msheald

Hello! Just curious. Do both partners see a bid explanation when one clicks on a bid for clarification? I was involved in a casual game and held 18 points over a 1 spade bid while holding the A,K,x,x. In SA, the way to show a hand with over 16 points in the overcall seat is to double and then bid something that partner did not bid. I was hoping for a 3NT game. Anyway, my left hand op bid 2 diamonds over my double. The bid was outlined in light red. I was not sure if that meant anything since there was no alert box, and I clicked on the 2 diamond bid. The reply was that it was a transfer to hearts - definitely not SA! My partner passed. He had K,Q,x,x of hearts and a singleton in diamonds. They ended up in 2 hearts, making the contract and a zero for us. At the time, I thought it was just poor bidding and miscommunication between my partner and me. Now, I wonder if he did not receive the information I did when I clicked on the ops 2 diamond bid. I presumed he would have since both of us would have received the information at a live table. I've sent him a PM to ask and have not heard back yet, so I thought I would ask on the forum for additional information and guidance. Best regards. Mike

Hello! Thank you for your note. I appreciate it. Best regards. Mike

Hello! I've been surprised at times that GIB bids do not seem to match the robot's hand. Today, I play ed a free round of 8 hands. I had 26 points and bid 2 clubs followed by 2 diamonds from robot and 2 hearts from me with a 5-card heart suit. The robot bid 3 clubs. When I clicked on the hand, it showed cheaper minor with 11 HCP, 12 total points, forcing to 3 hearts. Great!, I thought. Time for a Grand Slam, and that is where I ended up - 7 NT, since I typically lean towards NT rather than suits with slams. When robot dummy came down, I was surprised to see 2 HCP (2 jacks), 4-card heart support, 2 clubs, and an overall 4-4-3-2 distribution. This seemd a far cry from 11 HCP and 12 total points Did I miss something? Or do the GIB descriptions not match the hand at times? It makes me leery about paying money to play with robots, especially a high-priced tournament like robot nationals. Best regards. Mike

You are right! It was Smolen! I need to be more careful with robot bids to check them (though I've been surprised that the descriptions may not match the actual hands). Best regards. Mike

Robot bids are always puzzling, and I am not skilled enough to figure them out. Today, I opened 1NT. Robot replied 2 clubs Stayman, and I replied 2D since I did not have a 4-card major. Robot replied 2 hearts. I raised to 4 hearts, figuring robot with 5-card heart suit and 4 card spade suit (with a probable side singleton or void). It turned out the reverse (with a club void). I'm not sure why robot gambled on, at best, 4-3 heart suit when spades might have been 5-3. All teaching I've read indicates that robot was supposed to bid 5-cad spade suit and not 4-card heart suit. Also, in my experience, even if I only had 2 spades, a 5-2 suit plays better than a 4-3 suit, so a spade bid would have been better than a heart bid in any case. My hat's off to those who have figured out the vagaries of robot play. For me, as an intermediate player, I do not have the time or energy to figure out the robot system and a human system. So, I'll keep playing the free games since they are fun, but I'll hold on the money robot games till the robots are improved so that the bidding and play more closely resembles human play. Best regards. Mike

Hello! Just curious about robot programming. Given the many comments about what might be considered "poor play" by the robots, are they continually improved, both in play and in bidding, or is what you see what you get into the future? I often play the free robot games just to get started for a few minutes in the morning (I play pad games with people), and the basic robots seem to make basic mistakes from time to time. On a recent hand, I overcalled a bid at 1 spade with A-K-x-x-x and the opponents were at 4 hearts after routine bidding and passes by my partner. On the opening lead, rather than leading from its doubleton spade to my A-K, my robot partner led top of nothing from a minor. Play like this does not seem unusual for the basic robots, and it makes me leery of paying money to play with the advanced robots. Do the robots undergo continuous program improvement or is WYSIWYG? Are the advanced robots really much better than the basic robots so that such bidding/play concerns occur much less frequently? Thank you and best regards. Mike

Hello! I am curious to hear what folks "Rudeness Frequency" is. I occasionally play ACBL games and get partners through the partnership desk. (I used to play much more often in the early stages of the Pandemic!) Given the hundreds of possible partners, I've been impressed with the infrequent rudeness I encounter. I put them on my ignore list and move on. Typically, what I term "rude" are recurrent unsolicited "helpful" comments and frank criticisms (usually wrong), sudden disappearances in the middle of a game, and agreeing to a partnership from the partnership desk only to disappear just before the game begins so that one cannot get another partner. Having said that, I know I've given unsolicited advice in the heat of the moment, so I try to be as encouraging as possible no matter whom I'm playing with. A "Well done, partner!" goes a long way. As Jeff Meckstroth said, "Cherish Your Partner. It can't be over-stated: You've got to keep your partner happy, especially during the session. Do not accuse, yell at, frown at, complain to, criticize, castigate, disparage, abuse, ridicule, sneer at, or mock your partner. Try to be comforting, supportive, compassionate, encouraging, reassuring, sympathetic and understanding. Don't argue with your partner in front of other people. And, especially, don't talk negatively about your partner or teammates behind their backs." Best regards, Mike

Thank you! I appreciate the guidance. Best regards. Mike

Hello! Just curious if there is anything different about robot games compared to in-person games. I'll play the free 8-hand games in the mornings. I usually do mediocre, but it is free and enjoyable for what I expect. When I check scores, I usually see a number people with scores over 80% - even 90%! For ACBL club and tournament games, those scores would be reported in the ACBL Bulletin on the Congratulations page. The sheer number of scores would seem to be highly unusual. I am curious - what is different about robot games? Are the deals different? (I know declarer usually gets the best hand). Finesses have been discussed multiple times in the forum. It just seems like a different game than in-person games. Enjoyable, but with different playing philosophy and expectations. Best regards, Mike

Hello! I'm curious. Why does BBO calculate final standings in matchpoint games based on an average of the percent for each of the hands rather than an average of match points for each hand? By that I mean that BBO calculates the percent standing of each hand (say beating 80% of other pairs or 20% of other pairs) and then averages all percentages to achieve a final percent standing for the game. Based on the percent standing, the final matchpoints are calculated. In the club games and ACBL tournaments which I've played, a match point is assigned to each hand and then the average matchpoints are calculated for the round. As a result, if a person has a low board, be that 0% or 40% compared to other pairs, the result would still be 0 match points. Additionally, if a person has a high board, be that 100% or 55%, the team would get the same number of matchpoints. For me, it is much easier to get a 0% than a 100%. Because a low board is penalized the same amount in in-person club matches and tournaments, whether it was a 0% or say a 40%, it encouraged risk taking. The teaching is - "it is only one board." With BBO, that is not the case since there is a huge difference in final standings based on a 0% vs. a 40% even though both might have been low board for that hand. So, it appears that BBO tournaments do not follow ACBL in how hand standings/matchpoints are calculated and how final matchpoints for an event are calculated. Just curious as to why that is. Thank you and best regards. Mike

Hello! I'm not sure why south bid 2 spades. To me, after 2 spade bid by north, south knows that slam is not possible (north would have to jump to show over 16 points) but game is fairly certain. Why not bid 3NT instead of 2 spades since he knows that there is not a game in spades, hearts or diamonds, and 3NT would be a superior game to 5 clubs? I guess it depends on partnership agreement on forcing. Some pairs play ANY new suit is forcing. Other pairs play a new suit is forcing on the first round, but a new suit on the second round is not forcing unless it shows extra values, an unbalanced hand, etc. From my reading, ACBL Yellow Card seems to lean towards the latter interpretation, though I've gotten into trouble with partners who believe both types of forcing (until we've played with each other a while). The trouble with robots is that once cannot come to a partnership agreement. I'll be curious to hear others' take on forcing bid itself and expectations about playing with a robot with this type of scenario since I am far from an expert. Best regards. Mike

Hello! My hats off those who do well in robot games. It is, indeed, a different game compared to in-person "human" games. My problem is that I found I started to semi-consciously transfer robot play to my in-person "human" games, and, of course, doing badly. So, now, I've cut way back on robot games since I do not want to hurt my play with my human partners. I'm not saying that robot play is "wrong" - it is just a different game (and one I still enjoy for the occasional light play). Rather, I do not feel that I have the ability to consciously play two different games/systems well, and I congratulate those who do. Best regards. Mike

Thank you, all. I appreciate your comments. Best regards. Mike

Hello! I've been taught that responder should have 5 cards to bid a new suit after an overcall. For example, 5 spades with the bidding 1 club, 1 heart, 1 spade. The robots seem to consistently bid a new suit with 4 cards, which causes me to overbid. Is this a glitch or a planned bidding pattern? Thank you. Mike

Thank you, all! I appreciate your replies. Best regards. Mike

Hello! I've had a chance to play more robot bridge as a babysit a project with a lot of down time. I'm an intermediate player. The game seems different than when I play against other people in BBO. I'd been scoring over 50% consistently in the robot games, even with hands and robot bids/play that left me scratching my head, though I did not take the game scores too seriously, so I thought it would be fun to play in the 3-day robot national tournament that occurred about the time I anticipated free time during my project. It seemed that the robots made a silly play about 1 deal in 15. Additionally, finesses seemed to work far less than 50%, and card distributions seemed more unusual than I expected from chance alone. Robot games seem like they are different games compared to people games - robot games seem to favor the conservative player while people games seem to favor the aggressive player. Do folks find robot games different than games against people? Or am I out in left field with my interpretation of deals and play in robot games? Best regards. Mike