Backgammon Casino Game Free Lessons
Backgammon Strategy
Backgammon is a board game reminiscent of checkers and chess, although it probably predates the latter. Recreational but not too easy, backgammon became a staple in home games in no time and finally made its way to land-based and online casinos as a classy table game often associated with tuxedo-garbed gentlemen.
How to Play Backgammon
A game of backgammon primarily makes use of the backgammon board, 
which looks sort of like a chess board, and backgammon pieces, which resemble checker pieces. The backgammon board is made up of two sides, one black and the other white, each containing 12 points. Each side has an inner table and outer table located perpendicular to either side. There are a total of 30 backgammon pieces, 15 black and 15 white. These pieces are known as stones. In addition, backgammon requires two dice and a dice holder, such as a dice cup, from which to roll the dice.
Before a game of backgammon begins, the first step to playing is to set up the backgammon board. Players sit opposite each other, which determines if they are on the black or white side of the table. On either side, stones are similarly placed in this manner: two stones of the opponent's color are on the first point, five stones of own color are on the sixth point, three stones of own color are on the eighth point, and five stones of the opponent's color are on the twelfth point.
After setting up the backgammon board, players must determine who moves first by each throwing a single die. Whoever rolls the higher number gets to move first. If the numbers tie, both players must keep throwing the die until they break the tie. As soon as one player rolls a higher number, points on the board must be numbered 1 through 24, beginning with the point on the board's upper righthand corner farthest away from that player.
The game of backgammon begins once the player with the higher roll moves his first stone along the board as many times as the number on his rolled die. For example, one player hits a 2 on the roll of a single die while the other player hits a 5. The player who rolled the 5 gets to move first. Because his roll was a 5, he must move one stone a total of five steps from its starting point. This is the first move in the game, and the only one based on the number on a single die. From here on, the other player rolls two dice and moves his stones accordingly, and they both take turns doing so.
For the remainder of the game, stones are moved according to the roll of two dice. That is, players move their pieces from one point to the next as many times as the number shown on the dice. The numbers on the two dice may be taken as a sum to move a single stone, or taken separately to move two different stones. For example, a player hits 1 and 3 on two dice, which equals 4. He has the option to either move one stone four steps, or move a first stone one step and move a second stone three steps.
If you hit the same number on each of the two dice, known as a double, you may use this number to move four times. For example, you hit two 6's on a two-die roll. It means you can move four times, at six steps each move. Thus, the most number of moves you can make per turn is four. You have the option to decline a double, and make two moves only instead of four. But the favored practice is to use as many doubles as possible.
Players must move stones in a counterclockwise direction. If you look at the backgammon board while playing, you would notice all stones moving similarly: from a starting point, all the way around until the inner table, and then all the way off the board. Players take turns rolling two dice and moving stones according to the outcomes of the dice, until one of them manages to move his very last stone off the board, in which case he wins backgammon.
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