Backgammon for Poker Players

What do Erik Seidel and Gus Hansen have in common?

Before becoming household names on the poker tournament circuit, they were both top backgammon players! Yes, Backgammon - that ancient game that looks like checkers with triangles. Backgammon is making a comeback with televised tournaments and increased signups at online backgammon sites. If you love to play poker, you'll notice lots of similarities when you try backgammon!

Backgammon basics:

In backgammon, each player begins with 25 men set up on four triangles (called points) on the board in groups of two, five, three and five. The points are numbered from 24 to 1, points 1 through 6 are called your home board. Your points 19 through 24 are your opponent's home board.

To play, you roll a pair of dice and move a man the number of points as there are pips showing on each die. You move in a clockwise or counterclockwise direction (depending on whether you are playing white or black) until you have moved all your men off the board (called bearing off). All your men must be in your home board before you can bear any off. If you bear off all your men before your opponent has borne off a single man, you have won a Gammon (double points). If you do so before your opponent has moved all his men into his home board, it is a Backgammon (triple points).

Take it up a notch ...

"Sounds too easy", you say? Let's add some rules ...

• You must move the number of pips on each die. For example, if you roll a 5-3 you must move one man 5 points and another (or the same man) 3 points. You can't add them together and move 8.
• If you roll a double, you double your number of moves. Rolling a 1-1 means you get to make 4 moves of 1 point each.
• If your opponent has two or more men on a point, you may not move there. We say your opponent has made the point.
• If your opponent has only one man on a point (called a blot) you can move to that point, which will send his man all the way back to one point off the board (this is called on the bar and is illustrated by showing the man on the divider at the middle of the board)
• If you have one or more men on the bar, you must get them on the board before you can make any other move. You do this by entering in your opponent's home board with the exact number of points on the die. If you cannot do so (because your opponent has made that point) you lose a turn.

Now thats change things! In addition to a game of luck Backgammon is also very much a game of odds and strategy.

Betting in Backgammon - Meet the Doubling Cube

The doubling cube in backgammon is like a betting round in poker. The use of the cube also influencess your odds of winning a game or match. Experienced players learn how to calculate cubeful equity, which affects your chances of winning in the same way that skillful players take pot odds into account in a game of poker.

The cube starts out in the middle of the table with a value of 1. On their turn and before rolling the dice, either player can offer to double. If your opponent accepts, the game continues at double the stakes (similar to calling a bet). If they refuse, the game ends (like folding in poker).

Accepting a double gives you some power - the cube is now on your side of the table and only you can offer the next double!

*There are rules which are used in some games and in tournament play which modify the conditions under which you can and cannot double, but we won't confuse you with those here.)

... But No Bluffing

Unlike poker, there is no way to bluff in backgammon, no hole or pocket cards - it's all out on the table. However, like poker, backgammon is a game where personalities and individual playing style influence the outcome of a game. Your opponent may be bold and aggressive, stoic and cautious or somewhere in between. The best backgammon players, like good poker players, change their mode of play to keep their opponents guessing.

Where to play Backgammon Online:

 Play65 - The oldest and largest online backgammon site, where you can play real or play money games or tournaments against backgammon players of all skill levels from around the world.

GammonEmpire - Another of the oldest backgammon web sites.

Learn more about these and other online backgammon sites >>

Backgammon Home | Where to Play Backgammon | Backgammon Variations
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Note: Playing backgammon online is illegal in some localities. Please read the terms and conditions if you visit the above mentioned gaming sites, and obey all applicable laws.