Opening rolls: are they all good ?

[Bill Taylor]

Concerning my posting about the ranking of opening rolls, I had
also asked where people drew the line between those that
favour the opener, and those that favour the second player.
Only Marty Storer replied specifically to this, (as he had to an
earlier post), namely that ALL (he thought) favoured the opener;
though as I recall someone had previously posted that tournament
stats seemed to show that the two or three worst rolls were in fact
worse for opener.

This question can be re-phrased as follows.
If there is a
proposition that one player can name the opening roll, and the
other has to open with it, then would you choose to be namer
or opener ? I get the feeling that most (including Marty of
course) would choose to be opener, at least playing a good
opponent. However, I would guess, that playing against a
weaker opponent, (especially one whose foibles you know),
most would choose to be namer.

Even Marty Storer.

What DO people say to this proposition ?

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Bill Taylor w...@math.canterbury.ac.nz
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[Marty Storer]

In article <1992Mar11....@csc.canterbury.ac.nz> w...@math.canterbury.ac.nz (Bill Taylor) writes:

> If there is a
> proposition that one player can name the opening roll, and the
> other has to open with it, then would you choose to be namer
> or opener ? I get the feeling that most (including Marty of
> course) would choose to be opener, at least playing a good
> opponent. However, I would guess, that playing against a
> weaker opponent, (especially one whose foibles you know),
> most would choose to be namer.
>
> Even Marty Storer.
>
> What DO people say to this proposition ?

Depends how much weaker my opponent is. Actually, against an
average player, I'd want to open; if I had to play 52, I'd play
13/8, 6/4, because flexibility and positional purity get you more
against a weaker player than a stronger player. I'd feel better
about my chances in that situation than if my weaker opponent got
to play a roll.

Against someone slightly but perceptibly weaker, I'd want to open.
Against someone stronger, of course I'd want to open. Many good
players would disagree with me that all opening rolls make the
first player a favorite, though.

Play well,

Marty