Online backgammon for beginners

The world of online backgammon offers a lot of options for a beginner. You can play matches, small tournaments, big tournaments and much, much more. This raises the question what should backgammon beginner play? The short answer: tournaments.

Big tournaments are obviously tempting as a good run will get you more than just a couple of bucks (a lot more actually) and a smile on your face. But as a beginner you might have your reservations and think that it doesn’t make sense to participate in tournaments until you have gained some knowledge and experience from off-tournament matches.

In Part 1 of this article we discuss the reasons why we believe that tournaments are essential for beginners development in backgammon and why it is also more profitable in the long run to play in tournaments from the very beginning than just playing off-tournament matches. Part 2 of this article will give insight how to choose the correct tournaments for you.

Why play in tournaments?

Just like in any game or sport, tournaments gather the best in the business and the increased general attention, higher stakes and the glory of success provide the best setting for high-level performances. Backgammon is no different. You will see dramatic matches fought at tournaments that would be soon forgotten had they “only”been regular one-off matches.

Online backgammon tournaments will teach you more in shorter time than regularily sticking to off-tournament matches. In a tournament you will fight for advancing further towards the finals, forcing and teaching you to focus and think of the long-term goal. The further you advance the higher the pressure gets and even world class players sometimes crack under the pressure. It’s all part of tournament play and the general concesus among backgammon players is that as a novice player one match in a well-played tournament equals 1,5-2 regular off-tournament matches in terms of growing as a player.

When to start playing in tournaments?

The answer to this question is simple: as soon as possible. To understand it better we need to examine the effects of tournament play on two essential areas: Progression as a player and Hard cash.

Progression as a player

As mentioned above, tournament play will teach you more than regular off-tournament play. In Diagram 1 the relative progression and growth as a player has been indicated for two players. One regularily plays in tournaments and the other one mainly off-tournament matches. Assuming that the same number of matches are played, the player who regularily plays in tournaments will faster become a better player. Over the time the two players might get close in terms of skill and experience but the one rarely playing in tournaments is likely to miss out on the mental edge that only tournament play can give.

It’s all about the money

So it’s nice to become a better player, but how does this reflect on you earnings? Obviously we don’t play backgammon only to have a good time if we can also earn money with it, do we? Well, oddly enough, the player playing in tournaments from beginner level onwards will likely to see a drop in his earnings in the beginning. While off-tournament matches are mostly very cheap to play in (especially beginners are happy playing one dollar matches or even less), most useful tournaments require more expensive buy-ins. And because chances are that as a novice player you won’t get far enough to earn back the buy-in fee, you’ll be running at a loss. But not forever. Let’s look at Diagram 2.

Diagram 2. Relation of earnings of a
tournament player vs. an off-tournament player.

Diagram 2 illustrates the relation of two backgammon beginners earnings in the very beginning of their career. One plays regularily in tournaments, the other mainly plays off-tournament matches. The guy who is not really into playing in tournaments will start soon cashing in some money and his earnings will pretty much follow his skill progression curve. Bit by bit he will be able to play higher stake matches and although loosing every now and then he’ll be increasing his earnings steadily.

The other beginner, who knows the power of tournament playing is going to see some grey days when he’ll be just playing but earning little or nothing at all. But when his skill level and experience reaches a certain point he’ll notice that he’s more often advancing to later rounds in tournaments where the prize money is higher. That’s when tournament playing will really start paying off. Because he will be advancing to later rounds and winning more money his earnings will soon exceed the other player’s steadily growing earnings. Please note that the curves in Diagram 2 are purely illustrative.

Conclusion

There are clear benefits of regularily playing in tournaments from the very beginning of your backgammon career. Backgammon beginners should not disregard tournaments. You will not only become a better player faster, but in the long run you will also start earning more than you would if you stuck to off-tournament matches. To put it simply: tournaments are the spice of backgammon and that’s where you can learn and earn most.

In Part 2 we will discuss and advise you how to choose the correct backgammon tournaments to support your growth and development as a player - and the growth and development of your bankroll.