Play 65 is one of the most popular backgammon sites online. You can play for fun or for real money, whether it be heads up match play or in multi-player tournaments. Huge guaranteed multi-player tournaments ranging from $300 to $40,000! Satellite events start from $5 + $1 to qualify for the $40,000 event with guaranteed prizes for top 64 players. Guaranteed tournaments daily. Join hourly, daily and weekly, Sit & GO and Event tournaments and win cash prizes. There are also tournaments limited for beginners so you don't have to dive head first into a pool of pros.

You can play for free or for real money on their excellent 3D tables. Great graphics, extremely fast game play and good player volumes 24/7. If you like backgammon, Gammon Empire has games around the clock at all levels, whether you are a beginner or a pro. Games start from €0.28 per point up to €282.61. You can either play single games, single match series, Sit and Go tournaments and multi-table tournaments. There are tournaments restricted to lower rated players. Each time you play, you get a rating and depending on your opposition, you rating changes whether you win or lose. The backgammon rating system is the same as that used for chess ratings. Before you sit down to play, you can check the other player's backgammon rating. If they have a much higher rating, it is naturally advisable not to play unless you want to challenge yourself against stronger opposition.

There are 30 seconds allowed per move, then the global game clock starts winding down. If the global game clock goes down to 0, that player forfeits the game. This ensures speedy action.

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.

Play 65 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.

Play 65 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. Play 65 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 Play 65. 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@play65.com. They will respond to your query within 24 hours.

Play 65'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.