Rules Interpretations

Last night I got to thinking about how for analytical purposes, I've had to become quite rigid in my interpretation of the rules.  I worry I may be sufficiently rigid here, that it doesn't necessarily accurately reflect how people actually play the game, including myself.  That being said, I'm not necessarily sure what else to do because mathematical analysis lends itself to clearly defined algorithms, and playing it "fast and loose" just messes up the calculations.  That being said, I think that in most cases, while such a rigid interpretation may not reflect the actual probabilities of success, they do reflect the trend correctly.

If anyone who watches this blog (and the statistics reveal more than a few) notices that changing interpretations of the rules changes the statistics, feel free to comment on it.  The results might be interesting.