Me for one, I have never played online Backgammon before. But that doesn’t mean that online Backgammon isn’t doing well without me. Nor does it mean that I will never play online Backgammon. At the rate in which Backgammon is growing in popularity, and consequently, online Backgammon tournaments are dishing out big winnings, it might just serve me well to jump in headfirst, learn the rules of the game and start playing.

Backgammon, which is classified as a skill game, makes up a large percentage of the revenue that is being generated by the fast-growing online skill gaming sector. Mainly popular with players in Europe and the UK, there is absolutely nothing stopping online Backgammon from becoming more popular the world over, including in the U.S., where skill games, although still “illegal” along with online casino games, resemble poker in many regards. And we all know how popular poker is.

One of the reasons why poker has fared so well online – besides the nature of the game itself – have been the formation of organized tournaments guaranteeing large cash prize pools. Online poker rooms, such as Poker Stars, have been instrumental in making this a reality. As for online backgammon tournaments, other than the likes of a few dedicated online skill gaming sites, there really isn’t that much out there for the serious backgammon player. I mean, if there is, please do comment on this post with your findings.

However, this brings me to the point of this post (four paragraphs deep…just my style). Introducing the European Series of Backgammon – a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting Backgammon and overseeing large online and offline backgammon tournaments, with the overall aim of attracting the best backgammon players, and of course, the largest prize pools.

With this end in mind, the European Series of Backgammon has just announced the date of the first of a series of quarterly online backgammon tournaments guaranteeing a €15,000 prize pot. Tournament directors are predicting about 70+ players to participate in the first of these tournaments, for which online qualifiers at the European Series of Blackjack website (ESOB.com) are currently taking place. The championship final is slated for Sunday, March 28th. Direct buy-ins cost €220.

ESOB is also teaming up with offline backgammon tournaments, including the Zakynthos Backgammon Festival, to establish an annual European tour. By teaming up with offline tournaments, ESOB aims to strengthen the backgammon community so as to benefit both offline and online backgammon tournaments. The current offline tour includes the following, more details of which can be found at the ESOB.com website.

ESOB Offline Tour 2010

11th Annual Scope Backgammon and Bridge Tournament, 7th March 2010, London, UK

The 11th Scottish Open, 19th – 21st March 2010, Edinburgh, UK

ESOB London Open, 29th– 30th May 2010, London, UK

ESOB English Open, 4th– 6th June 2010, Hinckley, UK

The 8th Zakynthos Festival of Backgammon, 17th -24th June 2010, Zakynthos, Greece

7th Riviera and Nations Cup, 20th – 25th July, Cannes, France

ESOB Bristol Open, 28th– 29th August 2010, Bristol, UK

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 9th, 2010 at 11:57 am and is filed under Games, News, Tournaments. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.