Todd Porter

Full Name: Todd Porter

Date of Birth: 08/15/1954

Birth Place: Michigan

Current City of Residence: Winston-Salem

Marital Status: Married

Children: One

Occupation: Executive Recruiter

How I Started in Backgammon: At a Greek Bar in Herborn, Germany

Backgammon Nickname: Kopfhunter (Use to be known by Ted because Tod in German means Death)

Current Skill Level: Expert

Playing Backgammon live since: 1978

Favorite Tournament Venue: Atlanta weekly/monthly tournament also Charlotte Quarterly

Titles won: very minor weekly/monthly tournaments

Other important finishes: Runner-Up Arizona Open 1981

Favorite Backgammon book: Backgammon for Profit by Joe Dwek

Favorite Music: Classic Rock (greatest line ever written: “really love your peaches, want to shake your tree)

Favorite Film(s): Too many to pick from

Favorite Food: Anything Spicy

Other Interests & Hobbies: Poker

Person I’d like most to meet: Stu Unger (you didn’t say dead or alive)

Favorite Celebrity: Matvey “Falafel” Natanzon (he is a celebrity, isn’t he?)

If I could change anything in the world, I would… : Provide every person with clean water

If I could change anything in the Backgammon world, I would… : Make it illegal for an individual to complain about bad luck, when they boast about how great they play

Additional comments: I know there are other backgammon books that have more depth than Backgammon for Profit by Joe Dwek. When I started playing seriously in the late 70’s, the light was turned on when I read it.

There once was a Chess Grand Master by the name of John “Woody” Woodford. (He won the U.S. Championship before Bobby Fisher but it was taken away from him – long story). Well, Woody was one of the nicest guys I’ve ever met. I use to play BG with him 30 years ago, in a Phoenix bar on Central by the name of Continental. I beat him like a drum, day in and day out. I felt sorry for him and one day after we played, I said to him, “Woody, do you even know how many combination of the dice there are? Do you know what the probability of throwing a two is?…. I’m going to give you a book to read….”

Well, I let him read Backgammon for Profit by Joe Dwek. It was one of the few books (back then) written like a chess book (Situation position, answer position with explanation). Unfortunately, he TOTALLY got it.

The next day he came into the Continental and was a totally different player. I rarely beat him after that. I’m not sure how much money that book cost me with Woody but it was a lot. That’s okay, Woody was a really GOOD guy.