Gammon Empire's downloadable playing platform is easy to use and navigate. Like some other sites, the board is pseudo 3-D style and has a "wood" look. There are timers to enforce a reasonable pace of play. Finished games can be saved and reviewed by players who want to relive a good win or ponder where they could have played better.

A new feature is a "backgammon school", where players can get online coaching from a playing program (a "bot"). The first four lessons are free, and after that they cost fifty cents each.

There is 24/7 online email help available at Gammon Empire, which in my experience always responds quickly.

This site has many money players, and is mainly geared for real money play. There is a "free backgammon" or "play money" section more-or-less exactly like the "real money" section, so that cautious new players have the option of getting used to playing on the site before risking real cash. The site rates players and structures the rakes in such a way as to discourage experts from picking on novices in the regular head-to-head money play. Also a few of the tournaments are reserved for the lower-rated players.

There are many and frequent tournaments, including satellite tournaments for entry into later tournaments with prize money in the hundred grand (US$) vicinity.

Their traditional type of knockout match tournaments have very short matches: to one, three or occasionally (for a final) to five points.

Also they have (unusual for backgammon) "chip-based" events they call "Swing" tournaments, with features in common with No-Limit Poker tournaments.
I found these fun to play in, but the rakes are very high. For multi-player events with the cheapest "buy-ins" it is 33.33% and a tournament with a $110 entry fee had a rake of 9.09%.

The information needed to work out the rake for all the tournaments is on display beforehand, except for the ones under the tab "Tournaments" (as distinct from "Swing" or "Sit and Go") which have the prizes and starting times fixed in advance.
Those scheduled tournaments are probably the best value.

There is no membership fee and there is an initial deposit bonus of $20, with some (easy to meet) conditions. They don't charge fees on cash deposits or withdrawals, and non-gamblers are welcome to stay in the "play money" section and play for ego-point "ratings.

In the regular "head-to-head" money play, rakes vary and as a percentage is generally bigger for lower stakes, longer matches and greater disparity between the ratings of the players. A single game for less than US$20 is raked at 4.9%, so for example at the conclusion of a 1-point match for $10, the loser has lost $10 and the winner gets $9.02.

Players who play in raked games and tournaments get some their rake indirectly returned to them by qualifying for special tournaments with a cash prize that only be entered using the players' accumulated credit (in the form of "stars" in the player's account)

Players who manage to get their rating above 1700 are rewarded by only paying 50% of the normal rake in their (non-tournament) games with each other.

I haven't spent much time in the "play money" section, but the with real money at stake and the players having to keep to a time limit there isn't much friendly chit-chat. The site is mainly geared for simple gambling rather than players exchanging messages, personal profiles, or posting on a discussion board.

They accept a wide range of deposit and withdrawal methods including Neteller, PayPal, credit cards like Visa and Diner's Card and others. The site is financially reputable.