\u201cno snobs, no fees, no bulls\u2013t\u201d <\/a>game nights after its members split from the much more polished NYC Backgammon Club, which includes a $10 pay-for-play rule.<\/p>\nA group of NYC Backgammon Club members meet in Brooklyn for a night of play in late December. Facebook\/NYC Backgammon Club<\/p>\n
\u201cWe just open a board, and whoever wants to play can play,\u201d said one of the founding Greenpoint members to The Post, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the bad blood around the schism.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt would be so insane for me to ask you for money to do that. Can you imagine?\u201d <\/p>\n
But Remington Davenport, a California transplant who made the NYC Backgammon Club so popular, she was able to ditch her sales job to run the club full-time, downplayed the \u201cbeef\u201d \u2014 and extended an olive branch to the insurgent group after The Post started asking around.<\/p>\n
The gammon drama erupted over the summer when people showed up at the hip Scrappeland bar on Manhattan Avenue for an evening of play, only to find that the meet-up had been canceled without warning because of low turnout.<\/p>\n
The bar was one of many sites where NYC Backgammon Club had been hosting weekly game nights. Players would pay $10 for unlimited play, a cost that doesn\u2019t go toward any food or drink vouchers or board rentals. Players are even asked to bring their own boards.<\/p>\n
Since the small group of wannabe players had already arrived that night with their boards in hand, they decided to still play \u2014 without the $10 fee. They then continued their free weekly game nights locally outside of the structured club because they all live in the trendy nabe.<\/p>\n
But when Davenport caught wind of the unsanctioned chapter, which had grown to 20 players, she tried to get it shut down, a player claimed.<\/p>\n
The more official club charges $10 per person to play. Katherine Donlevy\/NY Post<\/p>\n
Club members get serious under the red lights of one venue. Katherine Donlevy\/NY Post<\/p>\n
\u201cShe wanted to control it. She wanted to approve any messaging before it went out,\u201d the player said.<\/p>\n
Davenport allegedly sent a series of messages telling the players they weren\u2019t allowed to form a spinoff on her \u201cterritory\u201d without paying her, effectively trying to absorb the Greenpoint Backgammon Club into her \u201cambassador\u201d program, members of the offshoot said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAmbassadors\u201d run smaller recurring game nights on behalf of NYC Backgammon Club with the same $10 admission, although they are not paid for hosting, an ambassador told The Post.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe whole moral of the story is: It\u2019s not like anyone had t-shirts or hats or club signs,\u201d said a Greenpoint Backgammon member of their group\u2019s spin-off. \u201cNo one ever swore loyalty to one group or another. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt was just people who were looking to organize and play.\u201d<\/p>\n
But Davenport said she has since \u201csquashed the beef\u201d between the warring groups \u2014 but only after she was ripped on\u00a0social media<\/a>\u00a0over her \u201cbogus business model.\u201d<\/p>\nShe said she made a gesture of peace toward the Greenpoint group through Instagram\u2019s direct messaging more than a week ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cI told them, \u2018I fully support you guys. I will send people to your club.\u2019 No biggie. I don\u2019t want any trouble or drama,\u201d Davenport said.<\/p>\n
The Greenpoint Backgammon Club does not charge a fee to play. Instagram\/NYC Backgammon Club<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re doing their own thing, and that\u2019s fine.\u201d<\/p>\n
She admitted there had been friction between the two groups, but that from her end, it was fueled by her own personal life hardships and that she was only \u201cmad for a day.\u201d<\/p>\n
The backgammon titan previously told The Post the mission for the club was to foster community in real life and offline.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re just looking for new opportunities to have an experience and to meet friends, so that\u2019s been super successful,\u201d Davenport said, adding that numerous couples have met and even gotten married after meeting at her club.<\/p>\n
Davenport said she started NYC Backgammon shortly after moving to the Big Apple in April 2023, upon which she quickly realized the majority of public games were limited to \u201cvery old white men.\u201d<\/p>\n
Since then, Davenport has helped to launch \u201cGirls who Gammon\u201d and \u201cGays who Gammon,\u201d clubs that aim to create safe spaces for minorities not typically included in backgammon games, she said.<\/p>\n
Remington Davenport runs the NYC Backgammon Club. instagram\/remingtonwells\/<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s truly a community,\u201d Davenport said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBackgammon is still so niche, so people are just looking to connect.\u201d<\/p>\n
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