CHAPTER VI.ODDS.Oddsare of two kinds—“given” and “owed.” When odds are given, one player starts at love and his opponent at fifteen, thirty, &c. If odds are owed, one player is love and the other behind scratch, so that he must make one or more strokes before his score reaches love. There is one other difference between the two kinds of odds. With given odds, the larger odds are taken in the even-numbered games, and, with owed odds, in the odd-numbered games. The object is to distribute the odds as evenly as possible through the different games in cases where odds are both owed and given.For instance, suppose A. owes B. half-fifteen and gives him half-fifteen also. In the first game A. starts at owe fifteen and B. at love; in the second game A. is love and B. fifteen. Were it not for this provision the first games would start at love-all and the next at owe fifteen-fifteen.Handicaps are now so general that something may well be said of the game to play when giving or taking large odds. If a player is receiving large odds, he must remember that his opponent is probably a much betterplayer than himself. If, then, he plays a cautious game and tries mainly not to make mistakes, his opponent will win nearly every stroke. The receiver of odds ought to play as bold a game as possible. He should hit hard and take every chance of making a stroke that cannot be returned. Let him give the same odds to some weaker player, and he will soon find how difficult it is to give them if his opponent plays a fast game. Against a player who hits hard and takes the chances one is apt to make more mistakes than one can afford.The reverse is true if a player is giving large odds. He cannot afford to play as free a game as he would if playing level. If he can make any particular stroke that will win the rest twice in three times, he will win easily against an equal, but if he is giving very large odds he cannot afford to lose even one stroke in three. In such cases the better player can afford to take no risks whatever, and must play wholly for safety. If the odds are very small, he should play the same game that he would when playing level, and between these two extremes his own judgment must guide him in deciding what style of game to play.There is little to say about odds in themselves, as it is settled by law how they shall be taken; thus fifteen is one stroke given at the beginning of every game of a set, and no judgment can make it anything else. There is, however, one important exception, the bisque.
Oddsare of two kinds—“given” and “owed.” When odds are given, one player starts at love and his opponent at fifteen, thirty, &c. If odds are owed, one player is love and the other behind scratch, so that he must make one or more strokes before his score reaches love. There is one other difference between the two kinds of odds. With given odds, the larger odds are taken in the even-numbered games, and, with owed odds, in the odd-numbered games. The object is to distribute the odds as evenly as possible through the different games in cases where odds are both owed and given.
For instance, suppose A. owes B. half-fifteen and gives him half-fifteen also. In the first game A. starts at owe fifteen and B. at love; in the second game A. is love and B. fifteen. Were it not for this provision the first games would start at love-all and the next at owe fifteen-fifteen.
Handicaps are now so general that something may well be said of the game to play when giving or taking large odds. If a player is receiving large odds, he must remember that his opponent is probably a much betterplayer than himself. If, then, he plays a cautious game and tries mainly not to make mistakes, his opponent will win nearly every stroke. The receiver of odds ought to play as bold a game as possible. He should hit hard and take every chance of making a stroke that cannot be returned. Let him give the same odds to some weaker player, and he will soon find how difficult it is to give them if his opponent plays a fast game. Against a player who hits hard and takes the chances one is apt to make more mistakes than one can afford.
The reverse is true if a player is giving large odds. He cannot afford to play as free a game as he would if playing level. If he can make any particular stroke that will win the rest twice in three times, he will win easily against an equal, but if he is giving very large odds he cannot afford to lose even one stroke in three. In such cases the better player can afford to take no risks whatever, and must play wholly for safety. If the odds are very small, he should play the same game that he would when playing level, and between these two extremes his own judgment must guide him in deciding what style of game to play.
There is little to say about odds in themselves, as it is settled by law how they shall be taken; thus fifteen is one stroke given at the beginning of every game of a set, and no judgment can make it anything else. There is, however, one important exception, the bisque.