Thursday, July 06, 2006

Backgammon: Swing tournament strategy

Entered a Swing tournament for 10 players after my poker session (just to relax :-) )

First game was OK, doubled up and won the game

2nd got a bit lucky at one time but played OK and won doubled up again

3rd lost but only 300 pts

4th playing much higher ranked player and got slaughtered ! luckily only for 100 points

last game, again a much higher ranked player, this time I was in a good position, doubled then got a bit unlucky, got doubled back again then got slaughtered when I got a piece taken whilst my opponent had all the points covered in his home area!

Finished 6th out of 10 in the end

Lessons to be learnt
  • Don't play backgammon when I am a bit tired, at the end of a poker session!
  • Don't be so aggressive with the doubling cube (I think I doubled in every game, probably a bit marginal in places)
  • Stick to the lowest entry stake swing tournaments as they require consistently good and focused play in order to get to the money stages (only the top 2 get money back)

Swing tournaments are great as they allow you to get about 4 or 5 games for a fixed stake and the doubling cube plays a large part in your strategy, so will definitely continue to play them, but I certainly need to look at when I play backgammon if I want to get any money back when playing it

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