Backgammon at the Playboy Mansion

I spent one winter in LA and was introduced to The Mansion by a local real estate maven Stan Herman, at whose house I was staying.

The game was on, Hef gave a cheery welcome to the new face and I joined right in. Stan (who worked) was an early quitter at 3:00am but the rest were still rolling away until almost 8:00am, when Hef called it quits.

“If you feel tired stay over,” he volunteered, and sure enough I was shown up to bedroom #38 or some such, and woke up around 3:00pm to sample the house amenities. Believe it, the pix are all true: this was a bachelor pad extruded to the ultimate. Name it, they had it - pools, tennis courts, pool tables, slot machines galore, sauna (mixed!), plus 24 hour room service of just about anything you could dream of scoffing down. Also at your pleasure was Hef’s private film library which was amongst the largest in the world.

There was no satellite TV in those days, so all the big fights and other sports were piped in and Hollywood guests “hung out” for these shows. Regulars were Sonny and Cher, Diana Ross, Lucille Ball (who “just loved” backgammon) and Desi Arnaz, gridiron hero Jim Brown…the names didn’t stop.

It was during that winter Hef introduced a stunning blonde to the chouette. She watched for a while and within 2 months had become Mrs. Stan Herman. Her name? Linda Evans (you haven’t forgotten “Dynasty” already, have you?).

Another night Desi Arnaz stumbled in somewhat worse for wear. “I Love Lucy” was hovering near the top of US ratings, but at that moment Desi was looking for non-family entertainment. His Cubano accent sounded off a bit like this –

Desi: “Ow mooch you a-playin’?”

Hef: “Go away Desi, we’re playing but you’re not.”

Desi: “Ow mooch?! I play all you, one tousan a punto and now now now.”

Hef, not looking up from the board flicked his hand at the nuisance:

Hef: “Shoo Desi, these are the best players in California. I’ve already had dinner and don’t want to watch you get eaten alive.”

Desi staggered off heart broken but not as much as the resident pro (Bridge Ace Billy Eisenberg) and me. We looked at each other as if our pockets had been picked. Whoever wrote “The Sun always shines in Southern California” certainly did not play backgammon.

Hef loved to be in the action and enjoyed rolling the dice, so he had a special table designed with 2 boards inset side by side. In his chouette everyone was playing simultaneously at both tables, rather like internet poker on 2 screens. It was confusing, but fun and soon Hef installed a similar table in his private jet.

If you wanted a break you could always try your luck at the myriad of birds who flocked around the place like flamingos at a watering hole (I am sure bedroom #38 was not the only nesting spot).

After a few weeks Hef asked me to write a book about backgammon, which was duly published as “Playboy’s Book of Backgammon,” to which he wrote the foreward. The game featured in the Magazine from time to time, and of course Playboy had bought the exclusive Clermont Club from John Aspinall, and that venue remained the centre of London action for another 15-20 years – the tournaments were legendary.

Nowadays, Hef is portrayed as a comic icon of a bygone age and tolerates a lot of rubbish from snide journalists looking for an easy target. Let me set the record straight. He is a highly intelligent and friendly guy with a great sense of humour, unpretentious and hospitable beyond measure. What more do you want (except an invitation)?

If his private life is, shall we say, unorthodox, so what? Not many are qualified to cast any first stone in that direction. Rather, remember what Oscar Wilde said, which could have been the Playboy motto,

“I can resist anything except temptation.”