hallway

Thanks My not using the board display has caused some confusion I've made a note - M

Tding a 7 table tourney the following board was played in 7 different contracts I asked around and received 2 replies and now I have 9 different contracts <_< Sorry been a long time since I had time to post on here and I cant find the hand insert form I'm sure you can figure it out though ( looked perfect in the draft !) North ♠ - ---- ♥- AKJ652 ♦ - 10 8 7 ♣ - Q854 West East ♠ - Q1098753 ♠- KJ62 ♥- 10943 ♥ - Q87 ♦ - 6 2 ♦ - A3 ♣ - 3 ♣ - A1076 South ♠ - A74 ♥ - --- ♦- KQJ954 ♣- KJ92 What would be the optimum contract and why ? Two contracts made =, 1 made + 2. South was declarer at 4 tables , North at 2 tables and West at 1 table. N/S Not Vul :: E/W Vul East Opened 1C at all tables I have promised to get them the good oil - must be a consensus somewhere ?

The BIL is what it is - it is the best we can do and we think it works in spite of or maybe because of the criticism we receive. I have an AMAZING TEAM of people who help. Always room for more. In today's mail- I would like to tell you, that Karen is an amazing teacher. The depth of her knowledge, kindness and patience are unbelievable. And the ability to make things exciting and to encourage are unique. If you look at the "chat" of the sessions, you will see what I mean. An early BILie came up through the ranks, and on the recommendation of her mentor started mentoring starter players. Now she has branched out into taking her first group topic specific, level restricted ( beginners, improving beginners ) class. An 8 week course to introduce them to the art of finessing. Kudos to both Karen and her Mentor ! So we will keep on keeping on the way we do As I was taught - "you can please some of the people some of the time , but you cannot no matter how hard you try , please all of the people all of the time."

I am completely in favour of teachers using a secondary BBOID/user/nick name when working with students be that at an Open Teaching Session, a closed Course or one on one mentoring It prevents the lesson being interrupted by their friends sending them private messages or by the friends disrupting the lesson using the 'find a friend' and joining the table. Without a would be Mentor's Real Name I have no way of ascertaining their credentials - As I am the one introducing the student to them, right or wrong, I do feel I have a responsibility to the BIL member. Whereas the student outside the BIL is entirely responsible for their own choices. Hmmm that is a different view point. George, re the mentor not wanting people to know they give free lessons as that would affect their getting paying students. There have been disappointed Professional teachers who thought a couple of lessons in the BIL would have people queuing at the door - doesnt happen - takes time. Learner players have to learn to like the game sufficiently to want to become better than good. There have, however, been many professional teachers over the years who have used the BIL to help them to establish their pay for services. An hour or two a week of their time is very cheap advertising a. they get a web page in the BIL Library with their contact details b. they get a listing in the Private Tuition Available Directory c. they hand out their contact details at each session, inviting the kibs to give them their email address so they can send them some notes - thereby building up their own, ever expanding up to date database through which they promote their pay for services direct to people they know want to learn. The BIL by its nature is a staging post - they join to learn, they learn or decide its not for them, they go. d. I pay the rent, I pay the Mailing List Provider fees to introduce them to the membership as a whole, I pay for the Calendar upon which their open sessions are advertised, I pay for the bulletins to announce the Courses etc. etc. etc. e. The BIL provides an Assistant to assist with 'housekeeping' issues at every Open Teaching Session, Course f. in effect we supply an unpaid Secretarial service. Sure, the mentoring program is different but the Mentor who does a good job helping their assigned student gets the best advertising there is - word of mouth. The Mentees have lots of online friends! Of course that applies whether one is mentoring through the BIL's program or 'at large'. The BIL supplies an ever growing stream of paying players for the ACBL tournaments (we teach them how to behave in a tourney, we give them a taste for tournament play, but we cant give them the volume of Mpts they can pick up if they play in ACBL ones so off they go ).We also get those fairly new to bridge who think they want to learn, of which a reasonable % become addicted to the game and then they really want to learn. These are the ones who will want to pay Professional teachers to take them further - so we help the professional teacher who operates outside of the BIL too. and we do it all for free - no grants, no subsidies and the professional teachers do not pay the BIL ! Oh there was the time one sent me $100 - it bounced ! and I had to pay the $25 reversal fee. Yes, Eagles is right I am Barking Mad ! I like that term, sums me up nicely :)

Not their passport, but their bridge credentials You are quite correct eagles I am indeed barking mad - no sane person would have done what I have been doing for the past 11+ years. December 2004, the sane me knew it would be madness to continue. The sane me lost, I stepped across the divide, there was an 'are you sure' attached to the Remove Club button and the barking mad me clicked on the No. The remove club button no longer works so here I am a decade + later still trying to find help for those new to bridge who want to learn to play it well. I freely acknowledge that it is a different world now - but that doesn't mean that I have to change my (the BIL's) values. Each to his own, no one has to join the BIL whether that be, to Help or to be Helped.

I will always require Mentors to give their Real Name. Must be a generational thing, being prepared to stand up and be counted. I am who I am - every BIL member has both my Name and my Home address. There's nothing to hide ! So I don't understand this IT anonymity. However, I don't ask Members or Mentors for their home addresses. But if it is good enough for them to know who I am, then I maintain it is good enough for me to at least know their name. I believe that I have a duty of care to my members (yes, I know an antiquated view). For mentor/mentee lessons to be arranged it is necessary for me to give the Mentor their Mentee's name and email address. I am simply not prepared to do that if the Mentor wishes to hide their identity. To me that begs the question - why? Sorry,1eyedjack but that's the way it is - so it is not a BIL policy that will ever be changed. If you are right that your views are 'popularly shared' and that is why the BIL 'is chronically short of mentors' then I guess it is only a matter of time before I shall have to close the program down. I am way past my 'used by date' anyway - it's time I sought a less stressful Volunteer Service to give my time to. Bridge in the backyard for those over 70 on sunny afternoons might be fun - the minds will be kept active and the bridge, well - creative!. We'll know who we are, even if we cant remember each others names :)

Many may not realize George, that the BIL has been operating since 2003 and in that 11 + years many of the BIL players mentored in the early days through beginner > intermediate have gone on to advanced > expert levels and now play with credit in f2f Regional, NABC and international tournaments. Others have taken up mentoring themselves to help a new generation of bridge players, (many tell me it is also good for their own bridge) A growing number have found mentoring such a satisfying endeavor that they have gone further and become ACBL Accredited Teachers. I heard of another only yesterday. Great kudos to those who mentored them back in the day when transfers were a mystery ! btw readers George's students have nothing but the highest praise for his teaching. He is a task master with a talent for getting the best from his students, instilling them with the desire to master the game.

But so far George no volunteers :( Click Here to read what the BIL's Mentoring program entails ( even 1 hr a week - with time off now and then - would be appreciated )

The Beginner Intermediate Lounge (BIL) would like to hear from those interested in joining the BIL's Mentoring Team. - offering one on one or small group mentoring to learner players Send your expression of interest to admin@bilbridge.com for our information pack.

Do you have a favorite topic - some facet of bridge that you often see overlooked, poorly played ? Take this opportunity to address that, putting the new generation of bridge players on the right path. The Beginner Intermediate Lounge (BIL) has time slots available in our Private Club - the LearnBrdge ( yes, no i ) Classroom for those interested in presenting 4/6/8 week topic specific level restricted Courses For more detailed information please send your expression of interest to admin@bilbridge.com

The Beginner Intermediate Lounge (BIL) has some openings for Teachers interested in holding weekly open teaching sessions for Beginner through Upper intermediate levels. The sessions are held in the BIL's Public Club - BILies Retreat - open to all BBO beginner, intermediate players . Lessons can be of 60/90 or 120 minute duration. For detailed information please send expressions of interest to admin@bilbridge.com

oh how I wish all were like you Mr Bradley - think of all the time and money I could save !

of course only to new BIL members - and to further clarify only beginner and intermediate players can join the BIL

This is not just a Private Club Issue - the same problem exists for the Public Clubs e.g. the BILies Retreat which is a predominately teaching club therefore a crowd only gathers when there is a lesson. practice session, gathering for a teams match etc. to attend Changing the name of the TABS will not make one jot of difference It takes time to educate people on the use of the software. They go to attend an advertised lesson which invariably has full tables from the get go - teachers either sit in all 4 seats or reserve them until they are ready to start In the V1 (WINDOWS client) there was no problem, enter the club and all tables with or without free seats were displayed For some years now new BBOers have been joining via V2 (Web Client) - for the past 2 (?) years they have been unable to download V1 therefore they all have to be educated on the use of V2. Yes, a few will educate themselves - the vast majority ? - no way - lol My work a round: new members get a welcome letter which mentions the need to click on the FULL table Tab within 2 weeks they get 3 bulletins with detailed help one of which deals solely with Finding their way to the BIL lessons etc. within 2 weeks of joining a BILFriend contacts them and offers to guide them 6 out of 7 days of the week the BIL holds Hosted Play time sessions with a Q & A for new members 20th month they get a Gazette which again gives the navigation 20th month members who joined during the previous month get a Bulletin reminding them of the things they need to remember - of which using the FULLTable tab features prominently For the sake of non BIL members when I list a BBO Highlight and invite any BBO Beginner and Intermediate player to a Lesson or Guest session in the BILies Retreat Public Club I always add ' click on FULL table tab" When the BILAssists announce a lesson they too add - "click on FULL table tab" Does all of this solve the problem ? - NO it does not ! It does help though which keeps our sanity within reasonable bounds ! For level restricted courses the acceptance letter spells out step by step how to get there - I standby at the first and second lessons to take attendance - and even with all of that, without fail I do still have to guide at least a couple who are 'lost' And still there are many to whom we find it necessary to explain in minute detail exactly where one looks for that seemingly elusive FULL Table TAB - mayhap it would help if it was a neon light! The ANSWER is most assuredly to have that attribute as suggested above whereby in BOTH the Private and Public Clubs if there are less than X number of tables active whether with open seats for not ALL the tables will be shown as soon as one clicks on Join P L E A S E Please, Please make that happen

I don't understand what that means - but maybe that is a good thing ! I have spent the last 10 years providing BBO members who want to learn to play bridge with the opportunities to do so. I don't work for BBO and I don't get paid for what I do. I don't even play bridge any more! I posted this thread for one reason only - to see if there were any Expert players available at this time who are willing to share their knowledge with those who would like to learn to play good Bridge. I am disappointed that, so far, no one has offered to join the 2014 BIL's mentoring/teaching/tutoring teams Those who are helped are appreciative - a couple of examples :- "I've made some accomplishments in the year I have been playing face to face bridge. I owe my f2f success to the years I learned so much attending lessons in the BIL when it first began," "Thank you isn't enough. Last October (2012) I started a course of Bridge, once a week for 2 hrs. Of course it wasn't enough! Then I discovered BBO , a great improvement. But I still needed to learn the basics. THEN I found the BIL Mentoring Program. I must admit I had my doubts. WONDERFUL. You found me a mentor who always has time for an explanation, a word of encouragement but most of all is teaching me correct Bridge. A heartfelt thanks to you all, especially to my Mentor. "Thanks very much for assigning me a Mentor. I already feel happier and more confident as a bridge player. His lessons and explanations are very clear and understandable. He sends us transcripts and homework for every lesson and I am certainly appreciative for the time he spends helping us voluntarily. I couldn't ask for a better mentor and feel very fortunate to be part of this group." It works both ways the Teachers and Mentors tell me how much their bridge benefits from the time they spend putting together the lessons.