COULD This Be Grounds For Blacklist?

[AAr]

Can a TD or tournament department put me on their Blacklist for this?

 

You leave your computer in a clocked 7/m/b 1/b/r tourney. You do NOT get subbed, but not returning to your computer until 2 or 3 minutes are left on the clock results in time running out for the round.

 

Or, if you leave your computer in a clocked tourney and get subbed.

 

Or, if you get subbed because you are away from the computer too long after the tourney (or new round) starts.

 

Are any of the above instances possible grounds for a TD putting me on a blacklist, or from being blacklisted in a TD's department?

 

 

The reason I ask is (to be honest) that I have a bad habit of doing the above things (Not intentionally, but I do.), and I don't want to violate tournament rules, nor do I want to land on TD blacklists.

 

Comments? Answers?

 

Thanks!

 

PS: Merry Christmas All!

[inquiry]

Tournament directors, like any other BBO member, can "blacklist" anyone they want, for virtually any reason they want. There is no mechanism to find out why someone is "blacklisted".

 

Having said that, most people are blacklisted for horrible behavior (belittling another player, using nasty language, making what is termed frivolous bids like opening 7NT on 3 hcp and then redoubling).

 

Ben

[chicken]

i think afk within an already finished round makes no good reason for blacklisting, however the rest of the reasons can be found in my list as well, but 90% of blacklisting are for leaving a tourney.

[Mr. Dodgy]

That sort of thing would see you on my blacklist fairly quickly, depending on exactly how frequently such things (and others) occurred.

 

The first time I would make a note of the fact that you were 'stuck'. Repeatedly being 'stuck' would get you BL'd, or warned that it may do so.

 

I would also start tracking your attendance and behavior in my tourneys a little more closely. If this reveals that you are generally a reliable and good sort, I might overlook the odd 'senior moment', or whatever it is that has caused your attention to wander.

 

On the other hand, I might equally find in some cases that not only does someone become 'stuck' occasionally, but they have some other bad trait(s) as well. Excommunication would likely then be swift.

 

I do not like having my tournaments disrupted unnecessarily, and will exclude persons who do so regularly if required.

 

Please try to keep in mind the fact that your inattentiveness has left not only the 3 players at your table stranded, but may well also cause delays at other tables as well, not to mention the efforts required by the directorate, substitutes, etc.

[McBruce]

There seems to be a huge gap between the attention span of club/tournament players and that of mostly online players. People who have played bridge offline and have added online play to their bridge time scoff at the absurdly low number of boards that are played in online tournaments and the way many players find it difficult to play even that many. In a club or tournament a player would be a major nuisance alternating between a newspaper, a video on an iPod, long trips to the bar to check on news or scores, and the actual game itself. Online players seem to think it is acceptable to wander wherever they like when they have a minute or two, even if it is an unclocked tournament and they may be moved early at any moment.

 

By reducing the time required from over three hours to less than two in most cases, online TDs are trying to bridge the gap. But by doing so we have created a new strategy: shoot like hell, hope to get lucky often enough over a dozen boards, and quit if you fail. It seldom works in 26 board games, but in a 12 board game it sometimes does. We cringe when we see someone winning a 12 board individual game with a score of 85% or +72 IMPs on seven doubled contracts and five redoubled ones. This is not bridge; this is ridiculous.

 

I think TDs have bent far more than Net players in bridging the attention-span gap. It's about time that those who play predominantly online realize that tournament play is not the same as MBC play. You don't get to go at your own pace, and you are expected to play through to the end. The original post in this thread admits that sometimes he is away from the computer for the first five minutes of a round and claims that this is unintentional.

 

I just cannot see how.

 

You enter a tourney, you agree to the conditions. It is simple discourtesy to enter a tournament if you cannot devote enough time to complete it: discourteous to the TD and most of all to the other players (and not just those at your table). This is so self-evident that there can be no argument that it is not explicitly stated in a TDs conditions--it is part of the site rules: no quitting, no delaying, no deliberate silly actions.

 

We're here to play bridge. If you want to play hold 'em or check stocks or watch TV or talk to your significant other on the telephone -- or ALL of those things at once, you should NOT be entering a tournament. And if you cause repeated delays by insisting on non-attentiveness; yes, you should expect to be blacklisted.