In recent times, the Backgammon games have been adapted by numerous online casinos. These sites allow online Backgammon UK players to engage in Backgammon gambling online, in a fair and regulated way.
All of the Internet Backgammon online casinos listed on our site are fully licensed and regulated by the UK Gambling Commission. This is the entity charged by the Government to ensure that every online casino operating in the UK complies with certain legal requirements. These relate both to the treatment of players and maintenance of absolute impartiality in game results.
More and more people are choosing to partake in real money Backgammon gambling online. Backgammon games offers a greater element of strategy than most other online casino games. Having some Backgammon skill will mean there is a lower element of luck than in games like online Slots and online Roulette.
How To Play Backgammon Online
The Backgammon board should be set up as follows:
- Two chequers on point 24
- Five chequers on point 13
- Three chequers on point 8
- Five chequers on point 6.
Complete beginners to Backgammon online gambling may still be wondering where to start. If so, read on for our step-by-step guide to online Backgammon play.
- First, both players roll a single die each. The person who rolls the highest number gets to play the opening move. The opening move is the combined number of your die and the opponent’s die. If the same numbers come up, then you roll again until different numbers come up.
- After the opening roll, the players take turns rolling two dice together. The result determines how many points (also known as ‘pips’) the player will move his chequers forward.
- A chequer can be moved to points that are not occupied by two or more of the opponent’s chequers. This is called an open point. You can only move your chequer onto a point if it’s completely free, or has only one of your opponent’s chequers.
- You have different options on how to move your chequers, depending on which numbers you roll and where your opponent has chequers. In online Backgammon, the points available to you will be highlighted. This makes it easy to choose one of the following possibilities:
- Move two chequers, one chequer for each die. If you roll a 4 and 3 for example, you can move one chequer four points and another chequer three points to an open point.
- Move one chequer the combined total of both dice, so 7 points if you roll a 4 and a 3. This move is only permissible if an intermediate point is open, which is three or five points from the starting point. Think of it as two separate moves, both of which need to be legal.
You can move your chequers onto a point as long as it:
- Already has one of your chequers
- Has no chequers
- Has only one of your opponents chequers.
Other important points to note:
- If you roll double numbers, you can move each chequer twice, a total of four moves for that turn. If you get a 5 and a 5, then you have four fives.
- Players must use both numbers of a roll. If only one number can be played you have to play that number.
- If either number can be played, but not both together, then you must play the larger one. If you can’t use either number, then you lose your turn.
- If you are unable to use the doubles number, then you play as many numbers as is possible.
Hitting & Entering
What board game would be complete without a little spite? If you land on a point with one of your opponent’s chequers, you knock that chequer off the board onto the bar.
To move that chequer into the game again, your opponent must roll and move it into an empty space in your home grid. They can’t move any other chequers until the knocked off chequer is back in the game.
Bearing Off
When all your chequers are in your home board, then you can start removing them from the board, called bearing off. This can be done when a number is rolled which matches the point in which a chequer is currently sitting.
For example, if you roll a 5, then the chequer that is in point 5 can be borne off. If one of your chequers is hit by the opponent in your home board, then you need to bring that chequer back into play before continuing to bear off.
The first player to bear off all of his or her chequers wins!
Online Backgammon Rules
A true classic among strategy games – learn about and play real money Backgammon online today!
Online Backgammon is based on one of the oldest games in the world, played between two players. Although partly luck-based, more important is the judicious use of Backgammon strategy to outfox your opponent.
Our comprehensive online Backgammon guide explains how to play Backgammon online for money. Join the Backgammon gambling online community around the globe to indulge your competitive streak today!
Online Backgammon is played with two players, using one board, two dice, and 15 chequers per player. The chequers are of two different colours, normally black and white.
The Backgammon board has 24 narrow triangles of alternating colours, and each triangle is called a point. The board has four fields (also called grids or quadrants), divided into 6 points each.
The bottom-right quadrant is the home board of the white chequers, and the top-right quadrant is the home board of the black chequers.
The aim of online Backgammon is to move the chequers anti-clockwise into your home board and ‘bearing off’ the board as fast as you can. The first player to ‘bear off’ all of their chequers wins the game.
Online Backgammon Gambling: Betting
When you play Backgammon online you have different points and betting systems. For beginners of online Backgammon playing normally, you can earn points in the following ways:
- The winner gets one point when the opponent has started to bear off chequers, and no longer has chequers in the winner’s home grid.
- The winner gets two points when the loser has not borne off chequers when the winner has won, called a gammon.
- If the losing player has not borne off chequers, and also still has chequers in the winner’s home grid then they are backgammoned, the winner gets three points.
Online Backgammon Gambling: The Doubling Cube
Online Backgammon gambling enthusiasts can turn the doubling cube on or off before beginning to play. The doubling cube indicates the stakes – it is indicated by a marker in some online Backgammon casinos.
In other Backgammon sites, you will see an actual cube. When engaging in Backgammon play in real life, it’s a cube with the numbers 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, and 64 marked on its faces.
When To Use The Doubling Cube
While you’re playing, if you feel you are rolling good numbers, you can double the stakes. You can do this only during your turn and before rolling the dice. You start at point one, and any player can double the stakes to point two.
The opponent can opt to refuse the double, however. If this happens, the opponent will have to pay out that point, and the game is over.
If they accept, then the opponent becomes the only one who may double the stakes next, called a redouble. This can go on until stakes are doubled 64 times, but this is quite rare.
Online Backgammon Strategy
There are many games which involve learning by trial and error, but this isn’t one of them. For best online Backgammon results, we recommend reading up on Backgammon strategy and Backgammon tactics.
You’ll find it makes a marked difference between the amounts of bad plays you make. This in turn will make a difference on the amount of good rolls your opponent will end up having.
Read on for more comprehensive Backgammon strategies that you can apply to your own Backgammon play.
Best Backgammon Tactics
As with most online casino games, there is an element luck involved in online Backgammon play. For example, you don’t have any control over how the dice are going to be rolled.
The key to winning when you play Backgammon online for money, is ascertaining the best ways to move your chequers. Seems obvious, but it can be surprisingly tricky!
Memory also plays a big part in how well you end up doing at Backgammon online. You need to be able to remember a few strategy concepts and reference positions if particular situations arise during the game.
Take delight in the mental stimulation and increased concentration. Taking the time to think about strategy will turn you from an amateur to a consecutive winning player.
Win at Online Backgammon
As you now know, the ultimate aim of online Backgammon is to move your chequers around the board and into your home grid. But it’s so much more than a straight race!
These are the various strategies which you can adopt to slow down your opponent’s progress. Frustrating your opponent’s chequers as they try to get around the board is vital.
Getting that right will help to ensure that your chequers make it off the grid first, winning you the most points and winning bets.
Online Backgammon Strategy #1: Running
When you try to move your chequers around the board in the fastest possible way, it is called a running strategy. Unsurprisingly, this is the most commonly-used strategy by online Backgammon players, particularly beginners.
Simply move your chequers to your home board as quickly as possible. This minimises the opportunities for your opponent to knock you off the board. If you are new to the game stick to running as it’s the easiest Backgammon strategy there is.
The disadvantage of this Backgammon strategy is that you are reliant on the luck of the dice. Good numbers will enable you to move your chequers quickly while avoiding your opponent’s chequers. Bad numbers will cripple you.
Not rolling good numbers at the beginning of the game? You should change your tactics and try one of the following Backgammon strategies.
Online Backgammon Strategy #2: Blockade Play
A blockade is when you have various points on the board occupied by your own chequers. What this does is simply block your opponent from moving around the board unless they are rolling very high numbers.
For example, if you have five blocked points your opponent will have to roll a 6 in order to move past the blockade. This will slow down your opponent significantly and allow you to move your other chequers around the board.
For best results, try to block the chequers which still have a way to travel to get to their home board. This should succeed in slowing down your opponent.
Online Backgammon Strategy #3: Priming
A prime is when you have six blocked points one after the other, with each point containing two or more of your chequers. Your opponent will be unable to pass the chequers which remain behind it at all.
This is obviously difficult to maintain for extended periods as 12 of your chequers would need to be locked in to form the blockade. However, keeping it in place for as long as possible will give your opponent minimal options.
This often results in them moving chequers which are more advanced, heaping them together in the middle.
Also, when you knock off an opposing chequer, priming makes it harder for your opponent to move it back onto the board. Usually, they will have to roll many times before being able to move.
Online Backgammon Strategy #4: Blitzing
Blitzing your opponent involves attacking your opponent by landing on their vulnerable chequers. Instead of aiming to move your chequers quickly to the home grid, you aim for the lonely chequers left vulnerable by your opponent.
After you send them to the bar, you move your chequers forward faster as your opponent tries to catch up.
Just be wary of being too aggressive with this move when your opponent’s chequers are close to your home grid, as they won’t be moving far back in the game.
The closer their chequers are to their home grid, the more you delay them from getting all their chequers off the board.
Online Backgammon Strategy #5: The Holding & Back Backgammon Strategy
The holding game involves keeping a chequer, an anchor point, in your opponent’s home grid. Having an anchor gives you somewhere to go if one of your chequers gets sent off the board.
You will then need to move it back through your opponent’s home grid while they prepare to bear off their chequers. You need to be clever with using this move as you don’t want to get stuck.
The back game is used when you keep two or more points in your opponent’s home grid when it’s occupied with more than one anchor. There is a risk here to lose with a gammon or backgammon if you keep so many chequers in this part of the board.
However this is a good tactic if your chequers keep getting knocked off. It has the added benefit of annoying your opponent, as you are taking up prime space on their home grid.
Playing Backgammon Online: 4 Things To Remember
Just want to get on and play online Blackjack for money? The following pointers should help you win as many points as possible during the game, netting you a larger amount of winning cash at the end!
- Remember to aim to knock your opponent’s chequers off as much as you can. Look at the board and make careful decisions about how to move your chequers.
- Take care of your chequers! Try to keep them in stacks of two or more. Leaving one alone on a point will leave it vulnerable to be knocked off by your opponent.
- Try to fortify your home grid. When your opponent gets knocked off, it’s a little harder for them to get that chequer back into the game!
- You can try to knock your opponent off the board by leaving chequers behind. Then sneak up behind as your opponent is trying to move their chequers along the board into the home grid.
Firstly you’ll want to establish the best Backgammon strategy for your playing style. You just have to play a few times using the various techniques to find out what works best and when.
There will be times where you want to play more carefully. Conversely, sometimes you want to send your opponent knocking their head against the wall repeatedly by continuously blitzing them.
Visit the best Backgammon sites listed above and have some fun testing out the various Backgammon strategies today!
Play Backgammon Online For Money Today!
When you play Backgammon online for money, it is just as stimulating as playing in person. You can really hone your skills and strategy, or just play for the fun of it with other online Backgammon enthusiasts. This is a more personalised game where you play one-on-one with other players, and where your competitive streak is allowed to let loose. There is a large community online that shares your interest in the game. So sign up and win some money online today!
