# Any Pool or Backgammon players?



## goldsilverpro (Mar 19, 2015)

Are there any backgammon players or "good" pool players on the forum? I don't know how to exactly define a "good" pool player but I would guess it would be someone that's played at least 5000 games in their life. Probably more.


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## Barren Realms 007 (Mar 19, 2015)

Been a while since I played but use to enjoy playing both games. Just got to where too many things came up that needed to be taken care of so didn't have time to play anymore.


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## MarcoP (Mar 19, 2015)

I'm ok in both of them, about 2000 pool games (excluding three balls games with or without pins) and probably less then 1000 for backgammon. Only my ex wife used to like backgammon and online players always quit when about to lose ...


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## FrugalRefiner (Mar 19, 2015)

Like Barren, I used enjoy both. My best backgammon game ever started at $1.00. My friend and I cubed each other back and forth. The game was at $32.00 at the end. He only needed one more roll to clear, and I had four pieces left. He cubed me again. I accepted and rolled double sixes to win!

Dave


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## goldsilverpro (Mar 21, 2015)

MarcoP said:


> I'm ok in both of them, about 2000 pool games (excluding three balls games with or without pins) and probably less then 1000 for backgammon. Only my ex wife used to like backgammon and online players always quit when about to lose ...


I've played 3 ball many, many times for money. In one 3 ball tournament I remember, I was in the finals and, very luckily, made all 3 balls on the break. End of tournament.

My favorite game is called "Corners", and the table only has 2 pockets. You can shoot any ball and the two players each have their own pocket. The first player to get 8 balls in their pocket wins. I wrote an article about it in the following link. I eventually bought the 4-1/2' X 9' table shown in the photo in the article. It's in a storage unit and I've probably spent twice as much on storage than I spent on the table ($500). The table is a 1923 Brunswick. There's a possibility that it is the only 2 pocket table left in the country, although I have heard rumors about one in Joplin. Most were cut out and converted to 6 pocket tables, when the interest in Corners waned. My plan is to put it in my basement. The problem is that the basement is about 6" too narrow for a standard 57" cue and will require using a shorter cue (probably 48") occasionally.

http://www.onepocket.org/Corners.htm


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## goldsilverpro (Mar 21, 2015)

FrugalRefiner said:


> Like Barren, I used enjoy both. My best backgammon game ever started at $1.00. My friend and I cubed each other back and forth. The game was at $32.00 at the end. He only needed one more roll to clear, and I had four pieces left. He cubed me again. I accepted and rolled double sixes to win!
> 
> Dave


I would have liked to have seen that game, Dave. When in doubt, turn the doubling cube. 

I played almost daily for about 10 years in the 70s/80s, when it was very popular. It seemed like everybody played it back then. Since then, I have played it rarely. About 3-4 months ago, I got interested again and bought a new board, a bunch of the newer books, and Extreme Gammon, a neural bot that analyzes each dice roll for the present board position and gives the best mathematical move. There is a free bot that's just as good (GnuBG), technically, but it's not quite as user friendly. The bots always beat the world's best players. The neural bots have changed the game, especially online. 

Never play BG for money online. Many players cheat by using 2 computers. One for the game and one with a bot on it. They play the perfect move indicated by the bot and will most always beat you out of your money. I'm sure there is also cheating with bots when playing online tournaments or just single online games. The only way I play is live, face-to-face.

http://gnubg.org/


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## Barren Realms 007 (Mar 21, 2015)

goldsilverpro said:


> The only way I play is live, face-to-face.
> 
> http://gnubg.org/



That is the only way to play IMHO.

I use to like playing Chess too. When I was in High School I use to play a guy that would lay on the couch and not look at the board and he would beat the snot out of me. I am happy to say that kids today still play, my son is in the Chess club at school.


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## FrugalRefiner (Mar 21, 2015)

I used to play a lot of chess with the same friend I mentioned in the backgammon game. He was good, but I was a little better. He moved to Florida, and we would sometimes play by email. I noticed that his game was improving. When I asked about it, he admitted that he was plugging my moves into a chess program and using its moves as his own. :| 

Dave


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## Barren Realms 007 (Mar 21, 2015)

That's just not right.


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## goldsilverpro (Mar 21, 2015)

Barren Realms 007 said:


> goldsilverpro said:
> 
> 
> > The only way I play is live, face-to-face.
> ...


I never liked chess because the best player most always wins. This is totally different than BG due to the dice (luck) aspect in BG. They say that BG is 80% dice and 20% skill. The best player in the world can lose a game to a beginner, if the dice are right. In the long haul, with many games, the luck balances out and the better player usually wins. All in all, to consistently win, though, knowing how to use the doubling cube as a weapon is the most important thing.

In most all BG boards you buy, there is a strange cube with the numbers 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, and 64 on it. When starting a game, you are playing for 1 unit (say, $1). At some point, if either player thinks they have an advantage, they can turn the cube to 2 and say, "I double". The other player can either accept the double and continue playing for $2 or drop, losing $1, and then start a new game. Just like in poker - when someone bets, you can put more money in or drop and lose what you already have in the pot. After the first double, the player who accepted the double now "owns" the doubling cube and only he can double to $4, if the game turns to his advantage. Playing without the doubling cube is kinda like playing poker for matchsticks or kissing your sister.

There's always been an argument as to whether chess or BG is the world's oldest game. I do know that they once found a BG board in an Egyptian tomb.


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## MarcoP (Mar 21, 2015)

Corners, we used to play it in a 6 holes table were a player would call the hole were the first ball will go in, he gets that hole and the opposite hole would go to the other player. Another version I used to like playing was to call each hole where the ball would go in.

I regret my wins only once, was against my boss...i reckon 7 in a rows oops


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