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BGonline.org Forums
Into the Fray
Posted By: Bill Phipps
Date: Monday, 25 June 2012, at 11:38 p.m.
I have considered becoming a member of this forum for some time, but apparently it took this sort of drama to actually get me to start posting.
Let me start by saying that I agree with the sentiment expressed by several others that there is no reason this disagreement between Stick and David ever should have been made public in such a messy way. But, since it has, here is my unsolicited opinion.
First, I find it mind boggling that Stick never once directly spoke to Dave about the situation and yet somehow felt comfortable posting about it. If someone owes me money and I want to get paid, the first thing I usually do is ask them for it. In the gambling world, there is nothing more sacrosanct than a person’s reputation. Certainly publicly questioning a player’s integrity is not something that should be taken lightly.
Having said that, I also do not think Stick should have had to ask for the money. David was wrong to not pay the first time they saw each other, and wrong to make a transfer to Sander without consulting with Stick first.
As for the allegations of cheating- clearly there is no solid evidence of misconduct. Clearly this case would get thrown out of any court of law. However, this is being tried in the court of public opinion, and the standards are a bit different. Circumstantial evidence is allowed. The case in favor of cheating would go something like this.
Stick has been averaging a 2.3 PR in his online play. Nobody else in the world comes close to matching that error rate. To the recreational player, the difference between 2.3 and 3.0 might sound close. But any serious student of the game should know that there is a VAST difference between the two. A 2.3 average exists on a whole other realm.
I do not know Stick well, having only briefly met him on a couple of occasions. My impression of him is that he is an honest man (however, I had that same read on Peter Jes Thomsen, and was shocked to hear how wrong I had been). I am not very familiar with Stick's game away from the online matches I have seen him play. But I am on good terms with many top players and I have heard an insidious buzz coming from a few of them that this 2.3 result is due to cheating. This is not coming just from David Wells, but from Giants who should be intimately familiar with Stick’s game. The gist of it seems to be that his live results , prop bets, and general discussion of the game does not align with the otherworldy 2.3 PR.
For me personally, this has created doubt. I do not think it is unreasonable to have a certain amount of healthy skepticism when faced with extraordinary results that nobody else in the world can duplicate. Bernie Madoff yielded 14% returns, Barry Bonds hit 70 hr, Ben Johnson shattered the world 100 meter mark In each case, some amount of skepticism proved to be a good thing.
The thing is, I HATE having this doubt. Because I also understand that there is a very real chance that Stick’s result is legitmate. And if so, he is being terribly wronged by the nefarious talk of cheating. This slander is costing him his rightful recognition as THE best player in the world. Not ONE of the best players, as currently is conventional wisdom, but hands down THE best player.
Joe Russell strongly stated in his post that he does not believe Stick cheats. I have known Joe for many years and his endorsement carries a lot of weight with me. I do, however , disagree when Joe states that this conversation is beneath the dignity of the BG community. Quite the opposite, I feel it is very important that we have it. It has been said that sunlight is the best disinfectant. Let’s bring this issue into the light of day and clear it up.
Recently, Stick made a post about how hard it is to find motivation. Well, look no more.
Let’s set up a series of monitored matches and give Stick an opportunity to replicate his result. The opponents, stakes, venue are not particularly important. Whatever Stick wants and is comfortable with should be fine. We just make sure that the sample is statistically significant.
If, indeed, Stick replicates his 2.3 PR. The backgammon world can crown a new king. We will have found our Michael Jordan or Bobby Fischer. I personally will shower the board with gold coins, if this result is proven to be real. And a few top players will owe Stick a very sincere apology.
I for one will be rooting for him.
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