A player may double any time it is his turn and he has not yet rolled the dice. A player who is offered a double may refuse, in which case he concedes the game and pays one point. Otherwise he must accept the double and play on for the new higher stake. A player who accepts a double becomes the owner of the cube , which is placed on his side of the board (showing the new value), and only he may make the next double.

Subsequent doubles in the same game are called 'redoubles'. If a player refuses a redouble he must pay the number of points that were at stake prior to the redouble. Otherwise he becomes the new owner of the cube and the game continues at twice the previous stake. There is no limit to the number of times a double may be offered in one game.

It may seem counter-intuitive to accept the doubling of the stakes when you stand worse in a game. However, consider the following two scenarios:

1. In four games Player A doubles Player B in each game. Player B drops all four doubles and is therefore down four points (-4).
2. In four games Player A doubles Player B in each game but this time Player B accepts the doubles. He goes on to lose three games but wins the fourth game. He loses two points in each of the games he loses (-6) and wins two points in the game he wins (+2). His net result is -4 points. The same as scenario 1.

Note that the doubling cube can be used in any game. I have played chess and scrabble with a doubling cube and I once watched a game of golf in which the doubling cube was in use - a five-figure sum changed hands at the eighteenth!

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