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Doesn't backgammon lose a lot of its appeal if you're not playing for money? Kinda like poker.

Not really. There are a lot of strategic decisions to make, and those decisions aren't about money. In poker, almost all of the important decisions are directly about wagering. When wagering has no real value, neither do the decisions.

Also, in backgammon, you still need to actually win. Contrast this with poker, where oftentimes when playing for money, you don't actually want to reach the end of the hand (i.e. showdown). Which, again, is pointless if there's no money involved since always calling is your optimal strategy.

You do lose all the strategic decisions involving the doubling cube, though.

Assuming you are playing individual games, yes. But, if you are playing a series of games up to X points, the cube does come into play somewhat.

Are you thinking about blackjack?

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