If you are a complete beginner, 247 backgammon might be an option to help you understand the rules but you will clearly be limited if you want to progress further.
Presentation of 247 backgammon
24/7 backgammon is full of qualities and the first is that this software is totally free to play.
On the 247 games website you will find plenty of games to play like blackjack, bridge, checkers, chess, hearts, roulette and more. There is no need to register or to open an account on the website. It is what we call a connect and play software. All the games available on the 247 website are very well designed and easy to use. That’s why we think that backgammon 247 might be of good help for people that just discover our fantastic game.
When you launch the game several options are available, like the way you are going to bear off your checkers, the number of points you want to play (from 1 to 15), the level of difficulty (from easy to expert) and if you want to use the doubling cube or not.
Those options are more than welcome for the beginners because they can play the kind of game they want.
Unfortunately, it is impossible to play against other real players from around the world. Your opponent can only be the computer with his different level of difficulty.
That also means that there is no ranking system to compare your level with anybody.
Our opinion on 247 backgammon
Like we already said, 247 backgammon is a good option for the new players who want to understand the rules without any pressure. You can take your time against the computer and set up the difficulty and the length of the game. Another great feature is that 247 backgammon is available on mobile devices. A good fit to get to know better the rules of backgammon.
247 Backgammon
Free
Pros
- - Free to play
- - No registration needed
- - Available on desktop and mobile
Cons
- - No leaderboard available
- - Impossible to play against real players
- - No possibility to play for money
I would love to have this online game made FAIR…. during ‘rolls’
– the ‘computer’ receives 6, doubles, the player – 1 at the end of the game.
So, the only way to win, is by coincidence!
I’m a huge fan of 247 Backgammon, but have to concur with the other people commenting. On Expert level, it cheats relentlessly. Even so, I have managed to win 15/15 games on Expert a few times, but it is very rare.
A few months ago, I ran some stats on the games (like a previous commenter did), and on fairly basic measures , the dice relentlessly favours the computer
– who starts
– total dice score,
– number of doubles across the whole game
– number of doubles after the break / during the bearing-off
– number of times the player gets a dice score s/he can’t use
– number of times the player gets a double s/he can’t use
– number of rolls taken to escape when only one position clear (computer almost always gets out as soon as a position is clear – often with a double – player almost always has to wait several rolls)
On expert, I can almost always predict what the roll is going to be. If you risk splitting a stack and leaving a single pip unprotected for a moment (having assessed the risk that the computer will need a highly unlikely roll to snatch it) you can be pretty sure the computer will get that roll. If I have a position where there is only one highly unlikely roll to force expose a pip, then I will get that roll.
As someone else noted, Backgammon is mostly about assessing risk. By fiddling with the probabilities via the dice, then the backbone of the game is broken. Yes the computer wins, but not by playing better than you, but by messing with the fundamental nature of random dice rolls. It forces you to play extremely defensively, rather than taking calculated risks, and when you do get beaten by the computer, its usually because you have been unwilling to push forward aggressively enough the way you would with a human player (or a fair dice). When you do win, it’s because you have held back, building a 20-30 pip lead before breaking because you know the dice will allow the computer to eat into your lead with cheat doubles.
I have sworn a lot at the Expert computer. But I still play it. I will still beat Expert most times, unfortunately, a win isn’t enough, I need 15 wins in a row 🙂 And that is hard.
In an actual game with another human: I was in such a strong position that the only way I could have lost was to roll double fours twice in a row. I lost that game by doing just that. Building prime blocks is one of my strengths – and has led me to victory many times – but the dice can destroy your best laid plans. Being good is not always enough – watching your opponent get a perfect roll – that teaches you humility – rejoice that backgammon is a game that makes it possible for good players to challenge great players. “Luck is for Losers” – I remember reading that in a book titled “Backgammon For Blood” – it fits the game beautifully. I wish Backgammon 247 had higher levels than EXPERT – but it is a wonderful game to help good players improve their game.
That’s interesting. I read Backgammon for Blood way back in the mid seventies when Backgammon was a thing and every bar had boards. That book set me back in my learning by an embarrassingly long time as I couldn’t let go of the idea that its opening repertoire was seriously flawed. Nevertheless it did one thing for me, and that is to learn a respectable back game. I still scratch my head though as to why it recommended not using the 6-5 to run. I kept pounding my head against a rock wondering why I kept losing to saner play.
In regards to 247, I just discovered this site yesterday, and decided to stay a while. It’s style of play is just as aggressive as Backgammon for blood, and I just finished a game where he had men on the bar and only the 4 slot to enter. I believe its the first game I have ever won with the opponent still having 4 checkers barred. And of course it took the double. The dice are squirelly to be sure. When you live and die trying to claim the 5 point, it strikes me as a wee bit unusual when 5-5 gets rolled repeatedly. The trick of course in beating this program badly and repeatedly of course is to cover your own inner table quickly so that you don’t get caught in a bludgeoning match where even though he has little inner territory covered, there is no way to get a checker around when you inevitably come off awkwardly. Anyhow have had fun, and I must say that I remain nostalgic for the Yahoo heyday where the tournaments were honest, if not all the players. You could actually converse with them with whatever words you wished to use, vs the forced choice of 5 phrases you see at some of the sites. There is one site that is definitely best avoided if you want to maintain your sanity and it keeps morphing but last I recall its called Backgammon King. There again there are many honest players but if you get on a roll and start climbing levels too rapidly, you will get a smack down that is unforgettable. Game after game within a 2 day period I would have bulletproof boards and leads where only a 1/18 shot 2 or even 3 rolls in a row was required to lose. Tie after time–and like a fool kept increasing the stakes until I had lost several hundred thousand fake points. I finally walked away but I could see where folks might be sucked into spending lots of real $$ to stay in the action. At first I thought it was a fluke, but been back twice with same scenario. They keep fighting my Google play review but I refuse to take it down. Finally for folks really wanting to sharpen their skills there is a free app called Jellyfish which is a very strong player, but unfortunately it doesn’t run on WIN10 or 11. I’ve got a win 7 machine that I’m rehabbing just for that. Of course, if you really, really want to get trounced repeatedly spend a few hundred bucks and get Snowie. It’s the IBM Blue version of Backgammon and is better than any human alive. BTW I’m on a 40+ point roll against the 3 star expert here. Hope to double that later today! I mean given tthat it never turns down a double, I suspect you could break the bank with a prime crawl across the deck.
Where can we find a true non-rigged enjoyable backgammon game online?
I am waiting for a 247 MANAGEMENT member to reply and say their game is NOT rigged. DO YOU THINK i HAVE TO WAIT FOR A VERY VERY VERY VERY LONG TIME 🙂 ?
So boredom set in, and I, too have noticed that on Expert the game just seemed to get incredible dice. I’m not so convinced it gets “perfect rolls” or gives the human player bad ones, I just started to notice it would simply roll “more” (higher) dice.
So, I started tracking it. Kept track of each game in a 30-game series at the break-contact point and what the loser’s residual PIP was. Some interesting numbers emerged!
I won 20 of 30 games. On average, when the computer won it did so by throwing 11.8 points to my 7.3 points advantage. What’s more interesting, over the 30 games, the computer summed a total advantage of 109 points on wins and 105 points on losses to me 72 and 16 respectively.
The computer also managed 5 flips (came from behind at break contact to win) to my 2. In those cases, the computer averaged 15.6 points to my 12.
I am thoroughly convinced the implementation of 24/7 Backgammon on the expert level just simply (and slightly) increases the roll of the computer. That alone over time would accumulate to a considerable advantage, one easily illustrated by my numbers.
It’s my opinion I won more often by having a better “playing” algorithm/skill. I would do my damndest to not allow break contact until I had a significant lead, because I knew I was unlikely to maintain it.
They have tried to make the game competitive by allowing it to cheat (I believe) . You can see this in the difference between hard and expert where on hard it gets the perfect roll too many times and gives you the worst roll too many times. On hard it just doesn’t always take the right move.
They have no idea how to use a game double, sometimes offering it when they are trapped and always accepting it. The beginner should ignore how they use the double.
They also have huge flaws in the logic. I know it is very difficult to right these programs but simple logic like 1) how to use a 6 1 on the opening roll 2) when to hit players and 3) which players to protect are not up to standard.
I don’t understand why these games resort to cheating. The cheating not only takes the fun out but also fails in the teaching as learning how to evaluate odds is a key to the game. If hitting an opponent is normally a 1 in 18 risk I take it, but if because the game cheats it is 1 in 2, I can’t.
If they quit cheating and just had a leaderboard for % of wins, we could compete with others via the leaderboard . rather than just beating the game.
I enjoy playing the game on expert and hard. I do believe that the software is rigged. I can have the computer locked out from any possible moves. Any time that I get ahead the doubles come out in bucket loads from the computer. Where I should have a win, the computer never fails with three of four doubles in a row. It would be nice to share some of doubles.
247 Backgammon is rigged. – plain and simple.
6 doubles in one game thats BS
I agree with Sue when she states the Expert Level needs to be at a much higher level. I think doubling strategy improvements, while very nice to have, probably could be very complicated.
Once a user selects the Pass and Play option, there is no way to return to normal play. The ability to reset options would be appreciated.
Still, I think this is an excellent program.
You’re right that the game is great for beginners, but even the Expert Level is far too simple for experienced players. It’s a shame because the graphics are some of the most beautiful I’ve seen on any backgammon site anywhere on the web.
The game is just about rigged for the player to win against the robot 99% of the time. The robot has no idea when to offer the cube or when to refuse it when it’s offered. If there are only two pieces left that the player has to remove from the board to win and the player offers the cube, the robot always accepts it. It’s ridiculous. Usually, the robot has already offered the cube at some point in the game when it was already obvious that the player had the advantage.