Deanrover

Yeah, definitely buy the Mike Lawrence CD from Bridge Base. It is the equivalent of about a 1,000 page book - clear, extensive with lots of quizzes.

i) Already suggested - hopefully will be implemented sooner or later ii) BBO and The creator of DF have detailed agreements on what can and what can't be used. Personally I see no reason why this could not be implemented - I would find it personally annoying, but why not?

[hv=d=s&v=n&n=skq64hq7dt952cq95&s=sajt9ht862dakca84]133|200|Scoring: IMP After a stayman auction you wind 4 Spades. West leads the two of spades and you play H2, H3, HQ, HK. D4, DA, D3, D2. H6 HJ H7 H4. Trump back, East discarding Club 6[/hv] [hv=d=s&v=n&n=skq64hq7dt952cq95&s=sajt9ht862dakca84]133|200|Scoring: IMP After a stayman auction you wind 4 Spades. West leads the two of spades and you play H2, H3, HQ, HK. D4, DA, D3, D2. H6 HJ H7 H4. Trump back, East discarding Club 6[/hv] Is what you have left, presuming you win in hand.

[hv=d=n&v=n&s=s8743hadkjt9873c8]133|100|Scoring: IMP You are South and the bidding proceeds. p-1H-4d-4h-p-4n-5d-5h-p-6h-p-p-p[/hv]

From the next version, when you log on as invisible and kibitz vugraph, BBO users will not be able to see you. Except yellows, who can see everything :-)

Agree wholeheartedly with Richard's approach. Re the point about it somehow being "unfair"to give out statistics on how well run the tourneys are, I don't buy that sorry. If people buy a product, they have the right to know how good it is. TDs have nothing to be scared of. If they are good TDs then they will ahve very positive feedback. The only need be frightened if they are likely to receive bad ratings. The more information that is available, the more perfect the markte will be and this will lead to a more efficient and enjoyable BBO for all. And what happens if Mr A. has 95% positive whilst Mrs B. has 99%? Well either Mr. A accepts this, or hopefully he will try and consider why Mrs B. rates higher and try and raise the quality of his tourneys as a results. Everyone is a winner (except bad TDs!)

Search for online bridge and BBO comes no. 2 Search for bridge and BBO comes 9th

Both fixed for next version I believe.

It seems to me that some people are adverse to pay tourneys because they don't know what level of service they will receive. Why pay for a tourney if you can get another for free? How do you know which tourneys are best? How about at the end of the tourney you get the chance to vote on your satisfaction. i.e. "How satisfied were you with this tourney? Very/OK/Not" The tournament director's approval rating is then displayed whenever you want to sign up for a tourney. This is good both because it lets the users know how good the tournament will be, plus accountability will encourage good directorship. There is no reason why this should only be for pay tourneys. Any director who has a above x% "not" rating can have their licence removed.

And hopefully the response goes on and on..... Any advertisement for viagra would have to be a pop up.

BBO users will react to any attempts to advertise viagra with a stiff response.

Todd - presumably you never go to the cinema, because they employ "ageist" pricing strategies such discounts for students, children and Oaps. Presumably family discounts are homophobic, asexualphobic and infertilephobic? Presumably you don't have any car insurance because they charge more for men, what a terribly sexist thing to do! Nope, I never go to the cinema. I have to have car insurance because that is mandated by law. I don't even have a problem with different car insurance premiums because statistically men have more accidents. I don't blame these places that charge different rates because I believe in freedom and they can discriminate however they want. However, I have the power to discriminate as well and I use it to boycott people who employ such policies. I never knew that car insurance was mandated by law. My brother does not drive, so he does not have car insurance, but he is clearly a criminal so I'll go call the police. Think how much more a young male pays that a middle aged woman for car insurance. Over a live time of driving you will probably have to spend at least $2000 more insurance due to not being the right age, right sex, living in the right area etc. But you seem perfectly happy to do this. Yet when the idea that BBO might charge 50 cents less for a tourney for people from Poland, a people who are poor through no fault of their own rather 50 years of Nazi and Communist oppresion, you are suddenly appalled. Presumably when you want to go to the theatre, or a sports match, or buy some clothes you go to the store and ask "do you do family/young persons/OAP discounts?" and when they say "Yes" you refuse to purchase their product. Presumably you have never ever played at a real life bridge club because the 99% chance is that they offer some sort of age based discounts.

Hopefully the bridge ads will be very intrusive. I also don't think many people will be as strongly anti-adverts as you. Two questions i) Would you likely use BBO less/ leave BBO? ii) If we offered the alternative of an ad-free BBO for x$ per annum would you take this up?

I can't believe you'd even suggest this. I guess British humour does not translate to online forums......

Happy Birthday Ben! you have done so much for Bridge Base forums and BBO. This is a great opportunity for all to show their appreciation. Have a fulfilling year D

Most Thais won't own PCs. However internet cafes are VERY cheap and popular out there. Great country btw.

1eyedjack: you are doubtlessly correct. The average wealth of computer users in any country is larger than the average wealth for non-computer users. However, the average wealth of a computer user in Montreal will still be higher than that of one in Thailand.

Dean's reply edited out ( uday )

In answer to some of your questions Dwayne - leave the technical side to F+U. I am sure they can sort something fairly reliable out. E.g. they get all sorts of technical information about your computer and connection and combined with your Credit Card details they could be quite certain. It would be nice to be able to charge ghetto people less, but unfortunately it is impossible for us to identify them. It would also be nice to charge juniors less, but against difficult to nail down. 1eyedjack - yes, it would be down to the tourney host. BBO would divide the World into 3 or 4 groups based on a broad measurement such as Gdp per Capita. You say that hosts would not do this, but it would both increase the size of their tourney and profits so I think that they would. In any case, they have the option. BB would also charge less for BM2000 in developing countries. I suspect that $10 per set it too much for many Poles, and it is a shame that they miss out on a great product as a result. Anything else that people may be able to charge for such as pay-to-kib, teaching, lectures, personal ads etc. could also use this scheme. Mink - BBO also accepts Debit Cards which are free. You have to be 16 to hold one (in the UK at least) and anyone can get one. Of course there are rich and poor in every country, but on average the average citizen of Baltimore can afford more than those of Baghdad.

Is 5NT Pick a slam here? p suggested correctly that I should ask for S Q after he BW response, but after she bids 5s, is 5N nat? Should I just rebid 6H? Should she pass?

Actually the purpose that BBO would be striving towards with this strategy is profit maximisation. Social welfare improvements are an incidental side effect.

[hv=d=s&n=saj74haqj82d8ca32&s=sk862hk7dqjckqj97]133|200|Scoring: IMP[/hv] Our actual auction was 1NT-2c-2s-4d(splinter)-(x)-p-4N-5c(1430)-6S How should this hand have been bid? p.s. funny note about this hand. My partner misclicked and started spades by playing a low one from South. She got an undo and later finessed into Qx. This introduces an inference I have not seen before. Why would the opps let you undo? It could only because they want you to finesse. So you should drop the Queen on the second round! [hv=d=s&n=saj74haqj82d8ca32&s=sk862hk7dqjckqj97]133|200|Scoring: IMP[/hv] Later on you hold this hand. West passes North opens 1c, after a weak 2H ovecall South bids 2s, then 4hs from East, double from North and 6ds from South. How can you find the grand?

Indeed. Producer surplus is definitely increased, whilst the effect on consumer surplus is ambiguous. however, the net effect on social welfare is positive.

What would you think of my idea that BBO could charge lower prices for people from poorer countries. Leave any technical difficulties to Fred and uncle Uday. The simple fact is that $x is more expensive to an average Pole than to a Swiss. Meals out, houses and clothes are all cheaper in poorer countries. This policy would be used to lower prices for poor countries NOT to raise them for rich ones. American users would NOT end up spending any more, but Poles would pay less. This seems to make a whole lot of sense.

I'm not sure how useful it is for you to post this. For example, we have abuse@ to deal with this. You state that you have informed us, but you seem willing to go public with your anger before we can try and resolve this ourselves.. Whilst you do not single out the accused, anyone can used Myhands to work out who it was. So either i) He does not use BBForums in which case he has no right of reply and it is all one sided and unfair or ii) He exercises his right to reply and this turns into a public slagging match. I think it would be much more productive to deal with abuse@ and/or try to resolve your differences privately with this individual.