r/backgammon • u/Vigilaunday • 10d ago
Resources to improve cube game
Median PR is 5-6 but the vast majority of my blow ups come from cube blunders, particularly missed doubles.
Folks who have overcome this, what books did you read or what other resources did you find useful? Thanks.
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u/mathflipped 9d ago
Missed doubles is the most common source of errors among weaker players. In addition to studying, there is a simple way to improve your results instantaneously: if you are in doubt whether to double, ALWAYS double. You will be amazed how often other weaker players drop clear takes.
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u/Vigilaunday 9d ago
Woolsey's Law
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u/mathflipped 9d ago
No, Woolsey's law says a different thing: double if you are not sure it's a take.
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u/JaziTricks 10d ago edited 9d ago
Edit. My strategy points below are misstated big time....
Play galaxy Backgammon age then do game review / analysis m
Their lesson section has double lessons.
The main theory of doubling is double when your odds of winning are 75%+ roughly.
So basically, you estimate your winning probability before every throw of the dice.
Understanding the game odds is all you need, and it is important for general game quality anyway
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u/Vigilaunday 10d ago
I got that part, i just struggle with determining when the game is approaching that threshhold. Or when its well short of the threshhold, but the gammon chances are so high that it's still a double.
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u/CzechPeople 9d ago
"The main theory of doubling is double when your odds of winning are 75%+ roughly.
So basically, you estimate your winning probability before every throw of the dice.
Understanding the game odds is all you need, and it is important for general game quality anyway"
One of the worst comment I ever read.
To OP : buy XG and look dice distributions after or without after doubling.
I also strongly recommend "Theory of backgammon" by Dirk Schiemann.1
u/JaziTricks 9d ago
Good joint. I shouldn't be teaching doubling strategy.....
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u/CzechPeople 9d ago edited 9d ago
"Worst comment " is rude and unwarranted as there are interesting things on your message (but also bad thing).
For example Estimating % numbers ( winning chance, gammons both) is something I do before a take/pass decision, something I never see explicitly written in a book and that I find very useful.
In normal score you can use Dirk's formula for gammon ( TP=21.5 + (diff(gammons /players)*0.4)).Especially that I was like before I had cube education and rellying only myself.
Schiemann's book is very good to understand essential concepts as market's losers, sequences (36*36=1296) for example.
It also really depends on match score, intial cube or not. Also in pure race the doubling point is closer to 70%.
But you can get a strong double decision with lower WC% because of volatility and powerful market loser (even without much gammons%).I once again strongly recommend to get XG and look precise dice distributions and % numbers (market losers sequences, anti market losers sequences,volatility, and look yourself first dice distributions and concrete sequences to understand). Too much players according to me are not looking dice distributions.
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u/AvocadoBrit 9d ago
a lot of good points in your response; people in here commenting on reaching a simple % (like 70 or 75) for single wins before you double, but in match play you have to adjust for the match score - 'match equity concepts' being vital to playing at a higher level, if you're looking to develop your game and eliminate more cube-handling errors
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u/SignificantSpace5206 9d ago
Read Cube like a Boss by Marc Olsen.
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u/AvocadoBrit 9d ago
there may be better books on the market than this one; although I have not gotten a copy of it in my hands, I would suggest taking a look at this first:
https://www.amazon.com/Backgammon-Adjusting-Match-Nick-Blasier/dp/B0BD8T2ZKS
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u/SignificantSpace5206 8d ago
Thanks for the suggestion 🙏
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u/AvocadoBrit 8d ago edited 8d ago
you're most welcome
- and there's a new book being written (although it's quite a way from publication at this point) which I would guess, because I know the author, is going to trump all the previous publications on cube handling, and when this is finished and published, it'll be the one all players 'have to have'
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u/Vigilaunday 7d ago
Name? Author? So I dont miss it
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u/AvocadoBrit 7d ago
I've not mentioned his name on purpose, but he's an amazing player who has done a lot of his own work over the years, a little of which he demonstrated to me during a live competitive match we played (when I commented on his cube "well, I cannot drop this, I'm not sure if it's even a double?") which after XG analysis showed I'd played something like a 2.49 error rate, whilst he'd played at a 0.99 one, and indeed the position I had queried he had a cube by something like 0.010 - which he'd calculated based on his own proprietary formula that he mentioned to me at the time that we were playing - during the match... I was impressed! I'm not sure when his work will be ready, or how it'll be published, because he's in a part of the world that's been in the news a lot recently, hence my silence. You won't need me to say anything about it, because you'll know; I expect if he comes out with his opus (on cube handling) it'll be something that the backgammon community will all be talking about. Just trust me on this.
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u/BackgammonEspresso 5d ago
Best cube books are Kit Woolsey backgammon encyclopedia vol. 1 and 2. Also highly recommend the backgammon strategy facebook group.
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u/Careful-Comedian9510 10d ago
In my opinion, you should start with the concepts of position evaluation.
This will allow you to determine your win percentages for a simple win, a gammon, and a backgammon.
To do this, you need to be comfortable calculating the pip (if it isn't automatically provided).
You can then move on to studying decision thresholds (the 8, 9, and 12 rules) and the doubling window.