Was Wayne Gretzky's move from the Indianapolis Racers to the Edmonton Oilers in 1978 due to a backgammon bet?

Question

I'd like to hear some opinions on this one. According to this article I stumbled across on the oilers website in 1978, back in WHA days, Edmonton Oilers owner Peter Pocklington and Indianapolis Racers owner Nelson Skalbania engaged in a game of backgammon in which the stakes were some of Peter Pocklingtons artwork versus a handful of hockeyplayers from Indianapolis with Gretzky included in that. This is one of the most interesting articles I've read in a long time. Pretty messed up if its true. Nonetheless I'm glad Pocklington won.

http://oilers.nhl.com/team/app/?service=page&page=NewsPage&articleid=379527

Answer 1

Im going to read the article but i dont think that could be possible, but if it was i bet u Nelson Skalbania is kickin him self in the but everyday since then

Answer 2

I've read something similar to this before so it's not the first time I've heard of it. Skalbania was having severe money problems and Gretzky was going somewhere. The game was the deciding factor as to location while the plane was in the air. Apparently he was en-route to the other team (not the Oilers) while the game was being played.

The story in your link is quite similar to what I read before with some minor differences.