There is a common tournament poker tactic that is used by many players of getting active and very busy very early into the event in order to take advantage of the so called “dead money” that is present at the beginning to middle stages of all large field poker tournaments. It is common knowledge for example that in a field of say 1000 runners that a very high percentage of these players would simply not be good enough to win the event.
The two biggest examples of this are when players have won into an event through satellites and are happy with a mediocre cash and because their shorthanded skills are lacking. Either way then these two factors make winning a big tournament very difficult and in many cases impossible if the player concerned has the wrong mind set. This is precisely why many players go after these weaker players at the outset and certainly when it gets close to cashing.
This is the same in backgammon where weaker players will not double when they should and play their moves weakly. This gives the better players opportunities to play far more aggressively at the beginning of the game than they otherwise would against players who were stronger. You have a big advantage in a game when you know that you are winning say 60% of the games but your opponent will not double until their advantage is obvious.
If you drop against obvious doubles with the cube on 2 then you are losing $80 per 100 games. However with a 60% strike ratio with the cube on 2 then you are making at least $120 over those 100 games. However you will be making gammons and backgammons and so your average points per win may be nearer 3 than 2 and so $180 and not $120. This means that you are making $100 in profit from your opponent per 100 games for $1 per game.
