bluff10

I don't parlay Latin so I asked the king of robots, Mr Google, who said....'deus ex machina' is a translation of a Greek phrase and means literally "a god from a machine."... and 'non est' must mean 'There is no God from a machine". Pity. I was hoping the robots would show a little mercy and forgiveness, as God surely would, and let me contact my Fiends playing dumb stupid waste-of-time Solitaire.

When I invite someone playing Solitaire to join me at a table, the message comes back that they are busy playing. It would be better if somehow you could interrupt them to ask if they would prefer to play a real game with real people. The robots won't complain.

When I get my provisional results in the Daylong IMP tournaments, and I score lets say 14.9 IMPs, its impossible to tell if I'm about average , or better or worse. (With MP's I get a provisional % score). It would be 'nice to have' if, in addition to No. of IMPs, you would show the provisional placing, such as e.g. 1134/2644. Free Daylong tournament (IMP) - 2018-02-18 Provisional results for bluff10 This tournament is still in progress. Final results will be delivered when this event concludes. Board Result Score Tables IMPs 1 4HN= 420 88 3.4 2 4SS+2 680 98 0.2 3 3DN= 110 95 2.4 4 4HS= 620 80 2.2 5 3CS+1 130 69 1.7 6 5SS+1 480 73 4.5 7 4CN+1 150 65 1.4 8 2HN-1 -50 69 -0.9 14.9

barmar, what does 'Clocked Barometer' mean? I just got timed out again %$#%&@ on #1555 just as I was pushing the Claim button on the last hand. Very annoying, especially because the robots 'thinking' causes me delays. The sooner you get a 'seconds' counter the better. I assume you can't 'see' that people are almost finished, so if that is the case you should automatically give a least 5 seconds grace period. Would help (others) if the standard instructions about playing when the robot is declarer also mentioned the Clock and the Claim button. I know it has helped me a lot to know the clock is there, just wish it had seconds.

barmar, what does 'Clocked Barometer" mean in the description of the tournament?

I'm playing Board #9518 right now, there are still 5 minutes on the Clock and only one player remaining ('lenk'), and he/she is still on Board #1. It seems silly for everyone else to have to wait 5 minutes for someone who has no intention or ability to complete the 8 Boards. Can anything be done about that, or maybe my assumptions that BBO can 'see' what is going on is incorrect? On the subject of 'averaging', I was NOT advocating for 'averaging' and know it doesn't work on BBO for the reason mentioned above. I was using it to point out that bridge players generally are civilized people, at least those who don't like like playing 'speed' games are civilized (lol), and we should be willing to give a modest grace period to anyone who is already playing the last Board in a set. Heck if we can wait 5 minutes for 'lenz' , then we should be willing to wait 1 minutes for someone who is trying their best to finish. When the Clock strikes zero, just have it flash/pulse 'zero' for 60 seconds (like a count-down warning), or until everyone is finished, whichever occurs first. Finally you seem to be dismissing the fact there are sometimes delays caused by Robots. You have not commented on whether the software can track these 'delays' and add back time accordingly if its necessary. p.s. I calculate 30 minutes divided by 8 boards as 3.75 minutes/board, where am i going wrong. Most of the time 3.75 minutes/board is more than sufficient, glacial or not. However, occasionally it would be civilized to have few more seconds as I said in my very first post. [ACBL allows 7 minutes/board to allow for the differences you mentioned.]

Agree with your countdown suggestion in final 2minutes. That would help (especially if they can make the Clock more prominent as well). Regarding your other comments, I won't play in ACBL Fast Pairs, Speed-Ball, or the BBO Robot Races. Its not good bridge, its something else (gambling, guessing, luck, chuckles). In any tournament or team game I play in at all levels it is common practice to give everyone time to finish any board that's been started. If you are late repeatedly they might take away 1 board and give you an 'average', or at the club level they sometimes give a "Late Play". Either way you don't get disqualified and a zero result for the entire session. The older you get the slower your brain....lets have a civilized, friendly game and give a modest grace period. The BBO software knows when everyone is finished because they sometimes stop the Clock and post results well ahead of the Clock time running out. So obviously they can 'see' if people are playing, and it should be easy to determine if anyone is playing the last hand. If nobody is yet playing the last hand, then end it immediately.

Good point. I wonder if the 'Claim' button should be mentioned in addition to the 'Clock" in the stock write-up about playing the hand when you are dummy. Remember though I sometime run out of time when the Robots are taking too much time 'thinking'. Another player told me she noticed recently long pauses caused by the Robots, so its not just my system or internet band width.

One final suggestion that would be easier for BBO to program. If at the end of the allotted time one or more players are still playing the last hand, then automatically extend the time until all are finished, or (pick a number)for say 60 seconds maximum, whichever comes first.

You are correct, my oversight. So lets says 90 second/hand for the auction. That leaves 18 minutes x 60 = 1080 seconds = 10.4 seconds per trick.

All good points, although don't agree with the distracting point....its so small to begin with, plus I want players to be aware of it constantly as they play. Flashing it a few times each minute when it changes might accomplish what I want. Here's another suggestion. Since I was not aware of the 'clock', or of any exacting time constraints, possibly many others aren't either. You have a standard warning message that tells players they are to play the hand when robot partner is declarer. You could add to that warning that "you have xx minutes to complete the tournament, see the 'Clock" at bottom left". Finally I still hope you will give a grace period for players who have finished bidding are playing the last hand, so long as cards are moving say every 10 seconds. This is not a Speed-Ball contest.

To answer your question 'how much extra time do I think is needed', I think anyone who has started playing the last hand should be given time to finish provided they are playing cards at least every 15 seconds. [Note: Why 15 seconds - because we are 'guided' at 30 minutes to play 8x13 = 104 tricks, which works out to 17.3 seconds per trick on average.]

I had never noticed that clock before. Is it something new? I think it would be better if it had had minutes and seconds ticking, because that would draw attention to it visually. Clock: ##.## Calling it "TIME LEFT" might also be better. Making it bigger would also be better. Having it flash when the minutes change might also draw attention. Thanks for bringing the clock to my attention. Its a big help even the way it is now (once you know its there). p.s. The other 2 number are redundant as you already get that info from the scoring table. Why are they there? Remove them and make TIME LEFT bigger.

I always thought 30 minutes was a 'guide' on how long it should take rather than a hard and fast 'rule'. When you are playing at the NABCs or Regionals or your local Club, they give everyone time to finish even if they go slightly over the 'time clock'. BBO can 'see' where everyone stands, and if cards are being played cut a little slack, especially since the robots 'thinking' causes some of the delays. If nothing happens at any table for say 15 seconds then end it. Finally if it is a 'rule' that you must finish in 30 minutes, then I think there should be a "TIIME CLOCK" on the screen showing 'time remaining' [this would be much better than a 15 or 30 second warning].