Sincethe logic I used regarding the superfecta games seems clear, and
you agreed, and nobody else disagreed, that should settle it.
Right?
Well, actually, since Blackie has a memory of a pointless point
in a superfecta game, I thought that if I could come up with a
painless way to get the computer involved, it would be more convincing.
All I needed was some simulator code where ALL the playoff points
are handled in a function or macro, and that function (or macro)
has access to the participating post numbers. Skipping the details,
the result was that zero cases showed up in superfecta games,
as expected.
And in spec 7, the case only occurs in a 6-post playoff.
Summarizing the Pointless / Meaningless / Moot Point Scenario:
A - cannot occur in superfecta
B - can only occur in a 6-post playoff
C - cannot occur when more than one finishing position is being
contested
D - can only occur in P1 or P7 cases which produce S6 pairings
- P6 is out owing to rule C.
E - has a rate of occurence of about 1 in 3000. (according to
the simulation, and consistent with memory)
So Blackie's question led to a tiny addition to jai-alai theory.
Finally, I could - with a good chunk of work - identify every
point sequence leading to this, but given jai-alai's current state
of devolution, that would be even more pointless than the pointless
point itself.
