Experience will enable the proficient player to assess his own count against that of his opponent relatively quickly. However, in order to determine the precise count he will start by counting his men in his own inner board. He will count one for a man on his one point, two for a man on his two point, and so on up until sis on his six point. A man on his bar point has a count of seven; a man on the opposition's twelve point has a count of thirteen.

It then becomes a little more difficult, but the simplest way to proceed is to add 13 to any number from the opposition's twelve point, and 20 to any number from the opposition's five point. Thus, if you have one man positioned on the opposition's five point and another on the opposition's eleven point, your count is 33.

When you set your board up at the beginning of a game, your count is 167. This is calculated in the following way: the five men on your six point count 30; the three men on your eight point count 24; the five men on your opposition's twelve point count 65; and the two men on the opposition's one point count 48.

Early on in a game, the easiest way to determine your standing relative to that of your opponent is simply to count the net difference. For example, both of you might still have five men each on your home six point. Your opponent, however, has thrown 'lovers' leap' (6-5) and has advanced one man from your own one point to the twelve point; you have only managed to advance one man from his twelve point to your ten point by throwing a 3. He is thus eight points (or approximately one throw) ahead of you. If the same kind of thing happens in the next two or three throws you will have to adopt a different strategy.