croquetfan

for some reason, there is always an outcry when people think there is the slightest bit of imbalance. they seem to think that they were certain to get a top against pair X that they missed. Once you get more pairs than you can fit into Howells, the fairest is probably swiss, but needs extra boards. That book mentioned is great but some of the complex movements are risky unless players are very careful to follow movement cards. (and also you get the grumblers: why are we dong this rigmarole, our old director always just used arrowswitch")

Sure, you can see when someone drops out due to disconnection etc, but there are many time when a player makes an enormous psyche which gets punished, or a plainly idiotic play then immediately drops out.

It's really annoying to play as you click on a suit and it pops up. So easy to misclick as the cards jump about. I wrote to funbridge previously to point this out and they had no idea what I was talking about!

Quite a few players quit as soon as they make a stupid play, presumably so that their name does not end up embarrassingly low on the final result. (why would they worry?) this spoils the fun a bit as robots appear more and more in later rounds. Would it be possible to replace runners with a robot with the name staying on, maybe with a different colour etc. so that their lousy result still appears in the final table?

partner could not bid over the X with junk. Must XX for rescue and find a 4/4 fit. that might get penalised too but you are less likely to go 5 off.

Agree. Even if the 1NT bid was accidental, the player has clearly committed an intentional infraction by substituting a bid before TD ruling. Bit of a nightmare for the TD to achieve a fair result at this stage but you are certainly entitled to nothing less than an average score.

The express free automated tournament are always fully subscribed, but the TCR 80 and 90 are not. If there is an entry number not a multiple of 4, a robot is required to complete the tables. It would be fun to have the robot entrants named and appear on the results list. (not applying to robot subs, of course)

I was yelled at by an opponent in a club bridge game for passing a 12 count 4333 as I scored up 100% for passed in. This hand is slightly better but not an automatic open, and I am usually too aggressive.

You would not want to be in the room for the post-mortem if partner holds AJTx hearts. Partner is well placed to make a decision over your balancing double.

As a director I would have no problem with the 2C bid, whether it's defined as game force or a 9 playing trick hand. Just your bad luck that opener found that bid: you really can't be expected to have a system for a "once in a blue moon" hand like that.

The answer is staring at you. Part has almost the best hand you could expect and you still struggle to even make game. It's a long way from a slam try!

if you pass robot's bid with a marginal hand and later compete by raising robot's suit it often decides it's some kind of cue bid and will never stop bidding!

self ratings are a joke. If you play in an indi game, it's handy to be able to check your partner's skill level as it affects the bids & plays you make. Why can't people be honest? "novice" level 23... "novice" level 9, 5000 logins. They must be really slow learners.

The 6 board free tournaments are fun but are rather spoilt by the failure of so many players to read the simple instructions. It clearly states the all players agree to play 2/1 but it seems most participants don't know the system. I don't know how to fix this as no discussion is allowed. I have been sent a message by an enraged partner who bid a new suit at the 2 level with about 7 points and was obviously upset to find himself playing an impossible game. Any suggestions?

If you play Kabel 3NT you are part way there but still a little guessing required. Could go 3NT- 4S- 5H... let partner guess how good the CK is

Lack of funding might be a problem, but clubs like Sky would surely appreciate an easier system for their subs in a pay game. If there was a button that said "I am willing to be a sub in this tournament" everyone should be happy. Then those money clubs could reward say a $BB for each 20 or 30 times a player volunteered to sub. Even $1 per 100 times, fine!

I have recently been a sub a few times, felt I should do my bit. You get nothing in return, not even 5c in a pay tourney. You don't get to exclude random team games - you can't express any preferences. For this you get to take over a hopeless contract because someone has done something stupid and quit. surely BBO can do better!

so much easier if north just opens 1♥

and if partner has tram tickets you have no defence

Absolutely right, well done. The only thing to do after taking the A♠ is to call the cops, as the crime has already been committed. My hand was ♠ T 7 2 ♥ A ♦ AQJT7643 ♣ A The only defence is to duck the ♠

I was lucky to get home here. See if you can do better than East.[hv=pc=n&n=skq8hqj8643dk82c4&e=saj4h72d5ckq96532&d=w&v=e&b=16&a=p1h3cdp3hp4dp5dp6dppp]266|200|I can't get the cards played to display[/hv] west led ♣7 to 4 - Q - A South cashed ♦Q, all following, then A♥, followed by ♠2 to 3 - K and East's Ace. Now what?

actually the hand you show, you didn't need to jump: partner holding 4 card support over your 4 loser hand should invite also, even with a Yarborough as you already know he has no controls.

not necessarily. This hand is one of those rare enough to jump invite.

2D waiting is a very clumsy system that makes it hard to stop in this sort of position. if you can bid number of points or number of controls over 2C it is easy to stop in 2H.

I thought E was setting up his ♥ KT98 or better and continued spades. Would anyone else have overcalled ♥ with that suit? I was surprised bidding stopped at 2♣ Thanks for your replies