nancylh

Thank you Captain. I hope the BBO programmers will take the time to do something about it, as I have enjoyed subbing for many years, when there was no free tourney starting soon. I do apologize, though, for posting on what I thought were 3 different areas of the forum to which this issue is relevant. I haven't posted on forums in a very long time and I may have posted 3 times in the same discussion area (in different subsections) :)

My TCR has been lowered by subbing in paid & club tourneys where the director has withdrawn me just before tourney end to replace me in tourney records with the original player. This is due to programming of the latest BBO software. I have subbed in both paid (ACBL) and free tourneys for about 20 years with no lowering of my 100% TCR rate. I contacted BBO support and this is their finding: It turns out that you did not lose connection, but TD replaced you with original player & that resulted in "withdraw" which as consequence have lowered your TCR. This was TD's choice, and they have that right, which most use in paid tournaments and Virtual Clubs. And yes, it resulted as prejudice for you, so it is your choice now to decide if you want to be sub and risk be in same position again. I then requested reinstatement of my previous 100% TCR. This was the answer: We can not set or change MCR or TCR, they are calculated automatically. "Automatically" just means "programmed that way". Since the NEW BBO program was made operational on BBO, this negative for subs has been lowering their TCRs when they sub in, at least, paid games and club tourneys. It may hurt directors needing subs eventually (when players frequently subbing, like I did, realize why their TCRs are being unjustly lowered). Most experienced players do not want to play with robots. Please consider reprogramming to differentiate between players that withdraw of their own volition, and those that are withdrawn by directors to give credit for subbed boards to the original player. nancylh (BBO ID)

SUB IN A PAID OR CLUB TOURNEY & YOUR TCR COMPLETION RATE IS AT RISK: y TCR has been lowered by subbing in paid & club tourneys where the director has withdrawn me just before tourney end to replace me in tourney records with the original player. This is due to programming of the latest BBO software. I have subbed in both paid (ACBL) and free tourneys for about 20 years with no lowering of my 100% TCR rate. I contacted BBO support and this is their finding: It turns out that you did not lose connection, but TD replaced you with original player & that resulted in "withdraw" which as consequence have lowered your TCR. This was TD's choice, and they have that right, which most use in paid tournaments and Virtual Clubs. And yes, it resulted as prejudice for you, so it is your choice now to decide if you want to be sub and risk be in same position again. I then requested reinstatement of my previous 100% TCR. This was the answer: We can not set or change MCR or TCR, they are calculated automatically. "Automatically" just means "programmed that way". Since the NEW BBO program was made operational on BBO, this negative for subs has been lowering their TCRs when they sub in, at least, paid games and club tourneys. It may hurt directors needing subs eventually (when players frequently subbing, like I did, realize why their TCRs are being unjustly lowered). Most experienced players do not want to play with robots. nancylh (BBO ID)

To programmers of the current BBO program: My TCR has been lowered by subbing in paid & club tourneys where the director has withdrawn me just before tourney end to replace me in tourney records with the original player. This is due to programming of the latest BBO software. I have subbed in both paid (ACBL) and free tourneys for about 20 years with no lowering of my 100% TCR rate. I contacted BBO support and this is their finding: It turns out that you did not lose connection, but TD replaced you with original player & that resulted in "withdraw" which as consequence have lowered your TCR. This was TD's choice, and they have that right, which most use in paid tournaments and Virtual Clubs. And yes, it resulted as prejudice for you, so it is your choice now to decide if you want to be sub and risk be in same position again. I then requested reinstatement of my previous 100% TCR. This was the answer: We can not set or change MCR or TCR, they are calculated automatically. "Automatically" just means "programmed that way". Since the NEW BBO program was made operational on BBO, this negative for subs has been lowering their TCRs when they sub in, at least, paid games and club tourneys. It may hurt directors needing subs eventually (when players frequently subbing, like I did, realize why their TCRs are being unjustly lowered). Most experienced players do not want to play with robots. Please consider reprogramming to differentiate between players that withdraw of their own volition, and those that are withdrawn by directors to give credit for subbed boards to the original player. nancylh (BBO ID)

Hi Ben! (inquiry) Thank you for the info. I checked my % for the last 2 weeks by asking for 2-week summary & 2-week hands. I looked up BridgeBrowser on dogpile & got the website. It mentioned that you can win free access by (winning?) some 7:30PST BBO tourney. I will watch for that; hope the tourney is free. Have a good day. Nancy (nancylh)

Hi! I have a very slow dial-up connection. Plenty fast for playing, but the loading in order to register for tourneys is very very slow. (this is NOT what I am addressing) A small problem occurs when I am trying to sign up as sub for several tourneys if there is no freebie tourney coming up for me: The system is still loading up, so the "You are now registered as sub" "(click)OK" is slow to come up. So I go to the next tourney & click on tourney to enter to register as sub. This has a waiting time and a "Cancel or log off" button in the middle of it until I enter the tourney registration area. Now the "you are now registered as sub with "OK" button" comes up in the meantime, and if I am not very careful & think about it, if I click "OK", I actually click the "Log off" under that same exact location of the button. If the "you are now registered as sub, OK" button notice & button could be shown in a lower or higher location, I would not log off accidentally as I have numerous times. With my slow load-up it is a bit frustrating for this dumbbell. Thanks for considering this tiny thing. I love all you have done with the notes area on profiles, and allowing notes to be added after a player has logged off. Thanks! Nancy

Hi! My question: Is there a matchpoint % listing (AVERAGE for all tourneys) for each player and imp decimal rating posted anywhere on BBO websites? I noticed a player listed her matchpoint %(average of percents for all boards she had played) and imp decimal rating. I asked her where this could be found for our own personal % average. She said bridgebase.com. I went to website and could not find it anywhere. Each player on OKBridge used to automatically have their matchpoint %rating & imp decimal rating listed on their profile, but I was not aware this was a stat that was kept on BBO. Or is she nuts? If you do keep it, or add it, I hope you will reserve it for tournament scores only, not from main room, where the point is to play relaxing bridge (for me anyway). Thanks. Nancy

Oops! I meant MATCHPOINT%, not masterpoint %! maybe you got the idea anyway.... Nancy, again

Hi! My question: Where are the matchpoint % listings for each player and imp decimal ratings? I noticed a player listed her masterpoint %(average of percents for all boards she had played) and imp decimal rating. I asked her where this could be found for our own % average. She said bridgebase.com. I went to website and could not find it anywhere. Can someone help me? Each player automatically has their %rating listed on their profile on OKBridge, but I was not aware this was a stat that was kept on BBO. Or is she nuts? Thanks. Nancy

Hi again, Thanks for the interesting response posts, especially from uday(the wonderful BBO authority). They are informative to me for sure; I hope to others. One incorrect item I noticed in a couple of responses: It is incorrect that ACBL is responsible for checking/banning cheaters. ACBL leaves the running of ACBL games, banning of ACBL members from games, monitoring cheating and monitoring unacceptable behavior entirely to the online club (in this case BBO). I found this out direct from the ACBL person in charge of clubs in Memphis about a year ago, when I contacted them regarding an offensive director in an online club, falling under the same rule they told me as other offensive/ACBL rule-breaking behavior. People like to win, and like recognition. ACBL gives masterpoints which add up much faster online than playing in club games. BBO gives ranking status on profiles, and win recognition when you play the tournament. It is enough incentive for people to cheat who are comfortable cheating, especially if cheating is rarely caught. There is no difference of opinion on this forum that BBO cheating occurs. I appreciate learning that if a consistent short-term pattern of obvious cheating is reported with board & hand links to BBO abuse, that the hands will be checked and punitive action taken if cheating is clear. Thank you. I will follow this course, and report only when egregious by high-ranking (in tourney) players, or when I have been personally injured by cheating and find the pattern. The original post was due to several people telling me they rarely play BBO $games & especially ACBL games due to unstopped cheating by a few winning players. This was echoed here by a couple of posts. Again, thanks BBO for assuring us that cheating will be stopped if we use the method uday explained (someone else suggested 10 hands in a relatively short period). nancylh

Am I on the right post? What to do until the next board comes up? You guys must have had Suess's "Fox in Sox" read to you too many times! I pet my cat. Go to the bathroom. Get a drink. File my nails. Make idiotic trivial conversation. nancylh

I love the friends/enemies lists. The best thing is that you can see when you first log-on, the friends that are online, so that if you want to play a tourney you can invite someone fast. You see who is there if you want to chat. And the enemies are clubbed at the tourney table, so you can watch out for their antics. And you are notified when a friend comes on line! Like most of you all, my friends list is mostly people I like to play bridge with, but if they were not nice also, they would not be on the list. So a kind of friend :) I think the friend/enemies feature combined with the notes on profile feature are the best additions BBO ever made.

Hi all, I am a new forum user, but not new to BBO. :) My pet peeve is rudeness & unwarranted criticism at the table, and I have sent in chat logs after warning nasty people, or immediately if the offense was grievous. BBO has been very responsive to this problem, so I have warm feelings for the staff regarding nastiness control. CHEATING however, is a different problem. It is not as common and is not always recognized by the victims. Online bridge is the perfect medium for cheating, if you can afford 2 computers, or have a cooperative friend. Successful repetitive cheaters who are prominent in wins, forums, & other forms of recognition NEED TO BE STOPPED by BBO. If not stopped, the ethical atmosphere in ACBL tourneys is polluted, and players get the feeling that BBO approves "anything goes" as long as you are not obviously offensive at the table. That who wins & how they win is not important to BBO. That perhaps all BBO cares about is how many people use the site & pay for services. ACBL tourneys have traditionally been live tourneys where cheating is much easier to detect. Even great players have been caught, one in Fla. about 20 years ago for giving physical signals for specific leads on occasion. This posting is to ask if others are interested in having unethical BBO winners penalized or banned. It is also to request that BBO take action when consistent cheating, ESPECIALLY BY PROMINENT PLAYERS, has been shown to them. Forums is great! nancylh