You Lose Points If You Don't Know a Gammon from a Backgammon

One of the more common mistakes by rookie or new backgammon players is in thinking that when they win or even when they play or bear off all their pieces in victory while leaving their opponent with no pieces of theirs played out but still in their home court or side of the bar that it is a "backgammon." In other words, these newbies (or the uneducated) don't know the difference between a Gammon and a Backgammon.

So, for the benefit of your game, eager players out there, here is the definition or explanation of each, so that you will look, sound and - even more importantly - play like a knowledgeable backgammon enthusiast.

A "Gammon" occurs when you bear off (remove) all 15 of your men before your opponent has borne off a single man. If you do so, you win a gammon, or double game.

A "Backgammon" occurs when you bear off all 15 of your men before your opponent has borne off a single man and he still has one or more men in your home board, or on the bar. Wining this way gives you a backgammon, or a triple game. One way to think about this is that you left your opponent in the "back" portion of the board.

Because a backgammon is the more rare occurrence, you indeed should feel a stronger, more powerful sense of victory in this more dominant or complete form of winning (especially in points or tournament advancing). However, when you win with a gammon, you still have reason to rejoice, since that is still a difficult objective to reach against veteran or experienced players.