Play65

Rating:

Website: www.play65.com
Operated by: LogicEmpire

If you're a backgammon player or you are at least a little bit interested in online backgammon, you have probably heard about Play65 (or GammonEmpire). This backgammon room is one of the online backgammon sites that has dominated the market for years, and together with GammonEmpire it's quite probably the most successful one.
Established in 2004, GammonEmpire and Play65 (which is basically the same site) account for the biggest number of online backgammon players today, but other sites are catching up quickly.

Membership is free, each player has it's own rating, and you can play for fun or for real money. Play65 offers money games, matches, tournaments, event-tournaments, and free rolls where you can win real money for free! New players start with rating of 1500, rating points lower than 1400 are marked 1400*. Players with 1800+ rating points can join the "giants' room" and play backgammon with a lower rake.

As a new player you will get a 40% sign up bonus up to $200 (conditions might change from time to time). The bonus will be released into your playing balance in 4 equal steps upon accumulating Stars. Stars required per each step equal your deposit sum. You can track your progress in the Cashier by clicking on the "My Bonus Account" button.

Traffic is quite high, sometimes thousands of players are online. Even the conditions are far from optimal, if you don't have an account there you should give it try.

Deposit and withdrawal methods

• Visa
• Mastercard
• Neteller
• Paypal
• MoneyBooker
• Wire Transfer

Restricted activities

Be careful not to get in conflict with the site rules, which include multiple accounts, winning or losing on purpose, using backgammon software, transfer money between accounts, consulting, harass other players. In case this happens play65 can close your account.

Quote from their web site:

THE SITE WILL MONITOR ANY PERFORMANCE OF ANY OF THE RESTRICTED ACTIVITIES LISTED ABOVE AND IN ANY EVENT THE COMPANY DEEMS, AT ITS SOLE DISCRETION, THAT SUCH RESTRICTED ACTIVITY WAS PERFORMED IT MAY IMMEDIATELY TERMINATE YOUR ACCOUNT, WHETHER TEMPORARILY OR PERMANENTLY, WITHOUT NOTICE AND THE BALANCE IN YOUR ACCOUNT MAY BE FORECLOSED BY THE COMPANY AND USED TO FINANCE THE COMPANY'S COSTS OF MONITORING, PREVENTING, AND DEALING WITH ENFORCEMENT OF THE AFOREMENTIONED RESTRICTED ACTIVITIES.

Software:

The Play65 software is available as download only. Registering an account is a very easy and fast procedure, you can choose between 18 languages. You will be asked whether you want to play for real money or play money. You can switch between these options later on, so I would suggest to get used to the software, by trying the play money option first.
The Play65 internet backgammon board (see screen shot at the right) is easy to use. To roll the dice, just click your mouse on the dice (that will move the higher number first) or drag and drop the checkers. It is possible after each game to negotiate with your opponent the conditions of the rematch. Timers are used to impose a reasonable pace of play. Three options are available: normal with 45 second limit per turn, fast with 25 second limit and blitz with 15 seconds.
The interface consists of 3D graphics and sound which create a quite realistic impression. If you get tired of the sound effects you can easily switch it off. Each player gets his national flag near his nickname.

Commission - Rake

Money Game

Combined Wager	Commission %
$0 - $50	4.9%
$51 - $99	3.9%
$100 +	2.9%

Example: If you win a gammon game (2 points) with an initial sum involved of $5, then $9.02 will be added to your account and $10 will be deducted from your opponents balance. The commission is 4.9% * $20= $0.98.

Match play
The commission is taken from the sum involved and consists of base commission (for 1 point) plus 0.5% for each additional point in a game over 1 (the winner pays both).

Combined Wager	Commission (rake)%
$0 - $50	base commission (for 1 point): 4.9%, every additional point: +0.5%, max commission: 9.9%
$51 - $99	base commission (for 1 point): 4.4%, every point: +0.5%, max commission: 8.9%
$100 +	base commission (for 1 point): 3.4%, every point: +0.5%, max commission: 7.9%

Example: You play a Series (match) up to 3 points with sum involved of $20. The rake for a 3-point match has a base commission of 4.9%+2*0.5%=5.9% The commission from each player is
$20*5.9%=$1.18 (the winner pays both their commissions, for a total of $2.36). $17.64 will be added to the winners balance and $20 will be deducted from the losers balance.

Additional Rules

please notice, that play65 uses additional rules to increase the commission. They state, that they want to encourage games among players of equal strength.

• Increase of 25% in commissions if the rating of one of the players is less than 1620.

And:

• Increase of 50% in commissions when the rating difference is 100 to 199.
• Increase of 100% in commissions when the rating difference is 200 or more.
• Increase of 150% in commissions when the rating difference is 250 or more.
• Increase of 200% in commissions when the rating difference is 300 or more.

The following applies only when the last 4 rules apply as well:

• Increased commission will not be applied if both players have a rating higher than 1650 or less than 1450.
• A rating lower than 1400 is considered as 1400 and displayed as 1400*.

Giants room (Rating is 1800+ only)

• For each game over 500$: 2.45% commission
• Up to 10% discount will be given when playing Up to $50
• Up to 15% discount will be given when playing for over $50

Maximum commission possible in the Giants room: $20.

Dark Room

In the dark room players are anonymous. When playing in the Dark Room, your username and player ranking will be hidden. This encourages play65 to charge a higher commission.

Combined Wager	Commission %
$0 - $50	5.9%
$51 - $99	4.9%
$100 +	3.9%

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last update: Friday, April 23, 2010