HeavyDluxe

My goodness!!! How did I miss this thread? I've missed too much of this to jump in feet first, but Mike's comment caught my eye. He's so right that even one of the writers of Christian scripture made the same point! Christianity, as biblically defined, sets up a black and white world... It is either all true, or all false. It gives itself no middle ground. Probably the most famous articulation of this point comes from CS Lewis and his "trilemma"... Anyway, interesting discussion. Dluxe

Saw an interesting thing today, my 3rd time using the BBOTV client. Used the "First available seat" option and was taken to a game where my seat was dummy. The software sat me, from my perspective, at the top of the screen. Partner was in the 'south' seat and I was kibbing both hands as he/she declared. When the hand was over, the seats rotated so my hand was located at the bottom of the screen as normal. However, there seemed to be a disconnect between the bidding display and the seats. The bidding was now out of alignment. According to the compass (and the marks by my name) I was sitting E. However, my bids were being displayed in the S column on the bidding heads-up. Not a huge thing, but a bug to be sure.

Putting my picks up here is a bit like having my 5 year-old handicap the Kentucky Derby... But, it'll give me something to cheer for in September - so why the heck not. Bermuda Bowl ============ QF: Sweden, USA1, China, Egypt SF: Norway, Poland RU: Italy Win: USA2* Venice Cup ============ QF: USA2, Canada, France, England SF: USA1, Netherlands RU: China Win: Germany Senior Bowl ============ QF: USA1, Sweden, Poland, Italy SF: Canada, Brazil RU: Australia Win: USA2 - Dluxe *Everyone else picked Italy, therefore this isn't a total "Homer call"

I've been using Pavilcek's converter to share hands with a mentor. Here's what I do: 1) Take the .lin file convert it to an RBN using Pavilcek's converter utility. 2) Then, I take the resulting RBN file and run Richard's RBN to HTML converter. It produces output that looks like this. 3) I throw this into Word, annotate it, then ship it wherever I want. It's a couple steps, but the output is pleasing and flexible. - Dluxe

Hi again, everyone. I scan through a lot of blogs and other RSS feed sites during the course of the day. However I haven't added any bridge-related feeds... Until now. I notice a couple people on here have their blog URL in their sig... I'd be interested in hearing what blogs or other bridge sites you visit regularly (besides this forum, obviously). If you have a blog/website, here's your chance to get hits. If you like someone else's website, here's your chance to get them hits. Thanks in advance, Dluxe

It's interesting you mention that... I wound up buying BridgeBaron a handful of months ago when I started to get serious about learning. At least part of the motivation to pick that product was based on looking at the results of one of Richard Pavilcek's bidding polls (like this, for example).

I'm terrible at this... But might as well guess. eek? Whoops... it helps to read the actual question.

Look, I'll take all the help I can get. :-) Y'all know where to find me!

Absolutely! I've signed up for a BIL mentor, though we've had real issues hooking up. I also go to the classes/lectures whenever I can. I have noticed, however, that the number of games in the BIL seems to have declined now that the 'relaxed room' has opened. Just doesn't seem to be as many people as I remember previously. Again, I'll add it to the list. Thanks for the tip! Thanks to everyone!

I'm using the latest version of BridgeBaron, and I've set the partner and opps thinktime up a fair bit. I don't want every hand to take forever, but I want a decent game. The reason I'm trying to use the computer is that I can't find any seriously decent real people to pard up with regularly. If I, labelled a beginner, show up at a table with any decent players they tend to run away screaming. The computer is probably consistently 'stronger' than I am right now, so I figure that's at least a good supplement to playing online. If you look at my hands records, you'll see I'm trying to play a lot. - Dluxe

I've got several books already... I just can't buy anymore. And I've checked the local libraries (through Interlibrary Loan even) and found the selection mostly lacking. I live in a pretty rural spot, and I think the libraries unloaded the bridge and chess books at book sales. More room for Harry Potter, ya know... :( I have three of Root's books (ABC's, Commonsense, and Play) among titles from other authors. I'm working my way through the cardplay section of ABCs now. I wasn't knocking good books at all.... I have quite the home library. Just saying I don't have the ability to buy anything new-to-me right now.

Thanks all for the replies! Part of the trick is that I'm, sadly, on a really tight budget right now. And yes, that means tight enough to preclude buying even a single bridge book for now. :( This was the idea I was going for. Again, just trying to start drilling good habits in my head from the get go. Over time, as the reading budget improves, I can start fleshing out those 'questions' a little. As it is, I tend to rush the play and want to establish a productive routine to guard against that! Thanks all! - Dluxe

Hi all. My background is music, and I remember clearly what one of my professors told me. "Practice doesn't make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect. All other practice only makes permanent." With that in mind: I really desperately want to improve my bridge game. My bidding has improved though I still need work. What I really want to focus on more is planning play both as declarer and defender. I want to discipline myself to think through things carefully when dummy hits the table. So, my question is: What things do you ask yourself or think through prior to making your first play from dummy? If you're defender, what do you think through following the opening lead? Obviously, there's a lot here. I'm just looking for a list of questions that, when practicing against the computer, I can slowly and carefully think through to establish a methodical approach to the hands. Thanks in advance for the replies. - Dluxe

Hi all... Thanks for the many fun posts on here. I'm enjoying reading and learning on here, though anyone stuck with me as a pard might say I need a lot more learning. :-) These are some follow-up questions to the "Play like Helgemo" thread over here. Let me start with an analogy to chess if I can... While all elite chess players must have good memory and calculating skills, those skills express themselves differently between two players. For example, Karpov would slowly squeeze you to death like a player like Shirov complicates the game to ridiculous levels and then emerges with an advantage. With that analogy, in mind: 1) Who are some of your favorite world class players? 2) What about them appeals to you more than others? Is it nationalism, or some other element of their play? 3) Why do you think they express that particular table personality? Just curious. And thanks. Aces, Dluxe

Thanks, Best (sending a PM after this post)... And thanks everyone for such a good thread. I think, by and large, MikeH is right. My background is in music, and I can tell you learn to play music better by being with better and better musicians. I think the same holds true for anything. The trick is that I'm one of the folks who lives in the middle of nowhere (VT), so access to local play is difficult. And most *truly* solid players on BBO don't seem to want to let someone labelled Beg/Int sit at their table. There are exceptions, of course, but it's hard to find a good game. vuroth said: I made a post asking the same thing... Here's the thread (and makes clear my interest in the jec matches): http://forums.bridgebase.com/index.php?showtopic=19783 Heh... Is it uncouth to say I was hoping for a 'free' way? ;-) Thanks PMarlowe... I'm just surprised on the 'hands' homepage, there isn't a "Download as single file" option, instead of dl'in each hand individually. That said, I've used Chessbase in the past, and Bridgebrowser seems to be the analogous thing. I'm not quite sure that's the best investment for me at this point. So, I'd welcome any other ideas people have re: getting single files of the CAYNE matches, etc. I'd be, at this stage, anyway, less interested in replaying the hands. I'd rather just see "so and so's" cards and watch the play/bidding from their seat. I wonder if there's a way to import the BBO files (.lin, I think) into BridgeBaron, which I bought a year ago? Hmmmm. Off to look for a converter. Thanks for the many good tips here... I'll try to check out the Reese books that were suggested. You know, this would be an interesting service for the BIL, I think. Have a handful of graduates/mentors play some hands using relatively standard methods, and then have each player annotate their 'turn'. Throw it in a PDF and post it. If anyone else agrees that it'd be helpful, I'd be willing to offer my time to assemble the documents and convert them. Thanks again for this thread, everyone.

I'd like to chip in here, if I can. I hope this doesn't constitute a threadjack. I'm feeling much the same as bestguru... I learned the very basics of the game as a teen and never could find anyone to play with once I moved out to go to college. I know I have a ton of bad habits. I think this is great advice that leads me to ask three questions: 1) I know how to download hands via the webpage... But is there a way to get one of the 'movie' files for past team matches (thinking of the 'Cayne vs Matches' here) so you don't have 50 files to work through...? 2) Is there a way to open a movie file so you only see one hand, recreating kibitzing one person live? 3) Does anyone know of some hands that are 'annotated' a la what chess players do with chess games? I'd be interested to see a handful of deals marked up with the "what I was thinking of" kinda comments of a good player. I've tried signing up for the BBO mentor program through the BIL. I'm early in that process (and having a little trouble crossing paths with my mentor). However, I'd love to have a regular partner to work on these things with. If anyone's interested, either in helping or partnering, please let me know. Thanks for the helpful stuff I always find in these forums. Take care, Heavydluxe

Will do, Gerben! Thank you so much.

Hi all... With any luck, the next 4 months are going to afford me some serious time to work on bridge in the evening. I'd like to spend some time during lunch, etc honing my skills (or lack thereof) as well. One of the things that I think would be helpful, given my learning style, would be to use the HANDS search tool to get download some sample hands bid/played by some solid players. So, my question is: Does anyone have a suggestion re: one or two really solid players/pairs on BBO who bid a relatively simple system (SAYC, ACOL, etc) that I should go out and research? I know tons of solid players who I can look at for cardplay/defense... But most of them bid 'systematically' way above my head. And I'm keenly aware that my bidding is the weakest part of my game. Being able to look at some hands and follow through someone else's logic of why and what to bid will be really helpful. Thanks in advance, Brian (aka heavydluxe)

Hi all. First thing's first: I've been an 'on again, off again' BBO user for a number of years. I'm grateful to Fred and the rest of the team for such a fun, powerful, and free tool. I've loved watching the evolution of the software over the years. Feature enhancement: I think a neat, and I'm guessing easily implemented, feature would be the ability to sort the game 'rooms' by any of the heading criteria. Two examples: 1) I love to kibitz, but sometimes I'd rather look at a different table than the one with "most stars" or "most kibitzers". Presently, I have to scroll through the whole room to identify tables. In contrast, it would be wicked easy if I could just click the 'Kibitzers' column, and have the page ordered (ascending or descending) by the number of people kibitzing. For me, that would immediately push the empties or 'locked' tables off the screen and speed up browsing immensely. 2) Similarly, it'd be neat to go into the team matches and sort by 'players'. Since a team match is typically 8 players at most, the more players would indicate a match that's perhaps worth watching. Players could also sort by table type, if West is open, etc, etc, etc. Thanks so much! Brian (aka heavydluxe)

Hi all... I'm a beginner who's getting back to playing. My bidding is poor right now, though my cardplay is fair. I'm hoping to hook up with someone else who's looking to learn and improve. Starting next week, I'll be working my way back through Root's 'Commonsense Bidding' as a refresher. If there's anyone around who'd like to work through the book and bid/play some hands together for practice, please post a reply here. Thanks, Dluxe

Thanks, JLall... I appreciate the welcome and the suggestion. I've read a lot of bridge books over the years and (generally) do ok once the contract is set. I've played enough cards to do well as declarer and I'm alright on defense. Bidding is where I'm 'crapping the bed'. So, I've been reading through Common Sense Bidding and ABCs of Bridge to brush up on both. But I agree, playing is where it's at... I just want to find a few people who are willing to be patient and supportive through the whole process. I hate to mess up other people's evening by stumbling into too many slams off every ace in the deck. Tends to make some people a little tense. ;-) You aren't one of *those* are you?

Hi everyone. I've always been fascinated by bridge. I think it's all rooted in the Friday night bridge games my parents would have with my grandparents every week during my childhood. When I was 13, I learned the *very* basics of the game and played with the 'rents unti I went off to college. No one there played bridge, so I transitioned to spades... I'd love to get back to playing bridge, so I signed up here on BridgeBase. I'd love to find a couple other people looking to learn (for argument's sake, let's say I'm a brand-newbie) who might like to meet online and work on our games. I think it'd be great to get a book, work through it, and then put the skills to the test. Getting our tails kicked severely in the process, no doubt. If anyone's interested in learning along with me (or has godlike bridge knowledge they'd like to pass on), respond to this thread or shoot me an email. We can chat offline from there. By the way, I'm cheap and recently thrown out of work. So, I'm not interested in solicitation for 'paying' lessons. Though that might change down the road.... Thanks all! Brian aka HeavyDluxe heavydluxe at gmail DOT com