svengolly

OK, gotcha. What drives me up the wall is that the ACBL gives out points for these matches. Those who know the intricacies and stupidity of bids GIB may or may not make are at a huge advantage over people who don't. Yesterday I had GIB bid me out of two makeable contracts where no human partner ever would.

That's insane especially in third seat. It's worth 12 (or 15 if using K-R valuation). It should bid 1 or 3 hearts.

I'm not sure what you're saying? How can GIB overbid in this situation? GIB never bid until I opened with 1D and then got to the magic contract of 2H. I'm saying GIB should have opened with the E hand.

[hv=lin=st||pn|SvenGolly,~~M22452,~~M22450,~~M22451|md|2SQ5H953DAKJ73CKT4,SAKJ84HDT94CJ8652,S7632HQ87DQ62CA97,ST9HAKJT642D85CQ3|sv|n|rh||ah|Board%2012|mb|P|mb|P|mb|P|mb|1D|an|Minor%20suit%20opening%20--%203+%20!D;%2011-21%20HCP;%2012-22%20total%20points|mb|1S|an|One-level%20overcall%20--%205+%20!S;%208-11%20HCP;%209-12%20total%20points%20|mb|P|mb|2H|an|5+%20!H;%202-%20!S;%2011-%20HCP;%209-12%20total%20points%20|mb|P|mb|P|mb|P|pc|DA|pc|D4|pc|D2|pc|D5|pc|DK|pc|D9|pc|D6|pc|D8|pc|D3|pc|DT|pc|DQ|pc|H2|pc|HA|pc|H3|pc|C2|pc|H7|pc|HK|pc|H5|pc|S4|pc|H8|pc|HJ|pc|H9|pc|C5|pc|HQ|pc|CA|pc|C3|pc|CT|pc|C6|pc|C7|pc|CQ|pc|CK|pc|C8|pc|DJ|pc|S8|pc|S7|pc|HT|pc|S9|pc|S5|pc|SA|pc|S6|pc|CJ|pc|C9|pc|ST|pc|C4|pc|SK|pc|S2|pc|H6|pc|SQ|pc|H4|pc|D7|pc|SJ|pc|S3|]400|300|[/hv] East has an opening 1H or 2H or 3H bid in any approach but certainly not PASS. As it turns out the 3 people who got the best score PASSED the board out (almost like they knew 2H making E/W would be a bad score). Which brings up the next question, who passes the South hand out with 13HCP? Even with the Rule of 15, it's still an opener.

I was kibitzing the last two rounds of a robot ACBL IMP tournament and I watched GIB literally hand a player two tricks at the end after the player had butchered the hand. Do the step-by-step play and watch as E overtakes W Q of diamonds (making declarer's J good) returns a low diamond and W refuses to ruff. [hv=lin=st||pn|xxxxx,~~M56876,~~M56874,~~M56875|md|1SQ984HQ7DA7CAKT53,SJ653HK53DQ8C9764,SAKT72HAJ2DJT2C82,SHT9864DK96543CQJ|sv|o|rh||ah|Board%2011|mb|1C|an|Minor%20suit%20opening%20--%203+%20!C;%2011-21%20HCP;%2012-22%20total%20points|mb|P|mb|1S|an|One%20over%20one%20--%204+%20!S;%206+%20total%20points%20|mb|P|mb|2S|an|Simple%20raise%20--%203+%20!C;%204%20!S;%2011+%20HCP;%2012-15%20total%20points|mb|P|mb|4S|an|4+%20!S;%2012+%20HCP;%2013-18%20total%20points%20|mb|P|mb|P|mb|P|pc|CQ|pc|CK|pc|C4|pc|C2|pc|S4|pc|S6|pc|SK|pc|D6|pc|S2|pc|H4|pc|SQ|pc|S5|pc|CA|pc|C9|pc|C8|pc|CJ|pc|DA|pc|D8|pc|D2|pc|D9|pc|H7|pc|H3|pc|HA|pc|H9|pc|H2|pc|HT|pc|HQ|pc|HK|pc|DQ|pc|DT|pc|DK|pc|D7|pc|D3|pc|C3|pc|H5|pc|DJ|pc|HJ|pc|H8|pc|S8|pc|SJ|pc|C7|pc|ST|pc|D4|pc|C5|pc|SA|pc|D5|pc|S9|pc|S3|pc|S7|pc|H6|pc|CT|pc|C6|]400|300|[/color]comments[/hv]

OK, the first time GIB takes as a reopening double. But surely the second time it should not. I got so frustrated with the silly bidding I went to 5C (it was IMPs) and dropped a trick (it's down 1 all day, I went down 2). This was the difference between my third and first in the match. Comments on my actions and GIB's please (5C bid aside)? 3SX is off at least 2. (-3 DD) [hv=lin=st||pn|SvenGolly,Robot,Robot,Robot|md|2SAT96H3DAKJCAJT94,SKQJ3H42D98CQ7532,S4HK9875D7652CK86,S8752HAQJT6DQT43C|sv|o|rh||ah|Board%208|mb|P|mb|P|mb|P|mb|1C|an|Minor%20suit%20opening%20--%203+%20!C;%2011-21%20HCP;%2012-22%20total%20points|mb|P|mb|1H|an|One%20over%20one%20--%204+%20!H;%2011-%20HCP;%206-12%20total%20points%20|mb|D|an|Two%20suit%20takeout%20--%205-%20!C;%204+%20!D;%205-%20!H;%204+%20!S;%2011-%20HCP;%2012%20total%20points%20|mb|2C|an|Opener%20rebids%20his%20C%20--%202-%20!H;%203-%20!S;%2011-15%20HCP;%20twice%20rebiddable%20!C;%20|mb|2S|an|4+%20!S;%206-10%20total%20points%20|mb|P|mb|P|mb|D|an|2-%20!H;%201-3%20!S;%2015-%20HCP;%20twice%20rebiddable%20!C;%2015-16%20total%20points|mb|P|mb|3C|an|1+%20!C;%204+%20!H;%206-8%20total%20points%20|mb|3S|an|5-%20!C;%204+%20!D;%205-%20!H;%205+%20!S;%2011-%20HCP;%2012%20total%20points%20|mb|D|an|2-%20!H;%202-3%20!S;%2015%20HCP;%20twice%20rebiddable%20!C;%2016%20total%20points;%20forcing|mb|P|mb|4C|an|1+%20!C;%204+%20!H;%206-8%20total%20points%20|mb|P|mb|5C|an|2-%20!H;%202-3%20!S;%2015%20HCP;%20twice%20rebiddable%20!C;%2016%20total%20points|mb|P|mb|P|mb|P|pc|D9|pc|D2|pc|D3|pc|DJ|pc|SA|pc|S3|pc|S4|pc|S8|pc|S6|pc|SJ|pc|C6|pc|S7|pc|H5|pc|H6|pc|H3|pc|H4|pc|HA|pc|C4|pc|H2|pc|H7|pc|S9|pc|SQ|pc|C8|pc|S5|pc|HK|pc|HQ|pc|ST|pc|C7|pc|C5|pc|CK|pc|D4|pc|C9|pc|H8|pc|HT|pc|CT|pc|CQ|pc|SK|pc|D5|pc|S2|pc|CJ|pc|CA|pc|C2|pc|D6|pc|HJ|pc|DA|pc|D8|pc|D7|pc|DQ|pc|DK|pc|C3|pc|H9|pc|DT|]400|300[/hv]

That's a ridiculous scheme. What's the point? Chew up bidding room with great hands so there's less room to figure out the right contract? It might make sense if the bid description said R v R it's something different. Well at least I learned what to expect. GIB drives me crazy because it doesn't play real world bridge yet the ACBL pretends it does and awards masterpoints for learning the weirdness.

The bid was described as an AWJO when I clicked on it just to be sure. Obviously from looking at the hands it was anything but WEAK.

Should I expect this kind of hand from GIB in the future? 5 losers, 11HCP, good controls and the bid is described as an Aggressive Weak Jump Overcall. Really? I've seen GIB do the AWJO on far worse hands. Why didn't it just bid 1H? Maybe you can fault my pass but now I don't know what constitutes an AWJO. Yeah the field was in 4H or 4S so obviously they expected this sort of thing.

Thanks!!

Every once in a while I see a player's name in a tournament appear in bright red instead of the usual blue/gray (or yellow for hosts). What does this signify? I looked through the help and of course, can't search the forums for "red" because it's only three characters. :P

I'm not 100% sure of the sequence but I think it went (I was opener): G Me G G P 1S 2x 2S I double checked the meaning of 2S for point range and to my surprise, gib reported 6+C. I thought that's crazy sauce so I bid as if it was a regular spade raise. Then the hands come down and sure enough gib has a stiff spade and 6 clubs. What happened????

Here GIB's stupidity worked to my advantage. Here GIB had a perfectly good return to hearts. Also the explanation for N's DBL was takeout. Ummm no, after seeing the hands, it's either lead directing or penalty. Regardless, I was happy to pass when E left it in. While it's just a practice round, this is the sort of thing that should NEVER happen in an ACBL sanctioned event. Yeah this was a top board for me. http://www.bridgebase.com/tools/handviewer.html?bbo=y&lin=st%7C%7Cmd%7C1SKT82HK96DJ943CA9%2CSA964H8543DAT76C5%2CSQJ75HQ2DKQ85C764%2CS3HAJT7D2CKQJT832%7Csv%7CB%7Cah%7CBoard%207%7Cmb%7CP%7Cmb%7CP%7Cmb%7CP%7Cmb%7C1C%7Can%7CMinor%20suit%20opening%20--%203%2B%20%21C%3B%2011-21%20HCP%3B%2012-22%20total%20points%7Cmb%7CD%7Can%7CTakeout%20double%20--%202-%20%21C%3B%203-5%20%21D%3B%203-4%20%21H%3B%203-4%20%21S%3B%2011-%20HCP%3B%2012%20total%20points%7Cmb%7C1H%7Can%7CFree%20bid%3B%20new%20suit%20--%204%2B%20%21H%3B%2011-%20HCP%3B%208-12%20total%20points%7Cmb%7C1S%7Can%7CFree%20bid%3B%20new%20suit%20--%204%2B%20%21S%3B%2011-%20HCP%3B%209-12%20total%20points%7Cmb%7C2H%7Can%7C3%2B%20%21C%3B%204%20%21H%3B%2011%2B%20HCP%3B%2012-16%20total%20points%7Cmb%7CP%7Cmb%7CP%7Cmb%7C2S%7Can%7C4%2B%20%21S%3B%2011-%20HCP%3B%209-12%20total%20points%7Cmb%7CP%7Cmb%7CP%7Cmb%7C3D%7Can%7C3%2B%20%21D%3B%204%2B%20%21H%3B%208%2B%20HCP%3B%20Q%2B%20in%20%21D%3B%209%20total%20points%3B%20forcing%7Cmb%7CD%7Can%7C4-%20%21H%3B%204%20%21S%3B%2011%20HCP%3B%20biddable%20%21D%3B%2012-%20total%20points%7Cmb%7CP%7Cmb%7CP%7Cmb%7CP%7Cpc%7CDK%7Cpc%7CD2%7Cpc%7CD3%7Cpc%7CDA%7Cpc%7CC5%7Cpc%7CC4%7Cpc%7CCK%7Cpc%7CCA%7Cpc%7CS2%7Cpc%7CS4%7Cpc%7CS7%7Cpc%7CS3%7Cpc%7CS5%7Cpc%7CC2%7Cpc%7CSK%7Cpc%7CS6%7Cpc%7CST%7Cpc%7CSA%7Cpc%7CSQ%7Cpc%7CC3%7Cpc%7CH4%7Cpc%7CH2%7Cpc%7CHA%7Cpc%7CH6%7Cpc%7CCQ%7Cpc%7CC9%7Cpc%7CS9%7Cpc%7CC7%7Cpc%7CCJ%7Cpc%7CD4%7Cpc%7CD7%7Cpc%7CC6%7Cpc%7CH5%7Cpc%7CHQ%7Cpc%7CH7%7Cpc%7CH9%7Cpc%7CDQ%7Cpc%7CHT%7Cpc%7CD9%7Cpc%7CD6%7Cpc%7CD8%7Cpc%7CCT%7Cpc%7CDJ%7Cpc%7CDT%7Cpc%7CHK%7Cpc%7CH8%7Cpc%7CD5%7Cpc%7CHJ%7Cpc%7CSJ%7Cpc%7CC8%7Cpc%7CS8%7Cpc%7CH3%7C

The worst part about bot play is that it's going to lead to some bad bridge on the part of human players to compensate...especially with all the ACBL events. I have written the ACBL Bridge Bulletin twice about horrible bot decisions affecting sanctioned event outcomes. They've refused to publish my letters.

Can't run the BBO app anymore. About half the time something (probably an ad) generates a malicious redirect to various phishing sites. Pretty clear that the app is just a browser shell and something is getting injected. No other app or site does this. Have also emailed support. To clarify, this is when playing anonymously.

GIB's handling of 2C openers is poor in general IMHO. You can have 9 playing tricks and 18 HCP and GIB will raise to an unmakeable NT slam because it "knows" you must have 21 HCP. And the positive NT response it seems to favor (more than any human would) often wrongsides or gets the contract to a weird place. To the OP's hand in question, my regular human pards and I would probably open it 2C. Maybe 2N. 8 tricks, 4 losers, good suit, 21 HCP. It's too strong for 1H. But then we'd have better methods or maybe wisdom for bidding after 2C than GIB.

I often wonder how the top winners achieve some of the insane scores I regularly see like 82%. Makes me wonder if some don't use multiple accounts to achieve them.

One can only hope they put the extra money towards improving or replacing GIB. Maybe that's why BBO bought FunBridge?

This was in one of the daylong tournaments which are getting more and more frustrating to play. GIB increasingly seems to make incomprehensible bids. Since I can't get a true hand record from the daylong, here's a screenshot. I think I made a reasonable game try of 2S (flatish hand, looking for NT) after GIB raised my hearts. When GIB bid 3H, I signed off in 4H. GIB then bids 4S on 3 card support forcing a return to 5H by me (GIB doesn't have 4 spades otherwise he would have raised immediately). Down 1 (bad split and all). Seriously? Why the gratuitous 4S bid after a a return to the original suit followed by my signoff? Another example was a cuebid situation where GIB jumped the bidding from 4D to 6NT after I opened 2C. Since when does the 2C responder become the asker / decider. 6N had a play on a guess but 6C was far better.

Agreed. Robots seem to be getting stupid. Today i had one go down in a cold 4S contract by refusing a ruff & sluff. Another went down in cold 3H by taking an unnecessary finesse after setting up a suit that would have given robot enough tricks . And yesterday I saw this auction... P P 1C P 1S P P P WTH? I had 4S & 9 points. Robot had 1 spade, 14 points and a clear 1NT rebid. I was so po'd I just logged off.

[hv=pc=n&s=sq2hak8754dakq74c&n=sa987hjtdjt65ck62]133|200|3 passes to South who opens 2C[/hv] This hand came up in a local Swiss team event. We ended up in 6♥ which goes down one due to a 4-1 trump split (W holding ♥Q963). The proper contract is 6D which makes on any distribution except 5-0 split of hearts. So my question, how would you bid this? If you use controls, why? The textbook bids get you into trouble (how do you get to slam?): 2C - 2N (8 - 10 balanced) 3D - 3H (xfer) 4D (is this a 2nd suit or a control?) If you assume it's a 2nd suit, you end up in 5D and then what? After reading Larry Cohen's discussion on 2C, he never bids NT directly after 2C. So now I'm inclined to bid this way: 2C - 2D (waiting) 2H - 2N (2 or fewer H, decent hand) 3D - 4D 5C - 5S 6D How would you bid this?

OK thanks! With my regular partners, they'd leave me in 4S. So after 1S - X - 3S forces? Jump to 4S is a signoff and there might be more there (which as the auction went, I had to anyway).

OY, everyone's a critic. :P I asked in one post what my specific correct bid should have been to make GIB happy. No response. What's forcing in that sequence?

Hmm, I've always played a RDBL in that sequence as general fit showing, not exactly 3 card support. But why would GIB pull at the 5 level with such a weak hand after I've voluntarily bid 4S? That seems a bit much even for GIB. So what's a better bid on my part to avoid this? FWIW, GIB really messes with my head a LOT.

Why oh why would GIB do this? My RDBL shows a spade fit, I hadn't promised any extra clubs. GIB pard only has 7 points. There's no slam try here. I'm fine in 4S (which makes). In fact, GIB weirdness was all over tonight when I played in ACBL practice tourney #4. Several overbids by GIB even with minimum responses from me getting us one level too high. 5C Bid over 4S