I never ventured much into the game room, but I gather at least some games are played in real time via various game sites.
I did a search and it doesn’t seem that backgammon has been discussed in the past year or so.
I tend to play against GNU Backgammon. It’s surprisingly adept at kicking one’s butt up and down the board without the slightest hint of mercy. But I’ve gotten to the point where if I really focus and don’t make too many very stupid moves, I can sometimes win 40+% of the time - that’s for a 64 point match using the doubling cube.
I suspect that there isn’t much interest, but I wanted to ask anyway.
I’ve never played in any serious competitive way but enjoy playing recreationally.
I’m not sure what you mean by a “64 point match”? Most club matches I’ve been aware of are to 7 points (with 1 for a win, 2 for a gammon, 3 for a backgammon), and I’ve never seen the doubling cube accepted 6X(!) for 64X stakes in a real life game!
I played backgammon for a living through much of the 1970s. Played a lot in Miami and on cruise boats in the early 70s, some in California in the Hollywood clubs, ran tournaments in local bars and resorts in my home state of PA. I was living in Las Vegas in the late 70s when the game lost a lot of its popularity and I moved on to other games.
The game has changed with the advent of computers; even the opening moves have changed, and I have not kept up. I do have GNU backgammon on my computer and fire it up once in a while, but my last live money game was probably in 1979 in Vegas.
I played quite a bit once upon a time (for fun, not for significant money), but hardly at all in recent decades. Recently I bought a set and taught my ten-year old son to play.
Next time you’re in Thailand, dzero, send me a PM and we can get together and roll some dice.
Played it online for a while, and enjoy it. Playing it for money against anyone who could actually play would be much less efficient than just handing over my cash. Fiendishly difficult to find anyone who actually plays RL–though I guess I should look around here in the city.
