Author: Orad Reshef

In our introduction to the doubling cube, we described, in terms of win percentages, why a player that’s trailing would be willing to accept a double. In a real backgammon game, both plays must consider gammons, which make the story more complicated (albeit way more interesting). For example, compared to a game with 70% win…

Let’s first enumerate the different types of cube actions. It’s customary to describe the action for both players for a given position. The common cube decisions are as follows: These decisions lie on a spectrum, illustrated below: As you go left from right, the strength of your position is improving: at first you shouldn’t be…

Mastering the doubling cube is hard to do; however, in certain conditions, the decision can be automatic. Below are some cubing scenarios that arise often during matches that tend to surprise newbies, but make perfect sense when you think about it and should be committed to memory. Post-Crawford automatic doubles (1a cubes) As we’ve mentioned…

As we’ve touched upon before, ownership of the cube has some intrinsic value. This value is oftentimes called the recube vigorish. Vigorish, or vig, is an old-timey word that refers to the small rake taken by a gambling establishment. The general sense is that you’re getting slightly less than you’ve earned because of the vig.…