| Partial Prime: | a prime with fewer than six consecutive points |
| Pass: | To refuse a double |
| Pay Later: | To play safe in the current position but risk greater danger later |
| Pay Now: | To take an immediate risk to avoid a more serious risk later |
| Perfecta: | The best possible roll; a joker |
| Pick and Pass: | To hit an opposing blot, then continue that stone to safety on the same play |
| Pick Up: | Hit a blot |
| Piece: | Stone, man, checker |
| Pigeon: | The victim of a hustler. Frequent pigeons are called fish |
| Pip: | One of the spots on a die that indicate numeric value, but also the unit of distance on a backgammon board corresponding to the difference in numbers between points |
| Pip Count: | The total number of points that a player must move his stones to bring them all home |
| Play: | The collection of moves a player makes in completing a move |
| Play Safe: | To avoid leaving blots which might be hit |
| Point: | One of the twenty-four narrow triangles, twelve on each side of a backgammon board; the location of a piece or pieces |
| Point on a Blot: | To hit an opposing blot with two of your stones on the same move |
| Point on Head: | Point on a blot |
| Position: | The current arrangement of the stones on a backgammon board |
| Positional Play: | A strategy that emphasizes fighting for and keeping key points |
| Possession of the Doubling Cube: | Owning the cube |
| Post Mortem: | Analysis of a game or match after it has been completed |
| Premature Burial: | Moving one or more stones deep into your home board early in the game out of undue concern for playing safe |
| Pressure: | To move a piece so it directly bears on an opponents blot, forcing him to cover the blot, move it, or risk it being hit |
| Prime: | Six consecutive made points |
| Primed: | Trapped behind a prime |
| Priming Game: | A type of game in which the primary strategy is to trap one or more opponents stones behind your prime |
| Puff: | The German name for backgammon or a German variation of the game |
| Pure Race: | A game in which the opposing sides have completely separated so there is no opportunity for blocking or hitting by either side |
