Play online backgammon for real money–unless you live in the U.S.–damn you Congress!
June 26, 2007 Outbursts, Reviews 1 CommentThe following is a sponsored review of BackgammonMasters.com, a site where you can play online backgammon for fun or, if you don’t live in the U.S., for actual money (and actual fun).
BackgammonMasters.com is a site that offers online backgammon with both real-money and fake-money games. As a die-hard online poker player who has been shut off by the new Prohibition against online gambling in these fair United States, I was immediately curious to see if, somehow, online backgammon was exempt from the foolish law. Nope. Right in the EULA, in bold print (kudos to the site for not hiding the sad reality of our backward nation’s politicians’ encroachment on our rights), is the bad news:
Residents of the United States are not permitted to participate in any promotions or real money games at our site. We are not accepting transactions from residents of the United States.
So there you have it. If you live in the States, and want to play for real money, it’s illegal. Well, with that out of the way, I decided to have a look at other aspects of the site, including the sister-site Gammonish.com, a site that teaches you about the rules and strategies of backgammon.
Gammonish.com labels itself the ‘official bible’ of backgammon, and, while it’s tough to prove or disprove the assertion that it’s the ‘official’ anything, the site is definitely a backgammon bible. The navigation is simple and light, although there are obviously a lot of choices, but the content is wide-ranging and extensive. For example, there are pages and pages of articles discussing everything from strategy to what backgammon software to buy. While I still can’t play for money on BackgammonMasters.com, I can make darn sure with Gammonish.com that I’m ready to go when the bloody embargo ends and I can gamble my frugal trappings away online once again.