Many people are confused about leaving shots and when to do so. Because backgammon is so similar to poker in terms of principles then it is correct to leave shots sometimes for the greater good. There are two main positions where leaving shots is advantageous and this is at the start of the game where in doing so you then have the chance to improve your position drastically and take a lead on your opponent. This is key in the early game and strong players take calculated speculative risks that have little potential downside but a huge potential upside.
This is akin to the poker player who constantly probes with weak speculative hands. However another situation where leaving shots could work to your advantage is when you are looking to have more men taken off so that you can play a back game. In situations where you are losing significantly then you have less to lose by leaving shots. Avoiding leaving shots is best used when you are significantly ahead. Why take risks when steady play would win the game?
If you are bearing off and have a huge lead then you clearly want no further contact and it is in your opponent’s interests to promote that contact. This is akin to tournament poker where your shorter stacked opponent is simply looking for a double up to get back into contention. So it is clear then that leaving shots is either to your advantage or not and you will need to know when this is the case to be a strong backgammon player.
