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BGonline.org Forums
History of abolishing the Holland Rule
Posted By: neilkaz In Response To: Only Herb Roman Got All 4 Right (Henrik Bukkjaer)
Date: Sunday, 4 April 2010, at 4:14 p.m.
It was about 25 years ago that the Holland Rule started becoming more prevelent in US backgammon if I recall. At first, I didn't mind it, but after a while it became quite clear to me that it wasn't a good idea.
1) Obviously the value of the free drop is more using the Holland Rule than when not. I recall modifying my MET somewhat to take this into account. You may wonder why a strong player like myself wouldn't want something that both complicates things like the Holland Rule, and also makes it more valuable to reach Crawford (better player more likely to reach Crawford). However, my experiences back then soon convinced me that this rule needed to go.
2) The Holland Rule was played in some clubs and at some ABT-type events but not at others. For example, Thurs night at XYZ's we played Holland Rule, but Sunday at ABC's across town we didn't since the director felt it gave too much advantage to experienced players and also didn't want to have to explain it to new players. The big weekend T in Pleasantville didn't use the Holland Rule, but the one the next month in the neighboring state did.
3) There were far more issues with the Holland Rule than it was worth.
3a) Issues explaining it to new players. 3b) Players misscounted rolls and rulings had to be made. 3c) Some players forgot the rule anyhow. 3d) Some players got confused and thought that they could never double before 2 rolls had passed, regardless of score. 3e) In agreement with David Rockwell's experience, I did see a couple new players actually so confused that they decided not play the tourney and just hang out and play money games. (They were casual money players). The Crawford Rule is certainly less complicated to explain and use.
4) Some players also felt that the Holland Rule gave too much advantage to the betetr players. While I didn't feel that was true, I did know that anything that caused players to doubt that they should be playing tourneys wasn't good.
After some thought and discussion with a couple top players and directors, I decided to write an article for a newsletter (I think CJC's) stating my strong preference to abolish the Holland Rule. Joe Sylvester quickly agreed with me and soon those directors who had this rule in their events quickly dropped it.
I haven't seen the Holland Rule used in at least 20 years. Please lets never see it used again.
.. neilkaz ..
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