Backgammon, widely regarded as the best of all the board games and certainly the longest surviving, is in the midst of a wave of new interest, largely spurred on by easy access and play through the Internet. Once played principally in southern Europe and the Middle and Far East, backgammon now enjoys global popularity, due to its combination of skill, strategy and luck. Recently, backgammon has even become a popular television sport through the staging of tournaments and the world series of backgammon tour.

A typical game of backgammon will usually last between 6-8minutes with the most popular format known as “Hit”. These games are characterized by their speed thus requiring the backgammon player’s total concentration. The balance of mixture of luck and skill in these games is very fine. Some of the more experienced backgammon players looking to take advantage of the skills and experience acquired over many years of backgammon practice and play will sometimes prefer to compete in variations on the basic “hit” backgammon game.

The most well know variation in backgammon is Gioul, a game that originated in Turkey and played throughout the Middle East. The way doubles work makes up a unique feature of Gioul, so that when a player rolls doubles, he plays the number he rolled and all successive doubles up to and including 6-6. In the case where he cannot play his entire roll, his opponent will take over. Gioul is regarded by experienced backgammon players as a slight step up from Hit and equally fast moving.

For the backgammon player who prefers a slow paced and maybe more mentally challenging variation on backgammon, then among many other options there are Plakoto or Moultezim. Plakoto, originated in Greece where it still retains its popularity is a variation of backgammon where opponents play a short series of games, usually up to the best of five. These games take a longer time to conclude, because of the high levels of strategic skills required as the game generates limitless combinations and possibilities for the backgammon player to test his skills.

The principal variation in traditional plakoto is that there is no hitting. If a player lands on a point occupied by a single opposing checker, then the opponent’s checker remains trapped until the checker is removed. Also and opponent cannot land or touch down on a square where two checkers are placed, or one checker can creates a block. These minor but important variations on backgammon go to make plakoto a more challenging game and popular among experienced backgammon players.

Moultezim is another serious game for the backgammon purist. Popular in Turkey, it is played as well and not instead of regular “hit” backgammon. A major difference between moultezim and other variations of backgammon is that hitting is not allowed in this variation. Every square can be controlled by a single checker and an opponent’s checker may not land or touch down on this square. These are just two of the examples of the many variations on backgammon to be tried and tested. Details of these and others are readily available online, along with information about online poker and other online casino games.