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USBGF Rules - permitting dice to land on checkers is a bad rule (pictures)
Posted By: Colin Owen In Response To: USBGF Rules - permitting dice to land on checkers is a bad rule (pictures) (neilkaz)
Date: Tuesday, 11 October 2016, at 12:53 p.m.
Neilkaz: "I will also state that I am extremely opposed to rules that allow the clock to be reset when dice are cocked. The clock should be hit only to end one's turn, or when the game ends, or when the dice leave the playing surface."
Bill Riles: "...both the UKBGF and EUBGF rules have addressed the time equilibration concerns of rolling in one's home board in clocked matches in a manner we feel is a bit messier and more prone to complications than is our new provision. Their rules allow the clock to be paused and the delay to be reset with any cocked die. Repeatedly so, as necessary. So, they made changes without the consideration of others, as some may charge us as having done."
I first played what I term Regained Delay several years ago in my heads up sessions. Though money games these were also clocked (a set of games, often 30) with delay and reserve settings just like in a match. The vast majority were also with a baffle box (those that weren't were with the Meyer Dice Tube). It occurred to me that, on the albeit rare occasions that the dice were cocked on the board, it was in no way the players fault, also on the equally rare occasions that dice were stuck in the baffle box. These things do not necessarily even out, particularly in the shorter term of a set of games, so I felt it was reasonable that players regained their delay setting in such instances. The worst case scenario could directly result in time expiration, and any additional time lost in this way, for one player over the other, would disadvantage them. Of course, using a baffle box, one issue that did not crop up was that of players rolling into different boards, which is clearly a big part of the motivation behind the new USBGF 'On Chequer' cocked dice rule.
I can tell you that, from great experience, there is nothing messy about resetting the delay, on the contrary it is straightforward. We only apply that you can reset the delay when you get the dice to GO INTO, and STAY IN in the baffle box. If a player misses the box then that is rather careless, and if dice bounce out that suggests that they were thrown in too hard. In these instances, just as with dice on the floor, the clock could be paused only, and the delay not reset.
With 'conventional' rolling, in tournaments, the lack of such a rule means that players can be very cautious about rolling, particularly when low on time, and this has been pointed out probably more than once in this thread. Therefore, allowing players to regain their delay setting allays those fears, and the players can be a bit more forceful with their rolling, which surely aids randomness. This is also achieved, of course, with the new USBGF cocked dice rule. But, cocked dice can still occur with that rule and, when they do, I do not believe a player should be disadvantaged, and that regaining the delay should be available whether the 'On Chequer' rule is used or not. The only proviso, I believe, should be that when rolling from cups the dice must stay within that players rolling area. Just as with missing the baffle box, dice that are thrown from a cup off the board or over the bar also suggest carelessness - excessive force used when rolling. They should not allow the player to do more than pause the clock here, to retrieve fallen dice, or dice at the bottom of a glass (!) etc.
Players of an average playing speed or, maybe even much faster, could get into a match with very long, complicated games, and both players could get very low on time. Personally, I NEVER want to win (or lose!) a match because of dice cocked, including against rather than on a chequer, or against the side wall, which can happen even with the new USBGF rule.
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