EzioBridge

Hi, I'm really just a novice, but being UK-based am learning ACOL. Even my tutor says that it is a system very much designed 'to seek good game contracts whenever possible'. Although that's exactly what you want in duplicate 'Teams' events, it strikes me that it's inherently a rather unsuitable system for 'Pairs' events, where there's no real bias to wards 'game' hands whatsoever. How do other bidding systems compare to ACOL at Pairs? Are most popular bidding systems similarly disadvantaged? Is it actually a disadvantage in practice, or do all systems have pros/cons and, at my fairly 'beginner'/'learner' level it really doesn't make much difference? Thanks for people's thoughts or insights.

Oh, and I am using the 'Bridge Master' hands as well thanks. They too are great (except that a few of the Beginners' hands are (I think, objectively) far, far harder than the others).

Thanks Vampyr. Here's the hand: [hv=pc=n&s=skqjthqjt9dkj3ckt&n=s987hk87dqt9cqj95]133|200|Contract: 2NT by S<br>Lead: 2 of Diamonds by W[/hv] Thanks, Ezio

Hi, I’m using the ACBL’s excellent Learn To Play Bridge site with has lots of pre-specified practice hands to play. But I can’t work out the correct play on a couple of hands. Are the best lines of play described anywhere? Specifically, I’m currently struggling on: ‘Establishing Long Suits’, Hand #5, where I can only get 1 of the possible 3 stars awarded for good play. Thanks, Ezio

Thanks for the replies (even the 'negative' one, because it's good to know others too have searched thoroughly and been unsuccessful). Thanks for the idea of MATLAB too. If/when I have time, I'd like to pursue that.

Hi, This isn't a question about the BBO software specifically, but I wanted to ask whether anyone here knew of any software that was able to capture (by taking a photo) deals/hands printed on paper and - presumably using character-recognition technology - turn them into some sort of Bridge hand format file? For example, I've access to a lot of old Bridge hand records (printed paper copies - not handwritten, but 'typed'), many of which provide good 'practice hands' for learners to play (either 'real', or against a robot). I'd love to be able to capture many of these hands into a standard file format that I could then use to either pass to a mechanical 'Bridge Dealing Machine' or possibly (if it were possible), upload to allow play against a robot. The Bridge hand records are formatted in the standard North, East, South, West format, with each hand showing, obviously, Spades, Hearts,Diamonds, Clubs. I've tried using quite a few standard image->text scanning apps, and none seem to recognise the suit symbols. Thanks for any pointers or advice. Ezio