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Clock Settings with non-Standard Devices and Equipment (Long)

Posted By: Chuck Bower
Date: Tuesday, 13 September 2016, at 5:40 p.m.

In Response To: Clock Settings with non-Standard Devices and Equipment (Long) (Colin Owen)

Several years ago I suggested here that delay settings should be changed for baffle boxes and dice tubes. My own tests and those of Chuck Bower's (who was opposed to such a change) showed that the Meyer Dice Tube saved about 2s per turn compared to the conventional method. I also found that, cocked dice savings aside, baffle boxes saved about 1s per roll if used without cups (Henrik Bukkjaer reckoned 1-2s) but were time equivalent if cups were still used.

I prefer properly interpreted data over opinions. (Every backgammon player should, too.) It does seem sometimes that there is a bias in the other direction.

An important point which you mention, but I think should be emphasized, is that the biggest variable in length of time required to get a completed dice roll is the amount of time spent shaking. That gives devices like electronic generation and dice tubes, in particular, a plus in that they don't involve shaking. Baffle boxes can be used with and without cups and therefore with and without shaking. (My personal preference is dice cup but *optional* shake when using a baffle box, but I'll be clear that is just my biased preference, not based upon any systematic study as to its lack of bias.)

The irony is that many dice cup proponents don't admit that there is no reasonably enforceable way to legislate the amount of or method of shaking. Further irony is that players (and even an occasional director!) who have been involved in the game for decades still don't know how to shake. But those players are protected by rules which make alternate methods very difficult to be implemented.

Messages In This Thread

• Clock Settings with non-Standard Devices and Equipment
  Bill Riles -- Monday, 12 September 2016, at 9:06 p.m.
  • Clock Settings with non-Standard Devices and Equipment
    Bob Koca -- Monday, 12 September 2016, at 11:27 p.m.
    • Clock Settings with non-Standard Devices and Equipment
      Bill Riles -- Tuesday, 13 September 2016, at 1:22 a.m.
      • Clock Settings with non-Standard Devices and Equipment
        Bob Koca -- Tuesday, 13 September 2016, at 2:01 a.m.
  • Clock Settings with non-Standard Devices and Equipment (Long)
    Colin Owen -- Tuesday, 13 September 2016, at 12:01 a.m.
    • Clock Settings with non-Standard Devices and Equipment (Long)
      Bill Riles -- Tuesday, 13 September 2016, at 1:40 a.m.
    • Clock Settings with non-Standard Devices and Equipment (Long)
      Chuck Bower -- Tuesday, 13 September 2016, at 5:40 p.m.
  • Clock Settings with non-Standard Devices and Equipment
    Bob Koca -- Tuesday, 13 September 2016, at 2:09 a.m.
    • Clock Settings with non-Standard Devices and Equipment
      Bill Riles -- Tuesday, 13 September 2016, at 2:47 a.m.
      • Clock Settings with non-Standard Devices and Equipment
        Bob Koca -- Tuesday, 13 September 2016, at 2:55 a.m.
        • Clock Settings with non-Standard Devices and Equipment
          Bill Riles -- Tuesday, 13 September 2016, at 3:12 a.m.
  • Clock Settings with non-Standard Devices and Equipment
    Stick -- Tuesday, 13 September 2016, at 10:50 a.m.
    • "No Go on the Dice Tube"
      Albert Steg -- Tuesday, 13 September 2016, at 2:50 p.m.
      • "No Go on the Dice Tube"
        Stick -- Wednesday, 14 September 2016, at 6:17 a.m.
    • Clock Settings with non-Standard Devices and Equipment
      Chuck Bower -- Tuesday, 13 September 2016, at 5:42 p.m.
      • Clock Settings with non-Standard Devices and Equipment
        Stick -- Wednesday, 14 September 2016, at 6:18 a.m.
  • Clock Settings with non-Standard Devices and Equipment
    Bill Finneran -- Tuesday, 13 September 2016, at 12:44 p.m.