Jacki

Our Customer Support staff tells me this: VMWare is a Virtual infrastructure application, once you have VMWare setup on your computer and a virtual machine running under it, it is just as simple as to power on the virtual machine from within VMWare and then using it as a regular, ordinary computer. This means, just open internet explorer, go to www.bridgebase.com and when prompted to download the adobe flash player, just agree and install it. Jacki :)

This was corrected and the opponents in this game who did not accept the valid claim were cautioned. Jacki :)

Today's test, April 17, 3pm, Same format 3 rounds of 4 boards Accepting registrations from Teams and Pairs here: www.bboteams.com/register.htm Jacki :)

Thanks for the feedback Paul. More automation is coming. The start was slow because so many registered players just didn't show up. We check close to game time to see who is ready to play and who isn't here. The outcome of all this was that with 16 possible teams, 10 were viable and of that 10, only 6 had everyone available to play when the game started. As we progress, we will have for the players a link after each round to see how they are doing and I'm studying hard to find a better way to be sure that people registering will actually come play. With each one of these we run, we are finding things to change to make it easier for the players. We will also be trying different formats. Today it was four rounds of 3 boards, but I'd like to try, 4 rounds of 4 boards and as things get easier, 3 rounds of 6 boards. Thanks for helping us with this, the testing will continue until we can finally say - This Works! Jacki :)

Results of Sunday's 3pm Team event shown here: http://www.bboteams.com/april10test.htm

A team name block is coming. Confirmation email can be easily done and I like that idea. This is not an ACBL specific upgrade on BBO although I hope it will include some ACBL events, we'll just have to see. And team/pair captains have received a 30 minute warning. Jacki :)

Kibitzing is allowed. You can find results and hand records at this link: http://webutil4.bridgebase.com/v2/tarchive.php?m=team&d=Team%20Games Jacki :)

We'll be scoring this on the 20 VP Scale for Sunday's 3pm game. The registrations worked just fine - I just needed more of them. Check the Lobby News for links to register your team, or click this link: http://www.bboteams.com/register.htm If you are a pair with no team, fill out the N/S portion on the registration form. If you are a single, put your name in the "Sub" spot at the bottom of that page. If there is someone you absolutely don't want to partner or have on your team, then please get your own team together. We will put pairs and singles with others as best we can. What conventions are allowed? All up to, but not including, the Super Chart. This means all bids on the General Convention Chart and Mid-Chart will be allowed. You can check this by clicking on this link: http://web2.acbl.org/documentlibrary/play/convchart2005.pdf The GCC is at the top, scroll down to see the Mid-Chart allowable conventions. Any questions about any of this? Ask here or send email to: jacki@bridgebase.com. Jacki :)

This will be 3 rounds of 4 boards each. This is not an ACBL event. These events are in preparation for what may become ACBL events. Before I can ask the programmers to set these up for ACBL events, I have to show them there's enough interest to do that. Participants, for now, can use their convention cards meaning anything other than super chart conventions will be permitted. The entire event should take about an hour and 15 minutes. Jacki :)

Now that we've started the Swiss Teams event, we're going to make them a regular feature on BBO. Providing of course, that there's enough player interest to do these twice weekly (to start). Since we've been asked to introduce larger team games for a long time by interested player, we're going to do just that. Times for the games: Friday, 4/8/2011 8:30pm EDT Sunday, 4/10/2011 3pm EDT Try to get a team together, but if you're a pair, or a single, sign up on the team register board as that and we'll pair you up. If there are some people you will not want to have as teammates, then it would be better to form your own team as we will be pairing singles and pairs as best we can. Register here: http://www.bboteams.com/register.htm You can ignore the top part, all we need now are the team names, unless you are going to register for Sunday's game, then you will want to use the drop down menu to select the correct date. See you at the game! Jacki :)

Update: Tomorrow, Saturday, 3/19, 3pm EDT, a Swiss event is happening. Send team lineups to email: jacki@bridgebase.com. Singles? Pairs? Let me know ASAP and I'll get you lined up with a team. Jacki :)

So here's where we stand on these team events now. Tonight at 7pm, we'll run the first test. Tomorrow? Well it's still a work day for many and unless I have a lot of teams expressing interest, we will skip that day. But we will have another one (or two) on Saturday. On Sunday, there's another event scheduled plus the finals of the Vanderbilt, so we will skip that day. After that, I hope to get team events on some kind of regular schedule - but I'll need your help. Your help=Your interest. What I need to know What are the best days for the most players? What are the best times for the most players? What is the best frequency for the most players? In other words, this is a test which means the format (Swiss? RR? KO?) can evolve as the concept evolves. It could be a fun event or with minimal interest turn into a non-event. It all depends on you. Jacki@bridgebase.com to register Jacki :)

OK, we're easy, let's try Thursday at 7pm EDT. If there's enough interest, we might even be able to do both times. Jacki :)

It's about time we started some scheduled larger team events. Larger? I mean more than two tables. We'll be hosting some Swiss Teams on Thursday, Friday, maybe Saturday. Want to play? If so carve out some time for 4 six board rounds. Sign up with me. Putting together your own team will be best, but I'll try to get singles or pairs together with a team. Latecomers we'll try to accommodate but no promises. We're thinking about 2pm EDT. If enough want to play at another time, we'll consider it. This could be the precursor of things to come, so come play with us. Questions? Just ask. Jacki :)

Well, even though I'm not sure what an inappropriate request would be in a bridge setting, we should have replied to your request even if it was inappropriate and certainly by now. I can't find anything containing Antraxxx in our Customer Service logs, so why don't you email me with the name or email address you used to make the original request. I'll find out what happened and why it wasn't answered in a timely manner. I do want to let you know that it's a good idea to check your spam folder, our emails to players have been known to end up there. Jacki :)

The BBO ACBL games are stratified according to the points held by players where we are aware of those points. Typically, we know the number of ACBL points they hold if they give us their ACBL number as we get a status update from Memphis each month. With this report, we can match the ACBL number to the BridgeBase screen name. We always know how many BridgeBase points they hold. Of course, if we don't know the number of ACBL points held, then we can't report them to ACBL headquarters either. Jacki :)

All the ACBL games are stratified if there are enough tables to do that. Strata are formed for each game, depending on the points help by the player in that particular game. In other words, the Strata are determined anew for each game. The players, and the points they hold, are divided into 3rds. The third with the most points are in Strata A and can win points in Strata A. The third with the next largest point total are in Strata B and can win points in A and B. The third with the lowest point total are in Strata C and can win points by doing well in all three Strata. Now that the Strata are determined, the players in each Stratum are distributed evenly among all the sections. Well as even as we can make it. Since each game - particularly the Speedball games - is stratified independent of any other game, it's possible that a player may find himself in A for one game and in B for another. Also, for us to count the points for stratification purposes, we have to know about them. So if you find yourself in a Stratum you believe is wrong, just let me know and I'll do some investigating. Jacki :)

Yes, they won points for being first in C Strata in their section. Number 4, N/S did not win any masterpoints while number 5 did. The reason is, Number 4 was only eligible to be awarded points in Strata A and in this small tournament, in this Strata, points were not paid this low The numbers following the names show the rankings of each pair in each strata. If there is no entry after the names for a strata, then that means that pair is not eligible to win points in that strata. You can see that with the fourth pair N/S in your example. They are shown as #4 in A, and B and C are blank. However, the pair winning .14 masterpoints was eligible to win points in all three Stratas and you can see that they came in 5th in A, 3rd in B and first in Strata C. I hope this helps to explain the Strata system, but if not, let me know and I'll try to make it more clear. Jacki :)

At the risk of repeating what someone else has already said... http://www.acbl.org/learn/noTrumpwithaSingleton.html Jacki :)

It's updated, but the information may change. We'll get it on the schedule as it comes in. Jacki :D

Right now we're gathering data on the people who like the new format and those that don't. If the latter outnumbers the former, it's not going to be hard to change it back. But if it is changed back, it's not going to be until after the Nationals That will give us plenty of time to get a good idea of how the players like (or dislike) the new points page. So, please, keep the comments coming. Jacki :)

I'll see what the programmers have to say. If going in, a pair knows they may have one average board it might not be such a bad thing to be able to add people for a minute or two after a game begins. Let me see what the guys who write all our incredible bridge programs think. I know if it's possible they'll at least discuss it. Personally, I like the idea. Jacki :)

In the ACBL games, the person who plays the majority of the boards, is awarded the masterpoints. If a person pays for an entry, disconnects, and the sub who replaces the person (who paid the entry fee) subsequently plays the majority of the hands, and is awarded the points for the game, *and* I know about it, the original player (the one who paid the entry fee) is typically given a refund for the game and the player who plays the most boards is awarded the points. If a sub comes in on one of the latter hands, and is awarded the points even though the original player played the majority of the boards, then one of them - the original player or the sub (or the original player's partner) needs to let me know so I can get the points transferred to the correct player. Hope that is not too convoluted. The important part, as it stands now, is that in any of these situations, I need to know so I can do whatever is necessary - refund or points transfer, to make sure the correct person is given the masterpoints. A quick email to jacki@bridgebase.com, will do the trick. Jacki :)

It is true that we are very careful about our player's privacy. This can make it appear that complaints are not read or acted on because the complainer doesn't get feedback from us. The fact is, all Abuse complaints are read by at least two people, one of them is me and the other is the head of our Abuse department. We take the action we feel is justified by the reported abuse. This can vary depending on what the abuse is all about - a one-time slip in courtesy or at the other end, something from a habitual abuser who has been warned before. There are times when we (Abuse and I) feel we need advice from the big guys - Fred and Uday. They are always happy to give us their input and advice - and trust me, we use it. The actions we take can range from a reprimand, either personally or by email from one of us, to the most severe being an 'off with his head' meaning we don't want the person to ever darken our door again. I know that not getting feedback from us can often equate to 'they don't do anything' but I hope you can take my word for it that this is not the case at all. And I hope that you will feel as we do, that protecting our player's privacy is more important than letting you know that Nasty Nick got his comeuppance. Because, really, he does. Jacki :lol: