Internet Backgammon
Internet backgammon featuring freeroll tournaments
Well-known board games have always been popular in just about every country and culture on earth. And with the online boom which began in the mid-90's many people have adapted these popular games to the virtual online environment. Internet backgammon has been well established on the net thanks to huge networks of players that come together such as FIBS - the First Internet Backgammon Server. There are also several commercial internet backgammon sites and servers that allow players to play for fun or for money and the weekly tournaments they offer help attract thousands of new players to the virtual backgammon board every day.
Using one of several internet backgammon software platforms players can tap into a large network of thousands of players and partake in ongoing tournaments sponsored by the makers of the software. Some of these software platforms offer the players what's known as freeroll tournaments - basically a chance to play in a tournament for free. This is how it works. After a player has registered an account with one of the backgammon software providers they can start playing competitive games against other players.
As they win they rack up points and this credit can be used in place of a tournament buy-in. In most tournament set-ups the player must pay what's called a buy-in fee in order to join the tournament and compete for the large cash prizes. But the freeroll concept allows players to use the previous credit they earned in other private matches to enter into the tournament at no cost. They risk nothing while competing for cash pools and prizes that can sometimes amount to tens of thousands of dollars.
This works to attract players to the tables. One other unique feature about internet backgammon is that the more sophisticated software providers actually use a complex system of game analysis and keep records of wins and losses in order to rank to players and then paid them up with people that are of an equal skill level. This helps keep the balance and level of challenge reasonable.
Because internet backgammon is a game based on skill and strategy, a new or amateur player has very little chance playing against a seasoned pro. For this reason the skill level pairing is put in place. When it comes to the freeroll tournament stage however, as weaker players get knocked out the stronger players with more skill and experience get pitted against each other. Still even a relatively new player can take a crack at the tournaments since they aren't putting any money at risk in order to join. It's a nice incentive and helps players become familiar with the virtual tournament environment and internet backgammon in general.
There are several well-known backgammon software providers that sponsor weekly and monthly freeroll tournaments. Check out what each internet backgammon provider has to offer and join the one that looks like it offers what you're interested in.
