Backgammon Live Reviews

Let me start by saying that I understand how odds work. I understand what the gamblers fallacy is. With that said over the last few days I’ve played 20+ games in which my opponent has rolled exactly what is needed to knock checkers off the board or multiple doubles multiple times per game while I have nod had near the same “luck”. In one game my opponent rolled exactly what they need 7 times. Very next game they rolled exactly they need 6 times. For example, I had an unguarded checker that coulda be knocked off with either a 4 or a 2. Next roll
Opponent rolls a 4 and a 2. This exact scenario plays out multiple times per game over the course of multiple games. I think the developers punish people who do not purchase coins. At first I thought I was just having a bad luck streak but the chances of players rolling the exact number needed 5+ times a game multiple games in a row is so unlikely that this game has to be rigged. You would have a better chance of winning the lottery. Everything is ruined in the pursuit of profit. I just play backgammon.

Since I have downloaded this game I’ve realized that if you don’t purchase any coins then you somewhat have a fair chance at playing competitively. The only problem is you don’t get many coins daily so you’re sort of forced to buy coins. The issue with this is when the system realizes you are a client willing to buy coins then all he’ll breaks loose. All of a sudden you’re losing every game and the opponent is catching every pair of dice needed to win. Thus causing you to get upset and want to buy more coins to win. Not to brag but I have played in real life backgammon tournaments for about 10 years and have won multiple medals and trophies. I know how the game should be played and when the opponent makes all the wrong moves but catches all the dice necessary to win, you know the games rigged. Like I said if you don’t buy coins it’s somewhat enjoyable but you can’t play the high limit games with people that are more advanced. When you do buy coins the game makes you loose on purpose with the hopes you’ll buy more games. At the end of the day it’s an algorithm being ran.

Absolutely positively the most rigged games ever! All games are in favor of one opponent, sometimes it is you sometimes it’s them. I do know that weak players seem to get better rolls over better players most of the time. Skilled players sometimes, against opponents that don’t have a clue about how to play backgammon can easily win. However more often than not the rolls are rigged to less experienced players get all the rolls to win. I’m talking so rigged that a monkey could win! Unreal! I have been playing Backgammon for 45+ years and know the game very well. I also know odds of the dice. This game is in no way using regular odds. One player always gets the perfect rolls and sometimes even as many as 6 doubles in a roll. I could go on for hours about this game and it’s algorithms. It’s like nothing l have ever seen. Many times I have got up to 78-82% win ratio, only to be beat down to 36% range in an hour or two. Also win you get asked to rate them, anything less than a 4 or 5 sets the algorithms more against you. I have given them 1 star on more than one occasion and I will lose way more than I win for a week. It is addicting, however do not ever spend any money here! I bought some coins a few times, doesn’t make any difference. I have been playing “real” Backgammon for over 45 years and am a solid 70%+ winner in honest games. I have never seen any online backgammon game as rigged as this one!

Does anyone make a fair backgammon game? I just downloaded this game. Fixed rolls already wow! By the fourth game my opponent received double sixes on the second roll. Double fours on the third roll. Double ones twice. Then five more doubles in a row to swiftly win. My last three rolls were a two and one. Three times while the opponent rolled nine sets of doubles. And this was just my first ten minutes of play. And my last. Sadly as the graphics looked nice. It’s all about the making you buy coins. As soon as I Lost it sent me directly to all the buy now offers.

UPDATE: Just to be fair I played a few more times. On one game when I had all the points blocked and taking them off with three of the opponents pieces on the bar he came back to hit one of my final four pieces. I got ones and twos five times in a row as that was the only two points he had blocked. He came back for an incredible win from behind. I then actually won two games and was asked to play my NEW board. The first two rolls for the opponent were double fives and sixes. He doubled and being my third roll I accepted. Wrong move as he continued to roll double after double. Fourteen doubles for the whole game. That is an impossibility unless the DICE and GAME are RIGGED. I put myself through college playing tournaments and would just like a bit of fun without such blatant cheating.

I am generally a good backgammon player but this game makes it impossible to play. I even spent money on this game, thinking maybe they just favor the people that are willing to spend money, but that was a clear mistake. How can I sit there having two openings to come on to the board on the opponents side and play 12 rounds of not rolling a single number I need to come out, But as soon as I knock an opponents peg off, And they only have one opening to come onto the board, that is exactly what they roll. I have had several games where I am ahead by quite a bit But then as we are taking them off the board my opponent always seems to roll multiple doubles to win the game. I even entered a tournament, where my coins got taken from me but I never was able to play a game, it just popped up saying “You Lost”. Another trick they do... I have had several games where I have been way ahead and was obviously going to win and all of the sudden it pops up saying no Internet connection, even though my Wi-Fi strength is just fine, then it says “You Lost”. I am sick of unfair games, I just wanted to play against real people instead of computers but that was a big mistake. I don’t like playing with cheaters but I especially don’t like playing a game that is rigged. Do not spend your money on BackgammonLive. I will be uninstalling it now!!! 😡

**UPDATE** I received a response from the developer that is the exact same “stock response” that other people have received here when complaining about the dice rolls. Thanks for taking the time to cut and paste a response to address your customer’s concerns. So to answer your question, no, I have never received the same “lucky streaks” with the same intensity that I have received the “unlucky streak”. This game is still rigged in favor of those who stand to lose, and will therefore purchase more coins in order to keep playing and repeat this vicious cycle. An investigation should probably be launched with the Better Business Bureau. #StillZEROStars Whatever you do, DO NOT download BackgammonLive. Rigged games that are ridiculously predictable, and no chance of actually winning without spending a ton of money. I can be winning the entire game ... until it comes time to bear off, and then my opponent rolls no less than THREE sets of doubles to win the game. Save your money and sanity and download ANY other backgammon app besides this one. I would give it ZERO stars if I could. #TotalRipoff

Nearly every game is either terribly fixed for you to lose against a computer player OR when you are lucky enough to play against a real player often they stack the odds insanely in YOUR favor to snooker the other person. There’s no way I’m going to roll double after double and just the right die combo every time when there’s only ONE possible combo to get out of a jam. There’s almost never a game that plays out like a typical real world scenario. There are multiple other games in BackgammonLive Store that are more clunky design-wise but at least play out without all the scamming. Nearly every game plays out crazily. In one game you’re way ahead, you’ve got your opponent only blocking the six spot, he gets your one exposed pip on some incredibly unlikely combo, and then you roll back-to-back double sixes many times in a row and are stuck until he’s moved so far ahead you can’t recover (when IRL have you ever rolled double sixes 4 times in a row??). The very next game it’s some other highly unlikely scenario like rolling 20 times without getting a 4. Or rolling a 6-3 combo 8 times in a row. Definitely not random. It’s such a shame when their game they’ve created looks so good. If they just let people play I’d be glad to even pay money to BackgammonLive .

The outcome of the game is usually decided by the programming of the algorithm and not by chance of the dice. This makes the game less about the skill of the players and more about how the program wants the game to end. Unfortunately, this makes the experience of playing mundane and at times, a joke.
To add onto my earlier review; I personally would NOT spend any real money $ on any game NOT governed completely by a chance roll of the dice or cards (in person). This game is no exception. RNG programs are not “real chance” challenges. The outcome of the game still falls to the programming. As an example: You will roll what appears to be random dice rolls, however I’ve noticed more often than not that when you have your pieces in the home stretch, all of a sudden your rolls become limited to lower dice combinations as if the programming turned on a “switch” to change the overall outcome of the game. The software may be more random than some other backgammon games, but I wouldn’t bet or invest any REAL MONEY playing this or any other online game. If you keep in mind it’s for “entertainment only” and keep your wallet in your pocket it is still somewhat entertaining and a decent way to pass some time at the airport or Dr. Office.

I’ve been playing physical backgammon for 50 years and I’ve been in IT for 35 years. To say I know the odds and know what I’m talking about is an understatement.
1) the rolls are NOT random. Some may be but many many are not. No doubt about that. They probably use AI (artificial intelligence) to put you through the ups and downs to make the game exciting. To be clear those who play already find the game exciting. Not this artificial sugar coating.
2) the point system itself (a level higher than individual games) is also rigged for the same reasons and probably also using AI to lead you to the gutter but just above zero points. The idea is they don’t want you to completely loose and leave but coerced you to buy points (where their $$$$ is)!
Oh and one more thing happened today which I’ve seen in other games: at the very end of the game your opponent can freeze the game without timing out. You wouldn’t be able to continue (it’s your opponent’s turn). The only thing you can do is to exit the game or BackgammonLive , which would deduct the MAX bet, not the CURRENT bet.
Simply put: it’s rigged

At first I was really into this game and it was exciting playing other actual people. But I don’t think it’s a coincidence that in the beginning I was winning a lot and gaining a lot of coins and then- because they only make money when you’re out of coins- I started to notice it getting rarer and rarer that I’d have optimal rolls. I don’t wanna sound like a conspiracy theorist and I’m sure the developers will say it’s random but it’s fair to ask what incentive they would have to NOT make you lose your money and have to buy more coins… Ive written the developers. They will never say that 100% of the time you’re playing real live humans. My overwhelming guess after more than 1K games is that you’re not. As you become more and more aware of how the scheme of the thing works (build you up with lots of wins, then ask you to rate how you like the game, then long streak of losses til you have no more coins and more and more offers to buy more before the cycle repeats) it gets less fun. Anyways that’s my experience. diminishing returns even if I enjoy the playing the game itself so much.

I really enjoy playing backgammon but this game sometimes cheats you and the developers really do not care.

For example, I understand the chance of dice rolls, but what are the odds that when you are crushing your opponent that they will roll double six twice, double 5 twice and then double 4 twice? Not realistic. This usually happens with the opponent going offline, then coming back online just in time to have a perfect roll. In this case I think the player has a way to cheat. Other times, the player shows they have 100 coins, max bid of 100, but the games allows them to double, win and get 200 coins. If you win, you only get 100 coins. Other times it has let players play and double with no coins at all. I have won some of these games and got nothing, but when they win, they get 100 to 200 coins. Also they will show a max bet of 100, lose, then want to play again...when I have agreed to play again to see what happens, it again shows max bet of 100 coins.

I have bought no coins. Maybe that’s the problem. Ran my bank up to 100k+. Have not won a game in 10 days. Doesn’t matter what level of player I face, without exception they get out of purgatory on the first sometimes second roll. I might have 5 of 6 rows blocked and they get the perfect roll- too consistently to be random. It’s laughable how when my opponent needs a certain die roll, it happens with laughable certainty. I have found myself in purgatory for 10 consecutive rolls on 2 occasions with only 3 rows blocked, although as you might expect with that many failed rolls the “real live” opponent manages to fill all rows with ease and perfect die rolls.
My conclusion is that after a certain period of time, if you’re not buying coins you’re not going to be allowed to win. Also when I was winning I noticed that when my opponent loses internet access, they lose their initial bet. When I fall off, I lose double my bet.
It’s a fix and it’s not too bad. The game is fun to play...

Love the graphics BEST graphics by far, BUT- if you play on iPhone and have more than 5 blots on left side of board, the word "double" and the word "done" blocks the ability to move the covered blots! Very frustrating! I had 7 blots on number 7 space- virtually impossible to move off that spot if it's your second dice move of that roll. It keeps "undo" (ing) the move because you keep hitting "undo", it's covering the blots.....time runs out..... FIX IT! and need a more reasonable “variant” games, you’ve got them at $9000 coin per game, and none at a reasonable price. You are missing the action. I know you use a RNG, but I can assure you there are patterns, very predictable pattens, especially with doubles suddenly being repetitive for your opponent, exactly the numbers they need repeatedly especially after doubling down. I now remember why I deleted your app. IT IS A PREDICTABLE OUTCOME FROM WHO STARTS, to WHAT THE DICE ROLL WILL BE, it may be random, but it’s a predictable consecutive pattern of dice roll outcomes in too many games to be coincidental, and that’s NOT RANDOM….. DO BETTER, AND STOP BEING GREEDY, create less expensive variant games!

The game is okay to play, the graphics are great, quests make it fun. Being able to collect dice is fun too. The downfall of the game comes when playing and your opponent chooses to ask you to double down or not. If you say no, you not only forfeit the game but your money. This should be an OPTION. Yes, allow someone to ask me to double the vet. But I shouldn’t immediately lose my money/the win. What if I come back and end up winning? No big deal, I just don’t get the double money. The game is getting frustrating because people will ask to double on the third roll of the game and if you say no, you lose and the games over. Secondly, as hard as it is to collect money in the game, $800K coins to use a set of dice 10 times is a bit exorbitant. Drop the price to $200K for unlimited use or something. It’s becoming less and less fun to play with these two major issues.

I enjoy playing this game but wish there weren't so many new windows aimed at encouraging users to make purchases. I also don't like the "tip the dealer" move at the end of each game. Since when is there a dealer at backgammon? This is nothing but a thinly veiled mechanism to diminish the winner's prize so as to make it more likely that you'll purchase coins. Not happening!! I agree with the comment that says the game cheats. All too often dice rolls give results that don't appear random. It's clear that the game employs algorithms designed to influence the game in favor of one player. While I wouldn’t say the game is “rigged,” it does produce results fairly consistently in certain situations that don’t appear random. For example, markers left uncovered more than 6 spaces away from an opponent’s marker get hit with a frequency that I suspect you’d have trouble replicating with a roll of real dice. And that’s just one example of many I could give if I wished to go on.

I’m 62 and been playing backgammon since I was a kid. In that entire time I’ve NEVER seen the frequency with which an opponent will roll 3, 4 and even 5 doubles in the same game, sometimes 3 or 4 in a row! Has it EVER happened to you in real life that an opponent has rolled double 6’s, followed by double 3’s, immediately followed by double 4’s and then double 5’s? And in this game that sort of thing has happened to me at least a dozen times. It’s statistically impossible. Others have complained that people can cheat, and roll doubles, by sitting on the timer. The developers assure us the game uses a random number generator. No one believes them at this point.

The other thing that happens with ridiculous regularity is you’ve moved and it’s your opponent’s turn… and there’s only 1 dice roll that can hurt you…and your opponent rolls…. I guarantee you 8 out of 10 times they’re gonna roll what they need.

I’ve been playing this version for a few years now. With this last update the game keeps freezing. Only way to get out is to delete BackgammonLive and reinstall. This has happened twice today. Fix this. Annoying (previous complaint). Ok this is getting so bad. You keep doing updates so offen. Then it freezes you out. I enjoy this game. Today, But so frustrated. I keep re downloading and it starts me over as I’m a new person. I’m at level 66 with over 700,000 points. I’ve earn my place where I’m at. Now to have to start over. I want to resume where I was at. Over the last few months I’ve have frozen up so many times it’s unreal. Every time I had to delete BackgammonLive and re download. I’ve always been able to continue where I was at. Why can I not now?

This is a great game and the improvements made Over the past years are great! I love getting the new dice, shakers and lucky charms. As to the statement that it’s rigged, it’s not rigged you’re simply a bad player or a bad gambler or both. As I have improved, so has my playing and the amount I gamble. I never buy coins and right now have over 300K. The one thing I do that helps is I don’t play big boards when I’m low on coins. Playing a $2500 board when you only have $2700 is insane. Generally speaking, if say, I only have $10,000 coins I won’t play above a $500. You won’t run out that way, unless you are inexperienced. When your ahead in a game double, hopefully the player declines and you win. Playing a game too long the rolls may go against you and you lose when you could have won early on. This is a game of skills and chance, accept that. Honestly, you never have to buy coins if you will just wait on your daily spin. Enjoy...I do!❤️

This game is almost perfect but there is one major flaw: it does not handle the first roll in accordance with recognized tournament rules. The official Backgammon Tournament rules say: “Each player throws a single die to begin the game and the player with the larger die plays both dice as his first move.” But BackgammonLive randomly assigns who the first roller is, and that player can start the game with whatever roll he/she throws.

The problem is that if you don’t do the first roll according to the official rules, you allow the opening player the chance to roll a double, which usually confers a large advantage right from the start. Starting with a 6-6 for example gives the second player way fewer chances. Same for a 4-4, 3-3, 2-2, even a 1-1 confers a significant but random advantage from the get-go. This is not only contrary to accepted rules, but annoying. Other than that BackgammonLive is fine.

I have played this game for sometime. I would buy the .99 cent packs and watch others cheat me out of the coins . If you sit on the timer a few seconds you can almost always roll a double or exactly what you need to send the opponent packing back to home . I deleted this rigged game . People cheating once they figure out the timer . And if you write the developer they will tell you there is no way this can happen . If your smart and want to keep your blood pressure down and your sanity sane then run from this game . And if your one of the people who loves to cheat I hope a cheater out cheats you . I gave this game a one star but if I could have Id given it a 0 so take this star as for the graphics because thats all this game has is good graphics but even that isnt worth staying for . (Added after developer reply) thanks BGL for confirming my statement you say you have no control but you have hundreds telling you there is a problem and instead of trying to fix the problem with your game your going to try make out like everyone is whining over losing ???!!!!!! Its no wonder your game is a joke because you are too . I tell you what let me download the game and you meet me at a table and lets see how random the rolls are . i hope Apple gets enough bad feed on you that your crap game is removed so you guys cant continue cheating people out of their money .