Once the backgammon board has been laid out properly playing the game commences. To decide who starts the game, each player rolls one die and the highest number begins.  Players take turn rolling the dice then moving their checkers the number of spaces that have been dictated by the numbers (called pips) shown on the dice. A player may move his or her checkers based on the number of the combined dice and doubles count for twice as many moves in backgammon.

When the backgammon game begins, the value of the entire game is one point. Each player has the option to raise the stakes and by rolling the backgammon cube the stakes can multiply very rapidly. When one player raises the stakes of the game in backgammon, the other player must accept or else forfeit the game.  Remember, when playing the game of backgammon online for real money bets, be sure to pair yourself up with a player who is in your league.

When moving your checkers around the backgammon board there are three types of points to consider. A free or open point with no checkers on it, a point with your own checkers on it and a point with your opponent’s checkers on it. Both players can land on open points but if they only put one checker on a point it is exposed and could get hit (meaning knocked off the backgammon board).  The player can stack as many of his own checkers on points he controls in backgammon.  If the point is controlled by the opponent (meaning he has two or more checkers on it) then you can’t land on that point. The backgammon strategy of blacking off several rows of points is often used to hinder your opponent’s ability to move freely around the board and may possibly cost him a turn.

Each player must first move all his checkers to his own home board and then off the board altogether (called bearing off). If you manage to remove all your backgammon checkers from your home board before your opponent has removed any of his checkers then the game value is doubled (called a gammon). If you manage to clear all your checkers from your home board and your opponent still has at least one checker sitting in your home board then you triple the value of the game. This is known as a backgammon. Now that you know how to play backgammon why not try a few games online?