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Are the tabloid writers running out of adjectives yet? Sean

I am guessing something different, I think West may have something like 3♥ and 5♠ and has bid very poorly or very well. We have all tried to get doubled at some stage when we are the boss of the auction and know partner is not allowed to make another bid. :P Sean

Does anyone on the forums actually have lobby chat turned on? :P Sean

I think Richard is right, online bridge is the same as bridge behind screens except both opponents know what you think the bid means. The only way to find out about misunderstandings behind screens is when there is an obvious screwup and information is volunteered as to what the screwup could be, such as: "He quite often screws up this sequence" or "He forgets we play 1430 in ♥s and 0314 in the other suits". However, the opposition is only entitled to your agreements. Now, what are your agreements? In the online world you hear from each person what each bid means by the person that bid it. There is a dangerous thing that can happen here from a devious player looking for a doubleshot, a player can potentially ask for a review of the whole auction from either player as they have received alerts from both players potentially in an auction. Hopefully the ACBL will see that this is a problem and make some sort of ruling on it, otherwise the director calls are going to be hell. They would need to make very subjective opinions on fining people for setting up doubleshots. There are also some serious UI problems here when you are asking for a review from both players, (especially if during the auction, the delay will be lengthy given all the potential typing), how is the questioner's partner supposed to interpret the delay and what effect will this have on subsequent actions? We already have this problem with an inherent part of BBO, if one clicks on a bid slower than one's partner you get the message that XXX is already answering a question which in and of itself already conveys some UI. It is a very complicated issue. As I said, personally I agree with Richard. However, I personally think they can legally ask for a review of the whole auction from both players as they have received alerts from both players so far. If it comes to it, and people start doing this, there better be some serious assessment of time penalties etc, but we know this won't happen. Sean

Damn, does that mean if I criticise the US government I will end up in Guatanamo? :) Sean

There are many programs (naughty ones) that allow people to send email from any address, think of how some viruses spread. Sean

Earth to Planet Claus. Earth to Planet Claus. No response. Oh well. Sean

My reasoning for being tempted to do Av-- is that I don't think EW deserve their score, however NS in some ways do deserve it, it smells like a doubleshot. I know in ACBL land it would be an auto adjustment for NS, but South, "a star", knew something was wrong and went down the normal line of if I can't win at the table I will win from the TD. Should NS be rewarded? No. So, within the bounds of what I could do within BBO as TD, I would have result stands for NS and procedural penalty for EW, closest I can get to that is Av--. Sean

Well, the odds have changed quite a bit since then: Australia 1.10 England 11.00 New Zealand 11.00 So despite New Zealand now being behind by one game to England, they are still equal non-favourites to take out the series. :D Sean

Personally I would love to be able to give a split decision here. South is using the well known double shot; the opps have not explained a bid properly. Now to the online world... What nationalities were involved? Was there a language barrier? In the absence of being able to give split decisions what is the best course? Do NS deserve their result given their experience? Probably yes. Do EW deserve their result? Probably no. I would be tempted to award av- to both sides and let the flamewars begin. Sean

If reports are true and Pietersen is attempting to come back to Australia for the ODI finals, he is a fool on two counts. 1: England won't make the finals, New Zealand will easily make it. (Yes I am suggesting that Australia has already made the finals since England will not win 2 games.) 2: To risk himself for a nothing tournament with the World Cup coming up is moronic. Without him they have no chance of getting out of the group stage. With him they might possibly do it. On a separate note... What is Bopara like? And anyone notice the backhander to Fletcher that none of his golden boys even made the World Cup squad? Sean

Was that the one where White somehow got 141? Sean

My alerting rules are simple: Alert any bid that could be misunderstood. This may sound vague, but I will allow noone a double-shot. Sean

I have ignore chat off just in case I accidentally sub one into one of my Tournies, also if one I don't remember why they became an enemy because they can't join a Tourney and they ask me then I can un-enemy them. Some of these people go back over 2 years. :P Sean PS: It is easy to ignore chat with your brain rather than software.

Given the number of hands you are able to access, let's look for some freaks. The odds of a 13 card suit are about (according to a website): 39,688,347,497:1 So this is unlikely. However a 12 card suit including the Ace is: 367,484,697.8:1 We might have chances here. :D Sean

Claus, If you are going to reply in this forum, perhaps think about which it is instead of a completely useless post not addressing the subject at all. And please get rid of that signature. Sean

Heh, I would hate to think what my average might be. Sean

Damn! Forgot to look at stickies yet again :) Sean

Another simple example is: 1♦ - 2♣ 2♥ - 3♥ (suit setting and slam interest) 3♠ I'll open myself to ridicule on this one :) Sean

No hands? Sean

Is it Meckstroth or Rodwell on the system commitee over there? I find it ironic whoever it is since they play more unusual bids than most others. Sean

Happy Birthday Dwayne. Sean

Have you heard that someone accidentally left a photocopy of the bowling plans to all Australian batsmen in the MCG members area? :) Sean

I assume all ♣x's are 234 etc? Sean

You forgot about the nation that does not exist, Guantanamo Bay. Sean