dogsbreath

Hi Uday.. Hand records from 'live' tourneys I play recently include a 'par' score derived by the program. Is there any possibility of introducing 'par' tourneys so we score -v- computer-derived result rather than table comparisons? Rgds, Dog

Hi .. if Uday gives me a 'Psyche' button, then I'm going to press it whether I psyched or not .. the chance to psyche a psyche is not something I'm going to miss :lol: ..what then? Rgds Dog

my 2p worth.. i think it's absolutely clear-cut to bid 1S on c,d,e and would not criticise p for bidding 1S on a,b .. not bidding on c,d,e is going agin the tide .. ie: you are to likely to generate a 'swing' .. (so maybe ok if that's your intention) Rgds Dog :D

Birthday greetings, your Slothiness :D i bring your attention to an article in Sunday Times 27june by Jonathan Leake (environment editor) .. regarding changes to the 1976 Dangerous Wild Animals Act by Elliot Morley (Minister for the Environment) specially introduced for your birthday.. '..Sloths and porcupines are to be accorded the same status as cats and dogs in a review of legislation on dangerous animals. :P For years, ownership of such species has only been possible under licence in the UK because they were considered a risk to humans :) (sloths have sharp claws!) .. This week however, Ministers will announce that they are not dangerous after all and they will be allowed into homes without restriction.' Welcome in from the cold Alex :) :D Rgds Dog

Hi Paulhar.. first of all I'd like to say you're a hell-of-a typist :P Not only the quantity, but the lack of spelling mistakes and generally accurate grammar will really fox 'Slothy'. I'm generally uneasy about rankings on BBO but not enough to get into a row about it. However i do suspect it would discourage stronger players from playing with beginners/intermediates. As to finding a (decent) table to play at.. you are welcome at mine anytime .. and I will be happy to introduce you to many fine players on BBO. I have regular games with 'beginner/intermediate' players which I enjoy and regard as a greater challenge than playing with experts since I must take more care to try to ensure I get the best out of them and that they enjoy their game. I know plenty of others who do the same and wouldnt like to see a situation where a ranking system discouraged this. When a 'serious' game is planned we simply set player permissions ON - we never ask for 'expert' as most 'advanced' players here are solid players. If someone is disrupting a table - ask them to leave or boot them if they wont go quietly :o . If you want to join a table or team match where they are asking for expert/WorldClass ..just edit your profile :ph34r: Rgds Dog

I reset my ratings once, in the harbour at Portpatrick, but they got really unpleasant about it and threatened to do something unspeakable to me with the 2nd anchor. I had to take them to the Crown and ply them with strong ale. rgds dog :ph34r:

Hi.. doesnt sound like much fun for those of us with zero ACBL master-points :lol: ..am i missing something?? :( Rgds Dog

Hi .. ..doesnt the same apply when rebidding on 4-4-3-2 hands also? eg: (strong NT) you open 1C on S:xxxx H: AQx D: Ax C: Qxxx ..arent you going to rebid 2H over a 1H response or is this a partnership agreement thing? Rgds Dog ;)

Hi :) possible over-claim/unclear claim by declarer is under discussion in related thread. I raised a related issue that got 'lost' in the other thread -so i mention it here.. Am I correct in believing that defenders cannot, according to the laws, be awarded trick(s) that it is impossible for them to make by ANY play? On BBO it is common to see results like '6H - 10' where a player, possibly frustrated by a bidding misunderstanding or 'error' by his p, has simply given up. This doesnt matter in single-table play but may affect the results in tourney play. In a less extreme case: in a recent tourney a declarer claimed 2 of last 3 tricks holding 10,9,8 of the trump suit ..believing incorrectly that a higher trump was outstanding. ..surely this claim must be rejected , although the software understandably allows it.?? Rather than expect Uday et al to cope with this situation - the defender(s) should in this situation deny the claim. In the event that they accept would the result be overturned on appeal according to current procedures? Rgds Dog ;)

Hi .. another example from a recent tourney , but 12-14 NT this time.. Holding [hv=s=sakxxhxxxdkxcqjxx]133|100|[/hv] .. you open 1NT and P bids 2S ..(transfer to C) ..if you dont super-accept (3S or 3D according to yr style) ..y can hardly expect p to find the excellent slam holding.. [hv=s=sakxxhxxxdkxcqjxx]133|100|[/hv] ..esp as y now play it the right way up. Rgds Dog B)

Hi .. I have nothing to add other than to agree that some infringment occured. A better claim mechanism would be useful .. i was berated by a p in a tourney recently for rejecting a declarer claim .. different situation tho .. declarer 'claimed' one off in a 4Major contract , thinking defenders had trump winner. Although we did have trumps left, it was impossible on any play for us to score a trick - so I rejected the claim as I believe it is not within either the rules or the ethics of the game to accept a false claim in this situation , even tho is in your favour, simply because the software allows it. The proposed improved 'claim' mechanism earlier in this thread would be nice for teams/good quality tourneys but I fear it will only delay other events even more - I was going to say 'friendly' tourneys but it seems we have few of these nowdays :blink: Rgds Dog :D

Hi good problem i think.. ..p may have pushed a bit, but could be strong. With regular p i will bid 4NT over his/her 3NT ..i think that with a source of tricks i must give p a second bid in this position.. 4NT looks right ..no H interest ..minor oriented hand. Rgds Dog ;)

Hi .. As someone who frequntly subs I have noticed that occassionally a TD will continue issuing pleas for subs after I , and presumably others, have registered in response to an earlier call. I realise that TD attempts to match subs to seated player .. would be pointless to sub me with a player whose system I dont mention on my profile ... but what's going on in this case?? is the TD just trying to hoard all available subs? :rolleyes: I also strongly commend the suggestion above regarding letting the sub know how many boards still to be played .. may make it easier to sub if you are not commiting for too long a period. (this is NOT a complaint about TD's ..comment only :) ) Rgds Dog

hi ..maybe i didnt make my point clearly.. Doesnt bother me if y like to open these 1NT ..but surely you MUST adjust your C.Card ..you say 11-14 but you and p will both open a 4-3-3-3 10 count? this is getting very close to an undisclosed agreement... Rgds, Dog

Just a suggestion .. ..it would be interesting to see the effect on speed of play if the TD could disable 'movie' during tourneys. I suspect the frequent long delays before 2nd hand of a round are caused by players getting immersed in the prev hand. ..maybe enable for the Dummy.. if Uday really on a hot streak at his keyboard ;) Rgds Dog

Hi I find myself in agreement with Ron again. (Pause for stiff drink.. ;) ) Min 4-3-3-3 hands are AWFUL ..p will never believe y got this hand.. if he does you need to change your convention-card ..this is not a weak NT opening imho B) Rgd Dog.

Pass. Too flat, too many losers not a good hand for aggressive bidding. Maybe p will make 4S ;) Rgds Dog

Hi .. I havent met my ex-wife yet .. should I deliberately avoid bridge-playing females? Please advise ...we're not clever about this stuff in the province. :P Rgds Dog.

This happened in a recent tourney. I was a sub. Immediately on joining, my p was disconnected and a sub arrived to play with me :D . My new p & I ..with no system discussion bid to 4H ..opps X. Opps cash A of their suit. Then leader disconnects.. almost immediately his p disconnects :D I call director .. no director available (also disconnected :D ) ..system wont let me call subs for opponents ..only for my own p. :) we wait ...ZZZZZZZZ ..opps both disconnected.. with clock showing 1min i get bored and use 'claim ' button to claim ALL remaining tricks .. system accepts B) scores as 4HX+2 ..now I am embarrased .. only 9 or 10 tricks available :( ..is this a bug?? Didnt affect our standing in tourney but must have affected other results.. Rdgs Dog

p didnt double ..any action (like XX) likely only lead to 2S X :)) dont start journey with no route and no obvious destination rgds Dog :D

Definitely 1S ..at worst better to bid now than be tempted back in later. Rgds Dog :D

Hi Ron ;) I've played -v- One-eyed and i suspect he plays better when subjected to some form of abuse ..maybe i should have used 'manacled' . :) Rgds Dog

Misho hits the nail on the noggin. In my early days on BBO I provided real name,flag and e-mail address. Result was a flood of very unpleasant 'spam' ..so no e-mail addr any more. Then I started changing my 'name' .. not for any other reason than it amuses me to be called 'Mano' when i put my name up as 'Mano VerBoard' for example. Additionally my travel opportunities are restricted by family problems, so i conducted a 'world tour' from the comfort of my laptop .. using a different flag/name for each session... did this harm anyone? I think not. As for 'skill levels' .. the BBO guidelines are reasonable for novice, beginner, intermediate level but open to interpretation after that. Is easy to be an 'expert' in a small country like N.Ireland.. where our entire bridge-playing population is lower than a small state in the USA. I feel that to call self an 'expert' you should have considerable experience of several systems, including at least one of the 'Modern' non-approach-forcing methods. World-class is daft .. if FRED doesnt give you a star than you are unlikely to be World-Class ..ie expert + significant success in major tournaments. I think this is a fairly common view .. there are many strong players on BBO who play as 'advanced' only . It might be worthwhile to have a 'Qualified Teacher' status .. as this is a skill that expert or better players may NOT have ( like the difference between Tournament and Club golf professionals). rgds Dog

Hi monacled one .. ;) For me, there are other factors to take into account that you didnt mention. There is an old 'maxim' which says that if you dont X opps into game occassionally, then you arent doubling often enough .. i guess that just translates into the opinion that an aggressive approach to the game is winning bridge in the long run. Factors I take into account are ... 1: my partener.. if you play in games with players of wide-ranging ability as I do in 'live' bridge, I dont like to make marginal doubles with inexperienced players.. it puts them under unnecessary pressure and disturbs their confidence when it goes wrong. 2: If p makes a t/out x you should take-out unless it's absolutely clear-cut to convert to a penalty x. I dont want to discourage my p's from competing, and the opps dont always get subsequent auction right anyhow. 3: if opps get to 'know' you as a non-doubler they will take advantage and put you to the guess even more often. 4: If i'm on lead ..is there a clear line of defence? .. ie: trump lead, forcing defence or passive play? Someone will undoubtedly post the maths about loss/gain from penalty doubles of part-scores which is a good basis but not always easy to judge at the table. Regards, Dog :(

Hi H ... Slice a potato in half, carve their initials on one half and bury it in your garden. Send the other half to Claus. That works for me B)) ...and dont let these rude people bother you ..plenty nice players on BBO gl Dog <_<