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Backgammon variant with slightly non-random dice

Posted By: phil simborg
Date: Sunday, 20 April 2014, at 2:45 a.m.

In Response To: Backgammon variant with slightly non-random dice (Timothy Chow)

I would have a great advantage in this game over most players. Why? Because I can play a hand of gin rummy and tell you every card that has been played, and at the end of the hand I can tell you what two cards are remaining in the deck or are in my opponent's hand. Over the years, I have learned to know every card played. Any good bridge player can certainly tell you every card played from the beginning to the end of a hand. And of course, any blackjack counter has these skills.

So in this game, if I know that most of the 6's are not in the deck, or that lots of the 5's are gone, I can change my plays accordingly.

Now, if you were to take a program like eXtremeGammon to play this game, in order to play correctly it absolutely must change its plays depending on what rolls have been used and which remain.

In short, I love this variation not just because I believe it gives me an advantage (because in time, every good player will learn to remember which rolls are gone), but because it adds a new element to the game...changing your checker play and cube decisions based on the new odds of rolling certain numbers. Just imagine how you would play a switching play in your inner board if you know the 3-3 is no longer a possible roll! Just imagine how you might cube a racing position much sooner if the high doubles are gone and there is less chance for your opponent to catch up.

Also imagine when you get down to a small number of cards in the deck and you know what all of them are, and you are deciding whether to play for a 6 or a 3 to cover!

This seems like one of the best variations ever, and I would particularly like to play down the entire deck, or at least most of the deck, before reshuffling.

I will start working on the appropriate baffle box for this right away. (No cocked cards, no cards on the floor, no dealing from the bottom...)

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