Magely advice requested.

[Petwin]

No, I don't agree. Trying to get the best starting point is in my opinion not a covert way of cheating.

The whole point of all games and most sports is to achieve something within the boundaries of a fixed set of rules. Preparing yourself, training, studying, buying better equipment, tuning your bicycle of waxing your snowboard can be part of the experience, should you choose to.

Cheating is stepping outside the set of rules.

I personally find as much joy in preparing and anticipating before I start a (proper) game as I do in actually playing it. There's always the risk that I put so much time and effort in the preparations and test runs that I never get to the end of a game. In my 25 years of gaming (yep, I'm an old fart! ) I probably left scores of games unfinished. I don't think that makes me bad player. I enjoy myself doing what I do, that's good enough for me.