jdgalt

2S seems to describe my hand better than double, as well as not losing our spade fit if partner has 3 and LHO bids. Double (in my view) not only suggests 4-4 majors, it also denies diamonds (which I will probably go back to if pard doesn't raise spades).

I visualize gremlins inside BBO's computer, rubbing their hands with glee. Only I don't notice any effect on hand distributions; they're too busy making my robot partners bid like morons. ;-D

I don't feel all that good about this hand at the five level. At least in my partnerships, pard has shown only 4-4 minors and about 8 count. But (before my 5C bid, if I make it) we haven't bid above the one level, so pass isn't forcing; I have to guess or go home. I'll go ahead and bid 5C at IMPs, or non-vul at matchpoints. Vulnerable at matchpoints I'd rather pass.

Pass. It seems likely we may set this, but I'm not sure enough to give them a cheap game. Double would be greedy.

I would bid 2NT if it were weak. But I think in this system it would be 15+, which I haven't got. 3H it is.

Strongly disagree. Allowing the opponents to see tempo is a bug, not a feature, of face to face play; and eliminating it means that related ethics calls (like hesitating with a singleton) disappear, which needs to happen.

I would like to be able to express agreement without making a "me too" post, but when I hit the green "+" I always get the error message, "You have used up your quota of positive votes for today." Why do the forums have this feature if nobody is allowed to use it?

In face-to-face bridge, when a player jumps the bidding, the next player is supposed to wait 10 sec to avoid giving away information. (This is supposed to be done whether or not the bidder reminds them by displaying the STOP card along with his bid. I don't know if this is one of the Laws or just an ACBL rule, but it's a good idea anyway.) I propose that BBO give the players the effect of compliance with this rule, without having to penalize anybody. How? Simple. If the next player after a jump bid makes his call in less than 10 sec, BBO's software should just silently wait until the 10 seconds are up before allowing anyone else (partners, opponents, or spectators) to see that call.

This is exactly why I conclude it can't logically be takeout. If partner were strong enough that we can make 4 of anything, either he should have overcalled at his first turn, or he should have bid his long suit. If he's got some kind of two suiter, he should have bid Michaels or 2NT. Since none of these happened I can only infer that he was trap-passing and has a spade stack. If anything else is going on, he wants a mind-reader for his partner, and I don't qualify.

The problem is that you're "patterning out" a 4=1=5=3 shape. If I actually held that hand, I'd bid that way too.

I'm with the original poster. If I'm bidding a suit and you take me to notrump, the fact that some of my points may be distribution is your worry; they're quite proper for my bid.

2D. Partner will assume I'm 5-4, but I'd rather have a second place to land than worry about missing a 6-2 heart fit if he's weak. (And 4-4 diamonds might well be a better game than 6-2 hearts, because I can take discards on the hearts.)

Double (cooperative). We were in a game force, so we don't let them play it undoubled.

Just now, BBO showed me an ad for the software application BridgeIQ+ (at BridgeIQPlus.com). So I downloaded and tried to install it (on Windows XP). I got about halfway through installing it when my antivirus software, AVG, reported that it's infected and removed it. The BridgeIQPlus.com site doesn't have any way to contact the purveyor, so I'm posting here in case someone at BBO (who sold them the ad) would be able to contact them and get the problem fixed before it hurts somebody.

I live in California and am a life master in the ACBL. But I have a problem finding steady partners, because everyone here (and of course the 'bots) seems to want to play 2/1. I don't like 2/1 because it seems to make just about every auction forcing to game, or at least to the 3 level. I do have favorite gadgets (look at my favorite card in my profile) but am willing to play just SAYC, or even old fashioned Goren. I would like to arrange a regular weekly play date, which could be a weekday evening or on the weekend. Please e-mail with specifics: jdg@diogenes.sacramento.ca.us.

I hate having them inside the BBO client. They're an interruption to doing other things on BBO (with the old version I could move the main window in front of them). Also, the down arrow on the scroll bar can't be used at all. Clicking anywhere near it gets interpreted as a resize attempt instead. Please roll back the whole thing to the previous version and don't restore it until you make it possible for individuals to opt out (and the same goes for any more gratuitous UI changes ever).

More user options are a good thing. There should be one to make the robots play standard instead of 2/1, too. Edited to add: It would be helpful if the hand I set down as dummy before I walked around the table were labeled as Dummy rather than Robot (after all, the robot is never going to do anything with it anyway). Would that be easier than changing the view?

I just played my first robot tournament where the program changes the seats so that the human plays the hand when his robot partner is declarer, and I found it confusing as can be. First the labels get changed so that my name is on the hand at top of screen, and the hand at the bottom gets labeled Robot. And the compass directions reverse, giving the impression that I'm now sitting in the bottom (Robot) chair (and the hand with my name is the one I had during bidding, which is now dummy). But then -- the lead comes down and it's from the player on my RIGHT??? What the bleep? This is wrong. If you're going to have me play the robot declarer's hand, then put that hand at the BOTTOM of the screen and have the lead come from the LEFT. Otherwise it is completely unclear which hand is hidden from the opponents, and it's confusing as heck to boot!

If this is true it should certainly be changed. I had the impression that disconnecting means you're out of that tournament or at least that hand. Accidents do happen, so I don't think greater sanctions are appropriate unless intent can be shown. But certainly the person who disconnects and his partner ought to get a bottom on that hand; and if stalling prevents the play of later hands or cuts them short, the system should award the opponents "average plus" and the offenders "average minus" as a real director would do. Obviously in games where you're alone at a table with 3 robots, you should get to pick up where you left off. This does need fixing. Stalling should be treated as more serious than disconnection, since it is more likely deliberate. While we're at it I can think of some simple changes in the program that would prevent accidental delays. For instance if only one card in a hand is a legal play (a singleton in the suit led) any click in the area of that hand should play it. And the last trick of every deal should auto-play itself from all four hands.

I'd love to know how you posted the hand in the forum. I'd have done it that way if I knew.

Here's one from this morning. I'm South vs. 3 robots, no one vulnerable, I'm dealer. I hold: ♠ 2 ♥ AKJ108 ♦ J9 ♣ K9652. The bidding: <pre> South West North East 1H 3S pass 4S 5C pass 6H all pass </pre> What can GIB possibly think it's doing raising my obvious "choose one of my suits at the 5 level" bid to 6???

I had one this morning that was just plain impossible to complete or even get close ... because no matter what you have or how you bid, GIB *will* *not* let you stop in 3 of a major under any circumstances. Similarly if a 1 bid is on the bingo card, you can forget about it, unless GIB bids 1NT forcing and you pass.

If you insist on forcing people to do just that, then we will.

I always just ask, "Do you do any special carding?" It would be nice if there were always time to look at opponents' convention card before playing a hand. (A suggestion for BBO's programming staff: When I've finished playing a round and am waiting to go to the next table, how about letting me view my upcoming opponents' CC?)

I certainly meet any reasonable number (not that it has any business being a secret).