I think that there are a lot of games, particularly 2 player ones, where the rules are altered to handicap one player. Obviously this will be much more difficult for some than others but it can be done. The problem is that its not that enjoyable a task for most people and we are talking about games here after all. Obviously these two reasons are not exclusionary and I suspect it s a varying combination of the two for most players. I would also suspect that competitive players are more likely to be in the closed holding camp while those in favor of open holdings play more for the enjoyment of the game.
Enjoyment is a rather difficult term to define or use in a discussion though.
Likewise, it can be said that enjoyment and competition are not really opposite ends of the same scale but rather that one derives from the other. I guess I need to try and be a little clearer about what I mean. By enjoyment I m referring to the pleasure derived from a game regardless of its outcome. In fact, regardless of an outcome at all. By competition I m referring to the opposite, pleasure derived from a game based entirely on its outcome.