Is there a stop to Internet Backgammon cheaters?

So I have enjoyed playing Backgammon in the past, but nowadays is just IMPOSSIBLE.  I am sure many others have noticed this.  There are players out there that can control the dice at least for them, and some can even move more chips than the allowed by standard rules.

For example, not 10 minutes ago, I rolled 6 and 5, then the guy doubled me on his first roll, and got double three, then I rolled and I got 4 and 1, then he rolled and got 3 and 1, then I rolled and got 3 and 2, then he rolled and got double 5 eating my lonely chip in position 1 and covering position 3 from position 8.  Do you call that a lucky roll?  I call that an engineered roll, if you know Backgammon.

Yesterday, a guy moved 6 chips using a double 5.  That same guy rolled 4 consecutive pairs.

Yesterday, I had 5 out of 6 positions occupied in my side and I ate one of the other player's chips.  I did this repeatedly.  The guy just lost 1 roll out of 4 chips I ate.  He also had 5 of 6 positions occupied.  He ate a chip of mine twice.  I had to roll some 10 times before I could get out each time.

If you know Backgammon, you know this is NOT right.  Losers out there have found a way to cheat, and that ruins the fun for us, the ones with a brain.

Microsoft, please put an end to this.  Your Windows license is expensive, and I paid for it, and I expect to be able to enjoy all the features in the OS, and that includes the included Internet gaming.  Roll a patch that can end this blatant cheating!

---

MCP

The world is full of sad little people, if they do not get the dice roll they want then they just quit. I hate to think what they are like in life itself. Do they cry if they don't get it all their own way. I have been beaten 5-0 many times but still keep playing (unless of course blatant cheating is occuring). The game is for fun not for a new car or words to that effect. Maybe microsoft can organise a site where you log in and if you cheat or spit the dummy then you should be banned for a time so that REAL people can enjoy the battle of wits and bottle ( will you leave a button on it's own )

If you play enough, you'll lose to those on a hot streak. Players do get on incredible hot streaks. Play with actual dice (of your own choosing). It happens.

That still doesn't explain how some players can ignore nudges. At the precise point where it's obvious to both players that you're going to win, they stop playing. You wait for 2 minutes, and the nudge button lights up. You think, "At last!"  You click "Nudge" and they should be forced to either move or resign, but they don't do either. Somehow, they never get disconnected.  Eventually, the game disconnects for YOU -- who should be the winner! Maybe they also lose?

Another Microsoft issue is the unfair luck of the computer. I feel certain this isn't just my brain making patterns. When the other player gets disconnected (or disconnects), then the computer takes over. The computer is stupid, and so it's VERY easy to beat, but you have to be patient, since it's so lucky. If the computer is about to roll, and the worst possible roll against you is a 6-3, and everything else is safe, then the computer gets a 6-3 over 50% of the time. Before the roll, think of the top 3 rolls for the computer. Maybe big doubles, or double 1s, or some specific roll. The computer is very likely to get one of those rolls (or the only one). It doesn't necessarily use that roll effectively, though. The unlucky dice vs. the computer affects your rolls, too. If most every roll is safe, except 1 roll -- say a 5-4 -- then you're extremely likely to get the 5-4 or whatever bad roll. The computer seems very, very lucky, but incredibly stupid, and thus destined to lose.

Again, I need to start keeping a database... If I do that, though, won't the other player suspect me of cheating, since I'll take so long?

I also play backgammon a lot, and beat about 78-80% of the players I face, including any cheaters (if there are any). Yes, there are games I suspect are weighted either by cheating, or VERY lucky rolls, which (of course) are possible without cheating.

I've never seen anyone move 6 pieces on a move. However, without cheating, I have rolled doubles in succession a handful of times. I've had it done by the other player a number of times. It does SEEM more common in certain situations (but it could just be me):

a. When the other player is trying to catch up.

b. When I'm playing vs. the computer (other player has resigned).

Another VERY bad couple of things that I KNOW are problems, and I wish Microsoft would fix:

1. Some players have learned to ignore nudges. (It's happening to me right now, actually, which is why I came here.) This typically happens when I sense the other player is angry with me. The game is stalled. I nudge them. The time expires, but it's still they're turn. I go and do something else. Either they eventually return, and play continues, or I get disconnected eventually. (The opponent who is doing this can send me chat messages, or turn chat off and on. even though I nudged them 30 minutes ago.)
2. There is a bug to watch out for, that ought to be fixed. If you roll doubles, and move quickly, and change your mind, and decide to re-play the doubles, BE SURE to take your time. Do it slowly. Most of my disconnect-losses are due to this. I think better of it, and start to replay my doubles, and BOOM! I'm disconnected.

Is this a Microsoft thing, or a wifi thing? Anyway... watch out.

THESE LAST TWO ARE "SUSPECTED" PROBLEMS:

3. When playing against the computer (other player has resigned), I'm almost positive that the luck is in the computer's favor. If they have the 6 spot and the 1 spot covered, and I'm on the bar, I'm VERY likely to roll a 6-1, or double 6s or 1s. If I'm about to beat the computer, which I do 99.x% of the time, then the computer virtually ALWAYS gets the precise roll needed to hit me. If I'm bearing checkers off against the computer, I end up leaving open single checkers close to 100% of the time vs. the computer, which it manages to hit about 80% of the time. This is unheard of, compared to a human player, against which I tend to get my checkers off fairly safely. I use the same, careful strategy. I don't ease up, just because it's the computer and I know I'm gonna win. Am I imagining things? I need to keep a database...
4. I've suspected that some have learned how to cheat, but I certainly have no proof it's not just incredible luck. Certainly, I've been beaten by lesser players. They were awful, and made beginners' moves, and yet managed to beat a strategy that clearly is successful. I've also been beaten by smart players who sure seemed to be lucky (and maybe just smarter than me). I have no beef with getting beaten, as long as it's truly fair.

I too see this happening and it all looks too coincidental.  Sometimes I do get these kinds of rolls so I am not sure the opponent is cheating but truly the dice roll is far from random.  The cheating I have noticed is (and always from a 2200 rating and above is (although not from everyone above that rating) when they begin to lose they go through move undo move exercize repeatedly at blinding speed until the program thinks it is my turn yet it shows them with one move to make.  And I am unable to roll the dice.  The whole time they childish taunt me that I won't win when I have them on the bar with only one position open to them.

Explain that?