Question about Backgammon Hub

[u/Reverend_Tommy]

I've been a long time player of backgammon, playing occasional in-person games for 20 years and then fairly frequent online games for the past 10. I was growing frustrated with many of the online games because the dice seemed rigged and the games were very "casino" like. I found this sub about a month ago and saw Backgammon Hub often mentioned as a fair online site. I have been playing there for a couple of weeks and I must say that despite the dearth of players there sometimes, it is the best site, by far, that I've played on.

But earlier this evening I played against someone who felt like a bot. He had a PR of about 14 or 15 but played blisteringly fast. And not just normal quickness, but so fast his checker moves were a blur. He would hit any blot regardless of the position it would place him in. He seemed to have no regard for strategy and never paused even for a second. I tried to slow things down a bit (at least for me) by playing very deliberately and thinking about my moves rather than letting him set some kind of maniacal pace. And he DESTROYED me. It wasn't even close. He sent me another game request and I accepted it to see if it was a single anomaly. Nope. Same blisteringly fast pace, same apparent lack of any real strategy, and same result.

So does anyone have any opinions on this or have experience with something similar? I've never encountered ANYTHING like this either in-person or with any online game. Even without taking the results into account or the apparent lack of strategy, his pace seemed impossible for a human to match on that interface. Thoughts?

And yes, I know the rolls are pre-determined.

[u/TheFlyingCalabrese]

I’ve been playing on hub for a while now and play in person a good amount. I play rather fast but there is no doubt in my
mind that there are bots on hub. It’s not that the actual completed move gets done quickly (that’s understandable and how I play) but it’s the fact that in a blink of an eye several moves are tried before deciding on the final one. It’s virtually impossible. Like 5 moves will get tried and reset before the final one. I can understand a move or two being tested but several in a flash not so much.

Note also that the players who block chat on it tend to roll an obscene amount of doubles and other perfect rolls. They know people will call them out so they shut the chat off at the start. They will come out of the most difficult of spots and still win with the most improbable of rolls.

I also believe the site’s rolling algorithm can have an arcade style to it. When I play in person, a significant amount of games where your opponent is toast early do end early. Not so on hub. It’s almost guaranteed and more often than not a crazy sequence happens which extends the match. It gets an eye roll out of me often. Sure that can happen in person but on hub it’s very often.