Editorial

Backgammon-A
national
oraanization

Why should there be something

instead of nothing at all? More Notes

Hundreds of players in America

PR have drawers full of worthless
master point credit slips.

Back›

LVBM
 When In Doubt-Double by Kit Woolsey
Most backgammon player are far too if Black rolls an average number and White
slow in sending over the cube. They fear
POSITIO #I doe n 't hit, White will still have a take, so
a quick turnaround or, worse, that their Black has no fear of losing his market
game might get good enough to double unle he rolls a big double (if Black roll
their opponent out but now he can play 6-5, clears his back man, and White mis es
on and possibly win. Consequently, they White hould fold the double, but it'
often wait that one more roll and let close, so not much is lost by waiting in
their opponent off the hook. this ca e ). Consequently, there is no reason
The fear of a turnaround is legitimate, to lose an extra point in the variations
but the fear of losing a good game because when White hits on his next shot. In this
your opponent owns the cube and can play po ition, the possibility of an immediate
to the end i imaginary. If you fail to turnaround is greater than that of lo ing
double and then reach a position where he 123468 7 8 9 10 your market.
does not have a take, you have Io t your Po ition 1 is a common type of po i-
market (assuming, of course, that your
POSITION #4
tion. Most players will wait, but it is clearly
opponent is competent enough to fold an correct to double now. Black i well ahead
untakable double), and you wish you had in the race, so White's primary chance i to
doubled earlier. Many opportunities to win hit a shot, which he is likely to get. There-
2 or 4 games have been passed by because a fore Black is at worst a favorite, and will
player waited too long to double, even lose hi market if he roll a good set of
though these games can turn sour. doubles, so it is correct to double immedi-
A good rule of thumb is as follows: if ately.
it i more likely that you will lo e your
market on the next roll then you will be an
POSJTIO #2
underdog after the roll, send the cube over,
particularly if the cube is in the middle. In
other words the cost of lo ing your market Po ition 4 is a deceptive po ition. It
is greater than the cost of letting your came up one day, and I uggested that
opponent own the cube when you only Black had a double. A couple of quite com-
have a slight advantage. If you fail to roll petent player told me to put my money
the killing number, o what? All it means is where my mouth was, so we played out a
that you are playing for twice the takes double-no double proposition (this is done
and that you can no longer double him by playing each side an equal number of
out. You till have the better game, and if times, once with the cube turned and once
you reach a position where you could 1 2 3 4 !, 6 7 8 9
with it in the middle - it is the proper test
double him out you will be glad you had In position 2, Black will almost certainly to see if a position i worth a double). It
doubled earlier. have the better game after the next roll turned out that I won substantially. What
Poker player will understand this whatever happens, due to hi advanced happens i that if Black rolls the 6, he is
analogous situation: Suppo e you are play- anchor and it i not hard to imagine a few uddenly a huge favorite and loses his
ing 7 -card stud, and after S card you have killer sequences after which Black will lo e market by a mile, while if he doesn't roll
made a straight and you know that your his market (e.g. Black makes the 5-point the 6 the game is up for grabs (unle s he
opponent is drawing to a four-flush. There and White fans), so Black should double roll a horror set). Consequently, there are
is S20 in the pot, and your opponent only now. more market-lo ing numbers than immedi-
has SI O in front of him, so that's all you ate turnaround numbers, o it is proper to
can bet. Should you bet now while it is POSITION #3 double.
proper for him to call ( ince he i getting
3-1 pot odd ), or wait until the next card,
after which it would be right for him to
fold if he didn t make his hand, you will
make more money betting now. Even
though it means you will occa ionally lo e
a pot you would have otherwise won. If
• your opponent had only SS in front of him
it would be proper to wait a round, since
he now will have a proper call even if he
doesn't make his hand on the next card, so FOR ALL THE GAMES PEOPLE PLAY and MORE
1234!>6 78
why give away S5 when he does?
Back to backgammon. Let's examine a Position 3 is the type of po ition you
should wait a roll, even though Black is a PHO E (702) 331-31 75
few po itions to ee if we hould end the
cube over. In each case, you are Black on clear favorite and he has a few winning or
790 E GLENDALE SPARKS. NEVADA 89431
th.! roll and the cube is in the mid,tle. near winning number . The rea on i that
LVBM 16
 Spring
Tournaments
DATE TOURNAMENT LOCATION
Feb. 29 - March 2 Eldorado Backgammon Classic Reno, Nevada Steve Lehman
March 7 - 9 Fourth Annual Bluegrass Regional Clarksville, Indiana Larry Strasberg
pril 3 - 6 MGM Grand Reno Backganunon Tournament Reno, Nevada Les Boyd
\ April 11 - 13 Dude Ranch Weekend & Regional Tourney Up tate N.Y., New York Steve Kurzban
April I - 20 Third Annual BSO Benefit Tournament Cambridge, Mass. Francesca Parkinson
April 16 - 18 San Francisco Classic S. F., California Bill Boyd
April 18 - 22 Geneva Tournament Switzerland Roland Jakober
April 25 - 27 Indiana Open Tournament Indianapolis, Indiana Ralph Roberts
April 29 - 30 Great Lakes Backgammon Champion hips Rochester, New York Board of Roche ter

Attention tournament directors: Send extra invitations to the LVBC for distribution to players requesting tournament information.

LOUISVILLE BACKGAMMON CLUB

SPONSORS THE
4th ANNUAL BLUEGRASS REGIONAL
BACKGAMMON TOURNA-MENT
MARCH 7, 8, 9, 1980
to be held at
THE MARRIOTT INN, CLARKSVILLE, INDIANA
Just across the bridge from Louisville

A MINIMUM CASH PRIZE OF $2000 GUARANTEED

TO CHAMPIONSHIP WINNER
Fri., March 7 - Team Tournament .......... Entries@ $65 For further information, CALL:
Fri., March 7 - Ladies Tournament ......... Entries@ $20
LARRY STRASBERG (502) 451-3950
Sat., March 8 - Championship Tournament. Entries@ $135
Sat., March 8 - Intermediate Tournament .... Entries@ $60 3114 Kipling Way
Sat., March 8 - Special Tournament ........ Entries@ $20 Louisville, Kentucky 40205

BACKGAMMON ROOMS WILL BE OPEN 24 HOURS FOR PRIVATE PLAY AND CHOUETTES.
The Louisville Marriott Inn is an exceptional resort type establishment, featuring an indoor swimming pool, in-
door tennis courts, Health Club, amusement center, and game rooms. Also the DERBY DINNER PLAYHOUSE (ad-
jacent to the Marriott) will be starring TV and film personality RICHARD EGAN in the hilarious comedy attraction
"BROKEN UP". The Marriott is a great place to BRING THE FAMILY fora fun weekend!! BACKGAMMON will be
available around the clock!! What could be better!
MARRIOTT INN ROOM RATES - Single S31.50 - Double $39.50

I LVBM 23
LVBM 29
DISCOVER
...

---
'
- •
·,,. .......r,
Largely through the efforts of the MOVIES: "Death of Ocean View
' -~/
LVBC, a low-yield nuclear device Park" featured sailors playing back-
detonated at the Nevada test site by gammon in a bar. Buck Rogers play-
the department of energy, was code- ing 25th Century backgammon.
THE LASVEGAS
named Backgammon. The weapon,
a 20 Kiloton bomb, was detonated at
MAGAZINES: Pat Cuddell, polester-
advisor to President Carter, inter-
7 a.m. on the first day of the Ameri-
SPORTIN(j can Backgammon Championships
viewed in Playboy magazine told of
playing backgammon at chic West
(Dec. 29).
HOUSE TELEVISION: George Plimpton on
Coast parties while others partied.
Former ABC winner Chico Felber-
3025 INDUSTRIAL the Johnny Carson "Tonight" show baum pictured in Los Angeles
forgot the cup named after him. magazine as one of the happenings of
Phone: Wayne Araki a big hit on the "Merv the 70's.
733-8999 Griffin" show as the winner of the
Amateur Championships.
Popular Bridge (Dec. issue) con-
tained an excellent article on back-
gammon and a plug for the LVBC.
California Good Life magazine
(Dec. issue) comprehensively covers
backgammon in California. Author
W. M. Hartney claims that those
playing backgammon in California
incl-,Sile Polly Bergen, Jill St. John,
Diana Ross, Christina Onassis,
Kausov, HuRtington Hartford, 0. J.
Simpson, Hugh Hefner, Michael
Caine, Warren Beatty, the Baron and
Baroness Von Pantz, Truman Capote
and Mick Jagger.
Best little backgammon magazine
in the world - The Prime, of the
Pacific Backgammon Assri. edited by

r
Nick Maffeo with Ralph Powell.
Chips Magazine is the first real com-
petition for Gambling Times. For
many years, there has been talk
about the need for a sleek gaming
magazine. Chips i aiming for the
~
-----,. new life style market and is not
heavy into technical data as is
Gambling Times. George Plimpton is
the consulting editor. There are
many other celebrities who contri-
bute to the magazine including Omar
Sharif who supposedly writes the
backgammon page. Chips is a ew
... and so, J. B., after 30 years with the company, I said to
York based operation. You can sub-
myself, "Ralph screw profit sharing, to heli;with the pension
scribe by writing to Box 488, Plea-
p/a11.quit work and play backgammon!" santville, ew York 10570. **
LVBM 33