nickf

no, Meckwell wont play with each other in the Cavendish because: 1) they represent a very poor investment in respect to the Calcutta auctioning system 2) they make a bucklet load more money playing with clients. nickf sydney

Now there's a thought. Sounds awfully hard to code into the BBO client however. And my laptop is mostly plastic anyway. nickf sydney

the french have the same system, or at least they used to prior to the large numbers of north african immigrants in the past 30 years. You used to have to name your child from a list of the saints names. In terms of the US, if you want an insight into baby names, read "Freakanomics". nickf sydney

Double. nickf sydney

good day for the bookies. nickf sydney

see http://www.telefilm.gc.ca/data/production/....asp?lang=en&ca a documetary on Gavin Wolpert and Vince Demuy and the world of professional bridge. It's on CTV in canada on april 7th at 7pm. btw, if anyone can get a digital copy, please pm me. thanks. nickf sydney

I guess it's all about bringing the game to the people. Or marketing their events on a world wide basis in the hope that online kibitzers may one day travel to an event in that locale. Or providing a service to its members unable to travel the lengths of the country to watch high quality bridge in person. This year the Australian Bridge Federation has committed to invest over $15K to establish a VuGraph unit and broadcast the finals of major teams events over BBO. This is budgeted as a marketing, rather than an operations costs. The ABF has appointed a (paid) National VuGraph Coordinator, spent about $5000 on infrastructure and for the first time are paying BBO operators. Such a forward thinking approach is to be commended. Surely the ACBL, with about 4 times as many members, should realise the cost-benefit of a similar approach. nickf sydney

they're more cunning than you think, those aussies. I suspect it's all a cunning plan for a late betting plunge before the world cup. nickf sydney

yes, yes. well done to the Poms. I take back some of what I said this summer. at least some of them showed some balls in the past month or so. nickf sydney

Apparently in order to maximise advertising revenues, Jamie Packer issued a directive to the ACB that the Australians had to dump game 1. It's a disgrace the influence media moguls have upon our fine game. nickf sydney

well done, it's taken about 500 days but you have beaten us. nickf sydney

Not entirely accurate. Klinger was in the semi-finals. nickf sydney

buddy, on a stink-o-meter scale of 1 to 10, your team is about a 28. nickf sydney

in regard to losing the auction and the play, Susan Doty showed me a neat trick to get around the problem. First, save the hand that was claimed incorrectly. then correct the score. after the session, edit the lin file using a text editor and cut and paste the auction and play from the saved .lin It sounds a bit cumbersome, but its important to retain the integrity of the data, especially for the Vugraph archives. nickf sydney

it is however, the highest score in a 20-20 international. nickf sydney

/gloat /endgloat 5 Jan 2007 Obituary English Cricket Died (again) 5 Jan 2007 The body will be cremated and the ashes gratefully reclaimed by Australia. nickf sydney

I don't believe it. It certainly didnt look like the poms had any plan. nickf sydney

On the 12th day of Christmas Punter gave to me: 12 champion aussie cricketers 11 disconsolant poms 10 more days for duncan 9 catches for gillie 8-fer for pidgeon in melbourne 7-hundred Warnie wickets 6-teen clarkie wickets 5-0 after Sydney 400 runs in a day 300 for hussey 2 easy victories and a little urn called the Ashes and a very merry christmas to all cricket fans, whereever you are and whoever you support. nickf sydney

I am embarassed to admit I was wrong. Very wrong. The poms may even bat past drinks in the first session on the fifth day. nickf sydney

I direct once a week for a private club. Every week, there is at least someone who part way through asks to be excused. I have a simple philosophy: I tell them that once they sign up for a 12 bd tournament, they have made a committment to play 12 boards, no less. I tell them that I refuse to sub them. About 3/4 of these people seem to accept this approach. When the remainder continue to complain, I re-iterate the rules and priviledge of being of member of the said club. That usually shuts them up. nickf sydney

Is there anyone out there who sincerely believes Australia arent a lock to win this inside 4 days ? No I mean, sincerely - in your heart of hearts. What was that? Oh yes, I just had a flashback from Day 5 Adelaide. nickf sydney

[hv=d=s&v=n&s=skxxhjxxdqxxxcaxx]133|100|Scoring: IMP[/hv] RHO deals and opens 3H, pass pass to partner who doubles. Your call? [RHO has been playing internationally for 30+ years and is 100% down the line; partner is an aggressive balancer.] nickf sydney

I was bitten by the same Q play from AQTx last week in a club IMPs game by a international defender. I completely mis-read the suit now and went down in a makeable partscore. If you're forced to break this suit then the Q is correct as it caters for J in declarers hand as well, better than low which can be run to hand. nickf sydney

any hand held bridge game doesnt provide you with a high level partner or opponent. They are not targeted for advanced+ players but nonetheless can be a fun gadget if you dont have a PC or will be spending a lot of hours in airports or in trains for eg. As it happens, I re-sell a lot of these gadgets and as far as I'm aware, everyone is satisfied. But they pale by comparision to the best PC software. They have a b/w LCD screen and the interface is a bit clumsy but I suppose they are trying to make best use of a small screen. and the 610 has better features than the 311 nickf sydney

I'm furious at the english team, they may well spoil my summer. Honestly, there's no sport in dispatching minnows like this. I may take up shooting fish in a barrel. The english remind me of how Guus Hiddink described the Socceroos earlier this year, as comparable to "an enthusiastic 3rd Division Dutch team". nickf sydney