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random vs. non-random rolls

Posted By: Phil Simborg
Date: Saturday, 16 March 2013, at 2:00 a.m.

In Response To: random vs. non-random rolls (backgame)

Many people raised all kinds of objections about the dice tube, simply because it was new and strange and different and they didn't like it. So they came up with any challenge they could think of. The baffle box has been around for a long time, so there is less "fear" of it as something new.

Do you remember when XG first came out and I advocated that people buy it because it was better than Snowie, not to mention 1/8th the price? Not only were there vicious attacks on the software, but on me, personally, for advocating something that had not yet been proven.

Why are people so ready to find every possible fault with something very new? Because they are comfortable with the status quo. Because they don't want to believe they wasted the $400 they paid for Snowie.

There is nothing wrong with questioning any claim that anyone makes about a product or idea, but it should be a reasonable, logical claim. Anyone can look at the dice tube, or the baffle box, and see that there is no logical reason to assume that the dice will be any less random than rolling from a cup. Okay, make an argument that you don't like it, or it doesn't "feel" right, but to make someone "prove" that the dice are any more random than any other rolling method is simply a specious approach. One look will tell you the dice get tosseled more than without the gadget!

Now, if someone shows me an electronic dice roller, then I would want to see some statistics and know what assurances there are that it can't be fixed.

Today, as usual, we used a baffle box in our chouette. My opponent rolled several doubles in a bearoff. Had we not been using a baffle box, even though I have no doubt about my opponent's honesty, I would have wondered if the dice were properly shaken and rolled. The baffle box just makes me relax and breathe a lot easier. And so does the dice tube, though I personally prefer the box.

Messages In This Thread

• random vs. non-random rolls
  Chuck Bower -- Friday, 15 March 2013, at 1:29 p.m.
  • random vs. non-random rolls
    stw672 -- Friday, 15 March 2013, at 2:52 p.m.
  • random vs. non-random rolls
    Bob Koca -- Friday, 15 March 2013, at 5:39 p.m.
  • random vs. non-random rolls
    Colin Owen -- Friday, 15 March 2013, at 6:28 p.m.
  • random vs. non-random rolls
    Phil Simborg -- Friday, 15 March 2013, at 10:41 p.m.
    • random vs. non-random rolls
      Art Grater -- Friday, 15 March 2013, at 11:56 p.m.
    • random vs. non-random rolls
      backgame -- Friday, 15 March 2013, at 11:57 p.m.
      • random vs. non-random rolls
        Phil Simborg -- Saturday, 16 March 2013, at 2:00 a.m.
        • random vs. non-random rolls
          Brett Meyer -- Monday, 18 March 2013, at 1:57 a.m.
          • random vs. non-random rolls
            Art Grater -- Monday, 18 March 2013, at 6:55 a.m.
            • random vs. non-random rolls
              Brett Meyer -- Monday, 18 March 2013, at 3:27 p.m.
              • random vs. non-random rolls
                Stick -- Monday, 18 March 2013, at 4:22 p.m.
                • random vs. non-random rolls
                  Timothy Chow -- Tuesday, 19 March 2013, at 5:51 p.m.
                  • random vs. non-random rolls
                    Stick -- Tuesday, 19 March 2013, at 6:06 p.m.
                    • random vs. non-random rolls
                      Timothy Chow -- Wednesday, 20 March 2013, at 12:22 a.m.
                      • random vs. non-random rolls
                        Stick -- Wednesday, 20 March 2013, at 5:49 a.m.
                        • random vs. non-random rolls
                          Timothy Chow -- Friday, 22 March 2013, at 12:33 a.m.
                  • random vs. non-random rolls
                    Chuck Bower -- Tuesday, 19 March 2013, at 7:56 p.m.
                    • random vs. non-random rolls
                      mamabear -- Tuesday, 19 March 2013, at 8:24 p.m.
                    • random vs. non-random rolls
                      Timothy Chow -- Wednesday, 20 March 2013, at 12:29 a.m.
                    • random vs. non-random rolls
                      Art Grater -- Wednesday, 20 March 2013, at 9:35 p.m.
                  • random vs. non-random rolls
                    mamabear -- Tuesday, 19 March 2013, at 8:20 p.m.
          • random vs. non-random rolls
            Colin Owen -- Monday, 18 March 2013, at 12:41 p.m.
      • random vs. non-random rolls
        Jason Lee -- Saturday, 16 March 2013, at 4:01 p.m.
  • random vs. non-random rolls (long)
    Chuck Bower -- Saturday, 16 March 2013, at 3:03 p.m.
    • random vs. non-random rolls (long)
      Daniel Murphy -- Saturday, 16 March 2013, at 5:21 p.m.
  • random vs. non-random rolls
    Casper van der Tak -- Sunday, 17 March 2013, at 3:24 a.m.