Et tu dice? It’s bad enough to face my opponent’s good rolls; but to do this to myself—ugh! I’ve worked so hard to find all of the right plays and now this happens. It’s so unfair. Why do I even bother trying?

The laws of probability state that a 99% winning position will incur a 1% loss. Suffering that outcome is fairness in the ultimate sense. Our prejudice to compare the highs with the lows is our “fish story.” We often will cube at 2-to-1 and that’s where the roller coaster ride begins. Wherever the numbers go from there is irrelevant. The final outcome from the point of cubing should be around 2-to-1.

The pain and suffering coming from a loss is due to inconvenience rather than fairness. If there was little chance of winning the match, a 1% reversal would appear almost comical in nature. But put the reversal in a double match-point context and note the emotional upheaval it creates.

Dice rolls can be good or bad, depending on the position. They are relative, not absolute. Giving them personality is our way of trying to relate to an omnipotent force. If dice had ears, they might answer our pleas for mercy. All the problems occur when we start to believe that they do have ears.

Fortune Cookie
Why did you lose? . . . Because it was one of the two possible outcomes.