JoAnneM

This may sound incredible but this is what actually happened. At the start of Friday's game (I was directing) table 4 shuffled the boards (4) and got ready to play. One of the players noticed a gray card on the floor, under the table. There were two boards with gray cards so they counted their cards in the first board and assumed it belonged to the second board. When they got to the second board with gray cards they counted their hands and they all had 13 cards so they just put the card under the table marker and played the hand. When they finished the round NOW they called me. 1. All the hands for both grey boards are, of course, returned to the boards, the hands are over, and scored. 2. I told them to once again count their hands in both boards. This brought protests, but I insisted. Guess what?? The second board was short a card in the north hand, she had miscounted. How did they get through the hand? Well, west had claimed and no one noticed. Now, my questions about proceeding: I really can't have them reconstruct the hand, none of them are really capable of doing that, and by now we are well into the 2nd round. North miscounted, but both sides played a fouled board. No one called me with the obvious problem after counting the second board. The whole problem could have been solved right then.

Isn't it true that there is a work around or translator for flash for the ipad? Seems like that was announced recently.

When you leave your child in the care of someone else they should have a letter at least authorizing emergency life-saving treatment. I can't think of much else that would require instant communication. At the recent Reno NABC we received a message at the Info Desk that a player had an unexpected death in the family (brother), and he wasn't answering his phone. We used those cards you have to fill out to track down where he was staying and he didn't answer messages there either. So finally the next day we had the directors figure out where he was playing and we went and gave him the message. He didn't want to hear it, and went on playing. So what is important to some people, is not to others.

Districts have no say in how clubs or Units operate. The function of Districts is to run Regionals, NAOP finals, the GNT program, promote bridge through Education and an I/N program, conduct disciplinary events if necessary through its Recorder, Disciplinary and Ethics system, and usually produce some sort of newsletter or paper. Occasionally they may host an NABC. There are some Districts that have modified these duties (for instance, Units may be responsible for Regionals, I am strongly opposed to that) but for the most part clubs report directly to ACBL, and through their District Director if a problem with ACBL.

I agree 100% with allowing the human player to choose to be declarer.

There is probably a lot more to this story, especially involving the personalities involved, and they both need to be told to "get a life". I wouldn't be surprised if baiting each other goes on at other times. I looked at the section in the Laws on Proprieties (Laws 73 and 74) and found several to point at if need be, but they are both just acting like children - one showing off, and the other whining. Maybe they will grow up soon.

As declarer I am used to GIB falsecarding almost 100% of the time. I just never believe the robots, but think it is silly they have been programmed to do this. Not only that I think they would have some directors after them in a real tournament if they never played to stated "Carding is 3/5, with what appears to be standard count and attitude signals. Gib does falsecard." However, when defending it is just very frustrating. It is like the robot is just playing its own hand and ignoring the fact it has a partner! Does the GIB really look at my signals? Is the GIB really playing standard (hi-low), really playing suit preference? Or is GIB programmed to constantly falsecard his own partner when it is important. Seems like it. The few people that win a lot of the tournaments seem to have this figured out. I win occasionally, and place most of the time but would like to do better, and would certainly enjoy the game with a more reliable GIB as far as carding is concerned.

Great, we will be at the Rivertide Suites, arriving Wednesday. Also, most of the directors know me. Jo Anne Murdock

I think when is a card a played card, and a defender, or declarer, detaching more than one card before playing to a trick to be two different issues. The first just a matter of bad habit, and the second perhaps an attempt to deceive. Of course, we are not supposed to be watching a player taking cards from their hand, but sometimes it is right in your face.

I am going, already have a partner coming with me, but would love to meet you.

Want to avoid the frustration of all these rules? Come to the D20 Regional at beautiful Seaside, Oregon which is happening at the same time as Philadelphia - thank you very much ACBL (not). Oct 4-10 we would love to see you and all the great players who usually come.

All the director has to do is look at the hand and look at the convention card. He can certainly tell what the intended bid was. If it was a true mechanical error then allow the change. As to the state of bidding boxes - new cards are available, and although pricey our club replaced ours by asking for small donations from the members. They sure appreciate the replacements.

3h because if they have spades 2h isn't really that much pressure.

It's illegal to play a card from dummy before declarer has called for it, as all posters have mentioned. Is there a specific reason why you are in such a hurry and don't want to wait for your partner to plan his/her play? It seems like aside from the law it is just a matter of being a helpful partner.

I think the best way to approach ACBL about something like this is through your District Director. I don't know which District you are in but you can find your Director at http://www.acbl.org/about/bod.html

Today when gib was declaring a 3nt contract it had a choice in direction for a heart finesse. There was only one safe direction because of an open Kx in a side suit in dummy. There were no entry problems. Gib finessed the wrong way, lost the queen and the entire diamond suit. This is bridge 101

Actually it is a whole lot cheaper to have fewer employees working lots of hours than have lots of employees working reasonable hours because of the base cost of benefits, company infrastructure, etc.

I looked at the General Convention Chart and I do not see a separate section for leads, but under carding it talks about dual suit preference systems at trick one.

A pair from my club just returned from the Santa Clara Regional (ACBL) and came across a new opening lead convention - to them. The opps on opening lead were leading odd for continuation and even for non-continuation. And with the even leads they were signaling suit preference with high-low. The opps called this Roman Leads. Why they didn't ask a TD if it was legal I have no idea, instead they came home and asked me. I looked at the convention chart and it looks to me like it would be illegal, but being just a club director and never having heard of this animal I defer to the experts.

I'm curious, was the smoking in the restroom ban a hotel rule or was it specific to the conditions of contest. I am not an expert on national events but do they really ban smoking in the restrooms in the CC's? If the player was just breaking a hotel rule I think the penalty was severe, if a CC rule then, yes, that player is part of the team and should have thought of himself as one of the "unit".

One way to get rid of a new pair in your club? Call the director in a situation like this. I can just about guarantee they won't be back.

That's a feature I actually like since I usually do better at the end of the game. It's fun to guess how far I will move up. And it's really only a matter of patience, right?

A little off topic but how do I see other players' scores while I am playing?

Hope I am not too late to wish you a very Happy Birthday, Helene.

I think there should be a law against an author selling his name - like James Patterson. He even admits he only reviews the first drafts, doesn't help write them.