MomoTheDog

[hv=d=s&v=e&s=s83htdk762ckj8753]133|100|Scoring: IMP[/hv] Bidding went: West [space] [space]North [space] [space]East [space] [space] South [space] [space] [space] [space] [space] [space] [space] [space] [space] [space] [space] [space] [space] [space]3c dbl [space] [space] [space][space]4s [space] [space] [space] 5h [space] [space] [space]pass pass [space] [space][space] dbl [space] [space] [space]pass [space] [space]pass pass What do I lead here? This is an individual tournament and my partner is an "expert".

Lots of people put a bare SAYC in their system card, but what does the average "intermediate/advanced" player mean when they bid 2nt over a partner's 1h? I know the standard system says that this is Jacoby, but is the Jacoby 2nt absolutely universal for a standard pick-up SAYC partner? It's very tiring to be told off for misinterpreting their 2nt bids.

What is the fastest way to accumulate BBO points? Are there some special events weighted much higher compared to a standard tournament? Any help is much appreciated.

A constructive limit raise to 3c from east is absolutely essential.

It is players like this who discourage newcomers from the game. The result should definitely 100% stand.

Very nice! Should have been -9 down!

Thank you for your very detailed response Fred. Perhaps introducing a diminishing fee percentage would be the necessary impetus that drives the growth of larger cash-based tournaments. i.e. a higher fee tournament would results in a "discounted" fee percentage to the BBO. (eg. $5 tournament --> 20% goes to BBO, $10 --> 18% goes to BBO, $20 ---> 16%). These groups may then feel more encouraged to try higher tournaments. I will try your suggestion and contact these groups directly to give my opinion. Great site by the way!

A quick check of cash tournaments in BBO reveals that they are mostly $0.25 and $1.00. In the $1.00 tournaments, the top prize is usually "TABLES X $$", while a tiny consolation prize is usually given to the 2nd and 3rd place. Let's consider an individual tournament. Let's the entry fee is $1.00, and has 32 contestants. $8 goes to the 1st place, $2 to 2nd and everybody else gets nothing. The percentage of the prize pool returned to the players is 31.25%. The TD and BBO receives the rest of the prize pool. The percentage of prize pool is extremely tiny compared to an skill-based online poker tournament (typically 90% for small stakes, approaches 95-98% for larger ones). Even in luck-based casino games, a much higher percentage (returns over total wagered) is returned to the player during a typical session. It is understandable that BBO needs to generate money to compensate for their facilities and the TD's time. However, it is necessary to increase the percentage of money returned to player (or in other words, decrease the "rake" %) to make the games more enticing and attractive to the player. The easiest way to achieve this, is to increase the size of the cash tournaments. There is very little reason why an average tournament can't be at least $5 in size, with 50-75% of the prize pool returned to the players. Even larger tournaments ($10-$50) should be organized in a periodic basis (say monthly), mainly catering for the best players. The market is just ripe for the boom of skill-based cash bridge games. Just look at the poker boom. BBO should capitalize on this and make these cash tournaments more attractive.