papsonline

Hello all, under the heading of general discussion about playing live bridge, I 'd like to share a few thoughts and ask for your feedback. Bridge used to be a hobby of mine and as I'd like to get back into it again I thought BBO might be be the place to do it. I began by spending some time watching games in the Relaxed Room, where I guess I should start, and I was impressed at the standard of play. I consider myself well below average and I expected to find only novices and beginners playing, but I found most players seemed to have a good grasp of the game. Why would intermediate players, for example, be in the relaxed room. What is it about the main room that they feel they need to escape from? :-) What I found strange, and the reason for this topic, is that at the end of each game, when I expected at least a little post-mortem banter, I found the next game already under way even before I could absorb the score. No chat - just play, play, play. I'm all for more play and less chat, but there seemed to be almost no communication at all - I missed the meeting of minds. So is that due to the multilingual nature of BBO - the only common language is the game itself? I find it difficult to believe that no-one wants to comment, if only for a minute, on the successes and failures of the game just played. It all seemed a little clinical. So is what I've experienced typical, and if it is, why? Geoff