Best backgammon sites
June 24th, 2006
There are quite a few online backgammon sites on the internet and you’ll probably find yourself wondering which one you should choose to play at. A good rule-of-thumb is to go for online backgammon sites that are popular, as they are probably popular for a reason. In terms of online backgammon sites popularity directly correlates with high level of quality, safety, good support and a continuous set of good money tournaments. However, most importantly a popular site offers a large number of opponents to play against around the clock.
On this page we present our current selection of online backgammon sites you might also want to try out.
1. Gammon Empire
Gammon Empire is a huge online backgammon site with more than 10.000 players online at all times. It uses a very good backgammon software that has helped in creating a venue for all backgammon enthusiasts that is hard to match. Thousands of players, educating and fun backgammon school and good choice of tournaments make Gammon Empire perhaps the best online backgammon place to be. Tournaments up to $50,000 in prize pool underline the status of Gammon Empire as the leading online backgammon site.
Tip: If you can, download the Gammon Empire backgammon software. It offers a faster and nicer overall game experience than the online browser version they also have available. Both work perfectly fine but in the long run the downloadable software is the more comfortable option.
2. BackgammonMasters
BackgammonMasters is the newest member of our recommended online backgammon sites. BackgammonMasters earns our recommendation not only because of its highly respected position in the backgammon world but also because it offers something most backgammon sites don’t - a personal touch.
As a new player to BackgammonMasters, or also known as BGM, the first thing you should check out is the excellent animated introduction that explaines pretty much everything you need to know to get started. It’s a feature that definitely lowers the threshold for novice players to sign up. Look for the “Guided tour” on the BGM homepage.
BGM offers single and match plays as well as daily Sit & Go and Freeroll tournaments. A BGM speciality is Hypergammon, or HyperBackgammon as it is called at BGM. It’s an fast-paced backgammon variant that the our other top online backgammon sites don’t offer. Check out our Hypergammon rules article in case you are still unfamiliar with this game.
The BackgammonMasters tournaments are well organized with generous prize pools. The winner can cash up anything from $ 10 in the smallest Sit & Go’s to $ 3,000 in larger tournaments. Daily freeroll tournaments are highly popular with the winner getting up to $ 100.
If you would want to describe BackgammonMasters with one word, it would definitely be “cosy”.
3. PartyGammon
When PartyGammon was launched mid-2006 it entered the online backgammon scene with a bang. By hosting the first million dollar tournament (not online, though) in January 2007 it has set a clear goal to establish a solid position in the online backgammon market.
Part of the well-known PartyGaming family (e.g. PartyPoker and PartyBingo), PartyGammon continues the same high-quality approach to online gaming as its brothers and sisters. PartyGammon is very well managed and organized, you can clearly see that PartyGaming has done its homework before going public.
Unfortunately, despite the very promising beginning not that many players have found PartyGammon yet as many of us would’ve hoped for. Is it perhaps the perhaps rigid business-like look and feel? Or perhaps it’s just a matter of time until PartyGammon really takes off? One way or another, PartyGammon is a very good online backgammon site and we sure as heck believe that it will (and already is) putting up a good fight against the biggest online backgammon sites.
Oh, and you know what? PartyGammon is currently the only backgammon site where you can win an entry to a live $1,000,000 tournament. That’s something to think about.
4. Play65
Play65, the second largest backgammon site on the internet also offers you a great platform to satisfy your backgammon lust. Here too, thousands of players are available for you to challenge, or if you feel like it you might just want to hang out and watch games in real-time and learn from experienced players who take it all away.
Play65 uses the same software as GammonEmpore and therefore the differences between the two sites are minimal.
Note: Before you head off to one of the sites above, read also our backgammon software review article. We have reviewed the softwares used at the above sites so that you will know what to expect when you are ready to sign up.
