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Another possible false assumption and false conclusion

Posted By: Phil Simborg
Date: Sunday, 18 September 2016, at 8:23 a.m.

In Response To: I like my chances/ and so Pineapple Bluff Gammon stuff (Stick)

I believe it has clearly been shown that having really great math skills is one trait that can help a person to become a great backgammon player. It is also true that people who don't have amazing math skills can also become top backgammon players....by developing excellent "backgammon-math" skills and shortcuts and also with enough study of reference positions and raw deliberate practice.

But the fact that there are few people who are top backgammon players who are true geniuses at math is not necessarily because math has held them back, but rather, they are far too smart to use their skills to play backgammon. Instead, they are playing poker, which makes a lot more money. Or they are spending much of their time in the gaming industry (like Wilcox and Jorgen and others we all know but I won't mention, who are making a lot more money betting and working in the gaming industry than they could playing backgammon.)

Or perhaps they are traders...I know a few people, like Howard Ring and Neil Kazaross, who made thousands of times more money trading than if they had dedicated their skills to backgammon.

So a good argument can be made that is someone is truly very highly skilled at math, or has an amazing I.Q. and gifted in other ways, there is a damn good reason you don't see them playing backgammon for a living.

If you had a kid who was a genius at math or anything else, would you recommend a career in backgammon? (I have two sons who enjoy backgammon, and both have become quite wealthy and successful doing other things, while still enjoying backgammon as a hobby.)

Bottom line, the reason you don't see a lot of geniuses at math at the top of the backgammon lists is not because they couldn't be there if they wanted to, it's because they are smart enough to use their skills in ways that will produce far greater financial rewards.

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