Pip Count and Counting Shots
In this article we will focus on two essential backgammon terms: pip count and counting shots. More then just terms, counting pips and shots are critical tools that help the backgammon player calculate his state in the race, and by that the worthiness of taking the cube, and the probability of hitting a blot.Counting Pips in Backgammon
Pip count is the calculation of the number of points (the triangles on the backgammon board) a player has to go to move all of his checkers home and then bear them off. The initial pip count is 167 pips (=points) to each player. As in backgammon, the pip count is always relative. When your pip count is lower than your opponent, it is said you are ahead in the race, meaning you are closer to bear off then he is. And when your pip count is higher, you are behind in the race.
Counting the pips is important when the backgammon game becomes a pure race, when finishing first becomes a top priority. The pip count is also a major consideration when deciding on whether to take (the doubling cube) or to drop. When the pip count is too high to be ahead in the race and win the game, you should probably drop. (Otherwise, you should probably follow Woolsey's law of doubling, and take).
How to Count the Pips?
There are several pip counts methods designed to assist the less mathematical minded backgammon players. One of them is the Trice formula, named after its developer backgammon player and author Walter Trice and it is applicable in money games. It goes like that: when the pip count of the player who is ahead in the race is 62 or less, by subtracting 5, dividing by 7 and rounding up, you will get the estimated sum of pips required for accepting the doubling cube.
Counting Shots in Backgammon
Counting shots is the calculation of the probability of hitting the opponent's blot in any given situation in a money game or in a backgammon match. There are three different types of shots: the direct shot, using a single die, the direct shot, using two dice and the double shot, where you either hit a blot in two ways or hit two blots one way. To count shots, simply use these backgammon probability charts.
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