Gammon Village is a backgammon portal with plenty of information about live backgammon tournaments held around the world. They do not run their own software but have a partnership with Gammon Empire. So when you click the download software button, you are actually directed to the Gammon Empire download. Hence, the review below is the same as Gammon Empire's. We are not impressed by their website which is messy, confusing and full of advertisement for other sites. Not our idea of a good gaming website. As you would join the Gammon Empire network anyhow, our recommendation is to stick to Gammon Empire and sign up directly with them!

Game Modes

Series Mode (Match Play) - A series of games between two players that ends when one player wins by accumulating the agreed and set number of points. For each game, the number of points won is the doubling cube value multiplied by the win type (winning by a gammon is worth 2 points, winning by a backgammon is worth 3 points).

Single Mode (Money Game) - The normal style of competition in which games are played independently. For each game, the loser pays the winner the agreed initial stake multiplied by the value of the doubling cube and further multiplied by the win type (two for a gammon or three for a backgammon).

Timer

Move Timer - this timer displays the time you have left to make a move. It is reset after each move. If this timer expires, the global timer will start ticking.

Global Timer - this timer starts ticking only when the move timer expires. The global timer is set for the entire game.

Doubling Cube

Backgammon is played for an agreed wager (or number of points in the tournament play). During the course of the game, a player who feels he has a sufficient advantage may propose doubling his stakes. He may do so, only at the start of his turn, and before he has rolled the dice. A player who is offered a double may refuse, in which case he concedes the game and pays the original wager. Otherwise, he must accept the double and play on for the new higher stakes. A player who accepts a double becomes the owner of the cube and only he may make the next double. Subsequent doubles in the same game are called redoubles. If a player refuses a redouble, he must pay the wager that was at stake prior to the redouble. Otherwise, he becomes the new owner of the cube and the game continues at twice the previous stakes. Redoubles can increase the original wager by up to 64 times.

Playing with Beavers

An optional rule in Single Mode (money play)whereby when a player is doubled, he may immediately redouble (beaver) while retaining possession of the doubling cube. The original doubler has the option of accepting or refusing as with a normal double.

Beautiful 3D backgammon board. You can have auto roll which speeds things up. You can also mute chat if there is an annoying viewer. There is a pip count and a timer - if you don't move within a certain time limit, you might forfeit your turn. Once you have made your moves, you can accept the moves or undo if you wish to change your mind.

Gammon Village has decent player volumes 24/7 whether it be night time or during day time. Peak hour volumes are over 5,000 players with off peak around 2-3,000. Naturally not all are real money players but a large number are and you can find Matches at all real money stakes. Matches start from as little as £0.28 per point. Thereafter, matches can be anything up to £282.61 per point! You can decide on what type of Match you wish to create or you can already join a match already set up by someone else - it is possible to see the terms of the match as well as the rating of the player suggesting the match. Both have to accept each other before the game starts. You can decide whether to include the doubling dice or not, whether it is a single match or over a certain number of sets.

Gammon Village has an impressive tournament schedule with numerous special guaranteed prize pool events. It currently hosts the massive $40,000 Guaranteed backgammon tournament. Either buy in directly at $90 + $9, or you can qualify via satellites. There are other special high value tournaments such as the £10,000 guaranteed. Best is to check either the tournament console or their website as the events differ from time to time. As each real money player gets an ELO rating when they play, it is easy to see a player's current rating via a colour coding system. Gammon Village run several guaranteed and other tournaments which are exclusively for players rated below 1600. This is a nice touch for the beginners and intermediate players as there are plenty of professionals who play online at Gammon Village. Plenty of smaller tournaments with buy-ins ranging from $2 + $0.20 to $20 + $2. There are some larger buy-ins but they are rare and tend to be the guaranteed events listed below.

Plenty of Sit and Go tournaments with either 4 or 8 players. Buyins range from as little as $1 + $0.10 to $50 + $7. Ouch, commission increases with higher value of buyin? The commission is already quite high but to charge more than 10% is pretty greedy in our view.

DEPOSIT OPTIONS:
VISA, MasterCard, Switch, Solo, NETeller, PayPal, Moneybookers, Western Union, Wire Transfer

CASH OUT OPTIONS:
VISA, NETeller, PayPal, Moneybookers, Wire Transfer, Bank Draft

If you deposited with a VISA Credit Card, when withdrawing, they will always try to credit your Visa card first.

There is only e-mail support available. Please e-mail customer support at support@GammonVillage.com. They will respond to your query within 24 hours.

Gammon Village's Loyalty Programme is excellent! Regular players enjoy a dedicated host that looks after you and gives you great comps and gifts. Our most devoted players also enjoy our luxurious VIP loyalty program. Membership entitles free gifts, more prizes and bigger bonuses.