is anyone familiar with the rules to what i think is called "Plakoto". it's a version of backgammon played in Greece from what i know. all the sites i've searched out online have horribly translated rules, and i'd like to get some verification.

from what i gather:

- played on a regular backgammon board
- dice rolls & movement are identical to backgammon
- all 15 checkers begin on the 24 and 1 position, goal is to get all your pieces to your home board and bear off first
- when you land on a opponent's blot, you "trap" it instead of sending it to the bar. the opponent cannot move this piece until you move off of it.
- there's some kind of "gammon" rule, and i think it involves trapping an opponent's piece on the original starting square (ie: 1 or 24)
- game is played to 3, 5 or 7 points

Can anyone confirm this, or recommend some better resource to look this up?

I think you've got everything correct except for the gammon rule. I believe you win a gammon in the same way as in regular BG, by bearing off all your checkers before your opponent bears off anyone.

This was a somewhat popular diversion at tournaments in the early 80s, when we called it the "pin game". It can be played with a doubling cube and the Jacoby rule, just like regular backgammon.

I think there is some strategy advice in a book by Nicholas Tzannes called "Backgammon Games and Strategies". He lists several variations of BG with some quick advice on each one. The game is difficult and complicated, at least as complex as regular BG, maybe more so.

You are both right! The winner is the player who first bears off all the checkers. But, if you manage to trap the opponent at his/her 1st square (and sometimes in the 2nd square), then the game is finished, and you are the winner