eamongall

Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.19041.985] © Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. C:\Users\eamon>cd ,, C:\Users\eamon C:\Users\eamon>cd .. C:\Users>cd .. C:\>cd gib C:\gib>bridge -scULT 8000 GIB Version 6.1.3, 1/4/03 Enter S hand: 853.k52.ak63.t92 Enter dealer: C:\gib>bridge -scULINST 8000 GIB Version 6.1.3, 1/4/03 Enter S hand: 853.k52.ak63.t92 Enter N hand: akq762.a963.qj9. Enter dealer: s Enter vul (none, N/S, E/W, both): both dealt 250 hands at time -0.00 book bid [rule 10103] P is 91% to continue auction; returning it I bid P (0.02 sec) That bid shows: No suitable call -- 11- HCP; 12- points Enter bid for W: p That bid shows: No suitable call -- 11- HCP; 12- points simulation disallowed; returning book bid rule 10349 (87) I bid 1S (0.01 sec) That bid shows: Major suit opening -- 5+ S; 21- HCP; 12-22 points Enter bid for E: p That bid shows: No suitable call -- 16- points simulation disallowed; returning book bid rule 10253 (88) I bid 2S (0.01 sec) That bid shows: Simple raise -- 3+ S; 7-10 points Enter bid for W: p That bid shows: No suitable call -- 11- HCP; 12- points dealt 187 hands at time 0.19 Distributional values suggest new action (4C vs 4S); simulation indicated. book bid [rule 11602] 4C, considering 2N 4C 4S prognosticate at time 0.20 complete at time 0.60; size 26 analyzed 0 deals (26 current) at 0.69 sec I bid 4C (0.69 sec) That bid shows: !Splinter -- 1- C; 5+ S; 21- HCP; 19-22 points Enter bid for E: p That bid shows: No suitable call -- 16- points dealt 93 hands at time 0.25 Distributional values suggest new action (4H vs 4S); simulation indicated. book bid [rule 1374] 4H, considering 4H 4S 5S prognosticate at time 0.26 complete at time 0.40; size 13 analyzed 13 deals (13 current) at 0.63 sec 4H: 3.27 (prog 708.23 par 925.85) 4S: 1.38 (prog 659.23 par 925.85) 5S: -4.15 (prog 339.62 par 830.46) I bid 4H (0.63 sec) That bid shows: 3+ H; 3+ S; 2-11 8421 HCP in H; 9-10 points Enter bid for W: p That bid shows: No suitable call -- 11- HCP; 12- points dealt 60 hands at time 95.19 redealt 187 hands at time 95.29 book bid 0% chance of continuing auction book bid [rule 243] 4S, considering 4S 5C prognosticate at time 95.34 complete at time 95.42; size 26 analyzed 75 deals (75 current) at 95.76 sec 4S: 8.95 (prog 635.20 par 779.92) 5C: -8.45 (prog -3.57 par 531.92) I bid 4S (95.76 sec) That bid shows: 1- C; 5+ S; 21- HCP; 19-22 points Enter bid for E: ! Enter bid for N: ! Enter bid for W: p That bid shows: No suitable call -- 11- HCP; 12- points dealt 66 hands at time 95.02 redealt 187 hands at time 95.13 book bid 0% chance of continuing auction book bid [rule 243] 4S, considering 4S 5C prognosticate at time 95.17 complete at time 95.17; size 26 analyzed 75 deals (75 current) at 95.49 sec 4S: 7.53 (prog 648.00 par 821.61) 5C: -7.03 (prog 100.93 par 606.68) I bid 4S (95.49 sec) That bid shows: 1- C; 5+ S; 21- HCP; 19-22 points Enter bid for E: ! Enter bid for N: ! Enter bid for W: p That bid shows: No suitable call -- 11- HCP; 12- points dealt 57 hands at time 92.55 redealt 187 hands at time 92.64 book bid 0% chance of continuing auction book bid [rule 243] 4S, considering 4S 5C prognosticate at time 92.68 complete at time 92.68; size 26 analyzed 75 deals (75 current) at 92.94 sec 4S: 8.38 (prog 597.07 par 753.20) 5C: -7.88 (prog 12.25 par 571.33) I bid 4S (92.95 sec) That bid shows: 1- C; 5+ S; 21- HCP; 19-22 points Enter bid for E: ? P.P.1S.P.2S.P.4C.P.4H.P.4S South: 3+ H; 3+ S; 2-11 8421 HCP in H; 9-10 points West: 11- HCP; 12- points North: 1- C; 5+ S; 21- HCP; 19-22 points East: 16- points Enter bid for E: p That bid shows: No suitable call -- 16- points dealt 93 hands at time 0.32 book bid 0% chance of continuing auction book bid [rule 129] P, considering P 4N 5D 5S prognosticate at time 0.33 complete at time 0.86; size 13 analyzed 83 deals (83 current) at 2.60 sec P: 5.15 (prog 652.05 par 648.43) 5S: 4.57 (prog 575.60 par 907.07) 5D: 3.71 (prog 567.54 par 907.07) 4N: -12.94 (prog -821.72 par -74.70) I bid P (2.60 sec) That bid shows: No suitable call -- 3+ H; 3+ S; 2-11 8421 HCP in H; 9-10 points Enter bid for W: C:\gib>bridge -scANSI GIB Version 6.1.3, 1/4/03 Enter S hand: 853.k52.ak63.t92 Enter N hand: akq762.a963.qj9. Enter dealer: s Enter vul (none, N/S, E/W, both): both dealt 250 hands at time 0.01 book bid [rule 10103] P, considering P 1C-7N prognosticate at time 0.01 complete at time 25.92; size 35 analyzed 35 deals (35 current) at 31.03 sec P: 12.79 (prog -17.42 par -79.68) 1D: 11.47 (prog -74.09 par -75.71) 1C: 9.91 (prog -247.43 par -75.71) 2D: 9.84 (prog -258.00 par -149.14) 1N: 9.00 (prog -261.40 par -250.14) 1S: 8.79 (prog -335.60 par -104.86) 1H: 8.43 (prog -364.94 par -84.29) 3D: 6.76 (prog -472.20 par -326.00) 2S: 6.44 (prog -514.20 par -206.57) 2C: 4.54 (prog -740.91 par -138.57) I bid P (31.04 sec) That bid shows: No suitable call -- 11- HCP; 12- points Enter bid for W: p That bid shows: No suitable call -- 11- HCP; 12- points simulation disallowed; returning book bid rule 10349 (87) I bid 1S (0.01 sec) That bid shows: Major suit opening -- 5+ S; 21- HCP; 12-22 points Enter bid for E: p That bid shows: No suitable call -- 16- points simulation disallowed; returning book bid rule 10253 (88) I bid 2S (0.02 sec) That bid shows: Simple raise -- 3+ S; 7-10 points Enter bid for W: p That bid shows: No suitable call -- 11- HCP; 12- points dealt 187 hands at time 0.22 book bid [rule 11602] 4C, considering P 2N-7N prognosticate at time 0.22 complete at time 3.35; size 26 analyzed 88 deals (88 current) at 6.99 sec 4C: 7.75 (prog 566.02 par 676.16) 2N: 7.25 (prog 566.02 par 695.48) 3D: 7.25 (prog 566.02 par 694.11) 3H: 7.25 (prog 566.02 par 694.11) 4S: 7.13 (prog 566.02 par 652.30) 3S: 7.13 (prog 557.61 par 691.84) 3C: 7.04 (prog 549.89 par 694.11) 4D: 7.03 (prog 547.39 par 676.16) 4H: 6.81 (prog 528.75 par 676.16) 3N: 5.73 (prog 462.05 par 664.80) I bid 4C (7.00 sec) That bid shows: !Splinter -- 1- C; 5+ S; 21- HCP; 19-22 points Enter bid for E: p That bid shows: No suitable call -- 16- points dealt 93 hands at time 0.27 book bid [rule 1374] 4H, considering P 4D-7N prognosticate at time 0.28 complete at time 1.72; size 13 analyzed 13 deals (13 current) at 2.10 sec 4H: 8.87 (prog 708.23 par 927.38) 4D: 8.37 (prog 708.23 par 927.38) 4S: 7.57 (prog 659.23 par 927.38) 5C: 7.17 (prog 582.08 par 832.00) 5D: 7.17 (prog 582.08 par 832.00) 5H: 5.57 (prog 486.92 par 832.00) 5S: 4.11 (prog 339.62 par 801.23) 6C: 4.11 (prog 339.62 par 531.23) 6H: 4.11 (prog 339.62 par 531.23) 6S: 4.11 (prog 339.62 par 362.00) I bid 4H (2.10 sec) That bid shows: 3+ H; 3+ S; 2-11 8421 HCP in H; 9-10 points Enter bid for W: p That bid shows: No suitable call -- 11- HCP; 12- points dealt 141 hands at time 26.62 redealt 187 hands at time 26.72 book bid [rule 243] 4S, considering P 4S-7N prognosticate at time 26.72 complete at time 27.99; size 26 analyzed 26 deals (26 current) at 28.38 sec 4S: 9.88 (prog 647.69 par 810.88) P: 8.15 (prog 530.00 par 514.62) 5S: 6.63 (prog 363.85 par 556.65) 4N: 3.99 (prog 197.88 par 716.27) 5H: 3.99 (prog 197.88 par 618.19) 5D: 2.32 (prog 80.08 par 618.19) 5C: 1.87 (prog 47.38 par 618.19) 5N: 1.87 (prog 47.38 par 260.50) 6C: 1.87 (prog 47.38 par 316.65) 6D: 1.87 (prog 47.38 par 316.65) I bid 4S (28.39 sec) That bid shows: 1- C; 5+ S; 21- HCP; 19-22 points Enter bid for E: p That bid shows: No suitable call -- 16- points dealt 93 hands at time 0.41 book bid [rule 129] P, considering P 4N-7N prognosticate at time 0.41 complete at time 1.71; size 13 analyzed 13 deals (13 current) at 2.02 sec P: 7.81 (prog 663.85 par 663.85) 5C: 7.38 (prog 649.77 par 960.69) 5D: 7.38 (prog 649.77 par 960.69) 5S: 6.93 (prog 593.77 par 945.31) 6C: 6.93 (prog 593.77 par 710.69) 6D: 6.93 (prog 593.77 par 710.69) 6H: 6.93 (prog 593.77 par 710.69) 6S: 6.93 (prog 593.77 par 595.31) 5H: 6.72 (prog 600.77 par 960.69) 7C: -5.64 (prog -361.54 par 0.00) I bid P (2.03 sec) That bid shows: No suitable call -- 3+ H; 3+ S; 2-11 8421 HCP in H; 9-10 points Enter bid for W: C:\gib>bridge -scANSIT 8000 GIB Version 6.1.3, 1/4/03 Enter S hand: 853.k52.ak63 Enter S hand: 853.k52.ak63.t92 Enter N hand: akq762.a963.qj9. Enter dealer: s Enter vul (none, N/S, E/W, both): both dealt 250 hands at time -0.00 book bid [rule 10103] P, considering P 1C-7N prognosticate at time -0.00 complete at time 26.12; size 35 analyzed 35 deals (35 current) at 31.20 sec P: 12.79 (prog -17.42 par -79.68) 1D: 11.47 (prog -74.09 par -75.71) 1C: 9.91 (prog -247.43 par -75.71) 2D: 9.84 (prog -258.00 par -149.14) 1N: 9.00 (prog -261.40 par -250.14) 1S: 8.79 (prog -335.60 par -104.86) 1H: 8.43 (prog -364.94 par -84.29) 3D: 6.76 (prog -472.20 par -326.00) 2S: 6.44 (prog -514.20 par -206.57) 2C: 4.54 (prog -740.91 par -138.57) I bid P (31.20 sec) That bid shows: No suitable call -- 11- HCP; 12- points Enter bid for W: p That bid shows: No suitable call -- 11- HCP; 12- points simulation disallowed; returning book bid rule 10349 (87) I bid 1S (0.01 sec) That bid shows: Major suit opening -- 5+ S; 21- HCP; 12-22 points Enter bid for E: p That bid shows: No suitable call -- 16- points simulation disallowed; returning book bid rule 10253 (88) I bid 2S (0.01 sec) That bid shows: Simple raise -- 3+ S; 7-10 points Enter bid for W: p That bid shows: No suitable call -- 11- HCP; 12- points dealt 187 hands at time 0.20 book bid [rule 11602] 4C, considering P 2N-7N prognosticate at time 0.20 complete at time 3.29; size 26 analyzed 88 deals (88 current) at 6.94 sec 4C: 7.75 (prog 566.02 par 676.16) 2N: 7.25 (prog 566.02 par 695.48) 3D: 7.25 (prog 566.02 par 694.11) 3H: 7.25 (prog 566.02 par 694.11) 4S: 7.13 (prog 566.02 par 652.30) 3S: 7.13 (prog 557.61 par 691.84) 3C: 7.04 (prog 549.89 par 694.11) 4D: 7.03 (prog 547.39 par 676.16) 4H: 6.81 (prog 528.75 par 676.16) 3N: 5.73 (prog 462.05 par 664.80) I bid 4C (6.95 sec) That bid shows: !Splinter -- 1- C; 5+ S; 21- HCP; 19-22 points Enter bid for E: p That bid shows: No suitable call -- 16- points dealt 93 hands at time 0.27 book bid [rule 1374] 4H, considering P 4D-7N prognosticate at time 0.27 complete at time 1.72; size 13 analyzed 13 deals (13 current) at 2.09 sec 4H: 8.87 (prog 708.23 par 927.38) 4D: 8.37 (prog 708.23 par 927.38) 4S: 7.57 (prog 659.23 par 927.38) 5C: 7.17 (prog 582.08 par 832.00) 5D: 7.17 (prog 582.08 par 832.00) 5H: 5.57 (prog 486.92 par 832.00) 5S: 4.11 (prog 339.62 par 801.23) 6C: 4.11 (prog 339.62 par 531.23) 6H: 4.11 (prog 339.62 par 531.23) 6S: 4.11 (prog 339.62 par 362.00) I bid 4H (2.11 sec) That bid shows: 3+ H; 3+ S; 2-11 8421 HCP in H; 9-10 points Enter bid for W: p That bid shows: No suitable call -- 11- HCP; 12- points dealt 141 hands at time 101.63 redealt 187 hands at time 101.73 book bid [rule 243] 4S, considering P 4S-7N prognosticate at time 101.73 complete at time 103.26; size 26 analyzed 26 deals (26 current) at 103.76 sec 4S: 9.42 (prog 648.85 par 836.54) P: 7.67 (prog 528.85 par 513.46) 5S: 6.17 (prog 365.00 par 582.31) 4N: 3.90 (prog 223.54 par 741.92) 5H: 3.90 (prog 223.54 par 643.85) 5D: 2.69 (prog 138.42 par 643.85) 5C: 2.23 (prog 105.73 par 643.85) 5N: 2.23 (prog 105.73 par 318.85) 6C: 2.23 (prog 105.73 par 367.31) 6D: 2.23 (prog 105.73 par 367.31) I bid 4S (103.77 sec) That bid shows: 1- C; 5+ S; 21- HCP; 19-22 points Enter bid for E: p That bid shows: No suitable call -- 16- points dealt 93 hands at time 0.40 book bid [rule 129] P, considering P 4N-7N prognosticate at time 0.40 complete at time 1.69; size 13 analyzed 13 deals (13 current) at 1.98 sec P: 8.07 (prog 663.85 par 663.85) 5S: 7.05 (prog 593.77 par 944.54) 6C: 7.05 (prog 593.77 par 709.92) 6D: 7.05 (prog 593.77 par 709.92) 6H: 7.05 (prog 593.77 par 709.92) 6S: 7.05 (prog 593.77 par 594.54) 5C: 6.98 (prog 600.77 par 959.92) 5D: 6.98 (prog 600.77 par 959.92) 5H: 6.98 (prog 600.77 par 959.92) 7C: -5.45 (prog -361.54 par 0.00) I bid P (1.98 sec) That bid shows: No suitable call -- 3+ H; 3+ S; 2-11 8421 HCP in H; 9-10 points Enter bid for W: ? P.P.1S.P.2S.P.4C.P.4H.P.4S.P.P South: 3+ H; 3+ S; 2-11 8421 HCP in H; 9-10 points West: 11- HCP; 12- points North: 1- C; 5+ S; 21- HCP; 19-22 points East: 16- points Enter bid for W: p That bid shows: No suitable call -- 11- HCP; 12- points P.P.1S.P.2S.P.4C.P.4H.P.4S.P.P.P Enter play for E: Enter play for E: I tried this hand on a few settings of my old DOS GIB program that I have tinkered with for many years ...I am not getting past 4S but I am getting some indication that GIB is considering a move forward All output of my settings is posted above with no edits This DOS program comes with the commercial GIB which Matt Ginsberg gave me for free back in the day or last century There is also a crippled version which came along with the old Windows client BBO but it did not have all the switches Thanks Eamon Galligan ...on BBO eamongall

Last night while running my Ireland Imps Pairs nightly event a competitor drew my attention to his robot dropping a trick despite having AK of spades and 2 high trumps remaining https://www.bridgebase.com/tools/handviewer.html?bbo=y&myhand=M-427749975-1601667088 Having used verious levels of GIB since Matt Ginsberg sent me the original text version in 1996 I was amazed at this play. The player was not complaining despite paying to use what is supposedly the advanced version of the robot. I will also send to tournaments at BBO just for the crack I have heard and read many complaints about GIBs bidding but thats okay as it runs on samples of hands and a bad sample can flaw its bidding However generally its cardplay is up to a standard of claiming with 4 high cards left ... I expect my text version will claim the above hand before the end of play or before taking the practice finesse Some poor chap shelled out 25 cents for this play and losing about 13 imps. Same player Woody1980 also indicated hand 28 as interesting play by the robot https://www.bridgebase.com/tools/handviewer.html?bbo=y&myhand=M-427749850-1601667088 Here the robot turns a possible 11 tricks into 8 tricks ...... Later I will try these hands on my OFFLINE versions of GIB and see how they go Thanks Eamon Galligan

Folks Bridgebase has been around a long time. Fred Gitelman and maybe some of his mates made it many years ago. I played bridge against Fred Gitelman (Brad Moss skinned me because I told him my hand by bidding unusual 2NT). Before that I met Fred Giltelman when he was in Ireland at Buffet Cup. Later when I was at US Nationals in San Francisco the same Fred Gitelman had time to smoke his cigarettes with me .."I see those guys over there every week" said he indicating a bunch of world class players standing around George Mittleman. Anyway Bridgebase was here since a long time and suddenly the pandemic is here and NO MORE CARDS ......thus the whole bridge enterprise descended on Bridgebase ... enterprise being the word ....so Bridgebase was able to handle what was thrown at it and keep the "whole bridge enterprise " going. There many bridge people who used to make pocket money from face to face bridge who have not made a penny since THE CARDS STOPPED.. there are some folk who will never play bridge with cards again .. We as bridge players have been very lucky to have Bridgebase through our lockdowns. Many other games and activities could not suddenly go online .. Bridge in the pandemic/lockdown is very different than pre pandemic. Bridgebase Online was able to sustain us so they should be entitled to some of the money that would have been filtering through our local small bridge clubs as Bridgebase is now providing that service. In Ireland many clubs are going the virtual club route to maintain their own identity and could not do this without BBO. Pre COVID I worked several nights as a face to face tournament director. Over the years I have used BBO for many things like running practice team matches ..facilitating bidding practice ...running some free tournaments...and most of all being the main BBO vugraph operator for Ireland North and South. A long time ago maybe early 2000s I ended up playing in a circle of players that included Agustin Madala and Justin Lall both now legends of the game even if one has retired for now. There were other players who are still rampaging on Bridgewinners. I suspect if folk engage with Bridgebase then for the smaller director or solely online bridge person there will be allowances made. Its not going to break the bank if Tommy or Jack has a little 3-5 table event running for his small club as long as no money that BBO should have a share of is floating around. There are also competitions like the Inter City European League that used to be run by man who passed on called Tonci or something like that from Croatia which is now a massive 50 cities. So I think bridgebase is entitled to some of the large segment of bridge club income that no longer exists in face to face for now ... All I can say is I have had a good time with Bridgebase and I even pay the Prime subscription as it is worth it for the robots alone which I used for a few training games. I was also around pre BBO when an email dropped into my inbox with a text based GIB around 1996 for testing from Matt Ginsberg .. So I have had a good spin with Bridgebase Online ...and not paid too much in 20 years. Oh and Aurora is only the messenger ... I don't think she is an owner ..so don't shoot the messenger No doubt I will get stick for this but if I don't log in for a week I will be okay Thanks Eamon Galligan eamongall on BBO

Sandy surely you know by now that the bridge players never listen to the directors ...so maybe now they might read one of the items if it is echoed. Everything you type is so good that BBO types it twice ... Just kidding ...

Send me the information and the ability to log into your BBO account and I will sort it for you. Else get some method of making pbn and lin files outside of BBO and upload to BBO. As the BBO might not like the advertising of other products email me at eamongalligan62@gmail.com and I will give you some suggestions Thanks Eamon Galligan

Gerardo Even though you work here you might not be correct but I am happy either way ... BBO is great However today and many other days I get the results from Hand records and I check thru the final board of each set of 2 or 3 looking for slow plays I missed. You see I use the information from the hand records to help me check if all my boards were completed. I regularly notice my corrected scores affecting the result in my director tab and then later the Hand Records score gets updated ....probably after the 20 minute correction period. Most of the time I am all over my tournament and avoiding any slow plays by correcting them on the fly ...ie chasing the slow tables I suspect I am misunderstanding what you are saying or you are misunderstanding what I am asking No need to say anymore as all is working fine now for me. What is the capital of Newfoundland anyway ... there used to be a ukannie bridge player on Okbridge from Newfie about 100 years ago well pre BBO. Thanks Eamon Galligan eamongall on BBO Tonight (May 12th usa evening time) I was able to fix all my late plays about 7 minutes after end of 30 table Ireland Imp Pairs. Happy with that.

Gordon I was 8 hours down the road at this stage ... 2 hours of bridge and 6 hours of sleep ...and I checked before I sent as a player sent me a message this morning .. Normally I do my few corrections during the correction period but last night was not possible as I could find no way to see any boards .. unless I go through Players Results .. and with 74 pairs ... I don't think so I have checked now and there were 3 boards to be corrected out of 24 times 37 = 888 Thanks for your reply Eamon Galligan eamongall on BBO

It is reported to me that the hands have now appeared ... so why did I bother .. However I did check before posting .. Guess I need to instill patience in my players ... Thanks Eamon Galligan

Folks Not that it matters to me as I did not play but two folk so far have pointed out there are no hand records on BBO for https://www.bridgebase.com/myhands/hands.php?tourney=9924-1588881921-&username=DSCANNELEP The Ireland Imp Pairs last night .. finishing at 1154pm Ireland time ..which is 654 Eastern Standard time Thu May 07 10:00 PM 11:56 PM vacb266064 pairs MP boards #492 ALLIANCE Pink 0-1000 5:00pmET/2:00pmPT Thu May 07 10:30 PM 11:54 PM ABA pairs MP boards #1677 ABA Pairs Thu May 07 09:05 PM 11:54 PM eamongall pairs IMP boards #9924 Pairs Ireland Imp Pairs Thu May 07 11:16 PM 11:51 PM ILO pairs IMP boards #1169 Pairs ILO Thu May 07 09:28 PM 11:50 PM ahemedabad pairs MP boards #8607 Pairs Silver Spring Bridge Club the tournaments above and below all have their hand records ... I watched Table 1 of a Swiss Pairs play the final card of the competition .. and looked briefly for the cards to check for any averages but could find nothing This morning(8 hours later) I am informed by one player ....No hand records from last night I only put this topic or notice here in case it is a sign of a bigger issue coming down the line .. The tournament completed and the results are issued but no hand records .. For what its worth I did stick in that command +includeall+ for the first time last night ... Thanks Eamon Galligan eamongall on BBO

Its hardly a bug ...its related to the current situation we have outside in the real world.. BBO has 37000 logged on instead of the February 15000 at peak times. Every bridge club is closed .. Every local bridge organisor is trying to run "their own private club tournament" ..BBO is swamped and we are lucky it is still standing. Makes sense if you do nothing for 10 minutes or 5 minutes that you might be released to free up resources for those that are doing something.

Well I tried making a video using the new version of BBO and had to revert to OLD version after about 7 slow boards and many crashes. I was using advanced robots this time. Today I played a 16 board challenge on NEW BBO using basic robots and everything was much better the link to the new video is above Other videos can be found on http://eamongall.blogspot.ie

Good afternoon fellow BBO users The new BBO will be okay. One good item is for me who plays challenges I can see the results of challenges and the boards and the imps/mps. The folk at BBO don't go out of their way on purpose to cause us distress. Its quite possible we are an aging community trying to use young peoples toys. Whoever among us 50+ or even 80+ year olds thought we would play BridgeBase Online on a phone. For me personally I used to use Okbridge with Matt Clegg back in the 1990s before internet was available in our homes. I used to rush into work early so I could log into the system called charon and use the okbridge program. Later I paid money to use okbridge for many years. Finally it was time to head for Bridgebase Online which I suspect was sometime in early 2000s but it is listed on my profile when I created my account. I even met Fred Gitleman in my home country in Ireland so maybe I am biased. 1.5 years later or so Fred took the time to sit and smoke a cigarette or 2 with me in San Francisco at US Nationals. I am currently using the FLASH(old) version mostly but have used the new version also. We are all creatures of habit and we like what we are used to. I had a 13 year old car which as far as I was concerned ran like a thoroughbred racehorse and when she indicated she would take it off me and give me a 5 year old 3 times more powerful model I still wanted my 13 year old one for some reason. Now I drive the 5 year old one and it has better everything. Sadly my wonderful 13 year old car is now in the hands of someone who will bang it off every wall that gets in her way and bump it over every speed restriction ramp on every road. So lets keep playing bridge as everything will be okay soon. Maybe someday they might even let me and the rest of you export our played hands to pbn or LIN format. What we will do with them I don't know but its nice to keep hands that are good. Currently we can save all our hands in directories on our BBO account but no ability to export to any other program. However Bridgebase Online is still a top runner. Every user will have different problems but one still remembers with fondness the old WINDOWS client and I personally am still lucky enough to use it the odd time but only for recording training sessions. Back when the FLASH version of BBO started we also had similar reluctance to change but we all changed gradually and FLASH BBO became what we used. Think of all the years of pleasure so many people had from Bridgebase Online. 15 years ago I was playing against strong teenagers called jlall and septembre on BBO and now they are world reknowned bridge players. Even the quite decent jchiu was an opponent. Also many of our friends passed on would love to have our problem of changing to the NEW VERSION reluctantly. There was even a chap called FLASH. Thanks Eamon Galligan Dublin Ireland PS Now I will leave the old FLASH version and see if I can do a weekend of NEW version.

I see how to import a lin file ass before but I have not got to the stage of finding how to export a lin file or any file from BBO. I see how to save hands to BBO folders or Delete a folder or send to another member. However getting files onto my hard drive seems beyond me and beyond the new trial version of BBO or the flash version No big deal for me as my old BBO is still functioning Thanks Eamon Galligan

kiwinacol I also use Jack lots for a long time. One time I got it working in my house between 2 laptops but did not need to do it again recently so did not bother. I made a few attempts to work it on the internet but never had anyone else who was interested. a few days ago I had a small go with another Dublin guy but I am not even sure if he was doing anything on his side. We are eamongall and murphyslaw on BBO. I also have the ability to make Jack tournaments from Bridgewebs results. I can send some pbn files with real irish human names from real irish human tournaments Thanks Eamon Galligan eamongall on BBO

Good evening folks I first started using GIB while working in Saudi Arabia in 1996. Some guy called Matt Ginsberg sent me a copy of GIB. In those days it was a DOS program with loads of switches. This was before the commercial release of GIB. I was a beta tester. Even in 1996 GIB played damn well and I still tinker with the DOS version of GIB. A guy called Stephen Pickett made a front end for GIB called Gibbrowser ... He also had a program called Bridgebrowser. GIBbrowser was wonderful as it allowed one replay hands from the other major online bridge outfit run my a chap called Matthew. Nowadays we have Bridge Composer which allows all sorts of handling of bridge hands. Gib works by dealing lots of hands to match the bidding so far and then chooses the bid which works the most often. Lots of times while running the DOS version one sees "hand generation failure set 1 " or "hand generation failure set to 2 " This means GIB is not finding hands to suit the bidding .. However Jack the dutch program could always beat GIB badly in any tests I ever ran. GIB actually has TWO play engines ... GIB and GIBSON .. if the program can get thru the first 2 tricks without dropping a trick then the more POWERFUL GIBSON kicks in When using the DOS version one can see it typing ..Switching to GIBSON around trick 3. On the old GIB client one might recall GIB pausing about trick 3 ... this was GIBSON kicking in. For the bidding ... GIB relies on a bidding database and some simulation .. There was a version of GIB that used to think on opponents time but I don't think it lasted or else it confused itself. It has some programming that allows it to kick in the bidding simulation ... I think it kicks in when it gets no stand out bid. The robot on BBO is quite crippled and does not have all the functions of the DOS version .. The advanced robot probably has more time allowed for GIB and thus more strength can kick in. However as far as I know the executable program has had little change since about 2001. BBO I think works on the bidding database and adds/adjusts some rules. I do recall when we started using WEB based BBO the robots played like lightning ...far too fast to be doing any serious calculation. The bloody robot was faster than the display could handle. The robot was finished the hand before the display could catch up However all in all ... I have had a great kick out of my GIB robot. but Jack program is much better. However GIB was the first program to bring bridge programming into the NEW AGE ... ala Monte Carlo and Hill=climbing This is just a history exercise though ... I am not touting up GIB. Thanks for reading Eamon Galligan eamongall on BBO.

Good evening folks (or morning or afternoon) depending on your location When the Windows version of BBO is gone I don't think I can do the below setup. Currently one of my main uses of BBO is for preparing online Bidding practice sessions for the Irish Open bridge team. Several offshoots of this application follow for lesser players. I generally focus on competitive/interference/pre-emptive bidding as life is easy when the opps are silent. My friends main requirement in a bidding session is that the GIBS will interfere regularly so therefore I need deals where the robot acts on many hands so I must pre test the deals to get best use of time. The international players give me many scenarios that they would like to practice and I produce a session and then load the hands into the account of the designated table server of the practicing pair. Here is the brief description 1. Open a partnership bidding table on web based BBO using Malahide as my account 2. Generate the script to describe the scenario required and when happy we are ready to go 3. Open a Windows BBO using Eamongall to record the generated and tested deals 4. Generate and examine boards and it they seem suitable keep them and continue 5. Example if I see 1NT P P P ..I skip it 6. I end up with a file of 64 or less hands and save it as some relevant name 7. Later I will load the file into the various BBO accounts 8. the players will do their bidding practice in their own time Problem I don't think the Web Based BBO allows me any export function of any hand sets without major surgery and time from me. Currently 1 hour work will get me 2 sets of 64 tested hands for bidding practice sessions The next web based BBO will allow me to only have the hands saved in my BBO account but I cannot easily transfer them to other BBO accounts Thanks Eamon Galligan Eamongall on BBO

Good evening folks (or morning or afternoon) depending on your location When the Windows version of BBO is gone I don't think I can do the below setup. Currently one of my main uses of BBO is for preparing online Bidding practice sessions for the Irish Open bridge team. Several offshoots of this application follow for lesser players. I generally focus on competitive/interference/pre-emptive bidding as life is easy when the opps are silent. My friends main requirement in a bidding session is that the GIBS will interfere regularly so therefore I need deals where the robot acts on many hands so I must pre test the deals to get best use of time. The international players give me many scenarios that they would like to practice and I produce a session and then load the hands into the account of the designated table server of the practicing pair. Here is the brief description 1. Open a partnership bidding table on web based BBO using Malahide as my account 2. Generate the script to describe the scenario required and when happy we are ready to go 3. Open a Windows BBO using Eamongall to record the generated and tested deals 4. Generate and examine boards and it they seem suitable keep them and continue 5. Example if I see 1NT P P P ..I skip it 6. I end up with a file of 64 or less hands and save it as some relevant name 7. Later I will load the file into the various BBO accounts 8. the players will do their bidding practice in their own time Problem I don't think the Web Based BBO allows me any export function of any hand sets without major surgery and time from me. Currently 1 hour work will get me 2 sets of 64 tested hands for bidding practice sessions The next web based BBO will allow me to only have the hands saved in my BBO account but I cannot easily transfer them to other BBO accounts Thanks Eamon Galligan Eamongall on BBO

Folks I have used GIB since Matt Ginsberg first showed up around 1996 with GIB. After some time GIBSON arrived but required so much computing power that it could only kick in about trick 3 at the time circa 1998. So we had olt client GIBs and one could notice the delay as GIBSON kicked in Basically at trick 3 GIB went for a little think and as long as it had not blown the hand on Tricks 1 or 2 ..one could expect a decent play from trick 3 onwards One could see the change over on the DOS screen as the readout showed a different type of calculation With the advent of the web based BBO we had the GIB robots working at "Lightning" speed. If you ran a GIB table on the web and used old client yourself as an invitee ....the hand was long finished on the web version by the time old client got to trick 13 (if GIB was declarer) Weird OK but I was not going to use these Web bots as it did not "feel" like the GIB I knew Gradually loads of my acquaintances moved to Web BBO. I compared the web robots skills to my local clubs weakest game and found the local club weakies competed a level closer to PAR then these web robots A friend of mine started using the "STRONG" robots and swore by them ... Well of course ..they had better database and holes plugged but she was comparing them to the weak original robots None of the web robots give me a warm rosy feeling of the computer cranking thru the gears like my off line GIB does I don't see the "pause for thought " at trick 3 anymore Now maybe the whole robot playing engine has been rewritten or else it is crippled in some way. I know all GIBS on BBO have been crippled in some way since the beginning when compared to the commercial version. However I will always wonder if GIBSON is still there GIBSON who paused for thought at trick 3 Now don't get me wrong ...the GIB robots are a good challenge but one needs to sit EAST WEST to get tougher comparison as the humans most often sit SOUTH by habit I also used GIB extensively via Stephen Picketts GIBbrowser program Any thoughts ?? Some one told me the GIB robots use Cloud processing power but I am too old to understand that process To me Ginsberg told me I would need a 20GHZ PC back in 2001 or so Now we have Quad Cores but I am not sure GIB works on all cores ... I think I spotted my commercial GIB running on 3 cores once Thanks Eamon Galligan eamongall on BBO

Good morning all Recently I have been using teaching tables to help some folk I know develop their bridge skills. I setup my file of 20-30 hands and like to have the students play thru the problems with robots on defence. However sometimes we don't get the correct/suggested lead and one likes to remove robot and sit down and make required lead and then exit and put robot back in the seat. I usually operate with students North South and robots East West. However when I jump in and do my thing and leave seat ... I DONT GET the option to reseat the robot. I have to boot dummy or declarer and now I can enter an East West robot. I don't know if this counts against me in the "booted players" counter as in Main Bridge Club I am hoping BBO will solve this issue for me as I find the teaching tables a useful resource .. Thanks Eamon Galligan (eamongall)

Full deal now posted eamongall

Good morning folks Recently at a National competition in Ireland I was called to a table where a declarer outlined that his opponent had requested a review of the diamond spots when not on lead. So auction is like this East Dealer All Vul P 1H 2C 4H P P 5C 5H P P So West with a decent long club seat caused NS to take the push to 5H ..(they could double 5C for 3 off and a success) West leads off with the diamond 8 ... Full deal is [hv=pc=n&s=saj9hkjt74dqj96ct&w=sq42ha9d8ckqj9843&n=sk85hq832dkt532ca&e=st763h65da74c7652&d=e&v=e&b=6&a=p1h3c4hpp5c5hdppp]399|300[/hv]] and declarer plays the 2 and East wins the Ace as declarer South follows with the Diamond JACK East is reviewing the situation and now WEST whose opening lead card remains face up on the table asks " Show me those diamond spots please " Cards are shown and EAST plays back a diamond and WEST ruffs .. .................... I am fully aware of LAW 66 which states WEST is allowed review the trick ... I am not very comfortable about him doing it at the time ... I am aware of LAW 73D I think which mentions inappropriate communication between partners .. I don't know how to get to LAW 73 from LAW 66 .. However there is nothing in the LAWS of Duplicate Bridge 2007 that indicates WEST is out of order .. The WEST involved would be considered one of the most ethical players in Ireland .. We ruled 5H making and wanted the WEST to present his case to an appeals committee ... Unfortunately he had a poor 2nd session and decided to go home instead having retrieved his 20 euro appeals fee .. Any advice ... Thanks Eamon Galligan eamongall on BBO

Good morning folks I know how to import hands from LIN for use in Bidding Practice Tables Is it possible for me to export bidding table hands to pbn or lin for analysis after a bidding session It seems all my hands from bidding practice sessions are stored on BBO servers as I can access them on multiple different computers via my login I would like to export the hands from BBO .. I understand that I can have another account record the bidding session on the old client but sometimes with multiple bidding sessions in progress I don't be as organised in advance as I could be. Part of the problem is it seems I cannot creat new accounts for old client BBO software. So in short I have a bidding session on my account malahide and want to export it to PBN or LIN .. Thanks Eamon Galligan eamongall on BBO

Good morning folks Since the recent upgrades of BBO which allow one play vugraph matches with your pard against robots or maybe even 4 humans... I have moved over to webbased. However I am not feeling the normal GIB power that I am used to. I first played GIB when it was text based and Matt Ginsberg was developing it back in 1996... Even then it could play pretty decent.. Tonight I played 48 boards from the Camrose matches (Home internationals) I was actually vugraph co-ordinator for both Camroses this year but saw very few boards. The robots just tossed stuff at us and did not put up a fight at all. They seemed to bid and play instantaniously .. wheras in the old software ...you can feel the robot gearing up to Gibson at trick 3 ...no matter if it has equal cards ... I often throw a hand into Gib text based version and watch it chug along .... hill climbing is one of the output words ... I suspect the web based GIB uses the fastest setting and thus has no time to think .. I understand this as I think these GIBs run on BBO server so BBO cannot be running 200 tables of robots at faster speeds. Maybe if I buy the 1 week version of GIB it will play better ...or maybe I can figure out how to play vugraph matches on the old software with the powerful GIBS. its as bad as this ..one hand I had AKJ opp xxx and when I finessed the JACK the robot with the queen left me win it .. These are NOT the robots I have been battling since 1996 ...in various guises .. I even used Stephen Pickets GIB browser daily for several years .. I still have it ...I keep a laptop with Windows XP for running it ...as it don't work too well on Windows 7 I am very happy with BBO and I am very happy with the playing vugraph matches options ...but will have to get some humans to play against in future Myself and Fred smoked cigarettes together in San Francisco .....and maybe in Dublin so I am not ranting on Fred or BBO ... Better not rant too much or there will be no vugraph matches on old 5.2.21 software at all... I know there is one set of selectable matches so maybe if I dig a little I can replace the default match with another one .. Thanks Eamon Galligan

Folks and Ari I played GIB table for the first time on the web based BBO today. When the robot declares the play is so blindingly fast that the score is displayed in my results after about trick 4. At this speed the GIB software has no time to "think" I have been using versions of GIB since 1996 and I know GIB played at fastest speed ie 10 seconds a robot to play a hand means severe errors happen as there is no time to analyze the deal sample or deal new samples when the current sample becomes defunct. The old BBO client version BBO 5.2.6 allows selection of GIB speed ... maybe I am missing something and being a web BBO novice I don't know how to control the robot speed.....if so ignore this email. I have seen my robot several times letting out contracts when the setting trick is there and finessing when the 9 tricks for 3NT are there. This is because it analyzes its sample and the finesse works more times then not so it takes it. I understand that having 5000 robots running on a server is probably painful at any speed but playing at lightning speed and making GIB look silly is hardly the way. GIB was a fantastic piece of kit when it first arrived and with little work since 2001 it remains a fine piece of kit as it is compared to similar software with almost 10 years development since GIB reared its head on the bridge software scene. So can we have maybe 15-20 seconds settings for GIBS. Thanks Eamonn Galligan PS I tested GIB protypes for Matt Ginsberg starting in 1996 .. PSS I also use GIB Browser 5 days a week ...another fine program.

[hv=d=s&v=b&s=skha9dkj7cakqjt96]133|100|Scoring: IMP Gib opens 1CL and partner bids 1DI and gib rebids 2CL and this is a massive hand for this auction [/hv] Just reporting what I see as a strange bid by gib http://www.bridgebase.com/tools/handviewer...4264-1276030520 The full hand is at the link above I don't know the correct bid ... over 1SP it would be 3N .. maybe its a 2CL opening Thanks Eamon Galligan