patcanuck

And that is all they had to say to me when I raised the idea several times. Too simple. Thanks.

Hmm, good point but it was BBO who suggested I raise my topic in the BBO forums. I actually wasn't expecting a BBO response from this topic posting: my comment about lack of BBO response was their complete lack of follow up from emails I had sent and which got constantly misinterpreted as me asking for director status to run tournaments. Though how that could have been gleaned from my asking if we could take over one of the now-moribund public clubs with a name change I have no idea. :) I just noticed you are an Admin: nice to meet you. Would it be more appropriate then to move this to whatever section of the discussion forum you think is more closely related?

Yeah I was wondering about having learned the most common distributions by heart and trying to quickly work things out that way whether or not that puts the 3/5 leads to bed.

There must be sites where people discuss and go over a number of holdings to assist people trying to learn this but no searching I've done has uncovered any.

There must be sites where people discuss and go over a number of holdings to assist people trying to learn this but no searching I've done has uncovered any.

I've read discussions about the strengths and weaknesses of leading thirds and fifths but what I really need is to find is a good site where they go through a number of hands and explain the use of 3s/5s. My confusion is what they do with a four card suit, and how you avoid confusion when you have something like 982 where leading the 2 seems to suggest a five card suit? Does my head in at the moment and hate the confusion. I am fairly comfortable with UDCA, standard carding, odds/evens but struggling with leading thirds and fifths. Appreciate any help. Pat :)

Well a week later and still no response from BBO. Looks like this is going to be buried under "too hard or too much effort required".

Something many bbo players seem not to know is that being a BIL member means you can ask for a mentor (at no cost). They will try to provide one in your time zone. One of the best things I ever did. :)

the WP Refugees Club is a prime example of what I'd like to see happen. It is known for being a friendly gathering of players from all over. No rudeness and no strangers sending unsolicited messages to the women.

Well that's a site I'd never heard about! Thanks for the link.

Australian players are badly disadvantaged by their time zones being at odds with places like North American and Europe. That means lessons and discussion sessions are held in the wee hours of the mornings for us. On top of that, I hear from an increasing number of players that they are sick of the rudeness they are encountering (often from self-labelled experts or Advanced); and female players are too often the target of unwanted advances from strangers. I have asked BBO repeatedly to have one of the now-unused Public Clubs to be renamed something like The Billabong Bridge Corner but keep getting told they can't make me a director or run tourneys. None of which I had asked for. There is currently a Public Club called Bridge a la Carte where the founding member no longer exists on BBO and I'd very much like to see that become The Billabong Bridge Corner. And to make that a place where your stock standard garden-gnome type player can come and enjoy their bridge, and enjoy the interaction with other players in safety. I could use any support I can get. :)

Yep, I onderstond the extra options but never before have I had to click on Show Profile to see a player's profile. Normally I simply click on his name and the profile is there.

I had an experience today where I was in charge of a table (by default) and when someone joined to partner me I had to click on their name then click on "Show Profile". Never seen that before and can't imagine how that is useful.

I think using and updating FireFox rather than Safari might be your answer.

I've got a better one for you: I had a massive hand and yet partner opened with my best suit. Quickly bid 4NT and the bot said it had one honour only. No problem: depended on which honour so I gambled on slam anyhow. Dummy goes down and it has AK of trump! A nice surprise but how can you rely on bots after what the original poster said and what so many have experienced.

If you are a mac user and do some searching you'll find a fairly easy method of updating and installing the security certificate on your computer especially relating to the use of Safari.

There has been a change on the internet with something to do with security certificates. Basically it boils down, I think, to the fact that very old systems will no longer be able to access a lot of sites.

BBO works fine on Apple macs though I suspect it doesn't like Safari as much as other browsers like FireFox.

If you want an overall experience with how much abuse there is: turn on Lobby Chat. I've done it a couple times and was horrified at how many times I saw abuse being hurled at another player (but the person behind the vilifying was too stupid to know it was going to the lobby). Even contacted BBO but all I got was a standard explanation of how it was possible to report a person. Might just be me but there seems to be a growing number of 'keyboard warriors' venting on other players

Another really simple option is to join BIL (a separate group for Beginners and Intermediate bridge players) and request a Bridge Mentor. Best thing I ever did when I discovered BBO and wanted to improve my bridge.

I too am on Catalina and just seconds ago experienced yet another screen freeze while playing Solitaire.It seems a far more frequent occurrence when using Safari and seldom on Firefox. It is alsow true that attending lessons using BBO voice is an exercise in frustration using Safari but fine with Firefox and a host of other browsers.

Why not consider joining BIL (Beginners-Intermediate Level) group? They will provide free mentors once you join (and ask) and many of their mentors/teachers run free sessions which are well attended by other BIL members.

One of the simple suggestions that seems to be overlooked is to join BIL and ask for a mentor. A group of nearly a dozen of us were assigned one and he is worth his weight in gold. Absolutely everything he has taught us has been backed up time after time by the Experts who run bridge lessons here on BBO. :)

I've also noticed that IMP score on the left doesnt match the score at the bottom of the hands on the right. No idea how that is possible since I assumed that one was just something like an Excel spreadsheet cell that would be reflected in the other. Such is life. :)

Is it time to set up a 'real' bridge club where every member needs an iPad type device so hands can appear on it while they sit widely spaced at tables? So many are doing it on BBO so why not adapt it to a bricks and mortar club?