GammonEmpire

Developer: Barosh Ltd.

Cost: GammonEmpire allows you to download software for free, and pays $2 for a valid e-mail address.

System Requirements: Windows 98 or better

Tournaments: GammonEmpire supports tournaments (both sit-down and event); however, their schedule shows only one event tournament for July and none for August.

Deposits and Cashouts: GammonEmpire allows deposits/withdrawals by wire transfer, with all credit cards, and through Paypal.

Support: Representatives are available 24/7. Support requests are submitted by e-mail and responded to within 24 hours.

Review   Gammon Empire was the first designated backgammon server to take this ancient game in the same direction as Texas Holdem. In other words, they were the ones with the bright idea of play backgammon online for money. Being the first doesn't automatically make them the best, the service they offer though would make it difficult for anyone to argue about the quality of this site. For those who want play for real money, cash games are offered as well as some pretty lively tournaments.

Bonuses are a big part of the way Gammon Empire does business. Those who play here will get a $15 bonus just for signing up. When you first put money into your online account, Gammon Empire will add an extra 15% bonus to what you have uploaded. As an incentive to share the good news with your friends, they also offer a $20 referral bonus.

Attention to detail is something that is obviously important to the folks who run this site. The look of this site is rather impressive. The 3D graphics look as if they are going to jump out of your screen. The folks at Gammon Empire are also keenly aware that backgammon is an international game, so not everyone is fluent in English. With that in mind, they have made the site accessible to 8 different languages: English, French, Turkish, Spanish, Greek, Hebrew, Italian, German, and Portugese. Also they provide a glossary and an overview of the rules of backgammon.

This is the sort of site that has everything going for it. The only chink in the armor is the number of players who come here. Though there are no real problems getting a game going, backgammon is just starting to take off. With that in mind, nobody can expect 15,000 people to be playing during peak hours. Give time though. As they said in the film Field of Dreams, "If you build it, people will come." And they will.