bridgbum

Here's another example: My lho robot preempted 3d. Partner passed. rho raised to 4d. I bid 5c. 3d p 4d 5c <--- my bid p ? In all 8 of the tables where this auction occurred, the robot North passed 5c. At my table, playing with a newer version of GIB (apparently), my robot partner raised 5c to 6c. 6c made. So I got a 100% on the board. The robot games are usually said to be a good measure of your skill versus the other humans, because every human has the same partner and the same opponents. But that's not necessarily true in the ACBL Instant Tournament games. On one earlier deal I got a zero (see another post I made in this original post). On this deal, I got a 100%.

I just found out the answer, playing an instant acbl robot game. I opened 1nt, lho overcalled 3h. Partner had a decent hand with 6 spades. My robot partner passed 3h. Didn't bid 3s or 4s. At all the other boards, previously played, of course, the robot jumped to 4s, which made. I defended 3h, because my robot partner wouldn't bid over 3h. I got a zero on the board, costing me a first place in the game. So the robot version playing in your game may not be the same as in the earlier game that was played. It can lead to a very undeserved zero on a board. I suppose you might get a good board somewhere along the way... Anyway, there will be some injustices when you play the instant robot games.

In a strong 2c auction, the robot's response is 2nt: 2c p 2nt p ? 2nt doesn't deny a 4-card major. All 3-level suit bids by responder, including 3c, are 5+ card suits. There appears to be no way to find a 4-4 fit. I hand a hand with 4-4 majors and opened 2c and rebid 2nt, and was stuck.

When the BBO instant robot games (not ACBL-rated) came out, I tried them. They had one extremely unfair feature. Some of the instant tournaments were played using a newer version of the GIB robot program. That means that your opponents are stronger than were the opponents who played when the original tournament was conducted. So you are at a disadvantage when you play these games. I saw many times when the robots competed in the auction, not letting me play at a good contract. I got a terrible score. Reason: When the tournament was originally played, the robots let the humans play in a good contract. When I played, the opponents competed more (a later version of the GIB program), and I landed in a bad contract, or the opponents won the contract and went down only a little. I'd get a zero on the board. Nothing I could do about it. Very unfair. I can't believe that BBO would do this in their ACBL-rated games. I don't know if they are or not. Perhaps they will respond to this. QUESTION: In the ACBL instant robot games, will the version of GIB in that game be the same version that was played in the original game? Or might it be a newer version of GIB?

Robot's hand: Q54 AQJ87 J986 Q Robot is dealer. 1h 1s 2d 3c <--- fsf, robot says. game force. 3h <-------- why not 3s to show 3-card support? Here's one auction that occurred: 1h 1s 2d 3c 3h 3nt 4s <-------- why did robot delay showing 3-card support? did it treat its good heart suit as a 6-card suit?? Unlikely, I would think.

RHO opened 1h in first seat. I had a hand with 6 spades that I considered too strong to overcall. I made a takeout double LHO passed. Partner jumped to 3d. I bid 3s, which should show 5+ spades and a hand too strong to overcall. The software interpreted my 3s bid as a cue bid in support of diamonds. The software bid 4d. I bid 4s. The software bid 4nt, keycard blackwood for diamonds. Ugh!

In direct seat, robot made a takeout double of a 1c opening bid. Next player passed. I had 4-4 majors and an opening hand so I cue bid. Standard methods following a cue bid by advancer of a takeout double are to bid 4+ card suits up the line until a suit is bid and supported. Robot bid 2d. I bid 2h. Robot jumped to a heart game with 3-card support. I then checked the interpretation of my 2h bid and it said it shows a 5-card heart suit. So the robot is not using standard methods for this auction, in which advancer of a takeout double makes a cue bid. In fact, I've never seen anywhere where advancer's cue bid, followed by a new suit by advancer, shows a 5-card suit. I play lots of acbl robot games and really like them. Just making a friendly suggestion for improvement...thanks for the good work you do on the robot software!

The teaching table should have a kibitzing option to "Show No Cards." Reason: It's useful to just enter auctions in the bidding box and discuss/quiz them with partner/students. When doing so, the cards are a distraction. Right now, the options are to kibitz/show cards for one seat or kibitz/show cards for all seats. Also: It would be nice to have an option that east and west pass throughout, like at the bidding tables. Reason: When entering auctions and discussing/quizzing with partner/students, it's a pain to always have to enter Pass bids for east and west.

After a two-level jacoby transfer is completed by the bot, the bot indicates that 4nt is quantitative. But after the 4nt is made, the bot responds as if it's keycard blackwood, giving count of keycards. 1nt 2d 2h 4nt <--- says it's quantitative 5h <---------- says it's 2/5 keycards, no queen