Table of Contents Introduction ....................................................................................................................................... 3 Who is this guide for?.......................................................................................................................................3 History of Backgammon...................................................................................................................................4
Basic Rules......................................................................................................................................... 5 Backgammon Board & Setup............................................................................................................................5 Obecti!e of the game.......................................................................................................................................5 "hecker #o!ement...........................................................................................................................................5 Hitting B$ots......................................................................................................................................................% he Bar ..............................................................................................................................................................% 'ntering from the Bar ........................................................................................................................................%
Basic Strategies.................................................................................................................................
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Opening #o!es.................................................................................................................................................( O!era$$ Board )ame Strategy...........................................................................................................................( he *unning )ame...........................................................................................................................................+ he Ho$ding )ame............................................................................................................................................+ he ,rime !s. ,rime )ame...............................................................................................................................+ he Backgammon B$it-..................................................................................................................................... he /o0Way 1or/ard )ame..........................................................................................................................
Doubling Cube Strategy................................................................................................................. 11 he Backgammon Basics................................................................................................................................22 itt$e Bit #ore d!anced ,$aying..............................................................................................................22 o oub$e or 6ot to oub$e?..........................................................................................................................27 he "ube 8a$ue...............................................................................................................................................27 oub$ing in 6on0"ontact )ame ,ositions......................................................................................................23 oub$ing in #atch Situations.........................................................................................................................24 oub$ing in a )ame and #atch '9uity...........................................................................................................25
Online Play......................................................................................................................................
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Sing$e ,$ay.......................................................................................................................................................2% #atches ...........................................................................................................................................................2% ournaments ....................................................................................................................................................2% *ecommended On$ine Sites............................................................................................................................2(
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Introduction Who is this guide for? Online Backgammon playing is increasing quickly, and is destined to be “the new poker”. This guide is meant or both completely new players to online backgammon and also those o you who ha!e pre!iously played the game “oline”. "n this guide, you will learn about Backgammon and its origins, as well as the basic rules o the game. #owe!er, " will also show you some helpul strategies and tactics or real game play situations$ %ter reading this guide, you will be more than ready to take on the online backgammon community, and to assist you, "&!e listed se!eral good sites that oer Backgammon.
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History of Backgammon The ancient (gyptian game senet resembled backgammon, with mo!es controlled by the roll o dice. #owe!er, the )oyal *ame o +r, played in ancient esopotamia, is a more likely ancestor o modern day tables games. (-ca!ations at the Burnt /ity in "ran ha!e showed that a similar game e-isted there around '000 B/. The artiacts include two dice and 10 pieces, and the set is belie!ed to be 00 to 200 years older than the sets ound in +r. The ancient )omans played a number o games remarkably similar to backgammon. 3udus duodecim scriptorum 4*ame o twel!e lines5 used a board with three rows o 2 points each, and the pieces were mo!ed across all three rows according to the roll o dice. 3ittle speciic te-t about the gameplay has sur!i!ed. Tabula, meaning table or board, was a game mentioned in an epigram o By6antine (mperor 7eno 4%8 9:1; 9<5. "t was similar to modern backgammon in that the ob=ec t o the game was to be the irst to bear o all o one>s checkers. Players threw three dice and mo!ed their checker s in opposing directions on a board o 29 points. "n the th century ?hahnameh, the Persian poet @erdowsi credits Bur6oe with the in!ention o the tables game nard in the 1th century. #e describes an encounter between Bur6oe and a )a=a !isiting rom "ndia. The )a=a introduces the game o chess , and Bur6oe demonstrates nard, played with dice made rom i!ory and teak. The =eu- de tables, predecessors o modern backgammon, irst appeared in @rance during the th century and became a a!orite pastime o gamblers. "n 2A9, 3ouis " issued a decree prohibiting his court oicials and sub=ects rom playing.Tables games were played in *ermany in the 2th century, and had reached "celand by the 'th century. The %lonso manuscript 3ibro de los =uegos, completed in 2<', describes rules or a number o dice and tables games in addition to its e-tensi!e discussion o chess. By the :th century, tables games had spread to ?weden. % wooden board and checkers were reco!ered rom the wreck o the Casa among the belongings o the ship>s oicers. "n the 1th century, (li6abethan laws and church regulations prohibited playing tables, but by the
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Basic Rules Backgammon Board & Setup Backgammon is played on a board with 29 narrow triangles called points by two players. The triangles alternate in color and are grouped into our quadrants o si- triangles each. (ach player has a “home” board and an outer board, which are separated by a “bar”.
The points are numbered rom to 29, starting with the ar right point on each player&s home board. (ach player has A checkers 4pieces5 and the initial board setup is shown abo!eD i.e. two checkers on point 29, i!e checkers on point ', three on point < and inally i!e checkers on point 1.
Objectie of the game Players mo!e their pieces, called checkers, around the board based on the rolls o two dice and the irst player to mo!e all his c heckers o the board wins. #owe!er, checkers are not allowed to be mo!ed out play until the player has all o his checkers in his home area. The irst player to mo!e all o his checkers out o the board 4bearing them o5 wins.
Checker !oement Players take turn rolling two dice to determine how many points a player can mo!e his checkers. The pieces are always mo!ed orward, to a lower numbered point. % checker can only be mo!ed to an open point, i.e. one that is not occupied by two or more opposing pieces. The numbers on the two dice constitute separate mo!es. @or e-ample, i a player rolls A and ', he may mo!e one checker i!e spaces to an open point and another checker three spaces to an open point, or he may mo!e the one checke r a total o eight spaces to an open point, but only i the intermediate point 4either three or i!e spaces rom the starting point5 is also open.
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Hitting Blots % single checker on a point is called a blot. ?ince men o opposite colors may not occupy the same point, when an opponent lands on a blot it is remo!ed and replaced with their own. This is called a hit and the remo!ed man is placed on the bar.
The Bar The bar is the middle strip that separates the inner and outer boards and once a checker is placed there, it remains out o play until it can be entered in the opponent&s inner board by a throw o the dice.
"ntering from the Bar % checker can be entered rom the bar i on the ne-t roll one o the numbers corresponds to a point not occupied by two or more opponent checkers in the opponent&s home board. " you cannot enter because both points indicated by the dice are blocked, the turn passes to your opponent. " your opponent owns all 1 points in their board you can sa!e your energy and not e!en roll since it is impossible to enter until your opponent opens up a point in their board. This is called a shut out or closed board. " a player has one or more checkers on the bar they must all be reHentered beore any other checkers can be mo!ed. Once all o the checkers ha!e been entered, any unused numbers on the dice may be used to mo!e the checker that was entered or any other checker.
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Basic Strategies This page would help you understand some o the basic strategies and plans you can orm while playing backgammon. These strategies can be used in either backgammon gambling or playing backgammon online or un.
Opening !oes % number o “recommended” opening mo!es ha!e been determined based on e-perience o players, but also based on computer analysis. The ollowing mo!es are part o most e-perienced BackgammonHplayers repertoire. #oll %' (' )' *' +' (% )% *% +% )( *( +( *) +) +*
$referred play I
Common alternaties 'J, 1JA 'J, 29J2' I I I I 'J< I I 'J<, 1JA I I I I I 'J0, 'J I I I I I 'J<, 'J I I I I I 'J0, 'JE 'J0, 29J20 'JE, 29J2 I I I 29JA I I 'J<, 'JE I I
Oerall Board ,ame Strategy %s you de!elop your backgammon skills and begin to test out dierent tactics during money play, your o!erall planned ob=ecti!e is always inding a way to get your checkers around the board and o beore your opponent does. There are a !ariety o strategies a!ailable to do that. The strategy you choose is oten dictated by the dice rolls early in the game and the strategy chosen by your opponent. " your irst two rolls are 1A and 1A, you will oten mo!e your back checkers orward and get into a race. " you are hit early and ha!e checkers sent back, you will choos e a holding game or a back game. The @i!e Basic Backgammon ?trategies There are A basic strategies that you can use when you play backgammon online or un or gambling on money. • • • • • •
The )unning *ame ?trategy The #olding *ame ?trategy The Priming *ame ?trategy The Backgammon Blit6 The Back *ame ?trategy Practice Gour ?trategies
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The #unning ,ame The ob=ecti!e o the )unning *ame is to bring all your men into your inner board and bear them o as quickly as possible, similar to a competiti!e race. Gou should choose a running game when you ha!e ewer pips remaining to get all your checkers o than your opponent, and you already ha!e gotten all your checkers past your opponent or it appears likely that you can do so. Beore engaging in a )unning *ame, it is important to e!aluate the position o your men and decide whether it is at your ad!antage to do so. " your opponent has ewer pips remaining than you, then aiming or a running game is a poor strategy, and has little chance o success.
The Holding ,ame The central idea o the #olding *ame is to plan on keeping a point in your control that is located highly in your opponent&s board, usually a point in his inner board or the bar point. This is oten the best strategy when trailing in the pipcount race. Playing this kind o positional ad!antage is more o a style than a backgammon strategy. The 20 point or bar points are the best holding game anchors, as they pro!ide ma-imum chances to hit your opponent as he brings his checkers closer to home. Points urther back get much weaker. "t is also crucial to understand the right times to oer the doubling cube, and to accept or drop a double when playing or deending a holding game. %nother key strategical element to the holding game is the distribution o the opponent&s checkers. " he has only the < and ' points made 4as in the starting position5, he will oten ha!e to lea!e a shot as he brings his checkers around. " he has made additional landing points in his outer board, your hitting chances go down signiicantly. The Priming *ame The Priming *ame is a particular type o holding game and in!ol!es building a prime ; a long wall o your pieces, ideally 1 points in a row ; in order to block the mo!ement o your opponent&s pieces that are behind the wall. These pieces will remain trapped as long as you can maintain the prime, and can result in an interesting struggle or your opponent to mo!e pieces around the backgammon board. #itting an opponent&s blot to trap it behind your blockade is the main aim o playing a Priming *ame when gambling on backgammon. The prime can be constructed anywhere between point 2 and point in your board, then you can shule it into your inner table as you approach the bearingH o game phase.
The $rime s- $rime ,ame Khen your opponent has a prime, it is !ery important to get your checkers to where they can escape with a single number. @or e-ample, i his prime is A points long, it is !ery important to get to the ront so you can escape with a 1. " his prime is 1 long, you cannot escape. % !ariation o the priming game is the prime !ersus prime, when both sides ha!e strong blockade. The key eatures are the number o points in the prime or each side, the number o checkers behind the prime, and whether the stranded checkers are at the ront o the prime. The most unusual thing about a prime !ers us prime game is that, all else being equal, strategically the player behind in the pip count is a!ored to win the game. This is because i neither side escapes their checkers, the one leading in the race will ha!e to gi!e up his prime irst.
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The Backgammon Blit. The Backgammon Blit6 is essentially an attack on your opponent&s pieces, with the aim o keeping your opponent on the bar while mo!ing your pieces into your inner table as quickly as possible. The ultimate goal o the blit6 is to close out one or more o your opponent&s pieces by occupying all 1 o the points in your inner table, making it impossible or these pieces to return to the game until a point becomes a!ailable when you are bearing o. Blit6es are !ery committal ; once you begin to attack, you ha!e to continue to hit and take risks and changes to make additional points. " the attack ails, either because the opponent makes an anchor or because you get too many checkers hit and sent back, you can easily reach a point where you are losing the game. The key strategy to starting a blit6 is usually an early roll where you hit an opponent&s checker and he stays on the bar, or perhaps you hit two and he doesn&t enter both. % blit6 is a much weaker plan when your opponent has as many 4or nearly as many5 points made in his board as you do in yours. ?ince you are taking risks to make points, you cannot aord to be hit and dance on the bar. "t is also crucial to double at the right time. Blit6es, when they succeed, oten result in gammons, and you can easily become too good to double i things go well. This is especially true in money gambling games or tournaments with the Lacoby )ule in eect. "t is oolish to take risks to win a gammon and not get the ull !alue o them by doubling at the right time. The Blit6 gi!es you a great tactical ad!antage.
The T/oWay 0or/ard ,ame The twoHway orward game is not listed as a b asic plan, because it is a hybrid o the blit6 and prime games. "n the twoHway orward game, you normally ha!e built a miniHprime o ' or 9 points, and then ha!e the opportunity to attack your opponent. " your opponent anchors, you hope to ha!e e-tended your prime in the process and to win rom a priming game. TwoHway orward games are e-tremely strong when they come up, because i the dice go badly or one plan, they oten go well or the other. The Back *ame The Back *ame is achie!ed by controlling two 4or more5 points in your opponent&s inner table. The main game ob=ecti!e is to hit a blot late in the game and contain it. "t is a diicult strategy to play in backgammon because the chance o a s uccessul Back *ame is inluenced by the luck o the dice roll. % successul Back game requires that you establish two anchors, ha!e at least 0 o your checkers ad!anced to contain the opponent i you hit, and ha!e enough timing 4i.e. are ar enough behind in the race5 to wait until he rolls awkwardly and lea!es a single or double shot. Back games that are unsuccessul oten result in gammon or backgammon losses. " your timing is marginal 4i you are only down A0 to :0 pips in the race5, a backgame in!ol!ing higher points 4like the 2 and 9 or ' and 95 is much stronger than those in!ol!ing the ace point. The back games in!ol!ing the and 2 points are not that strongD the best backgames are usually considered the H', 2H', and 2H9. Khile a weak opponent can oten be seduced into o!errating his position when you play a back game, it is rarely a good strategy to seek a back game rom the start. "t will oten arise on its own i you attempt a blit6 and ha!e many checkers hit. (!en then, you would usually preer to hit an opposing checker early and try to trap it. Gou should only go allH
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out or a backgame once you ha!e two back points made and are at least :0 pips or so behind in the race. "mportant to note that this tactic is not a strategy to play rom the outset o a game , and should only be adopted when you are signiicantly behind. "t is a losing strategy caused by the circumstances o the game and is simply intended to hinder your opponent&s options in order to impro!e your chances o winning.
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Doubling Cube Strategy " wasn>t quite sure where to put /ube ?trategy. any beginning and intermediate players play like they>re araid o the doubling cube. They will almost ne!er double, and when doubled they will take or drop almost at random. "n my e-perience, beginning players tend to take much too oten, and intermediate players tend to drop much too oten. Gou will ne!er be successul at backgammon i you don> t know proper cube play. " you let your opponent win two points e!ery game he wins while winning only one yoursel, it>s like gi!ing 2HtoH odds in e!ery game. ?o " decided to put an e-tensi!e course in basic cube strategy on this page. " can>t possibly co!er this much ground in talking about checker play. Gou might want to read the discussion o winning chances irst, i you ha!en>t read it yet. %nd also the dierence between money play and match play, since they do aect cube strategy.
The Backgammon Basics ?hould you doubleM ?hould you takeM ?hould you dropM /onsider a simple case. Gou are playing or money 4not in a match5, and you are on roll. Gou ha!e two checkers on the board, on your A and 2 pointsD your opponent has one checker let on his oneHpoint. (ither you will win the game on this roll, or you will lose it. % bit o math will show that you ha!e E good dice rolls and : bad ones. Gou ha!e a A2.
1 2ittle Bit !ore 1danced $laying Kell, a lot o times, players ha!e an ad!antage and don&t double. ?ay you open with a 1H 4making your bar point5 and your opponent rolls 1H2. ?urely you ha!e the ad!antage. Khy not doubleM 3et&s say your gameHwinning chances are A2N at that point. Khat do you think they&ll be the ne-t time it&s your turn to rollM Kell, it depends on how your opponent played his 1H2 and what the ne-t two rolls are, but let&s s ay the range is plus or minus AN H say, ':N to 1:N. %nd that&s a pretty wide range, kind o a bestHcase to worstHcase, since this position isn&t !ery !olatile. Kell, i ne-t two rolls turn out badly, you&ll be glad you didn&t double. " they turn out well, you can always double ne-t time. " your opponent has a ''N c hance to win, he&ll still take. 4%nd i he drops, great$5 ?o you don&t need to be in a hurry to double this turn. "&m going to introduce the concept o market loser here. % “market loser” is a sequenc e o rolls 4one or you and one or your opponent5 that would cause your position to get so strong that your opponent would drop. %nytime you ha!e no market losers, you should
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wait to double. " things go well, you ha!en&t lost anything, and i things go badly, you will be glad you did. The ne-t statement is probably the single most important piece o ad!ice you can e!er get in backgammon Every roll is a new cube decision! Fo matter what your position was last roll, you should always be at least thinking about the cube. Fot necessarily long and hard, but i you got a good roll, or your opponent a bad one ; think. “#ow good is my position now. ?hould " at least be thinking about doubling”
To 3ouble or 4ot to 3ouble? /onsider the our basic game possibilities . Fot good enough to double. Ob!iously, i you are trailing, you don&t want to double 4e-cept in certain match situations, which we&ll discuss later5. Or i you ha!e only a small lead and no 4or !ery ew5 market losers. 2. 8oubleJTake. any players are araid to double i their position is not o!erwhelming. They are worried that their opponent might take. That shouldn&t be something to worry about, though. ?uppose you ha!e bet on a ootball game, and ater the team you bet on scores a touchdown, you ha!e a chance to double the bet. That&s great ; you&re in the lead and get to double the bet$ Gou might lose double sometimes, but you&re going to win double a lot more oten. %nd anytime you&re in the lead in a game, there&s usually some gammon possibilities ; wouldn&t you much rather win our points than twoM '. 8oubleJ8rop. Ob!iously, i your opponent doubles and your position is worse than about a 2AN chance to win, you should drop. *i!e up a point and get on to the ne-t. " you ha!e signiicant chances o being gammoned, that&s another good reason to drop and get on to the ne-t. 9. Too good to double. 3et&s start with a little math here. ?uppose you ha!e E0N chances to win the game, or which '0N are gammons, and 0N to lose. On a!erage you will win . points per game 40.E plus 0.' times the e-tra point or a gammonQ, minus 0.5. Khy settle or =ust one pointM #old the cube or now. Think also about the idea o market losers in re!erse. Ke said earlier that i, no matter what sequence o rolls occurred, your opponent would still take, then there&s no hurry to double. Kell, the same thing applies here. ?uppose that in the abo!e e-ample, the worst set o rolls you can get would lea!e you with no gammon chances and only <0N odds to win the game. Kell, your opponent still has only 20N chances to win the game, and would still ha!e to drop. ?o you can hold the c ube or now. " things go well, you&ll be glad you did, i things go badly, you can always double ne-t roll.
The Cube 5alue /onsider the ollowing position. Gou are on roll, with 9 checkers on your aceHpoint. Gour opponent has one on his si-Hpoint and one on his 9Hpoint. Khat are your chances o winning the gameM
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" you ha!e doubled, that means you can&t double again. ?o you ha!e to play the game to the end. AJ1 o the time you will not roll doubles. " you don&t, your opponent can win with the ollowing rolls 1H9, 1HA, and any doubles o ' or larger. That&s a total o < o the '1 possible rolls on two dice 4allowing or the act that 1H9 and 1HA are re ally two rolls out o '1, since they can come up either o two ways5. ?o his winning chances are AJ1 times
3oubling in 4onContact ,ame $ositions The simplest kinds o doubles are in nonHcontact 4racing5 positions. % general rule o thumb is that i you are ahead by 0N in pip count, you should double. Gou can take with up to a 2H'N deicit in pip count. The needed percentages get larger as the race gets shorter. @or e-ample, a lead o <
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3oubling in !atch Situations 8oubling in match situations is slightly dierent than in money play, where e!ery point is equal. "t is a comple- sub=ect and !ery mathematical. But " will try to simpliy it a little. " you are leading in a match, you should be a little more conser!ati!e about doubling, and about taking. But only a little. 8on&t let yoursel get stolen blind. Khen one player is close to winning the match, you should be aware o some special situations. PostH/raword. Khen the /raword game has already been played, the trailer should double at his irst opportunity. Period. Gou can&t lose more than one meaningul point in the game, so why not play to win as many as you canM O!erage. ?uppose you are trailing 'H in a match to A and your opponent doubles. Gou decide to take. )edouble on your ne-t roll, no matter how bad your position$ Khat can you loseM " you lose this game you lose the match ; why not put it all on the lineM The same would go i you were trailing 'H0, or any time you will lose the match i you lose this game. ?imilarly, i you are leading, be more cautious about doubling in such a s ituation. )emember, i your opponent takes, he will immediately redouble. "nstead o betting one additional point to win one, you&re eecti!ely betting three. @ree 8rop. This is a special situation ater the /raword game. ?ay you are leading a match to A by 9H2 and your opponent wins the /raword game, so it&s now 9H '. #e rolls an opening 'H, playing
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3oubling in a ,ame and !atch "6uity @rom a gi!en score, it is possible to know your chances o winning the match. /onsider a simple e-ample. Gou are trailing 2H0 in a 'Hpoint match. Gou need to win two games to win the match, period. 4" you win the irst game without a gammon, you will o course double on the irst roll o the ne-t game.5 ?ince you are A0N to win each game, you are A0N times A0N or 2AN to win the match. ?uppose instead you are trailing 2H in the /raword game. Fow your chances are a little better. Gou can win a gammon in this game to win the match, and on a!erage you>ll do that about 0N o the time. The other 90N o the time that you win 4but don>t win a gammon5 you>ll win the match A0N o those times. 0N plus 90N times A0N makes you '0N to win the match. "t is possible to know all the matchHwinning odds or all scores. That discussion is too comple- or this article, but a good table and s hortcut or memori6ing it is contained in the sample issue o *ammOn3ine.com, Rit Koolsey>s e-cellent online backgammon maga6ine. ?o, suppose you are leading H0 in a match to A. Khen should you doubleM Khen should you takeM ?tart with the take decision. The odds are 3eading 2H0, 11N to win the match 3eading 'H0, :AN to win Tied H, A0N to win Trailing 2H, 9N to win " you drop the double, you will be '9N to win 4trailing 2H05. " you take, you will be 2AN when you lose the game 4trailing 'H05 and AEN when you win 4leading 2H5. Gou are risking EN 4'9NH2AN5 to gain 2AN 4AEN H '9N5. ?o you need E wins or e!ery 2A losses to break e!en, or about 21N. ?o you should take i you are 21N to win, and you should double i you think there>s a good chance that by your ne-t roll you will be at least :9N to win, or i you>re already o!er that. There are some comple-ities, o course. Gou can take a little more aggressi!ely than this, because you own the cube and ha!e the sole right to redouble. But i you are going to get gammoned more oten than you win a gammon, you ha!e to ad=ust or this. The question o gammon prices 4how much g ammons aect the doubling decision5 is beyond the scope o this article. Rit wrote a !ery good book on this called #ow To Play Tournament Backgammon, which " recommend. Or you can work out the math on your own rom the match equity table on *ammOn3ine. " you work through the math, you will learn a lot about correct doubling strategy. "s this topic comple-M Ges. "s it importantM Only if you /ant to be a good player. #uge numbers o matches are lost by incorrect doubling decisions.
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Online Play Playing Backgammon online is quickly becoming the “new poker”. Backgammon rooms are starting up e!erywhere, and they&re all gi!ing out nice signing up bonuses. There are se!eral sites out there and it might be a bit diicult to decide which one to choose. There are a ew dierent kinds o play oered online and almost all orms are a!ailable using either real money or playmoney.
Single $lay @irst there&s the “simple” ?ingle Play. #ere you go up against an opposing player and decide upon a bet. The winner takes it all. ost o these games also ha!e a limit, this means that the bet can only be doubled up until this igure, no more. ?o i a game has a stake o A and a limit o 20, this means that the starting bet is SA and it can only be doubled twice 4SA to S0 and S0 to S205.
!atches % match is won by the irst player to accumulate a predetermined number o points. This total can be reached in one or more games, depending on the !alue o the cube during a game. Points are awarded in the usual manner One or a single game, two or a gammon, and three or a backgammon. The doubling cube is used, so the winner recei!es the !alue o the game multiplied by the inal !alue o the doubling cube.
Tournaments Tournaments are usually composed o matches, where pairs play a series o games to ind a winner, who then progresses to the ne-t round. %ll games are randomly assigned. There are usually two kinds o tournaments, scheduled and “sit n go”. The scheduled tournaments take place at times decided by the online site, usually on a daily basis. ?it n *oes are a!ailable 29J: as soon as the d ecided number o players ha!e registered.
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