General information about backgammon
Backgammon is played on a board divided into four quarters; each quarter has 6 ‘points’.
There are 24 long triangles drawn on the board - known as "points".
The game begins when 30 checkers (15 whites and 15 blacks) are placed on the 24 triangles in a fixed order.
For the majority of us backgammon is black and white, not just on the board but in its rules. For the purist, changing the way you play the game is forbidden. In some clubs a change in the rules would be seen as a flagrant disregard for the rule of law. 'This is the way we play and there's no changing it. If you don't like it I am taking my board back, so there!
This is conventional backgammon as played by millions online or offline.
But backgammon like sex; would not be exciting; unless you put a little variety into it. This is why you'll find today, many different variations of the game, some you may well know some you may not.
The changes in backgammon are hard to keep tracks on. Its growth rate has become unparalleled, even by today's gaming standards. The contributing factor to this is the development of online casinos where backgammon has now infiltrated into the psyche of many poker players, who recognize the potential that backgammon offers as a gaming possibility.
Before backgammon entered into the frame, many smaller companies saw the online casino business as a quick buck earner. Strict licensing laws of some countries meant these companies were illegally trading, whilst others were set up just as off shoots to a more lucrative money trafficking unit for organized crime. Under this somewhat hazy existence, for a while, online gaming had a poor reputation, branded as a fraudulent activity, designed only to rob players and steal their personalities from cloned credit card information.
What was so original about the concept of online backgammon was that it took an existing and well known formula, played for thousands of years and integrated it into web technology so that the basics of game play still remained the same, but the delivery method was state of the art 21st century.
Play65 was one of the first companies to see the possibilities that online backgammon could offer for both fun players and real money players, where the appeal was instant. Soon it became clear that online backgammon would challenge the dominance of the other sites such as Poker and Black Jack, initially as a new alternative, but then as a 'real alternative' to the traditionalists.
The simplicity of how to get involved with backgammon on the net is ably demonstrated in the process of downloading the software to play. www.play65.com which has six simple steps to follow then you're in. Playing in a community of players from around the world, in what is deemed to be the world's biggest online backgammon room. With over one million registered players the site easily commands 10,000 players at any one time playing in real time.
This option to play round the clock against players from across the globe brings a new attraction to the game, with various levels of players from rank beginner to Master. In this compulsive competitive environment the game takes on its own level of intensity, especially when big money is involved. Prizes of up to $100,000 can be regularly won in tournament play and the prestige of rising through the ranks is also a great crowd pleaser. Online backgammon fills the void between gaming and entertainment and some people believe that it is set to become the new Poker, at least as far as the casino world is concerned.
We will have to wait and see.
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