ADKWill

BBO robots bid very inconsistently: even bridge v+ and bridge baron are better. Give me a system and I can create a software program to bid it faithfully and only to resort to Monte Carlo techniques when there is inherent ambiguity in how to deal with a situation for which the system is ill suited. This is ridiculous: if you want to play competitively on-line, you are faced with playing with randomly crazy bids from the robots.

My partner and I played in our first on-line speedball tournament yesterday. It was an educational experience. We were rather nervous and didn't play at all well. However, that is not my issue. We are normally very fast players and 6 minutes per hand is not really a problem. To be honest, we were not up to our normal standard. We had two hands decided by the director for slow play (It only made minor difference to the probable outcomes). However, I am a scientist and notice things: our opponents on at least one table took quite a bit of time early in the table-- including silly things like taking 10--15 seconds to play a card where there was no choice or a choice that was not important to the play. Then the first time my partner took a little bit more time than she might have to ponder a problem, we received 2 "please play faster" notices from one opponent. Then when the table was getting out of time, the director of course assumed we were at fault. In fact, we wasted less time at that table than did our opponents, The difference is the we gave them some slack. I wonder if this happens often?

IMHO, You should start first with Audrey Grant' series of books. The first is totally introductory, the next is on the basics of Standard American Bidding. The next is on the play of the hand. She also has books on defense, on more advanced ideas like2-over-1 game forcing, ... There are other good introductions but hers is pretty easy to find and very easy to understand.

IMHO, You should start first with Audrey Grant' series of books. The first is totally introductory, the next is on the basics of Standard American Bidding. The next is on the play of the hand. She also has books on defense, on more advanced ideas like2-over-1 game forcing, ... There are other good introductions but hers is pretty easy to find and very easy to understand.