2021 - Position 43

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Match Play. Red leads 2-0 to 5. How should Red play 31?

Both 4/off and 5/2*, 3/2 win the same percentage of games but the pointing play wins 3% more gammons. Those 9 rolls out of 36 that White stays on the bar is the difference.

This is partly a pay-me-now, pay-me-later problem but the key is those extra gammons after the pointing play. The increase in gammon percentage is something that is often overlooked.