Tracy Turn Around
West High
You can take the cube and his side by playing what I call the Tracy Turn
Around. Any comments? Obviously, money games only!
Michael J Zehr
I assume the opponent loses two times the original cube value? (one
times the value for dropping the game and one times the value for what
is essentially a one game proposition of the drop?)
For symmetry, you can add the following rule: If your opponent takes a
cube you think is a drop, you pay him the original face value of the
cube and he turns the cube once more (beavers). This is the same as
offering an "extra" cube in a chouette (except the opponent can't
redouble with one cube and hold the other).
What about if your opponent doubles you and you think it isn't a double?
If I'm thinking straight, you add a cube to the center and doubled cube
you hold.
There was a chouette variation mentioned here a while ago. I don't know
if it was used in Boston over the summer (Albert? Can you fill in
details or correct me where I'm wrong here?) but basically when a cube
decision came up, everyone wrote down their decision. When the answers
were revealed, if people disagreed then they had a five or ten game
contract to play it as a prop.
This is useful in several ways. If you make better cube decisions than
the other players, you get extra profit by it. Since all of *us* are
better at cube decisions than our opponents, we like it! <grin> But you
get to see the position unfold five or ten times and see *why* it is a
take or a drop.
You probably want to have a slightly higher bankroll to point cost ratio
for this kind of chouette than for a normal one. (You can't reduce your
variance simply by following the captain on all cube decisions. And
during any game you could be the only one who claims a particular cube
is a take or a drop and hence have a five or ten game contract against
everyone else for that position!)
-michael j zehr
Albert Steg
> Here's an idea I had for a long time. Your opponent refuses the cube.
> You can take the cube and his side by playing what I call the Tracy Turn
> Around. Any comments? Obviously, money games only!
You've got the right spirit, but if you pursue your idea you're going to
lose stacks of cash to your lucky opponent.
Surely you don't mean to say that your opponent was *winning* when he
dropped your cube, right? Even if you think he was wrong to drop, you
wouldn't want to take up his losing position rather than starting a fresh
game where your chances are even?
What you do want to do is play out the position arguing that it is a
worthwhile "take." To do so, turn the board around as you suggest and ask
your opponent to offer you 1 point to play out the position holding the
cube on "2".
When you lose a simple game you cough up 1 point (the 2 pts on the cube
minus the 1 pt he pays you to play out the admittedly weaker side of the
position). When you win, you chalk up 3 pts (the 2 on the cube plus the 1
pt he pays you).
In other words, you risk one point for the chance of gaining three, which
simulates the payoff involved in accepting any cube.
Write down the position and play it out in this manner until one of you
cries uncle. This process is called playing ou a proposition, or "prop",
and is a popular pastime amongst serious players. It rewards ($) the
player who is on the "right side" of the take/drop question -- and rewards
both players with valuable experience and understanding of the position in
question.
Albert
Hugh B. McNeil
Your Tracy Turn Around sounds a bit like the Proposition
chouettes we play in Toronto.
Every time there is a cube decision, every player takes out a
coin, puts his/ her hands behind their backs, and there is a
simultaneous "declaration," by either having the coin in your
hand, or not. If you think it is a take, you have a coin, other-
wise, the coin stays behind your back. If there is a difference
of opinion (ie some people drop a coin, the others don't), then
the position is played ten times, with the takers being paid a
point to take a two cube (or a two for a four cube, etc) by the
droppers. The takers play the side being cubed.
The advantage is that you learn an enormous amount about
positions, and the disadvantage is that you can be locked into the
losing side of a killer prop for ten games. Also, being only ten
games, you can lose on your side fo the prop, but still feel
your original decision was justified, and contract for another
ten games.
This is a good one.