Backgammon

The object of the backgammon game is for each player to bring all his or her checkers into his or her home board, and then to bear them off the board. The first player to clear all his or her checkers off the board is the winner, according to backgammon rules.

The game is played on a board consisting of twenty-four narrow triangles called points. The triangles alternate in color and are grouped into four quadrants of six triangles each.
The points are numbered for either player starting in that player’s home board. The outermost point is the twenty-four point, which is also the opponent’s one point. Each player has fifteen checkers of his own color. The initial arrangement of checkers according to classic backgammon rules: two on each player’s twenty-four point, five on each player’s thirteen point, three on each player’s eight point, and five on each player’s six point.
Both players have their own pair of dice and a doubling cube with the numerals 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, and 64 on its faces, is used to keep track of the current stake of the game.

The movement of the checkers is determined by the dice rolled according to the following backgammon rules:
Making the first move: In the begining of the game a dice is rolled for each player, the player who’s dice value is higher will play first, in case the dice are equal the system will keep rolling until the dice are different (this is transparent to the user).
The checkers movement is always forward. A player can move his checker only to an open point, a point that is not occupied by two or more opposing checkers.
The player can either move two checkers two separate moves indicated by each die or he/she can move once checker the sum of both dice.
When a player who rolls doubles, he/she can play the number shown on the dice twice.
Backgammon rules state that in case there is no legal move according to the dice, the turn will be passed to the opponent.

A point occupied by a single checker of either color is called a blot. If an opposing checker lands on a blot, the blot is hit and the checker, which was on it, is placed on the bar. Anytime a player has one or more checkers on the bar, his or her first obligation is to enter those checkers into the opponent’s home board. A checker is entered by moving it to an open point corresponding to one of the numbers on the rolled dice.

For example, if a player rolls 4 and 6, he or she may enter a checker onto either the opponents’ four point or six point, as long as the prospective point is not occupied by two or more of the opponents’ checkers. If neither of the points is open, the player loses his or her turn. If a player is able to enter some but not all of his or her checkers, he or she must enter as many as possible and then forfeit the remainder of the turn. After the last of a players’ checkers have been entered, any unused numbers on the dice must be played by the standard backgammon rules.

Once a player has moved all of his or her fifteen checkers into their home board, they can begin bearing off. A player bears off a checker by rolling a number that corresponds to the point, on which the checker resides, and removing that checker from the board.
If there is no checker on the point indicated by the roll, the player must make a legal move using a checker on a higher-numbered point. If there are no checkers on the higher numbered points, the player can remove a stone from the next highest point. Backgammon rules do not obligate a player to bear off checkers if he can make an otherwise legal move. A player must have all of his or her active checkers inside the home board to bear off. If a checker is hit during the bear-off process, the player must bring that checker back to his or her home board before continuing to bear off.

“Automatic Moves” feature enables you to move the checkers automatically whenever a move is forced.

*Please note that if all moves in a turn are forced and this option is checked, the turn will end and switch back to the other player after making the forced moves automatically.

Backgammon is played for an agreed stake (or number of points in a tournament play). During the course of the game, when a player feels he or she has a sufficient advantage, may propose the opponent to use the doubling cube (the cube with the numbers 2, 4, 8, 16, 32 and 64 on its six sides) and multiply the agreed stake of the game. The doubling cube may be proposed only at the start of the player’s turn and before the dice are rolled.
The player, who was offered the doubling cube, may refuse, based on backgammon rules. In such case, he or she concedes the game and pays the original stake. If the player accepts the doubling cube, the game continues for a new, higher sum, multiplied by 2. The player who had accepted the doubling offer, becomes the owner of the cube and only he or she may offer doubling cube next.
Subsequent doubles in the same game are called redoubles. If a player refuses a redouble, he or she must pay the current stake (prior to the redouble), and if he or she agree, they become the new owner of the cube and the game continues at twice the previous sum involved, i.e. 4 times the original stake. Redoubles can increase the original wager by up to 64 times.

At the end of the game, if the losing player has borne off at least one checker, he loses only the value showing on the doubling cube (the original stake or one point if the doubling cube was not in use). However, if the loser has not borne off any of his checkers, he or she is gammoned and loses twice the value of the doubling cube. If the loser has not borne off any of his or her checkers and still has a checker on the bar or in the winners’ home board, he or she is backgammoned and loses three times the value of the doubling cube.

You can play online backgammon matches, in two types of game modes:

Series (Match play) – a series of games between two players. The match ends when one player wins by accumulating the agreed and set number of points. For each game, the number of points won is the doubling cube value multiplied by the win type (Winning a regular win is worth 1 point, winning by a gammon is worth 2 points, winning by a backgammon is worth 3 points).

Single game – the normal style of competition, in which each game is played independently. For each game, the loser pays the winner the agreed initial sum multiplied by the value of the doubling cube and further multiplied by the winning type (two for a gammon or three for a backgammon).

A tournament is a competition which involves a relatively large number of competitors. Backgammon tournaments contain multiple matches, each involving a subset of competitors. The overall tournament winner will be determined based on the combined results of those individual matches.

There are all kinds of backgammon tournaments online: Sit & Go tournament, Knockout tournament, Satellite tournament, swing tournament, etc. Additional information on backgammon rules in tournaments.

Beaver is one of the optional backgammon rules, valid only in single game mode, and subjected to both players’ agreement. The beaver rule allows a player, who had doubled, to immediately redouble while retaining possession of the doubling cube. The player who had originally offered the doubling cube, has now the option of accepting or refusing, same is in regular backgammon rules.

Crawford rule makes the doubling cube unavailable for a specific game in a series of matches (a.k.a. match play), if one player is one point below the winning the match. For example: if two players agreed to play a match up to 7, and the score is 6-2, then for the next game (a.k.a. the Crawford game) the doubling cube will not be available.
However, if the game is won by the player who is behind, the score would be 6-3 and on the next game (a.k.a. the post Crawford game) the doubling cube will be available again.

Play and practice backgammon online and enhance your game skill using fun (virtual) money, without depositing any real money. Once you have mastered the basic backgammon rules and you feel confident enough to try them out on real players of similar skill level, you move up to play backgammon for real money and earn Play65™ 1st deposit bonus.

Backgammon is commonly played for real money; playing for “fun money” is one of the new inventions of the internet backgammon era, enabling beginner players to practice their game skills and get used to the software before taking any financial risks.
When playing for money (real money or fun money), by the western backgammon rules, each game is played for a stake per value, agreed earlier by both participants. By the end of the backgammon game or match, the initial stake is raised according to the final position of the doubling cube and the final scoring (gammons or backgammon).
Playing on Play65™ is just as in real life, under the exact same backgammon rules, only you get to meet people from all over the world and play against them!
Before you can start to play backgammon for money, you must make a deposit into your Play65™ account.
If you are new to Play65™, don’t forget to use the special Play65™ bonus.There are two ways to play backgammon for real money after making a deposit: joining an existing backgammon table or creating a new one. In both ways, there is a sum involved and the winner takes everything and pays a small fee.

Commission is taken from the final winning sum (the winner pays for both players)

{content}.1 up to {content}.49 : ¢3

Only when playing backgammon online for less than {content}.5, the commission is fixed on only ¢3 for each player.

{content}.5 and above : 6.5%

Example: Joe and Alex play a game with an initial sum involved of and Alex wins.
.7 will be added to Alex’s balance and will be deducted from Joe’s balance (the commission is ¢65 x 2 = .3).

* The same rules apply for all types of games : Single game, Series or games played in the Dark Room.

* Commission for tournaments are displayed within the buy-in price.

* Since it is not possible to charge half a cent, commission from games on lower sums may be rounded up a cent (up to 1 cent).

There are two types of timers when playing at Play65™:
Move timer – displaying the remaining time for you to make a move. The move timer is reset after each move. If it expires, the global timer will start ticking.
Global timer – starts ticking only after the move timer expires. The global timer is set for the entire game.

According to Play65™ backgammon rules, if you get disconnected in the middle of a game, you will have 3 minutes to reconnect and resume the game. To do so, simply reconnect, log in and the disconnected game will be resumed automatically for you.If you will not return within 3 minutes, the backgammon game* will be analyzed using BGBlitz and the money will be split accordingly. For more details on the analyzing software we use, click here.

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