I'd like to know how to cheat :>
Kate Bomberger
I'm a writer working on a book set in the 16th century--before the
doubling cube, BTW.
I need to show a cool way to cheat, something clever. Have you seen or
read of any such thing? I already have read Gambling Scams by Ortiz. I
cannot use any sort of cheating involving the cube.
Thank you kindly and best wishes.
Kate
Ian Shaw
"Kate Bomberger" <us...@foobar.com.invalid> wrote in message
news:user-27FBAB.1...@news.qwest.net...
> Hi, folks,
>
> I'm a writer working on a book set in the 16th century--before the
> doubling cube, BTW.
>
> I need to show a cool way to cheat, something clever. Have you seen or
> read of any such thing? I already have read Gambling Scams by Ortiz. I
> cannot use any sort of cheating involving the cube.
>
I'd recommend a trawl through the backgammon newsgroup archive at
http://www.bkgm.com/rgb/rgb.cgi?menu
There is a small section on cheating, and another one dealing with rules and
irregularities.
Collusion in Monte Carlo (Kit Woolsey, 13 Aug 95)
Dice manipulation (Kit Woolsey, 14 Jan 95)
Gamesmanship vs. cheating (Albert Steg, 15 May 94)
Kit Woolsey (kwoo...@fibs.com) is one of the worlds most highly respected
professionals. If you contact him he may well have some great stories. The
dice manipulation angle may be more interesting for a novel than dumping
games (which could be any gambling game).
Another form of cheating is the "premature roll", and its counterpart the
"late pick-up". These are everyday occurences in the excitement of a fast
moving backgammon game, and a cheater can sometimes use them as ploys to
gain an advantage.
The Premature Roll is when you roll before your opponent has finished his
turn by picking up his/her dice. If it's a bad roll, simply apologise for
rollingtoo soon, pick 'em up and roll again. Modern etiquette gets round
this in one of two ways, (A) by allowing the other player the choice of
whether a roll should stand or be re-rolled, or (B) by allowing him to
complete his move in the knowledge of what the upcoming roll will be. Both
systems are in use today; A is common in Europe and the Americas, B is the
British tournament ruling.
The more subtle Late Pick Up exploits this ruling. If the other player is
rolling hot on the heels of you picking up your dice, you can put your hand
over your dice as if to pick them up, but not actually raise them from the
board. If you can induce a Premature Roll you can enforce the prevalent
ruling and thus gain an advantage.
You may decide they are a bit too tied up in the modern etiquette for
shaking and rolling for you to use, but you might enjoy perusing some of
these articles in the Rules section of the archive. Hmm, I'm not even sure
if old backgammon sets would have had two pairs of dice, which would rule
out these ploys.
Disputed roll (Chuck Bower, 1 Mar 00)
Illegal plays (Marc Gray, 21 Nov 95)
Legal roll? (Gregg Cattanach, 21 Oct 01)
One hand to move checkers (Michael Strato, 7 Jun 00)
Repairing an illegal play (Michael J Zehr, 17 Apr 95)
Rolling on wrong side of board (Kit Woolsey, 29 Jan 99)
Rolling on wrong side of board (Kit Woolsey, 20 Sep 98)
Rolling on wrong side of board (Bob Hoey, 26 Apr 98)
Rolling too soon (Stephen Turner, 2 Feb 98)
Rolling too soon (Kit Woolsey, 3 Sep 96)
Slow play (Stephen Turner, 21 Jan 02)
Talking during play (Daniel Murphy, 7 Jan 01)
Talking during play (Bob Stringer, 23 Dec 00)
When is a move over? (JP White, 1 May 00)
Not related to cheating, but possibly of interest are:
I'm fairly certain that the "3 points for a backgammon" rule wasn't in use
then, although I think "two points for a gammon" would have been. The oldest
set of rules available is Edmund Hoyle's (sp?) which also contains some
strategy notes. I think they date fom the eighteenth century. A copy is
available online at www.gammonvillage.comHoyle's Backgammon Treatise
I remember it containing some rules for dealing with illegal plays which
are substantially different (and harsher) than the current ones.
Also at GammonVillage, Mark Driver's The History Of Dice - Part IV contains
some interesting info about various dice for cheating; shaped, loaded &
tops.
A delightful historical detail is the custom of playing towards the light.
Re: Why is the fibs board back-to-front?
I hope this helps. Get in touch if you have trouble accessing any of these
resources.
Regards
Ian Shaw
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Roland Scheicher
The following link to a previous thread may be useful for you
http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=de&selm=01bbfd62%24afed2fc0%24d7eb1ac4%40cheater.global.co.za
Since this part may also be interesting for backgammon players, I want
to copy it below:
>>> NORMAL BOARD GAME
--------------------------------------
1. Irritate your opponent by refusing resignations, even if you're
definately going to win! Irritated people make mistakes! Plus you get
the
bonus that you've p****ed them off!
2. Play 4-5 when you roll 4-3. You gotta pick the dice up quickly
though so
your opponent doesn't notice. Similary try 6-4 instead of 6-5. You get
the
picture!
3. Pile up 9 counters on a point and when your opponent isn't looking
take
one off! This really helps in endgames. Watch out though when playing
a
person who does constant mental pip counting. I got caught once and
that
wasn't pleasant.
4. Always try to move 5 times during after rolling a double where want
you
to move different counters. You can "win" points this way!
5. If you're losing, make sure the doubling cube is nowhere in sight.
Somehow, because it's not there, opponents forget about it. Make sure
it
miraculously appears if the tables turn in your favor!
6. Ask to see your opponent's dice cup! Pass insinuations that he's
cheating. Make him/her feel as if you're in control and have high
integrity! You wouldn't believe how well this can conceal YOUR
cheating!
7. Always have an excuse ready if you're caught cheating! The ability
to
talk your way out has saved me many times.
<<<<
End of the quotation.
Regards
Roland
PS: If you want to get some further informations, there is an
interesting chapter in the book "Philipp Martyn at Backgammon" about
loaded dice or ways to cheat at a chouette. (Just send a mail, and
I'll try to summarize this topic.)
Nigel Bailey
>
>"Kate Bomberger" <us...@foobar.com.invalid> wrote in message
>news:user-27FBAB.1...@news.qwest.net...
>> Hi, folks,
>>
>> I'm a writer working on a book set in the 16th century--before the
>> doubling cube, BTW.
>>
>> I need to show a cool way to cheat, something clever. Have you seen or
>> read of any such thing? I already have read Gambling Scams by Ortiz. I
>> cannot use any sort of cheating involving the cube.
Jon Tremaine's book ("The Amazing book of backgammon") has a chapter
called 'Coming of Age' which deals with various ploys for getting the
upper hand.
Hope that helps!
Regards,
--
Nigel Bailey
spurs
1. Roll..... then move (or bear off) and pick up dice in one motion!
2. Roll a double and take 5 (perhaps 3 in some cases!)
If caught, apologise profusely, claim "pyplexia" and don't try again
--
spurs
Roy Passfield @ Oxnard, California
http://www.dock.net/spurs
"Making a living is NOT the same as making a life"
(Roy Passfield, 1999)
"Kate Bomberger" <us...@foobar.com.invalid> wrote in message
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