Is this legal

[ArcLight]

A defender may not deliberately pause so as to convey information to pard, or mislead declarer.

 

My concern is that at times I have to stop and think and count, even if I dont have a high card to play. I need to think for a little. (I'm trying to count out the hand, and I need to do it as the play progresses, can't play 10 cards then reconstruct the hand)

 

1. Are you allowed to say "I need some time to count?"

 

 

2. So as to avoid giving information away is this legal:

 

Play in tempo, but ALWAYS take around the same amount of time before playing a card, say 8-10 seconds. In other words, you always pause before playing a card, so no information is revealed to pard, and declarer can't complain that you paused for no reason.

 

 

 

[8-10 seconds is an example, and I realize its annoying. My intent to to learn to count faster, and I need to practice it, and I dont want to give away information by pausing at key points.

 

What I mean is "I am trying to count out the hand. I always do this, even if I have no valuable cards, or the hand is cold. I am trying to learn to count effectively"]

[pclayton]

Just say, "I'm thinking about the whole hand" (even if you're not).

 

Bridge was never intended to be played at light speed.

[Free]

1. I don't know, by saying you're counting you also give away information...

 

2. That's allowed, but it's VERY annoying if your partner or your opponent is thinking for 'fun' every trick. Have you ever counted 8-10 seconds? It's quite long!

[badderzboy]

If u do pause ,

 

you can always play the 'oh sorry is it me' line to prevent any accusations - just have a blank look b4 you play :blink:

 

The other advice is practice counting online as the pace can be slower...

 

Steve

[paulg]

It is certainly legal to take your time, you just have to be a little careful when you do it.

 

Actually thinking is a lot simpler on-line as you can message your opponents that you thinking about the 'whole hand' without directly informing partner.

 

Better players will often think at trick one before playing from dummy, giving you some time to start counting. However, I think the average pause on BBO before playing from dummy is about 1 nanosecond so this doesn't help much!

 

And the bigger problem is the fact that most on-line players do not like anyone to think at all. If you find people who allow you time and play at a reasonable speed (rather than breakneck speed), just pause for thought at times that are non-critical to declarer.

 

p

[luke warm]

justin, as an example, he's not the only one, plays very quickly... BUT he usually takes quite a long time before playing to the first trick (depending on the contract and/or dificulty of the hand)... once the initial pause is over tho, i'd suggest not trying to play at his speed... it can't be real good for your results if you try to keep up with him

 

1. i am not an expert on the rules, but i believe that if you tank before i play you should have a reason a TD or committee will find believeable... i think it's better to keep a steady pace, and make it somewhere between slow and fast :)

 

2. yes, which is kinda what i said in # 1

[Elianna]

In person, you can solve part of the problem by playing to the current trick in tempo, but leaving that card turned up, and think about the next trick. This way you can, say, think about what you're planning to play to different possibilities of what declarer might do (because some of them might cause problems, and some might not) rather than start thinking right after declarer plays.

 

What I mean is, you can form a battle plan: "If declarer plays a spade, I'll discard a heart", "If declarer plays the Jack, I'll duck", "If declarer plays this suit, I'll give true count, if he plays another suit, I'll give false count", and do all this without sending a message to declarer or partner that you have a problem in a SPECIFIC place.

 

One of the main problems with playing online is that you can't prevent opponents from playing to the next trick while you're thinking about the last trick. So you can only form a "battleplan" when it's your turn to play, hence it's imperative that you think on the first trick, or not at all in some cases.

[Kalvan14]

Bridge was not created to be played at snail's pace. A consistently slow player is quite annoying. Usually, a hand is allocated 6 minutes to bid and play: if someone is very slow, you'll never make it.

[Elianna]

Bridge was not created to be played at snail's pace. A consistently slow player is quite annoying. Usually, a hand is allocated 6 minutes to bid and play: if someone is very slow, you'll never make it.

Actually, many places give 7 minutes a board, which can really add up when playing long matches. 5 minutes a board is considered "fast".

 

Seriously, though, the more thinking that is done EARLIER in the play, the less will need to be done later.

[SteelWheel]

You should never say, "I'm thinking about the whole hand", or anything of the sort. You should just play the cards, in as close to an even tempo as possible. If you need to take extra time, then do so.

 

I've also seen this kind of behavior: An opening lead is made, and declarer calls for a card from dummy. RHO now takes some time, and then announces, "I have no problem with this trick", before ultimately playing his card. Now think about this:

 

What happens if, on the next board, the same situation occurs. However, this time, RHO makes no such verbal declaration. In other words, we would have to assume that he is in fact, having a problem with his Trick 1 play. This falls into the category of unintentionally transmitting Unauthorized Information to partner.

 

Just play your cards. If the opponents want to go screaming for the bridge police, let them do so. But don't let anybody rattle you into playing more quickly. And certainly, don't allow anyone to bully you into making these sorts of verbal declarations, which only create ethical issues for you and your partner.

[Flame]

Dont say you need to count, saying you are thinking about the all hand is a bit better but dont use it either.

Dont play in 8-10 seconds a trick because its not practicle (not even if its less time, it just wont work in real life)

My suggestion is this: Learn to find the right spot to think, the best spot is when you won a trick, especially if this is an early trick in the game, DO NOT play imidielty even if you know exactly what to play, pause count the hands and think about the future. If you stillneed time to think, dont do it when is ur turn to play a card, instead after you played you card to this trick and everyone did the same, ask them to keep the cards on the table and think then.

Thinking in the right spots is one of the hardest things to do, this is something you dont learn from book and usually take expirence to do.

[Gerardo]

Trick 1 thinking by third hand does NOT need a disclaimer, particularly if declarer plays fast from dummy.

[kenberg]

8-10 seconds, if everyone does it, is at least a half minute a trick. Assuming this doesn't apply at trick 13, it's still about six minutes plus to play out the hand. Plus bidding it's probably 9 or 10 minutes a hand, minimum, and that's too long. It's not reasonable to think you get to take 8-10 at each trick and the opponents don't. You present this as a tool for learning. It's a reasonable tool, just not reasonable to think random opponents want to be part of your learning experience. Why not get three other guys and play some hands with the agreement that you will all be taking some time to be counting out, or otherwise thinking through, hands. You can have a general agreement that no one will fuss about time.

 

Of course in high level team games, hands often take considerably longer. But I gather you are talking about hands played among us regular folks on BBO. Some briskness (very often overdone) is expected.

 

Ken