The rules of backgammon from the set-up to the doubling cube, with a drawn starting position, the best opening moves and the exact odds of being hit.
Best Online Backgammon Casinos in 2026
Backgammon is a board game and one of the oldest with a history spanning close to 5,000 years. Even though it has a long history, not many casinos support gambling on backgammon. To make it easy for you to play backgammon online, the best online casinos that support this game are listed below. All these casinos are trustworthy and safe and offer an amazing backgammon gaming experience. So, feel free to play the game using one of the casinos listed here.
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Backgammon is a race for two players: each of you moves 15 checkers around a board of 24 points, and the first to bring all of them home and take them off the board wins. The dice decide how far you move, but you decide which checkers to move, when to take risks and when to double the stakes, which is why good players win far more often than beginners. This guide covers how to play backgammon from the set-up to the doubling cube, with a drawn starting position and the exact odds behind the most common decisions.
How to Play Backgammon Online
Just like poker, you can easily play backgammon online. So, if you are into the game you can click on any of the casinos on this page and start playing the game right now. However, if you are new and would like to learn the ropes before you play a free backgammon game, this guide covers it. First, backgammon is a game for two players. Second, the game takes place on a special board. With that out of the way, it is time you learn how to play backgammon.
Estimated Time Needed : 00:05Tools Needed : AccountSupplies Needed: Time, Money
Step 1
Choose a Backgammon Casino
While not as popular as slots or card games, backgammon is becoming more and more popular in online casinos. Choose a site that suits your needs and click to visit it!
Step 2
Sign Up
Before any games can commence, you have to create a player account at the casino. Enter the requested details, verify and you are ready to go! Just don't forget to claim the welcome bonus.
Step 3
Deposit Funds to Your Account
If you want to partake in real money games, you need to fund your account. Select the payment method that you find the most convenient and transfer some cash - it should appear shortly.
Step 4
Enjoy the Game!
Now that everything's sorted, you are ready to partake in some high-tier backgammon action. Good luck!
The Board and the Starting Position
The board has 24 narrow triangles called points, in four quarters of six. Each player has a home board and an outer board, and the two halves of the board are split by the bar. You move your checkers from your opponent’s home board, round the board in a horseshoe, into your own home board. Your opponent moves the opposite way. Points are numbered from each player’s own side: your 1-point is your opponent’s 24-point.
Each player starts with 15 checkers:
2 on your 24-point (in your opponent’s home board)
5 on your 13-point (your opponent’s outer board)
3 on your 8-point (your outer board)
5 on your 6-point (your home board)
The starting position. White’s checkers are on 24, 13, 8 and 6; Black’s mirror them.
Added up, each side starts 167 pips (points of movement) away from bearing everything off. That figure, the pip count, is how players measure who is ahead in the race.
Starting the Game
Each player rolls one die. The higher number moves first, and plays the two numbers just rolled as the opening move. If both dice show the same number, roll again. After that, players take turns rolling both dice.
How to Move
Each die is a separate move. With a 5 and a 3 you can move one checker 5 points and another 3, or one checker 8 points in total, as long as the point it stops at after the first number is open.
Open points only. You can land on any point that is empty, holds your own checkers, or holds a single opposing checker. A point with two or more opposing checkers is closed to you.
Doubles are played four times. Roll 4-4 and you move four times 4 pips, 16 pips in all, with one checker or several.
You must use the whole roll if you can. If you can play only one of the numbers, you must play it, and if you can play either but not both, you must play the larger. If neither can be played, you lose your turn.
There is no limit to how many of your checkers can stand on one point.
On average a roll is worth 8⅓ pips, counting doubles at four moves.
Hitting and Re-entering from the Bar
A single checker on a point is a blot. If your opponent lands on it, it is hit and goes to the bar. While you have a checker on the bar, you cannot move anything else: you must first bring it back in through your opponent’s home board. A roll of 1 enters on their 1-point (your 24-point), a 6 on their 6-point (your 19-point), and the point must be open. If neither die lets you enter, you lose the turn. The more points your opponent has closed in their home board, the harder that is:
Points closed in the home board
Chance to enter with one roll
None
100%
1
97.2%
2
88.9%
3
75%
4
55.6%
5
30.6%
6
0%
With all six points closed, a closed board, you cannot enter at all until one of them opens.
Bearing Off
Once all 15 of your checkers are in your home board, you can start taking them off. A roll of 4 removes a checker from your 4-point. If there is no checker on that point, you must make a legal move with a checker on a higher point. If there are no checkers on higher points, you may remove one from the highest point you do occupy. You can also simply move checkers down inside your home board instead of bearing off. If a checker is hit while you are bearing off, it must re-enter and travel all the way home before you can bear off again.
Winning: Single Game, Gammon and Backgammon
The first player to bear off all 15 checkers wins. How much the win is worth depends on how far behind the loser is:
Result
When it happens
Worth
Single game
The loser has borne off at least one checker
1 × the stake
Gammon
The loser has not borne off any checkers
2 × the stake
Backgammon
The loser has not borne off any checkers and still has one on the bar or in the winner’s home board
3 × the stake
Pros and Cons of Online Backgammon
Pros
Skill-based and exciting game
Play anywhere, any time
No room for error when using the doubling cube
Eliminates issues with dice manipulation
Good to know
Not many casinos include the game in their catalogue
The Doubling Cube
The doubling cube is a large die marked 2, 4, 8, 16, 32 and 64. It starts in the middle, at 1. Before rolling, either player may offer to double the stakes. The opponent can accept, in which case the game is now played for twice as much and the cube passes to them, so only they can make the next double. Or they can refuse, which means they concede the game at the stake before the double.
Crawford rule (match play): when one player first gets within one point of winning the match, nobody may double for the next game.
Jacoby rule (money games): a gammon or backgammon counts only as a single game unless the cube has been turned. Many money games use it.
Optional extras: some players agree to automatic doubles (the stake doubles each time the opening roll is a tie, with the cube staying in the middle) or beavers (a player who has just been doubled may redouble at once and keep the cube).
Basic Strategy for Beginners
Make points in front of your opponent. Two or more checkers on a point block it. Points in your home board, and your 7-point (the bar point), are the most valuable, because they trap your opponent’s back checkers and make it harder to re-enter after a hit.
Use the best opening moves. These five opening rolls have a standard best play that every strong player agrees on:
Opening roll
Play
What it does
3-1
8/5, 6/5
Makes your 5-point
4-2
8/4, 6/4
Makes your 4-point
6-1
13/7, 8/7
Makes your bar point
5-3
8/3, 6/3
Makes your 3-point
6-5
24/13
Runs one back checker to safety
Know how likely a blot is to be hit. A blot within six pips of an opposing checker can be hit with a single die; further away, only a combination of both dice will do, so the chance falls sharply. These are the exact odds when nothing is in the way:
A blot 6 pips away is hit 17 times in 36; at 7 pips the chance drops to 6 in 36.
Distance (pips)
Rolls that hit
Chance
1
11 in 36
31%
2
12 in 36
33%
3
14 in 36
39%
4
15 in 36
42%
5
15 in 36
42%
6
17 in 36
47%
7
6 in 36
17%
8
6 in 36
17%
9
5 in 36
14%
10
3 in 36
8%
11
2 in 36
6%
12
3 in 36
8%
So if you have to leave a blot, leaving it 7 or more pips from your opponent’s checkers is usually far safer than leaving it close. Checkers or points in between can block some of those rolls and lower the chance further.
Count the race. Once the checkers have passed each other, the game is a pure race, and the lower pip count is ahead. The backgammon strategy guide goes further into game plans, priming and the back game.
Where to Play Online
Backgammon is played online at dedicated backgammon sites and apps as well as at some casinos. These operators are reviewed on this site; what they offer depends on where you live.
Regardless of whether you want to play a free backgammon game for fun or you wish to place your bets, there are things you should watch out for. As you look for the best online backgammon casinos, look for the following characteristics.
1
License and Compliance
Today, any legal online casino is licensed and regulated by at least one internationally recognised gambling authority. So, you should always strive to establish if the casino you come across has a license. To ensure you play in the best online casinos, look for casinos licensed and regulated by regulators like the Malta Gaming Authority and the UK Gambling Commission
2
Bonuses and Promotions
Who does not like bonuses and promotions? Both new and regular gamblers are head over heels in love with bonuses and promotions. Even though promotions on online backgammon are rare, the selection below is worth a look.
3
Game Selection
Just like any other casino, the catalogue of games is an important consideration. However, since this game is not so popular in online casinos, the list below includes only sites that support various types of backgammon.
4
Payment Methods
Payment method selection is another important factor you should consider in every casino. A casino with multiple payment methods lets you have the freedom to choose how you wish to deposit and withdraw your funds. So, go for a backgammon casino that offers a wide range of payment options.
Tawla: Backgammon in the Middle East
In the Arab world and Turkey the game is called tawla (Turkish tavla). It uses the same board, checkers and dice, and is usually played quickly and without the doubling cube. Players often switch between variants in one session, such as mahbusa, where a checker that is landed on is pinned in place rather than sent to the bar.
Playing Backgammon for Free
The best way to learn is to play: free backgammon apps and websites let you play against the computer or other people with nothing at stake, and many show you the best move afterwards. Set up the starting position above on a real board and play a few games against yourself, and the rules soon become automatic.
What You Need to Play
A backgammon board with 24 points and a bar
30 checkers, 15 in each of two colours
Two pairs of dice (one pair for each player) and two dice cups
A doubling cube, if you play for stakes or points
Backgammon Terms
Anchor: a point you hold in your opponent’s home board.
Blot: a single checker on a point, which can be hit.
Prime: several points in a row held by one player, which opposing checkers find hard to get past. Six in a row, a full prime, cannot be passed at all.
Pip count: the total number of pips a player needs to bear off every checker.
Dice names: the traditional names for 1 to 6 are ace, deuce, trey, cater, cinque and sice.
Different Types of Backgammon
The rules above are for standard backgammon. The same board and dice are used for many other games that change the starting position, how checkers move or whether they can be hit. These are the variants you are most likely to meet:
All 15 checkers start off the board and enter through the opponent’s home board, as if they were coming in from the bar. The special roll is 1-2: you play the 1 and the 2, then choose any double and play it four times, then roll again. Hitting and bearing off work as in standard backgammon. It is a traditional game in the United States Navy.
Hypergammon, or hyper-backgammon, uses standard rules but only three checkers each, starting on the 24, 23 and 22-points. Games are short and full of hitting, and they are played with the doubling cube.
Long nard (long nardy), popular in Russia, the Caucasus and Iran, starts with all 15 of each player’s checkers on a single point, and both players move in the same direction around the board. There is no hitting: a single checker is enough to hold a point, so the game is about blocking rather than attacking.
Tapa is the Bulgarian name for a game played in Greece as plakoto and in the Arab world as mahbusa. All 15 checkers start on the 24-point. Instead of hitting a single checker, you pin it: landing on it traps it in place until you move away, and the point counts as yours.
Nackgammon, devised by the backgammon player Nack Ballard, uses standard rules with a different start: 2 checkers on the 24-point, 2 on the 23-point, 4 on the 13-point, 3 on the 8-point and 4 on the 6-point. The extra back checker makes games longer and more complicated.
Another ancient board game for two:mancala, the game of sowing and capturing stones, or checkers.
If you play backgammon for money, set a limit before you start and stick to it. Free, confidential support is available at BeGambleAware.org. 18+ only.
Backgammon rules: frequently asked questions
How do you set up a backgammon board?
Each player places 2 checkers on their 24-point, 5 on their 13-point, 3 on their 8-point and 5 on their 6-point. Your 1-point is your opponent’s 24-point, so the two sets mirror each other.
Who goes first in backgammon?
Each player rolls one die and the higher number goes first, playing the two numbers just rolled. If the dice match, both roll again.
What happens when you roll doubles in backgammon?
You play the number four times instead of twice. A roll of 5-5 lets you move 5 pips four times, 20 pips in all.
Can you land on a point with your opponent’s checkers?
Only if it holds a single opposing checker. Landing there hits it and sends it to the bar. A point with two or more opposing checkers is closed.
What happens if you cannot move in backgammon?
You lose your turn. If you can play only one of the two numbers you must play it, and if you can play either but not both you must play the larger.
What is a gammon in backgammon?
A win where the loser has not borne off any checkers. It is worth twice the stake. If the loser also still has a checker on the bar or in the winner’s home board, it is a backgammon, worth three times.
How does the doubling cube work?
Before rolling, a player can offer to double the stakes. The opponent either accepts and takes the cube, so only they can double next, or refuses and concedes the game at the current stake.
How many checkers can be on one point in backgammon?
There is no limit. You can stack as many of your own checkers on a point as you like.
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Author & Casino Expert
After going through several successful experiences with several industry pioneers, Fadi Hayek has managed to excel in the world of content for online gaming by providing unique content for several projects that allowed him to obtain the necessary experience to launch his career. Last but not least, Fadi also holds several certificates, including but not limited to content marketing and iGaming.
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