 and busting an opponent in the 2011 WSOP Seniors No-Limit Hold'em Championship.

Here's a clip of Magriel facing the wrath of Phil Hellmuth at the WSOP after an all-in confrontation:

Reporting from Martin Harris contributed to this story.

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Joe Russell writes:

Paul Magriel has left us. The backgammon community is left with a tremendous hole. I play backgammon because of Paul. I remember reading an article in Sports Illustrated that featured Paul. Backgammon sounded very interesting and I decided to learn to play because of that article. I am sure there are 1000's, if not 10's of 1000's that could say the same. I knew Paul for close to 40 years and found him to be one of the more interesting people I have ever known. He was respectful, intelligent, humorous, humble, and witty, along with several eccentric traits that made him very loveable. His mere presence added prestige to any backgammon tournament. He was an amazing player with dozens of prestigious victories and a former World Champion, but his true love was teaching. Paul's book 'Backgammon' is considered the bible of backgammon. He was, perhaps, the best backgammon teacher who has ever graced the earth, or ever will. He derived great pleasure in helping people increase their love for and skill in backgammon. And his students have done very well, winning hundreds of titles throughout the world. When I played Mika Lidov for the World Championship, she had mowed through the best players in the
world to reach the finals. When I asked her how she had become so strong, she answered; 'I have been taking lessons from Magriel'. I guess we are all students of Magriel and the backgammon community owes more to him than it could ever repay. Thank you Paul for gracing my life with your presence. I will miss you! ️

- March 8, 2018

Robert W Haskell writes:

So sorry about Paul Magriel. I first met him at a summer tournament, in Provincetown Massachusetts, in 1979. Provincetown was his summer home growing up. We crossed paths many times, during my 24 years living in Vegas. I always found Paul to be a humble genius. I recall him at our Tuesday night, Las Vegas Backgammon Club tournaments. Playing someone, who didn't realize at the moment. They were playing, the most famous backgammon player in the world. I use to sit beside him, when he played at the Riviera. During breaks in the match, he would often say to me. Can you believe, he took that double, or I can't believe he double me. He was fascinating to watch play. The last time I ever saw him, was at a club Tuesday night tournament in 09. He was watching my match, and after I made the wrong move. He said to me as he walked away. Thee old Bob, would have never made that move. The world of backgammon, isn't the same without him.

- May 10, 2018

Mike Corbett writes:

He would trap his tongue on one side of his mouth, look briefly away, then swing his head back toward the problem or its presenter. His opinion was rarely doubted, and his approval was valued by any person who assumed they had earned it.
If his lips curled into a smile after a double tongue-switch, most people couldn’t tell friendly forbearance from tacit approval. I could sometimes.
If he turned his head 90 degrees after a double tongue-switch, he was being as close to contentious as his patience would allow. I never heard him argue with a fool.
If he turned his head 90 degrees with no time for a tongue-switch, there was a pretty girl laughing within earshot. How did he know she was pretty? How did he know anything? We mortals will never know how quickly and efficiently that lovely brain processed information.
When asked by a third party about my book, he paid me a two-word compliment I’ll never forget. He answered without reflection or tongue-switch “It’s smart”. My book is just a book.
He was smart!

- March 8, 2018

Magriel's Gaming Career

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Backgammon By Paul Magriel