pilowsky

The irony of RMB1 talking about BBO and capitals is rather funny, but what he means is that on the internet if you say it in capitals it means that you are shouting. This is very useful if your partner is deaf, or if you really want to make a point. LIKE when I ASK nige1 TO SPELL PILOWSKY WITH A Y not an i.

Happy Bastille day French people! The revolutionary events taking place today and the events of the 14th of July all those years ago in France turned my thoughts to Whist. This hand comes from "The History of Playing Cards" by ES Taylor. Google has made it freely available. It's a great read. published in 1865. My father used to tell me stories about my great grandfather saving up to go to the Tavern outside the Shtetl only to discover the food was not Kosher. This Hand, and the story, come from this book. I'll put the story afterwards so you can skip it if you aren't interested. I also discovered that card games were tremendously popular in the Bastille, which was a sort of pleasant prison for the posh classes. It was too early a time for Whist though. Other tricks abounded I'm sure. I have tried to reconstruct the hand as it appears in the Story with a LIN and PBN file ♥ are Trumps and the unfortunate storyteller (South) was gulled into betting UKP20 - see below. I think the "voice" of the story also explains the literary style of PG Wodehouse and quite a few subsequent, and some current, Bridge writers. [hv=pc=n&s=sakqhakqjt9dcakqj&w=sh8765432dakqjt9c&n=sj975hd7654c96543&e=st86432hd832ct872]399|300[/hv] For those of you interested in History, here's the story. The principal games played in England are Whist and Cribbage; the former by the higher and upper middle class, the latter, generally, by those of lower station. Whist is too tedious a game for the professional gambler; it is peculiarly a game of skill, and thoroughly unsuited for cheating purposes. A person, it is true, may, by making the pass, manage to hold one good honour each time he deals, but this advantage is not equivalent to the risk of detection; the play, as a Frenchman would say, is not worth the candle and this a silly old nobleman, a few years since discovered in a most lamentable manner. Gamblers are consequently thrown upon their ingenuity to devise a speedy means of winning at whist, a game, be it remembered, which by its very nature seems to disarm suspicion, and a very clever coup is executed in the following manner. The writer, indeed, may as well relate a circumstance that fell under his own notice, speaking of himself as Simple, his antagonist as Sharp. Some thirty years ago, Simple and a friend were passing a few days holiday at a well-known watering-place on the South coast, when a sudden shower of rain drove them to take shelter in an adjoining tavern, where they were joined by two strangers, namely, Sharp and Co. The weather, as a confounded bore, being at once alluded to, a conversation commenced; and the important question was started, how to pleasantly spend the wet evening. Sharp proposed a game of whist, but his friend said cards were not kept in the house. However, the bell was rung, a pack of cards ordered and brought in by the waiter; and then Sharp's friend objected to play for money, it was contrary to his principles, besides it spoiled the pleasure and interest of the game; and so they commenced to play a rubber for glasses of something to drink and cigars, Simple and friend, of course, being partners against Sharp and his companion. Nothing particular occurred, till the adversaries were a game each, when it became Sharp's turn to deal, which he did, apparently, in the usual manner, turning up the deuce of hearts as trump. Simply taking up his hand, with all the eagerness of a very young man, found, to his agreeable surprise, that he held the ace, king, queen, knave, nine, and ten of trumps; the ace, king, queen, and knave of clubs; and the ace, king, and queen of spades. The dealer, who had not looked at his cards, being engaged in taking snuff and pleasantly handing the box round, now rubbing his hands, laughingly proposed a bet on the odd trick. "I have looked at my cards, "was the reply, " and you have not lifted yours yet.". "O never mind that," retorted the other; "I am in the humour for a little speculation, and if you like to bet on the odd trick, I will take you for a couple of sovereigns." Simple had already telegraphed, with the tail of his eye, to his friend the excellence of his hand. It was not in human nature to resist such an offer, but then Sharp's companion insinuated something about two sovereigns being too much for the young men to lose, it would spoil their holiday; and the result of this and other chaff was, that a bet on the winning of the odd trick was made for twenty pounds; and at this moment the landlord happening to come into the room, the money, on the proposition of Sharp, was deposited in his hands. We have seen Simple's cards, let us have a look at those held by Sharp; which were the eight, seven, six, five, four, three, and deuce of trumps; the ace, king, queen, knave, ten, and nine of diamonds. How the twenty-six cards, comprising the rest of the pack, were distributed in the hands of the other two players, it matters not; the hands of Simple and Sharp were alone the seat of war. Simple, confident of winning at least twelve tricks, led off with his trumps, and of course, won the first six tricks; he then boldly led off his ace of spades, which fell to Sharp's last paltry deuce of trumps; and then Sharp, bringing in his diamonds, inevitably won the last seven tricks. The landlord, who stayed in the room to see the hand played, at once passed the money over to Sharp; who, then, suddenly recollecting an important engagement, departed with his accomplice, leaving Simple and his friend in a state more easily imagined than described. Their holiday was truly spoiled. At first they could scarcely believe they had been cheated, imagining that Simple had played his hand badly. But, on their return to town, going over the game in the quiet solitude of their chambers, they found it impossible for them, under any circumstances, to have gained the odd trick. For, if Simple had adopted the less obvious plan of forcing the dealer, by playing spade or club, the latter would have trumped the trick and forced the leader, in turn by playing diamond. Of course, Mr. Sharp knew better than to return trump, for then his number of trumps being reduced to six, the same as that held by Simple, the latter would then take out all the trumps, and win all the remaining tricks. And from this point of view the cheating stratagem affords a good whist lesson; fully exemplifying the value and importance of the last trump, however insignificant, to bring in a long suit, and the peculiar action of what is not inaptly termed forcing.

He's right, Although GIB stands for Ginsberg's Intelligent Bridgeplayer. It should really be Ginsberg Intelligent Bridgeplayer. Ginsberg is intelligent, not the program. Tragically, the Intelligence stuck with the programmer, none of it passed on to the Robots. Mind you, the people on the Forum are very friendly, intelligent and helpful - or some combination of the above. Some of them actually know something about Bridge as well.

You are not alone. https://www.bridgebase.com/forums/topic/83342-prime-club/?v3b=web&v3v=5.6.5

You are right. It is a little bit annoying. To solve this problem I bought a second monitor (a Hisense TV set) and I use that. If you do not want to do that and there is a hand that you want to check closely you can export it into another browser tab. Click on the three white lines in the corner where the hand is then hit 'export'. Click on 'Handviewer link' (or right-click on it and save it for later). Then it will open in a new window where you can see the hand in the full screen. Good luck.

Yes, there is. Use Chrome as your browser. learn how to use extensions or addons. then get 'bridgesolver' Now you will be able to export the hand after you play it click (or right click and save) the handviewer link. and use the Bo Haglund double dummy solver. If you simply want to see if the contract you were in was makeable just 'show double-dummy'. Export is under double-dummy. Click that to get the handviewer link so you can use the addon. Is this what you wanted?

I don't have anything to do with running BBO but I can tell you that they will not be able to implement your idea. Here are some of the reasons why: Most opponents do not know each other so they don't have agreements Even opponents that have agreements don't follow them half the time! For your idea to work the opponents (and you) would need to enter your discard data into the computer before each hand was played. If a connection is broken or there is a reset and a substitute comes in or all sorts of other things happen the system fails. So, even though it would be great if everyone did follow the letter of the law and there was no crime and the world was a perfect place, it isn't. This is sad, but there is nothing that can be done about it. You can ask your opponents politely before the round. They might give you accurate information. It will be as useful as if you were playing at the Club. It is wise to remember that sometimes your opponent speaks a different language or is infirm and cannot type quickly, or has a very slow internet connection. All of these challenges make Bridge on BBO a different and interesting format. GLP

It is particularly difficult when you conflate three voices Barry; often in a single post. You are doing it again here. I am am not asserting an "entitlement". BBO has made a commitment. You are not the owner of BBO. What is going on? I am making a SUGGESTION. It is something that BBO has already committed to when I paid to join the Prime area. I was born in 1958 so the word 'awesome' was not quite as degraded as it is now but I think it still has some meaning as quite good even in modern teenage parlance. I know that you are a few years younger than me, and I am pretty sure that you did mean to be dismissive, Here it is again: We will improve the BBO Prime community and keep adding more awesome features to your subscription. Don't hesitate to let us know what else you would love to see on BBO in general, or in the BBO Prime community in particular. Awesome features... don't hesitate... love to see... we will improve... let us know... Read the responses to the survey about Prime membership. Prime customers are not completely satisfied. https://www.bridgeba...52#entry1001852 They don't join Prime to meet people and socialise. It doesn't look like BBO is responding to their needs. I did not vote. I have a collection of similarly dismissive communications from others at BBO. They often direct me to the Forum. At the Forum I get helped/abused/dismissed by Experts. I sort the wheat from the ... Other people have the same experience. They tell me about it privately. Bridge is a small world. Other Forums (or Fora if you want to be pedantic) are not like this one. Genug ist genug. Maybe I should form a Super PAC? Barry. Like George Conway. What do you think? Just asking? Just so you know, I am a professional educator - you can look me up. I do not give up easily. Before I retired I trained people for a living. I learned how to do things for a living. Things that are much more difficult than Bridge, although Bridge is very helpful as a way to focus my thinking. If BBO wants me to learn by making posts on the Forum then that's fine by me. Happy to comply. At the same time though I am going to try and improve BBO so that it serves me, and the wider community, better.

It's no wonder nobody ever gets to be a World Expert when they can't see all the cards at once .

thanks - I'll play it through again. Outstanding. Thank you Mr Cyberyeti.

There are no secrets here. Just click on LIN to see the full layout. I can't figure it out even when I see all the hands!

You must be joking Ove, Mike is a lawyer I'm sure there are. Probably several.

This is a manufactured hand that I was playing in practice. During bidding, I was able to see all four hands but tried not to look. Even though I had specified the rough parameters of the deal (4/4 in the majors 11+ South and 5+ North), I wanted to practice playing this type of hand. So, after bidding through a Jacoby 2NT to 4♥, West leads the ♠9. Imagine that you are playing matchpoints, so every trick counts. Here is the hand without West and East. Here is the LIN file and the PBN file of makeable contracts. fwiw - I'm pretty sure I still don't know what's going on here. [hv=pc=n&s=skj76haj973da6c32&n=saq83hk542dqckj75&d=s&v=e&b=3&a=1hp2np4hppp]266|200|West leads S9[/hv]

The undo option on the teaching table is broken. Can it be fixed? It only goes back one step. It is not possible to rewind and try out different lines of play in the same way that I can in other parts of BBO.

I have always wondered what people mean when they say “bad bridge”. Ove was very clear that he was not presenting an algebra puzzle. If so, then perhaps some level of ‘objective purity’ could be anticipated. Mike takes a very strong position. So do I. This entire thread was a very positive experience for me. I participate in the Forum to learn things. This thread inspired me to learn quite a few things including: How to create and use .LIN files for practice on a bidding and teaching table in the Prime area. How to play bridge a little bit better. A bit more Swedish. But what is “bad bridge”? Mike raises an interesting question. By addressing the idea of the humanity in bridge, it is similar in a way to the question raised by PK Dick in his story “Do androids dream of electric sheep?” I am often mocked on this Forum because, inter alia, I enjoy playing against robots. I consider this to be a worthwhile exercise. Even playing against the computer I am playing against myself and learning things about how I think. Now, as a result of this thread, I have discovered how to create a teaching table with all hands open populated by robots in the Prime area, I can import specific hands and really see what I am doing. This is a revelation. Many bad habits hit me in the face immediately. Bridge is a game that is played against people. People behave in different ways. Their skill levels and understandings differ. Good, bad, stupid, clever, fatuous, moronic, terrible, ridiculous, none of these characterisations helps the next player make their bid when the call comes round to them. Your opposition may not be the ‘best’, but a crazy bid can easily change the course of your conversation with your partner. That’s all part of bridge.

Well, since you are replying as a Forum member. I don't care what you think. When you say 'we', Who is we? Do not tell me what I am entitled to. I am entitled to ask for whatever I want. You don't seem to understand how business works. I am a customer. I pay money. I ask for a service. If YOU own the business - Do you own the business? You are polite/reasonable. It would require more work you say!!! Now we are cooking with gas. If you think that by adding the service it will attract more customers and you will make more money as a result then you add the service. Either way, everyone is happy. Be nice Barry. What you don't do is confuse the two roles. Abuse your customers and annoy them on an open Forum. That could be construed by some as a bit odd.

I don't like it. It is a metaphor that not everyone will understand. You need to study the concept of "the fully imagined audience" and read a bit less Wikipedia. Although you are an expert Bridge player I am an expert at education. Use of the term 'Hamburger' confuses people. I have seen 'hamburger' used before on these pages, and then I have seen several posts where it had to be explained. This is pointless. Just say "the 3 white lines". It's like alerting your bid. Don't say Jacoby 2NT, that's also in Wikipedia. Say what you mean. That's scorn. But it's also education - and I'm fully imagining my audience! You.

Here's an unexpected benefit of the Prime Club! The Claim button is Super friendly.

As I said, I really 'hate' this hand. But if you really want to go nuts here's a .lin file with 64 hands that have exactly 9HCP North, 13HCP South, and the same ♠♥♦♣ distribution for N and S. So if you really want to pickle your noodle you can load them onto a table and see what happens .

ok mitt sista kast av tärningarna Obviously, only an idiot would fail to bid their major. My last attempt. East must have 6-10 any distribution and no 4CM for 1NT. West must have Diamonds and opening points. They must have a nice fit in diamonds to push you into a slam. Here's my last try. tack för matchen! [hv=pc=n&s=sat87642hq42dk9ca&w=skqht95daqt86ct85&n=sj95ha873dckj9764&e=s3hkj6dj75432cq32&d=w&v=b&b=4&a=1dd1nd2d3c3d4s5d5sp6sppp]399|300[/hv] I really hate this hand.

Do you get really angry about everything? Chill Bill. You should hear the things I've heard. Some people are really smart - they say clever things when confronted with great peril. Other people have the intelligence of mouldy hamburgers. When my Father emerged from anaesthesia after his first brain tumour operation and I asked him "How are you" he replied "I gave that Surgeon a piece of my mind" - I'm not kidding. I suspect that he prepared that as a system check before the operation, but he was a Professor of Psychiatry so who can tell. At the other extreme, I once visited a house as a Doctor and found a nearly lifeless eight-year-old child on the sofa. He could barely breathe or make a sound his asthma was so bad. The room was full of cigarette smoke. The TV was blaring. A small dog was shagging my leg. When I asked the parents and their friends to please stop smoking while I tried to simultaneously call an ambulance, give the child an injection and stop having congress with the ***** dog they told me to ***** off. The problem was, there was an important show on TV. These people give each other Hallmark cards. They smoke during COVID19 pandemics. They are as thick as sticks, and they say the most ridiculous things - even when they just about to die. If you had seen me play Bridge, you might understand what I'm saying. But, don't talk to me about things in the real world that are unlikely. Save your **** for someone who cares.

So that's a bit like the Sunday Forum Challenge tournament that runs each week? OK, you got me - someone has to come last

That's much better. Once again my incompetence let me down. Now I don't see the other hands! By the way, Can I suggest - as a teaching tip - that you don't call it a "hamburger". In most countries, hamburgers do not look like 3 white lines. In Germany, they will think that you are directing them to a coastal city. In the USA they call it a Sandwich. I only knew what you meant because I read a thread on the Forum where this strange nomenclature was used and then had to be explained. To me, it looks more like a Zebra crossing . One useful thing though - for me anyway - when playing the hand AND seeing all the cards being played I was able to see some of my stupid card play mistakes made obvious, so that was great from a learning perspective.

That's an extremely helpful suggestion diana_eva, Here is the result. As you can see I was able to load up the deals that I had created. They all have a better than 44 fit in the majors and the bulk of the HCP with NS. Unfortunately, and this was something I was unaware of, (the old Dunning-Kruger problem), now I see all of the hands. With this hand, I managed through dint of tremendous effort to bid without peeking, and ended up as dummy! The North robot - a worthy partner did their best but still went -1. So, I would still like to be able to make myself Declarer if I want to. When I have a lesson, My teacher has to ask me how I would play the hand. Now I understand why! I can also see why he is able to make the hands visible to me. This is progress. What is needed is a Learning table where the student controls everything as opposed to a Teaching table. This style of education is very pre-1960's. Your advice is an improvement, I guess I could log in under an alias and teach myself, but since many people already think I have a God complex, It would be better if improvements could be made along the lines I have suggested. Although I am not a very good Bridge player, I am an expert in the field of education.

It's a fair point, Mike. A few months ago I bid 1NT with a similar hand and at the end, Mrs women's champion, sitting South, turned to my partner (West) and with a snarl on her face said "He's got both majors!!!". Inexpert indeed. My Mother also said I was trying. I guess I should have been a lawyer . Mind you, "nobody" is a very strong word. I like to tolerate a little ambiguity.