Mr. Dodgy

4432&12HCP = 1.7% according to my spreadsheet

so, uh, not sure how I come to be in arrears...where do I send the beer?

I've started playing more F2F this year and my first (I think) revoke a few weeks ago was a shocker. As Declarer, I followed the opening ♣ lead, ♣s continued and I followed again...suddenly opps were telling me I'd revoked! And I had - on the first trick I had actually inadvertently played a ♦!? A pity, too - I made the contract which would have been a good score <_<

Paul, IMO you are entitled to rate yourself as Advanced or higher on the basis of the accomplishments you list and the BBO guidelines for self-rating. Take them with a grain of salt - people like to think they may be better than they really are. The guidelines are a little vague, and I'm not at all sure most players on BBO even know they exist. Intermediate is defined as something like 'average BBO Player', and the only ratings below Intermediate are seemingly intended for those who have played for under a year. Somehow I reckon self-rating of 'Weak', isn't likely to get a lot of votes, though it may be appropriate in many cases. Advanced suits you as it is essentially 'consistently win minor tournaments'. Remember that there are undoubtedly individuals sho will rate themselves mistakenly or ignorantly or outright fraudulently as Advanced and Expert who do not deserve to according to these guidelines. I can't get to the help page (http://www.bridgebase.com/help/3/topics/topiclist/text/x it's down?) to confirm these definitions 100%

stolen (stayman). haven't got around to discussing it with regular partners beyond that.

As mentioned in the "introductions" thread, I was introduced to bridge about 25 years ago, but didn't catch the bug. About 20 years ago I did enjoy playing Five Hundred with friends, and reading bridge books. I did play for a while in a club about 15 years ago, but only about once a week, and only for about a year. And about 5 years ago I discovered online bridge. I was instantly hooked. Two years ago I was playing very occasionally at the local club, and almost every day on BBO. This year I have started playing more face-to-face. I attended my first big congress 3 months ago at Queensland's Gold Coast. Quite an experience :D . I suppose I have about 5 good years experience, mostly online, voted 3-5. I am enjoying decent face-to-face competition now very much - and doing reasonably well at it :) I'll take this opportunity to again thank BBO, BBF, and those associated with them for their part in helping me explore this great game. Regards, Justin

OK, put inquiry in for a tie too, though I prefer him as a partner :)

1♥

MrDodgy, although lately he hasn't been running many, and mainly on behalf of Satto and BIL. tied with jillybean_2

just a quick guess - the swiss are sectioned, the unclocked are not (it would be counterproductive to have sections in unclocked)

3♥ 22 Zars opposite an opener; 3-level should be right.

In Australia you do B) 2♠

and 47 tables with a playing TD? hell, as a NON-playing TD I restrict to 40 tables. 'nuff sed.

Unclocked can be just as bad - indeed I played with Kathryn in an unclocked pairs tourney just a couple of days ago. At the end, one player, in a bad contract (and with 2 more boards to play), apparently decided to stall. TD was AWOL, possibly a connection problem. Eventually a yellow was called and averaged the remaining board(s), with the clock ticking down to -4 or so. The other players at the table had been sitting idle and helpless for something like 20 minutes (and for all I know could have been there for another 20). I shall try to avoid this host's tournaments in future.

1. Sure, make me 21-ish forever. 2. I have a rather high pain threshold, but if I were to become somehow sufficiently disabled that I were no longer able to be essentially self-sufficient, I'll top myself. I won't drag others into my mess. 3. No. 4. Each to their own.

While I would generally agree wholeheartedly, JB is a great TD and limits her PlayTD tourneys to just a few tables which is quite manageable. JB: it's your tourney and they're your rules. I assume you opened 1NT. Nothing wrong with that IMO, but I suppose if you're playing with a regular partner you should consider alerting it henceforth as "may be 4441". Regards, MrD :)

9+ (21+Zs) 12+ (26+Zs)

I like 2♥ too

My way: After 1NT-2♦... 2♠ max 3+♥s 4(+)♠s 2NT max 3+♥s 4+♦s 3♣ max 3+♥s 4+♣s 3♦ not allowed 3♥ max 4(+)♥s After 1NT-2♥... 2NT max 3+♠s 4+♥s 3♣ max 3+♠s 4+♣s 3♦ max 3+♠s 4+♦s 3♥ not allowed 3♠ max 4(+)♠s Responder can pass, bid short suit(s) if possible, NT, or retransfers with the 'not allowed' call.

Good idea :( But be wary of having too many and/or long notes. There's a limit to how much stuff BBO will be download when you log in and eventually you may find that the notes you have for some players (those whose nicknames start with letters from the Z end of alphabet to begin with) won't be displayed ANY time. This is why I have one regular player whose nick starts with zzz marked as a freind and noted as 'test' :)

Well, it's about time I introduced myself in a little more detail too, I guess, as I'm currently rather intoxicated and feeling especially social for once...those few who already know me this is, I hope, no great surprise - I like to have fun but maintain a rather aloof attitude much of the time. I am Justin, MrDodgy on BBO. I am perilously close to turning 37 years old. I Currently live in Brisbane, Australia. I was first introduced to bridge by my grandmother, 'Oma', in my early teens, but she was a hard taskmaster and my unknowing mistakes were met with some lack of sympathy which deterred me from pursuing the game. I did enjoy playing 'Oh Hell', taught to me by my father in my youth, and later I was taught Five Hundred by a family freind and eventually played it regularly with freinds. Back at Oma's I then found myself engrossed and intrigued by a few of the books she kept on the subject; Victor Mollo's "Bridge in the Menagerie" and one by Charles Goren / CC Wei on Precision. I dealt myself hand after hand to bid and play, and started cleaning up at the weekly 500-and-pot evenings :) So I read more, even joined a club, then discovered bridge on Yahoo, Pogo, and eventually BBO. I've been stuck here ever since :D I work in IT&T support, my other hobbies include 8-Ball, ten-pin bowling, dancing, girls, and fantasy fiction/art. I consider myself a good intermediate player; my knowledge probably surpasses my real skill, but I'm improving :). Next week I will attend my first big Congress on Australia's Gold Coast. God help them. I love my freinds on BBO and the game in general. Also rain, sleeping, Kahlua, girls, chocolate milk, and reading old BBO Forums posts. Thanks to Fred et al. for a great second home. G'nite.

Some people I have blacklisted must use a LOT of PCs. I recently found that a list of just 93 names failed. I appreciate the effort, Uday, really I do. The idea of cross-referencing PC 'thumbprints' to prevent re-nicknaming is highly commendable, but if it means that exclude lists simply don't work, what's the point?

This does not seem to work with 'enemies'? Or am I missing something (as is often the case)

A few times lately this has happened to me: when I attempt to send a mail message to someone, the 'waiting for response from server please wait' dialog comes up but never goes away. The only option is to hit the log off button and reconnect (or am I just impatient? Usually it takes only a second or two). Reconnecting in these circumstances seems to take a long time too. It may be that this is a old problem (why else put the log off button there?). Any advice would be appreciated. Regards, Justin