zielona

"too many players or bad internet connection" was showing too on some attempts. I was able to login in the morning, and able to access the forum. Looks like connectivity between BBO and Australia, may be.

Last night, 8:35 PM Sydney time, I was disconnected from BBO in the middle of the first hand in a tournament with predominantly Polish players. I tried to login on two mobile devices and on the laptop with no success. Variety of errors, often "could not load critical file". I was not able to access bridgebase.com, not able to see results of previous tournaments, not able to get to forums. The problem persisted for at least 2 hours. I had no issues with any other internet site at that time. No one else at that Polish BBO tournament was affected - there were no issues with accessing BBO from Poland. What happened? Was it just me, the entire Sydney, the entire Australia?

I am not sure what you mean by this "has to be cleared" or "I can't go to a table or do anything". In theory the status message is just a message that should have no impact on what you can or cannot do. Can you please clarify what you mean? When I select 'Tournament status' from the Director Action list, table/round information is displayed in a popup window, eg. Tournament Status Total: 27 Tables Section:1 Round:4 Done:0 Playing:12 ( 1 5 6 11 12 ) Section:1 Round:3 Done:1 Playing:7 ( 4 7 8 9 18 ) Section:1 Round:2 Done:3 Playing:4 ( 2 3 17 25 ) OK Windows client has a very similar function, except that the popup does not prevent me from directing the tournament or playing (I usually play in my own tournaments, not on the webclient though). I like keeping several of those popups on the screen to help me work out which tables are playing which round, and in particular which tables are waiting for the next round. The status popup does not show waiting table numbers and only has 5 or 6 playing table numbers. Under the WebClient, the remainder of the window becomes fuzzy and unuseable while the tournament status popup is on the sreen. The only way to keep the information is by writing it down before clicking the OK. I have now discovered that I am able to copy the contents of the popup into a notepad but this is not much different to writing it down. Perhaps the easiest way is to right-click on their name at the left of the chat message in question and then click "Show profile" in the menu that appears. You will then see a popup window that contains details of who and where the user is. There will be a "Join table" button at the bottom of this popup that you can click if that is what you want to do. Player Profile does not appear to be showing the table number. All it says is 'Playing tourney #280 zielona'. Seeing the table number helps me decide if I really need to join that table. Eg. I could have just replaced a player at that table or I may be already aware of the problem but have more pressing things to do. There is no such option, but I can see how this might be useful. I will discuss with my partners and possibily implement in the future. Alternative could also be to leave the TD Call on the screen but change Action to 'Completed'. Almost certainly no, but I am not sure what you mean. Can you please give me an example of the type of message you would like to see appear in chat? Under the windows client substitutions are written to the chat eg. ->zielona: Substitution complete. Neptune25 has been replaced with leganes Substitute players are very precious but they are also very likely runners. If a recent sub goes red I do not wait the prescribed one minute before replacing. I have now realized that the one single inconvenience when running tourneys under the Webclient is inability to see the table list while being at a table. Can we expect that feature in the future? Cheers, zielona

Hi Uday, The leaderboard. I went to Completed Tournaments and clicked on Results. Did it several times and only after a long while the correct leaderboard was displayed. Long enough for me to re-calculate masterpoints % average several times in my head and finally in excel. I didn't notice if the Title was of the old tournament or the one that just finished. Both were hosted by the same person - Gaja - and only the number in the Title could be different. I thought I took a screenshot but can't find it, sorry. Cheers, Renata

Take 2. No errors this time but some observations, listed here in the order of importance. (1) I was unable to find a way to see the substitute list. How can I see the substitutes? (2) Tournament Status has to be cleared ('OK') or otherwise I can't go to a table or do anything. Would it be possible to Pin it? In the windows client I usually keep several status popups to see how the tables are moving. It's helpful when you run an unclocked tournament. (3) I was unable to identify the table number of players who wrote to the tournament chat. What's the easiest way to find them? (4) TD calls are cleared when accepted. Is there an option to write them to the chat like it happens on the windows client provided you do not play in your own tournament? (5) Is there an option to write substitutions to the chat? (6) Unable to remove unlogged players before the start of the tournament. I think thst's all. Still not sure why I experienced errors in the first place, perhaps because it was within 15 minutes after my previous tournament? The only difference I can think of.

Hi I had a long break in reading the BBO forum so please excuse me if I repeat what was already reported. (1) I recently played several tournaments on the Web Client when could not get through to the windows BBO. I noticed that some tournament chat was missing, especially at the start of the tournament. Usually improved from second round. (2) On one occasions after the tournament was completed and I clicked for Results, I was given results of a tourney with the same name - nearly - but played roughly a year ago. (3) Today I tried to run my own tournament. No problems with creating one but when tried to look at it on a TD Popup there was an error telling me that "this TD does not have any pending tournaments". (4) I hit Join to see how many players registered. A message was sitting on the screen for few minutes and finally I got disconnected. Lucky I was able to bet back to the windows client just in time for round 1. Is it OK to run tournaments on the Web Client?

My connection is now ok whatever the problem was.

I am also unable to connect from my windows client. I am in Sydney. I was last using BBO windows client some 14 hours ago with no problems. Can't provide the tracert because my cable provider does not allow it. BBOFLASH is of course fine.

I didn't visit the forum for two months and, sadly, missed the launch of BBOFLASH! I tried to catch up today and here are my comments, in a random order. Sorry if I'm repeating what's been already said: 1. I'm confirming that BBOFLASH and BBOTV no longer work on IE6 Vista. I had no problems with BBOTV previously, both original version and the vugraph viewer. 2. Chat drop down remains a major inconvenience. There were many useful suggestions in the old BBOTV feedback thread. 3. It's great to be able to join tournaments. I am missing the following not-yet-implemented features: a) viewing tournaments in progress, with ability to kibitz (if allowed) or join the sub list :ph34r: being able to see who's already registered c) during play, being able to see total number of tables and who is playing at other tables d) staying in the tournament after my last board e) being able to see results after I have played my last board f) I don't seem to be able to find Tournament Rules 4. I played a 8 board indy. For the first 6 boards my hand was at the bottom of the table. In the 7th round my hand unexpectedly appeared at the top but only for the duration of bidding. After three passes the hands reverted to their normal positions (rotated by 180 degrees). However, the bidding area no longer matched the location of hands making me question opps on their bidding system. Is this a known bug? 5. My Results and in particular My Tournaments are great, love them. I could think of small enhancements eg. my own name on leaderboard in a different colour, local time, bringing at first only 10 tournaments and allow to ask for next page if required. Regards, zielona

I'm under the impression that 'no information available' is when the alert box was clicked away with nothing written.

Agree that ability to receive the mail at the nearest opportunity should/could be placed on a future enhancements wish list but the more immediate problem for me is that I often lose elaborately composed message when a person I am writing to has just been pulled into a tournament. When that happens the message is completely lost - there is no option to send it via mail and no record in the chat file. Is it possible to add the option popup for this situation, similar to when a person logs out of the BBO?

:P . But of course the agreement was not 8♣! Probably 5 or may be 6. :) I elaborated for the benefit of other readers Helene. Every time I get a BBO player to understand what alerting is all about I feel like a winner :) Nick's example proves that the great portion of BBO community believes that they are expected to say what they have in their hand and not what they promise to their partner. Sadly a BBF poll would not be very effective in proving/disproving that theory. The majority do not read BBF for more or less obvious reasons.

The general rule is to alert conventional bids. Quotes from the WBF Laws and Alerting Policy: It is always good to know that Stayman, being a convention, should be alerted. However, in a casual game it often is not and this is normally not disputed and rightly so. The "surprise" factor is commonly seen in local alerting regulations. Eg my local regulations include phrases like this one "The bid is natural, but you have an agreement by which your bid is forcing or non-forcing in a way that your opponents are unlikely to expect.". It requires me to venture into the minds of my opponents in an attempt to guess what possibly they may think of my bid. Alternatively, in addition to all the bridge knowledge, I am expected to memorize bidding method stats so where a need arises I can quickly work out what is more and what is less likely. The simple partnership agreement regarding Stayman is that it is a bid asking for a 4 card major. Therefore it is usually enough to say "asking about a 4 card major". That's unless you have a specific agreement with your partner like Stayman on zero points. In any case, the purpose of the explanation is not to describe to the oppoisition the card - shape, strength - you are holding.

Fred and Uday This is a feedback to your new VuGraphBBOTV. I tried to simultaneously watch action on 4 tables of the first Bermuda Bowl session, all on one monitor. I had problems sizing the windows the way that I would be able to see the most all at the same time. What would help is to left align the actual table area so it is positioned immediately above the chat. Is it possible? rgrds zielona

As much as I like blackshoe's idea of making P explain the calls in individual tournaments, now we are entering dangerous territory. Aren't we all guilty of taking easy advantage of opps misunderstandings? On BBO and F2F equally, it is a fully legal thing. I definitely would not like BBO helping opps to "detect" misunderstanding between me and my partner. And would I be able to see it as well? I agree Helene that the current solution is the best one. That is also to avoid further education for thousands of BBO players. I think education is one big problem that we have on BBO. Majority of players are not able to understand what private message is, how to write to tourney chat, etc etc - so let's not add to the list. I can see no more than 5% of players being able to tell who wrote in the alert box and for the fairness' sake, they are entitled to this information. So if one opens 2♦ in an Ind Tourney, and one has a "NO Multi" profile, you have a "strong degree of confidence" that 2♦ will be treated as a weak two in ♦s, so "not discussed, but should be a weak 2". Hmmm. Well. I am not so convinced. Or is it just that I am not that nice to the opponents? Even if I knew that my partner understood my intention, do I need to assist the opponents? Back to my sunny morning. I am not sure at what moment of time I first responded with the "no partnership agreement" in the alert box. But the second and 4 subsequent clicks on the 2♦ were after my partner already passed. So what does that tell me? My intermediate partner of no country, with assumed average ability to read my profile, guessed that 2♦ were weak. The expert opponent needed help, even after seeing pass from my partner. Is it up to me to help him? And now due to overwhelming demand I will provide the exerpt from my chat. You are very correct David.... I was not perfect. I have never claimed to be a goody goody two shoes. I am easily provoked to sarcasm and sometimes even worse. So here it is and please remember that all that happened in a space of seconds. The chat starts after 6 clicks on the 2♦ bid: RHO: but you know what 2 D is ->zielona: Automated message: Director TD has been requested by zielona ->zielona: Automated message: Director TD is now at the table as requested by zielona ->zielona: Automated message: Director TD has been requested by RHO RHO: what is 2 D no answer ->TD: hi, RHO insists i tell him what 2d is TD: i am here how can i help? TD: you must inform RHO: yes I want to know what is 2 D ->TD: i have no partnership agreement with my partner TD: you must sitll inform them TD: if they assk zielona: no, this is indiv and i do not have to inform opps about something my partner doesnt know TD: please inform thenm RHO: terrible people zielona: so TD, do you want me to tell opps all 13 cards i have? can I tell my p as well? LHO: zielona must inform TD: no just waht the 2 !D means in the alert box please LHO: zielona musy inform us P: p pls inform we are loosing time ->zielona: Automated message: You have been replaced, and are no longer playing in this tournament/team game

So it happened, dear forum readers. I was waiting for this to happen one sunny morning and it just did. I was thrown out of a individual toruney by a canadian TD, a member of at least three BBO clubs. Over "no partnership agreement". I opened 2 diamonds and my card says that I don't play multi. That was all information my casual partner from no country and two expert opponents from Argentina and Spain had to allow them to proceed with their bidding. One of the opponents didn't think that was enough and clicked on the 2D bid half a dozen of times. I wrote "no partnership agreement" in the explanation box. I always do that in situations like this. I called TD. Before he did. TD took his side, both talking on the table! The second expert opp supported them. All was polite but in my opinion too wordy and totally unnecessary. With no warning I was removed. Then threatened with the matter being reported to yellows. There went my sunny morning. My disappointment with BBO is growing. So perfect software - I salute you Fred and Uday - but not so perfect users. Back to the minesweeper.

ooops, did I just say something???? nooooo nothing was meant :unsure:

How about the simple rule: > 100 kibitzers ==> chat to kibitzers allowed if your ranking is adv+ > 400 kibitzers ==> chat to kibitzers allowed to expert and world class only

Somehow I cannot imagine why I would need to chat to opps and kibitzers at the same time. But chat to both opps is a must. However, it would also be nice to somehow indicate to them that both are getting the message - different arrow perhaps? Unfortunately the window client doesn't give you this information (I think).

Hi Firstly, congratulations. Brilliant look and feel, very smooth. I spent some time on BBOTV yesterday while unable to connect from the window client. Apologies if any of the comments have already been made. 1) Agree with FrancesHinden regarding the chat drop down. I accidently talked to a vugraph operator and an opp from the previous table because their names were left as defaults in the drop down. The default should be Table, or Kibitzers where applicable. 2) Names are added to the drop down regardless if I ever clicked at them or not, simply because they are in the table chat area. Is it necessary? They stay there even when I move to another table. 3) Are there plans to introduce some keyboard shortcuts? Eg tabbing across the screen. It would be good to be able to tab to the chat drop down and then further to the chat message area, instead of having to use the mouse. 4) Not sure if many people would agree here but I would like to see multiple chat message areas - configurable to 3, 2 or 1. I often type something longer to one person - or tournament - but have to interrupt to quickly respond to someone else. 5) Thank you for allowing to see the profile of offline players!! 6) E-mail information (from the profile) is missing. This is where most people put important information about their systems (No transfers!) or some helpful info about where they are or who they are (15 yr old bridge addict). 7) Adding to the boot-or-not-to-boot discussion, booting is required when someone becomes rude or falls asleep. 8) Table score has the aggregate result only. Windows client allows you to see last hand result in brackets. That's all for now. I surely will have more comments when tourneys are added.

I feel for you. Raised three. Try bbotv http://www.bbotv.com/v2/#. But no tourneys...

hello Am I the only one having connection problem today? Worked fine last night but can't connect today, with same symptoms as back in July when this topic started. I tried bbo. and sat. with both ports 9999 and 80. Th IP connection is established but BBOVER has IP as 69.93.3.164 and the connection is to 70.85.84.132. Is this ok? cheers zielona

No it wasn't you Gerardo :o I am not sure what the self proclaimed players' rep asked for, but the crowd was screaming 'TD give them AVE'. As I said, it was only one table and only one board. It's a bit disappointing when you play for an hour and then have to forget the whole thing, especially when it was so easy to save it. Thank you for your responses.

Hi I joined a pairs tournament today as a sub. I played 6 out of 8 boards with a complete freak but despite his amusing efforts I managed to achieve some decent results on few interesting boards. Or so I think. Unfortunately, there was no barometer and the tourney was cancelled so no results on myhands are to be ever seen. A player dropped out (quit?) during the last board on the last table. No TD in sight so someone called one of the yellows who just cancelled the tourney. So here is what I would like to know: -- What are the yellow powers? -- Can a yellow take over the tourney? Are they / should they be familiar with TD functions? -- Can a yellow add other TD's to the tourney? I think I have seen this happen once or twice. -- Are there different categories of yellows (vugraph personnel are excluded from this question)? cheers zelona

It is indeed very important.... especially on a freezing Saturday night and nothing on the tele and my cat roams free and doesn't need me to walk him (I tried Roland).... Thanks for working on the fix. Let's hope the problem is "fixable". cheers, zielona