I had this position in a match against a bot. I'm leading 1-away 10-away post-Crawford:
The score is: White 10, Blue 1 (match to 11 points, post-Crawford play). Blue on roll
| White | 161 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
                        | |||
| Blue | 159 | ||
| Position ID: 4PPgASiMZ/ABMA Match ID: cAlgAaAACAAE | |||
• Blue doubles
| Cube decision | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 4-ply cubeless MWC | 4.350% | (Money: +0.0971) | |
| 0.5248 0.1745 0.0063 - 0.4752 0.1273 0.0060 | |||
| Cubeful equities: | |||
| 1. | Double, pass | 6.973% | |
| 2. | Double, take | 7.063% | 0.090% |
| 3. | No double | 6.619% | -0.354% |
| Proper cube action: | Double, pass | ||
Paraphrasing Chuck Bower's "simple rule of thumb, which isn't 100% accurate (that you must read the article to get) but isn't far off and is easy to remember" (1998):
If your equal opponent is even-away post-Crawford and doubles on his first turn:
- (1) Take, if you won the opening roll.
- (2) Take, if on the previous move you
- (a) hit on any point from your 23 point to your 9 point;
- (b) rolled any doublet or 3-1;
- (c) pointed on opponent anywhere.
Otherwise, pass.
Not stopping to remember this, I took.
Playing an unequal opponent -- better or worse -- should one be more or less inclined to use the free drop at the first opportunity?