Backgammon is a strategy game. If you want to win at backgammon, it's important to know how to take advantage of your good rolls, and to know how to minimize damages for poor rolls. If you're playing real money backgammon, it's especially important to know your strategy before you stake cash on your abilities. With the growing popularity of online backgammon games, you may be tempted to move from free online backgammon to real-money backgammon games. Be sure you're ready to play before you make the jump. Here are some great tips from the BackgammonBestPlayers.com staff:

Establish an anchor or two in your opponent’s home board. This is a defensive strategy and makes sure that you can't be locked out of the game if you are hit and are waiting to reenter. Try to create anchors on the higher points (20 and 21). If you have several pieces in your opponent's homeboard, it's a good idea to keep two anchors next to each other. It is sometimes worthwhile to allow a blot to be hit in order to buy time and protect other valuable points, so the anchors will help you get these checkers back on the backgammon board quickly and painlessly.

Build a prime - six points in a row - to block your opponent’s checkers. The prime serves as a line of defense which your opponent cannot cross, but you can. A prime in a player’s home board is known as a closed board, since his opponent cannot enter from the bar; all the points are closed. When you hold a prime like this, your opponent is completely blocked from the game..

It's good to try to distribute your backgammon checkers to be within six pips of one another, so there is always a piece available to cover a man or to provide a resting place for a runner. Distribute your checkers evenly. When you have checkers spread throughout the board, you have more flexibility and will find it easier to protect your position if you have fewer men on a point. You should never have more than six men on a point.

Leaving blots early on in the game can sometimes be a sound strategy, but if you are in a weak position, you should probably reduce your number of blots.

Hit your opponent when it is to your advantage. Be careful not to hit just for the sake of hitting. If you hit when you have several blots open in your home board, you will only be giving your opponent an opportunity to hit you. A hit must always increase the strength of your game; be careful that it does not serve your opponent’s game. Use this to threaten your opponent’s blot, and to force him to act evasively rather than advance his game.

You can find more information about backgammon on these sites:
Backgammon Galore
Stephen Turner's Home Page
Backgammon Master
You can play backgammon online at Backgammon Star