I’m always worried about security when I play online.

I’ve read too many stories about scams.

On the other hand, I love playing backgammon online. What else can I say.

Hackers proliferate everywhere, so it is any wonder that online players have reasons for concerns.

Well, you should be cautious.

But don’t let it ruin your enjoyment of the game.

The key question is, is it safe to give up your credit card number. Is the site secure?

Although there are online game web sites, which could pose security threats on you, there are also sites that only want you to enjoy the online game, and assure your protection from hackers.

Some things to consider:

1. There are online Backgammon servers, which are usually among the biggest Internet servers, who always invest, first, on their customer’s security. Highly reliable servers operate, using these security measures. Find those.

One key is identity verification, where players are required to give their true identification, including their name, complete mailing address, and other contact details.

2. Transaction Security: Top Backgammon servers operate through a unique data processing system that uses state-of-the-art date encryption technology. Find them.

In future posts, I’ll recommend, with reservations, some of the safest…but always understand that a good hacker can break into anything.

I don’t know about you, but I can’t abide cheaters. I know that deep inside each person, there is that tendency (however slight it may be) to try and be in an advantageous position. I suppose that is inherent in humans. After all, we all fight to survive and to come out on top. But when it comes to outright cheating, I just have this opposition to the idea.

It is not any different when it comes to playing and gambling. Take backgammon, for example. We all know that it is a logical game, a game of skill. And as with most games of logic, you can create a program that can calculate all the possible permutations for you and do the work; in all probability, giving you the best chances of winning.

In backgammon, we have those things called bots. They’re actually present in most any other online game. We find people who are too lazy to play themselves and want to play for profit alone. These people find bots which will do the work for them and then reap the benefits.

Play65, one of the premier online sites for backgammon is stepping up its efforts to clean itself of bots. Good for them! I mean, I like playing backgammon. I like winning. But if I have a bot to do it for me, then what is the point? And having to play against a bot – even without knowing it – sucks so bad. I wish Play65 all the best!

I sure wouldn’t! I would like to think that I am good enough to be able to put my life at stake but I still really am not inclined to make a bet on that. Apparently, some people do – at least that is what the newspapers reported in late November. According to the reporters, two men in Moscow met each other and agreed to share a cab. One of the men invited the other to his flat, they got to playing backgammon, and the winner ended up killing the loser. Just how did this happen? The reports narrate:

The story began when Smirnitsky and his victim-to-be, 23-year-old Vasily Lobozov, agreed to share a taxi.

During the ride, Smirnitsky invited his new acquaintance to come to his flat, and Lobozov agreed.
Upon their arrival, Lobozov noticed and remarked upon a backgammon set sitting on the shelf.

“I made that in the labor camp,” said Smirnitsky, who had earlier served time for robbery. “It took me years.”

“Shall we play a game?” his guest replied.

Smirnitsky, who was reportedly in a dark mood following the recent death of his brother, then informed his guest that, “With that backgammon set you can only play for dough.”

When Lobozov replied that he had no money, his host answered: “Then stake your life.”

To be fair to Lobozov – the victim – no one would really take that kind of stake seriously these days, right? Then again, he should have had more sense than to do that with a stranger.

Anyhow, just one of those bizarre stories we read in the tabloids every now and then. Moral of the story: don’t put your life at stake…

Only in Russia.

Some people take backgammon way too seriously.   Read this news story about a guy in Russia who staked his life on a game of backgammon.  Unfortunately, he lost both the game and his life.

The person who won the game and did the murder is named Smirnitsky, and when he was arrested he said to the police the following:

“Boss, judge for yourself, how could I do otherwise?” Smirnitsky later reportedly told police. “My word is my word.”

The story reminds me of a scene in “A Hero of Our Time” written by the Russian author Lermontov, in which the main character Pechorin is challenged to a rigged dual by the character Gruzhinsky.

I guess the moral of the story is never play backgammon for stakes you cannot afford to lose.