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I just wanted to share my experience with others...just so that they do not make the same erroneous conclusion that I did. I have been noticing for some time now that in general there is less and less common courtesy being exhibited on BBO. For instance it is very rare to even get a 'hi' from the others at a table; people come and go with no explanation, etc. Today I logged onto BBO using a newly purchased tablet. That was an experience! I had trouble logging on because I use 'symbols' in my password and I had difficulty in locating these symbols on the pop up keybrd. To shortened this down considerably...I now understand that using a tablet or phone does not permit one to readily bring up the keyboard and if u do bring it up it is not so easy to type out on it. And...when it is not so easy to type out words...then it is difficult to be courteous. After today I shall be more tolerant :)

Re: Reverse Bids becoming obsolete I appreciate all of u taking the time to provide your comments on this topic. I think that this topic can be concluded with the following comments: From glen: when playing SAYC with no partnership agreements on a cruise ship, the ‘trend’ is anything goes. From RMB1: we understand that Andrew Robson (London, England) teaches his beginners that they do not need extras to reverse. (If they get too high, they get too high). From Trinidad: It seems entirely sensible to not say anything about reverses and strength requirements to absolute beginners. Let them (mis)bid the hands and get on with the play. First teach them to show their distribution, locate a fit, etc. The next step will be to teach them that you need to decide at some point when you stop showing your suits (because otherwise you will get too high). Once people understand that, you can easily teach them about reverses by pointing out that they will get you higher and that you, therefore need extra strength to make a reverse bid. From P_Marlowe: My guess is, that this is due to a mixup. There is a children’s game called ‘Stille Post” (the English call it ‘chinese whispers’/telephone.... It is quite funny what comes out after 3-4 stations. With the above comments and others in mind, it seems possible that the statement that ‘reverse bids are no longer being taught by cruise ship bridge instructors and others at regional and national events ' may be true BUT not because they are now considered to be obsolete bids, BUT rather that perhaps it takes too much effort to explain and to get beginners and others who are attending these instructional sessions to fully understand the whole reverse bid picture. Perhaps the old telephone game outcome has resulted in this unique local belief that reverse bids have become obsolete. And from the comments it does appear that this is a local practice. It is known that bridge players may have personal agreements that can be like the one that caused this post: that ‘any new suit by Opener is forcing upon Responder who must bid again regardless if it appears as if coming from a minimum or a stronger – reverse bid type of hand as the Opener’s rebid no longer suggests the strength of the hand. My concern in raising this post is; if this is the practice and it is not alerted as being different from the expected, how would I know when a new suit bid is showing the stronger typical reverse type bid or hand or is showing this local practice of simple further bidding out of the hand regardless of the strength of the hand. The posting by barmar as to ACBL’s Alert Procedures was very informative and actually does reflect what is occurring at this local club: “Natural bids that convey an unexpected meaning must be Alerted. This includes strong bids that sound weak, weak bids that sound strong... So this requires you to compare your agreement with how the bid ‘sounds’. If it were actually true that ‘nobody plays deliberate reverse bids any more,’ then it wouldn’t sound strong, so you wouldn’t alert it.” On two occasions, what I took to be a reverse type of bid was made by the Ops without an alert being made. In both cases the Opener did not have sufficient strength to make what I took to be a reverse type of bid. I excused the first one based on the experience of the players, however the second time it was made by some level of ACBL life master members. So now barmar’s statement as to the interpretation of the bid according to the local ‘sound’ has a great deal of significance. As I was informed later that at this local club reverse bids do not imply extra strength and therefore will not have a ‘strong sound’. A significant lesson as to the value of asking what the local customs are before playing. The posting by PeterAlan containing reference to the Draft Minutes of EBU Laws and Ethics Committee Meeting 19 September 2012 was also very informative: “The secretary asked whether a sequence such as 1D-1S; 2H, where the 2H was bid to show a 5-4 hand in diamonds and hearts but only on a minimum opening hand, was alertable. It was agreed that it was not, although players should be encouraged to disclose that their method was unusual (although it was recognized that many may not know, if that is how they have been taught)”. And I think that this brings us to the full circle: it players are not being taught about reverse bids showing an extra strength hand, then they would not know that what they are playing is unusual". And again reinforces for me the value of asking what the local customs are before playing. In response to aquahombre statement that “it is not clear that the OP (Opening Poster) understood the extra values needed by most experienced players in order to rebid a higher suit at the 2 level.” Let me assure you that I do consider myself a serious student and player of bridge, although because of location somewhat limited in available bridge venues. I was considerably alarmed when I was informed that ‘nobody makes deliberate reverse bids to show extra strength hands anymore’, and that reverse bids are no longer being taught by bridge instructors on cruise ships nor at regional or national bridge events. And this disbelief in this statement is what caused me to raise this post. Again I thank all of u for ur comments. I have concluded that I will continue to use reverse bids to show extra strength type of hand as any serious bridge player would. 

I was playing at a local club recently where I was informed that 'nobody' makes deliberate reverse bids anymore. When playing SAYC with no partnership agreements, the bidding sequence of 1D-1S:2H--- could be from a bare minimum opening type of hand and is no longer restricted to the stronger, reverse bid type of hand. It was further stated that it is now being taught by cruise ship bridge instructors and others at regional and national events that reverse bids are obsolete. The 'new' approach is that any new suit by Opener is forcing upon Responder who must bid again regardless if it appears as if coming from a minimum or a stronger - reverse bid type of hand as the Opener's rebid no longer suggests the strength of the hand. As I was not aware of this 'trend', I am wondering if this is commom practice elsewhere. If the current trend is reverse bids are obsolete, does one need to alert the bid so that others at the table are aware that it is no longer considered to be a reverse bid and then no longer reflects the strength of the Opener's hand. Comments appreciated

Over the past few months I have noticed that I quite frequently am not aware that my P is also online despite the fact that she is a 'marked friend'. Because we were verbally communicating at the time, she assured me that she did indeed sign into BBO as visible (she did not use the invisible sign-in option). When I checked, she did not appear on my 'friends listing' that is set to appear at the top of my lobby listing page. I even wnet thru the alphabetical index to see if she is listed/shows up there (nope)..I rechecked my friends list and she is listed there. This is causing us angst as we have missed each other many times now, despite both being online at the same time. Even our messages to each other do not get to each other at that time but will instead show up the next time either of us log back in. This is now happening with other 'marked friends' also. This was never a problem until the past few months. I am using the old download version of BBO. I am assuming that there has been some sort of change made to the 'marked friends listing'. Can this be changed back or 'fixed'. I like to play with my P but am having trouble finding her when we are both online at the same time and we are needlessly missing out on our agreed upon bridge playing times.

W is dealer and passed. P N opened 1♠ holding ♠AQ965 ♥A10 ♦Q10 ♣10964. E passes. S is holding: ♠K3 ♥Q3 ♦AK94 ♣AKQ53 and bids 2♣ with visions of slam. But then W bids Un2NT showing D and H..N passes and E bids 3H What should S then bid? (S did bid 3♠ thinking that was a stronger bid and would keep the bidding open wanting to hear more from N...but N passed. Ended up in 3 making 5) Thanks