Masayuki Mochizuki

There is an ancient board game that you can learn in 15 minutes and then think about for the rest of your life.

Backgammon has had a few heydays in modern history, especially among gamblers.

NFL teams have used backgammon theory to win the Super Bowl.

And now backgammon is having a whole new renaissance.

Today on Freakonomics Radio, we continue our occasional series on games with a simple question.

Can backgammon save us from ourselves?

Okay, the dice are yours.

This past January, the U.S.

Backgammon Federation held a big tournament, the New York Metropolitan Backgammon Open, at a hotel in Jersey City.

It drew more than 400 players in a variety of brackets from beginner to grandmaster.

They came from all over the U.S., as well as Germany, South Africa, Greece, Peru.

The field included many of the world's top-ranked players, like this one.

My name is Masayuki Mochizuki.

People call me Mochi.

I am a professional backgammon player.

Mochi is arguably the best backgammon player alive.

He has turned the game into a career.

I play tournaments everywhere in the world, teaching, writing a book, playing a private game, and everything about backgammon, that's me.

Mochi had flown in from Japan for the Jersey City tournament, but he busted out in the first round.

That's the thing about backgammon.