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Freakonomics: Why Isn’t Backgammon More Popular? - Answer is "TV"

Posted By: Daniel Murphy
Date: Thursday, 16 December 2010, at 7:50 p.m.

In Response To: Freakonomics: Why Isn’t Backgammon More Popular? - Answer is "TV" (Stick)

What Stick said.

In backgammon do you take a cube at X score that you evaluate has Y equity? Feedback from the expert backgammon bot is precise and immediate (or after rollout, eh?). In a hold'em tournament do you call an all-in with these two cards with stack X, blind Y and Z players remaining (and other variables, etc.)? Ask an expert -- human -- and hope he knows.

In backgammon today, you can correct your mistakes immediately, or (soon enough) realize that you lose because you play badly and don't have what it takes to get better. "I'm unlucky" doesn't cut it anymore. Not in backgammon.

Of course feedback doesn't have to come from a bot. And of course a bot never tells you "why." But the "what" sure is helpful when no "why" explainer is around. This past October, the 2004 backgammon champion Peter Hallberg blogged: "I've spent a lot of time practicing chess, backgammon and poker over the years. Now I finally understand why I only got good at backgammon!" If you're interested in reading what he thinks he understands, see

http://www.coinflip.com/blog/peterhallberg/deliberate-practice.html

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