Play65 is home to a constantly growing online backgammon gambling community, offering a platform to play backgammon online for fun or for real money against board game enthusiasts from around the world. All you have to do is download Play65’s client software from their website, select a username and password, and then you can start playing backgammon and gamble for fun money or real money – it’s that simple.

Using the Play 65 Software
The play65 software is virtually identical to the software used by GammonEmpire. Getting to know new software can be daunting, but the online game software really is easy to navigate once you become familiar with it. For the software to work you need to be running Windows on your computer. Once you log in, pop up windows provide you with links to sign up and start gambling for real money – for all those players who mean business – and links to Play65’s current backgammon news and up-and-coming events, such as game tournaments. You can close off these windows and go back to them later if you choose.

The main screen of the online game software lists players currently playing backgammon online, players looking for opponents to start playing a game, and tabs along the top bar allow you to move to any of several rooms in which you can play backgammon. Colour-coded player ratings give you an idea of the skill of an opponent, and the stakes for each game an opponent is willing to gamble is also listed, so it is easy to see who you can play based on how much you are willing to gamble. It all looks a bit confusing but the great thing about Play65 is that you can watch games of backgammon that are being played on the online game server by other players so you can see how it works before you start playing yourself.

Playing a Game of Backgammon in Play65
Before you start playing the game on Play65 you should make sure you understand all the basic rules of the board game. To join a game you simply click the join button next to the players waiting to play a game. A window will appear telling you the rules that your opponent wants to use to play the game. You can negotiate on the gambling stakes of the game (per point), for example if you want each point to be worth $5, and the maximum amount of money that can be won or lost.

The Backgammon Game Board
The backgammon game board in Play65 has a very easy interface to use when playing a game of backgammon online. To roll the dice you simply click your mouse on the dice. You move the checkers by clicking on the checker you want to move, dragging and dropping it onto the position you want it to move to. And Play65 very cleverly have designed the dice numbers to dim after each move to remind you of the number you have already played.
Once you have become used to the way the checkers move, you can use the faster method of moving your checkers just by clicking on them; right-mouse click moves the chosen checker the larger number rolled on the dice and left-mouse click moves it the smaller number rolled. When your turn is finished, you pick up the dice by clicking on them.

Setting Time Control
Play65 allows you to set a time control on your game so that play moves forward at a reasonable speed. You can choose from Normal Speed (45 seconds per turn) or Fast Speed (25 seconds per turn). This sets the amount of time you can take to roll the dice and make your moves. If you need more time, a global timer that gives you extra time starts to count down. Normal Speed games start with 150 seconds on the global timer and Fast Speed games start with 90 seconds on the global timer – once the time on your global timer runs out, you lose the game you are playing.You will find that 45 seconds is more than enough time to take a turn, even if you are a beginner, and the beauty of the global timer in Play65 is it gives you time to step away from your computer for a moment if you need to during a game of backgammon.

Backgammon for Fun Money or Real Money?
On Play65's backgammon site you can either gamble online for fun money or for real money. This is also available on the GammonEmpire site as discussed on the GammonEmpire review.

Backgammon Gambling for Fun Money on Play65
Play65 starts you off with $100 in your account when gambling with fun money. Depending on the stakes you set for each game, you can win or lose fun money in the same way as when you gamble with real money. The great part about backgammon gambling for fun money on Play 65 is that, unlike real money, if you happen to lose all of your $100, it gets restored! So you can keep on playing for fun money for as long as you like, at no cost. You may find the level of competition is not as high as if you play for real money, but it is still a great place to start playing backgammon online to build your game skills and improve your rating, ready to take on the serious backgammon gamblers!

Backgammon Gambling for Real Money on Play65
To play for real money, you have to fill out a form giving the online gaming portal your personal information, including your name, address, email address and telephone number. You also have to accept the user agreement before you can start backgammon gambling on Play 65. It is free to sign up to play for real money with Play 65, and there is no initial deposit to pay – in fact, the Play65 site gives you a complimentary $2 for you to get started.
Play65 also allows you to record your games when you play for real money, so you can go over your games to see where you make mistakes and improve your backgammon betting strategies. Snowie Software is an example of a computer program that can analyze your games for you.

Play65 Pays Up
Withdrawing money when you play backgammon for real money is easy. Play65 supports a range of withdrawal methods, including Neteller, PayPal, Moneybookers, wire transfers, and bank drafts. The minimum withdrawal amount is $20, and depending on the method you choose, you will generally get your withdrawal within a few days.

Online Backgammon Tournaments
There are a number of tournaments held by Play65 that you can get involved in, including tournaments where you play for real money, and play-for-fun tournaments. You can find more information on up-and-coming tournaments in Play65’s events calendar.

What Are You Waiting For?
Play65 is a great online backgammon forum where you can play backgammon for fun or for real money. Play65’s software really is easy to use, with a great user-interface that meets all your online backgammon needs. So what are you waiting for? Download this great software now and join the growing Play65 community!

Languages
I was amazed by how many languages the Play65 site supports. They have Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish, Italian, Norwegian, Arabic, Hebrew, German, French, Dutch, Danish, and a few more. There are actual versions of the site in all these languages, so it’s not just something put there so that the site should look good (I clicked on every one of those languages and checked it out).

Unique Features
When it comes to unique features, the first thing that comes to my mind is the sheer number of players Play65 gets. That alone is quite outstanding and unique too given the fact that I hardly think any other online backgammon room can match it. Another unique feature is the tournament system that they have going at Play65. They have the largest cash prizes involved in these tournaments, and they have the Swing and the Knockout ones, which are pretty unique too.
Their “refer-a-friend” setup is also unique as far as the actual bonuses go, but the idea in itself is by no means original. Bottom line is: the fact that it is by far the biggest online backgammon operation on the internet sets Play65 apart from any other backgammon room out there.

Security
Naturally, a backgammon room like Play65 will pay extra attention to security. All your financial transactions, whether they’re directed towards or coming from Play65, enjoy 128 bit encryption and SSL algorithm protection. Basically, their encryption technology is on par with what the banks use nowadays, and transactions are much safer than most of the everyday knick-knacks you use your credit-card for.

Reputation
Play65 is really keen on security, both as far as financial transactions, and player accounts are concerned. In this respect, they only allow 1 user account per player per computer. They also do their best to keep the software “clean”. They’re McAfee and Softdll.com certified in this sense..