Backgammon is a board game that has been played since ancient Egyptian, Sumerian, and Roman times and is believed to have originated in Mesopotamia. It is used with a board, markers, and dice, and played with two players. Online Casino Backgammon has become quite popular around the world, and this article discusses the history, components, rules, and references for strategies of the game.

History

An engineer from IBM wrote the initial software allowing backgammon to be played on a computer, and original online play began in Sweden in 1993. Approximately 100 players could play and watch other matches; evaluating other player’s strengths. The first online Casino-style Backgammon began in Norway and it provided the ability to assign equity values to any player as well as rollout positions.

Components

Whether in the Casino or played online, Backgammon is played on a board containing 24 narrow triangles (points). There are 12 points on each side of the board, alternating in color and grouped into four quadrants with six points each. The quadrants consist of a “home board” and an “outer board” with a partition (“bar”) separating the two halves. Each player is allotted 15 markers, (called stones or checkers), either dark or light, and a pair of dice.

Rules

To start this Casino game, one die is rolled, and the player with the highest number begins. To play, each player in turn rolls the dice, which identifies the number of points the player can move their markers. The stones must be moved in one direction along the board, and cannot retreat. Since there are two dice rolled, the player chooses to move one stone along the total points, or two stones, one for the value of each single die; the solitary consideration is that the point not be already occupied by two or more of the opponent’s markers. If the points are claimed by the opponent, the player loses a turn if the roll of the dice would place their marker on an unavailable triangle. If the point is occupied by only one marker, it is called a blot, and if the opposing stone lands on a “blot”, it is “hit” causing the stone to be placed on the “bar”. The “bar” stone must be played onto an unoccupied point on the opposing home board the player can move another stone. The objective is to move the markers around the board until the stones can be removed. All stones belonging to the player must be on the board before they can “bear off” and the stone be removed from the board. The challenge being that the exact number must be rolled to remove the stone from the board.

Strategy

There are as many strategies for winning Casino backgammon as there are players and books on the subject; however, the element of chance and a bad roll are always eminent. The strategies are that of war and attacking or backing off and running.