Most likely originating in ancient Persia, backgammon is one of the world’s oldest board games. Five millennia after it was first played, PlayGem is seeking to dominate the modern face of social backgammon, writes Mark McGuinness
BACKGAMMON is one of the world’s oldest board games for two players, stretching back some 5,000 years to the Greek and Roman cultures.
Today the game attracts huge global and indeed celebrity participation with the likes of actor Omar Sharif, the late comedian Lucille Ball and legendary Hollywood director John Huston. Other famous players include Charles Darwin, the English naturalist, and current Hollywood A-listers, Leonardo DiCaprio and Megan Fox, along with royalty. All are drawn to the backgammon entertainment experience.
It is this intrigue and, while luck may play a part in the game, it is the strategy, with the roll of the dice and the apprehension of counter moves by opponents, that attracted i-gaming and technology entrepreneurs Gil Tal and Daniel Mester (pictured) to create the social backgammon company PlayGem.
Mester and Tal are no strangers to the world of i-gaming, software development and backgammon, having previously founded the successful Play65 online backgammon brand and network which had more than 10 million registered players. During their eight years with the company, Tal who was the then CTO and CEO and Mester the COO, steered the business to become the number-one backgammon destination on the internet, with the software available as download or an in-browser flash version. The software was available in 24 languages, and also picked up several industry awards along the way for best skill games platform for real money from Gambling.com.
Read the full article in the latest issue of iNTERGAMINGi.
