 Double your money
When I was growing up the back and white TV in the corner
of the room used to echo to the tones of ex Canadian Air Force Colonel
Hughie Green the presenter of talent show Opportunity knocks and in
1955 a quiz programme, 'Double your Money.'
This programme was simple, get a general knowledge question right and
you can either take the money or double it.
This format is similar in many ways to the doubling cube in
backgammon, because the cube is offered to the opposition as a method
of doubling the score or rejecting it, rejecting it is the equivalent
of Green's quiz being a wrong answer as you are effectively eliminated
from both. Both require you to make decision, namely to double, of
course in 1955 a fifty pound win was a lot of money and most took it
the money. With the backgammon double there is no such luxury accept
or lose it's clear cut.
The doubling cube is placed on the bar at the start of the game, and
is never thrown, instead it is offered to the opposing player by he
one who opts to use it. The doubling is a form of betting, playing a
hand of backgammon as you would bet on cards, if the double is
accepted the initiative then passes to the other player. This is where
strategy comes into play, judging when to double and when to fold even
it means losing is sometimes preferable, as some players even adopt
beavers and then redouble keeping control of the cube. This continual
doubling up to 64 times can prove very expensive in money games
particularly. Sometime sth better part of valour is to quit.
NB:
Hughie Green went onto become one of the leading television
personalities of the 50-60-and 70's and died in 1997, not one to be
upstaged, he left behind one other great entertainment question, was
he really the Father of Paula Yates, ex wife of Bob Geldorf. DNA says,
he was.
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