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BGonline.org Forums
a famous example
Posted By: Phil Simborg In Response To: Does everybody here know this? (Jack Mack)
Date: Saturday, 20 August 2016, at 11:08 p.m.
About 25 years ago, in New York, a brash young man said he beat Snowie in a long money game session. Most agreed that while it might be possible that the best in the world could beat Snowie, all agreed that this young man was no where near that level and they bet him a sizeable amount of money.
Now, I know all the details and was even called in to give an opinion on this, but I will withhold names and dates and places in the interest of confidentiality.
So a group of players from a well-known club in New York bet a lot of money per point that this kid would not beat Snowie.
The young man sat down and proceeded to play horribly, intentionally trying to get into massive back games and he lost game after game. Finally, after about 17 games where he was getting killed, he got into a huge back game where he held 3 or 4 of Snowie's inner board points, and he was actually favored, but Snowie doubled and he beavered. He redoubled and snowie beavered and then snowie redoubled etc. and he won 128 points on that one game. Snowie simply did not understand that position, and the young man ended up winning a lot of money.
Well, the people betting on the other side felt they were snookered...the guy found a way to exploit the bot, but he didn't really "play better" than Snowie to win the bet. They felt they shouldn't pay.
Since the bet started and took place at an established backgammon club in New York, the director was called upon to decide if the young man really won the bet or not or if it was a trick. Several people who the director considered to be neutral and knowledgeable were called for their opinion, and I was one of them (yes, 25 years ago people thought I was knowledgeable...go figure!)
Well, the kid didn't say he was better than Snowie...he said he could beat Snowie. And he did. At the same time, it is easy to understand why the other side felt that the best was about him winning through standard play.
How would you rule?
I said I felt the kid earned his money. The other people were experienced, knowledgeable players, and if someone says they can beat Snowie they should have been aware that if a relatively weaker player is willing to bet, it might be because Snowie has a flaw.
The end result was a compromise, with the kid getting most of his money.
Well, XG has the same faults, but no where near as bad as Snowie, and if you tried the same thing with XG you would probably get killed. But if you did manage to get into a really deep back game with XG there is a pretty good chance that if you were a highly skilled player you could outplay XG and win more than the bot says you should...from BOTH SIDES. I have worked with Jim Pasko on a few back game positions where he is convinced he can outplay XG, and from what I have seen, I would bet on Jim.
My point is you must be very clear about the parameters of the bet...there are many ways to skin a cat or gut a fish.
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