physical assault at the bridge club

[ladydoc]

Hi folks!

I just sent the following letter to the ACBL regarding an incident at the bridge club last night, which has me wondering if I'll ever go back to bridge.

I will value your comments!

If there are any questions about the incident, please ask as I haven't gone into minute detail.

 

Dear sirs:

 

Last night was team game night at our local club and there were 7 tables present. During the bidding of one hand, there was some obvious misunderstanding/ disagreement in the opponent's communication with each other and they ended up in a contract of 6 spades, which ended up going down, instead of 6 hearts, (which does make). When the dummy, a man called [[[xxxxxx (name zapped by a yellow)]]]], put down his dummy of 7 hearts, he threw them on the table in a disorganized pile. I asked him to arrange them properly. He said, no they're all right, in an annoyed and nasty manner, where upon I reached over to straighten them so I could see what they were, and he grabbed my arm and twisted it hard enough to leave bruises... evident today.

I called the director. The director said that the matter was outside his jurisdiction. The man "XXXXXXXX" happened to be on the same team as the director. I had various thoughts at the time. I know that he could be charged legally with physical assault, and I thought about it at the time.

I would like some idea how the ACBL will handle this matter.

 

I'm sorry my first posting is so negative;(

Edited October 31, 2006 by inquiry

[pclayton]

I'm guessing the player's name will be zapped by a yellow.

 

Don't be surprised if this joker gets kicked out of the league. I hope you filed a police report.

[Echognome]

I am sure that this kind of behavior is not tolerable by any club/league/NBO etc and should deserve some action not only by local authorities, but also by the bridge organization. You should not have to fear any physical violence when playing bridge. I would both file a report with my local police and send a letter to my club and national organization.

[Walddk]

His behaviour was totally intolerable, period. With this said, I think it's fair to add that no-one is allowed to touch any other player's cards unless permitted to do so (that also includes partner's). Every player at the table is responsible for his/her own 13 cards and is allowed to refuse if asked.

 

The appropriate procedure would have been to ask declarer to make dummy arrange his cards properly, and if no luck, you should have called the director.

 

Finally, so that no misunderstanding is possible: regardless of the way you handled the situation, it was absolutely no excuse for dummy's violent behaviour!

 

Roland

[inquiry]

Hi Ladydoc

 

first I edited out the name of the player who grabbed you. BBF policy is not to name names, since this fellow isn't here to tell his side of the story. In no way does this indicate that I do not believe what you said is 100% accurate.

 

Second, there is no place not only in bridge, but also in society for such behavior. I hope this fellow is adequately dealt with.

 

Third, on a technical note, you are not allowed to "touch" anyone's cards but your own. This is found under some rule (declarer can touch dummies cards in some circumstnaces). Your having violated this rule of course, does not condone your opponents assult upon you.

 

Fourth, the director is clearly wrong. The ACBL has a zero tolerance policy, which states, in part...

 

If a player at the table behaves in an unacceptable manner, the director should be called immediately. Annoying behavior, embarrassing remarks, or any other conduct which might interfere with the enjoyment of the game is specifically prohibited by Law 74A. Law 91A gives the director the authority to assess disciplinary penalties.

 

A reading of 91A might make you believe only procedural penalties can be imposed, but my understanding is that for following a serious offense pending the holding of a disciplinary hearing a director can suspend a player from all play in that club (or tourmanent). So the director had a whole lot of power that he not only refused to excercise, but for which he denied having. ((ATTEMPT AT HUMOR COMING UP AND BEING SARCASTIC....))).. Since he was on the other team, at least he didn't issue sanctions against you for touching dummies cards.

 

I think writing to the ACBL might not be enough... Maybe a photo of your bruise, and a police report might be in order, depending upon the severity of the action he took. This has nothing much to do with bridge, and everything to do with just a bad person....

[blackshoe]

Jeezus. This TD is either incompetent or stupid. Or both. (*&^(* idiot.

 

"Outside his jurisdiction" my ass. "I would assume then that the jurisdiction in question is that of the police. Will you call them, or shall I?"

 

Law 81C4: "The director's duties and powers include the following: to maintain discipline and to insure the orderly progression of the game."

 

This incident certainly falls under this law.

 

Law 91:

 

A. Director's Power

In performing his duty to maintain order and discipline, the Director is specifically empowered to assess disciplinary penalties in points or to suspend a contestant for the current session or any part thereof (the Director's decision under this clause is final).

 

B. Right to Disqualify

The Director is specifically empowered to disqualify a contestant for cause, subject to approval by the Tournament Committee or sponsoring organisation.

 

In the ACBL, most club TDs own the clubs at which they direct, so the TD is also the SO.

 

As TD, I would have ejected this player forthwith under 91A. As SO, were I also SO, I'd have told him not to come back. Were I not the SO, I would strongly recommend that the SO not allow this player to come back.

 

Take pictures of the bruises. Tell the TD you won't be playing in his club again, and tell him why. Find another club - don't give up the club game because of one bad apple. Well, two, I suppose. ;)

 

Reporting the incident to the ACBL was a good move, IMO. In theory, at least, it should IMO result in sanctions against both the player and the club.

 

Technically, you aren't allowed to touch another player's cards (Law 7B2), but under the circumstances I would be inclined to overlook that small error. :)

[Finch]

It's clearly not outside the director's jurisdiction, one of the things he's there for is to make the game proceed amicably. I'm more upset about the TD's reaction than I am about what this guy did, as it's that which would put me off playing bridge.

 

FWIW I know of a few incidents:

- a player threw a glass of whisky over his partner, and was banned for 2 years

- a player threatened a member of hotel staff with violence and was banned for 5 years (I believe there may have been a police report as well)

- a player asked an opponent if that was a d**k he could see growing out of his forehead, and was banned for a year

- a player threw his cards at this partner. The next table complained, there was an enquiry, and all 4 players at the table agreed this was entirely justified so no further action was taken(!)

 

all of these are not as serious as physically hurting an opponent

 

 

oh yes, and a player who was murdered on the doorstep of a local bridge club. But that wasn't bridge related.

[blackshoe]

Heh. I crossposted with Inquiry. :)

[kenrexford]

I'd like to know more about the private appendage growing out of one's head comment. I'm not sure a one year ban is appropriate, as I find that comment, on its face, rather amusing.

 

I also was a party to a "throw the cards at partner" incident, as well. No director was even called, as the entire table erupted in laughter -- all friends.

 

As to the assault, I find that amazing. A not-so-friendly wise crack might be ignored, and a rare card toss might be laughed off. But, this is much more serious.

 

That being said, I'm not sure I would quit playing bridge because of that, any more than I would quit going out dancing if someone shoved me on the dance floor. If that club refused to take action, I might not go back to that club, but I'll bet this type of incident will not repeat in other venues, let alone at that club again.

[hrothgar]

In a shocking move, I am going to take a somewhat contrary position to that of most of the members of this list...

 

If you seriously believe that you were physically assaulted, call the police and have the individual in question arrested.

 

If you don't believe that you were physically assaulted - or, instead that this was a trivial incident that doesn't warrant criminal charges - don't call the police.

 

I don't see what you hope to accomplish by dragging the ACBL into the matter. Yes, the ACBL certainly has the option ruling that the player who grabbed your arm behaved reprehensibly and disrupted the game. Then again, you did exactly the same thing when you decided to reach across the table and grab his cards. Hypothically, if I were the club owner (or the ACBL) and I got dragged into this whole mess, I'd ban the both off you and figure it was good riddance. I suspect that you're both more trouble that you're worth. In a similar vein, if you don't like a particular club is run, you have other options about where you chose to play.

 

I'll close by noting the following: All politics is local. If you really want to accomplish something, you need work at the local level and convince other patrons of the clubs that "you was wronged". Ultimately, they're the ones who really are in a position of effect change. If you can't pull this off, I don't see why you expect that a few bureacrats in a bridge federation located hundreds, if not thousands of miles away are going to have the interest or ability to do anything.

[pigpenz]

its the assaulted persons call

I have seen people in the past go out in the parking lot settle the dispute only to be laughing about it later in the rehash at the bar.

 

Granted bridge isnt hockey :P

[ladydoc]

Thank you all for your replies. I know something has to be done about this incident, and I just now called the local station to file a report. I don't yet know if we will be going back to bridge.

Our team mates, who are new directors, of course didn't see what happened and since we left last night right after the game, and (after talking to the club manager), I wasn't able to get their opinion. The good note in all this is that we learn something from all experience, and I certainly have learned from this.

[pigpenz]

I would like some idea how the ACBL will handle this matter.

Generally there would be a disciplianry meeting at the district or local level depending on where the event took place.

 

One time at the Reno Regional we had a case where a lady purposelly slammed a door on a player and locked him outside the auditorium cause he was objecting to her smoking with the door open.

 

We banned them from district events for 30 days and the rest gets forwarded to the acbl national level and gets files....if it were at the local level the club would forward it to the unit disciplianry level and it would be then forwarded to the district level.

 

at the upper levels it depends on what the past record of the individuals is as to wether it will warrant further bans or expulsions.

 

as far as wether to charge someone with assault that has to be up to the individuals involved and wether or not it warrants someone being charged with a crime.

[barmar]

Shouldn't we be thankful that declarer is still alive? It seems like a bruised arm is minor compared to the infamous case where Mrs. Bennett murdered Mr. Bennett due to a bad bid in a "friendly" game of rubber bridge, and the judge ruled justifiable homicide. And this is apparently not apocryphal, see Snopes.

[bid_em_up]

All I can say is.....if the sob grabbed my arm, he likely would have withdrawn with a bloody stump.

 

:P

[uday]

Wild story. Lends a new meaning to

 

"Claim plsssssssss"

[mycroft]

I know that I know the rules, and I am very touchy about my cards, TYVM, but still.

 

However, my response to no when "please sort the hearts clearly" would have been a TD call. Let him get bruised.

 

Of course, that would probably have had the board thrown out because their teammates "can't play it fairly." At which point it's getting recorded.

 

I've seen worse - I've been involved in worse. But taking your frustrations out on your opponents, even though it sounds in the heat of the moment like they're just ribbing you more about getting to the wrong slam (yes, I know you didn't mean anything of the sort. I also know that there are those who would) is illegal. And if the director "can't do anything about it" then his club doesn't deserve my business.

 

Despite ZT (which I think should be very little tolerance, see below) there will always be some rude people at the bridge table, and some that will take preoccupation as rudeness - as everywhere else in real life. But this is over-the-top.

 

Michael

(My favourite ZT story was the regional I was directing in. An A pair had a terrible first session, and a liquid-fuelled dinner break as a result, and were feeling no pain. About 6 rounds in, a rather loud, definately "not-for-parents" (children already know all of this, listen to them sometime), but obviously "having fun" statement came out. After the dead quiet that always surrounds such things, the next one was "You know what I like about bridge? It's the way the Directors have selective hearing sometimes!" Of course, if anybody had a problem with it, I'd had to have noticed (and I said the same) but everybody took it in the spirit it was intended, which was not offensive at all. And that's why I'm not a ZT zealot, while still thinking VLT makes sense.)

[pbleighton]

I believe that directors aren't required to enforce zero tolerance. The guy at my club certainly doesn't, though he certainly wouldn't countenance any nearly this extreme.

 

Peter

[barmar]

I don't think ZT is really relevant to this case. Bruising someone's arm doesn't even fall under 75% tolerance.

[keylime]

Frankly, the offender should be arrested. Period, non-negotiable, end of subject. He/she should also be barred for 10 years for starters and be made an example of.

This is grossly unexcusable.

 

The director should be barred from all ACBL events as a director AND as a player for a minimum of 3 years for failing to protect the player in question and for bringing the game into further disrepute by allowing this sad affair to happen. Any director that did not call the police is is my clearest of minds, an accomplice to the crime itself.

 

So, ACBL, are you FINALLY going to get out your sorry a**** and do something about ZT? Or will it take someone being nearly killed or worse and then the lawsuit to come flying at you to start enforcing this hollow shell of words you call policy? Don't give me this crap that ZT is optional; you crammed it down our throats and I expect you to honor it. I expect you to quit being so damn wishy-washy about it and actually GET RID of the folks that continue to get away with conduct that is inexcusable. I also expect you to enforce to the directors in the strongest of language that incidents like this is a main adjunct to why people are not playing at the clubs. I want surveys of directors on how they are maintaining the game. I want the ability to rate objectively and to improve the processes.

 

One of the main reasons for internet bridge's successful growth is not due to the cheapening of costs, but the cheapening, the lessening, of the threshold, of conduct at local clubs that is not tolerated instead. It is no wonder that people online think that when they are at the club that the conduct there, mirrors what we see online these days.

[awm]

There was a fistfight at the Beverly Hills bridge club a few years back. I wasn't there for the actual event, but apparently they had to cancel the game that afternoon. I showed up for the evening game and it was much bigger than usual since everyone from the cancelled afternoon game had received free plays. One of the perpetrators of the fight actually showed up to the evening game and was allowed to play! In fact one of the better players in the club suggested that I should play with this individual at some future date, an invitation I politely declined.

 

Anyways I see that enforcement of ZT isn't much different elsewhere. Kind of sad really. You'd think that physical violence would at least be sufficient to trigger some sort of penalty (I know that insulting my partner, and continuing to berate her after being told to be quiet by the director, is not sufficient for a ZT penalty).

[blackshoe]

Shouldn't we be thankful that declarer is still alive? It seems like a bruised arm is minor compared to the infamous case where Mrs. Bennett murdered Mr. Bennett due to a bad bid in a "friendly" game of rubber bridge, and the judge ruled justifiable homicide. And this is apparently not apocryphal, see Snopes.

I think there was more to Mrs. Bennett's motive than her husband's light opening. And Mrs. Bennett was acquiited by a jury, not by a judge ruling "justifiable homicide". According to the Snopes link you posted, the jury decided the death was accidental.

 

This part may be apocryphal, but then again it may not: I have read that a large part of the reason for the acquital was perhaps that Mrs. Bennett was young and attractive, and that the jurors were mostly, if not all, male. :P

[blackshoe]

"Zero Tolerance" is really unnecessary. All it says is "we're gonna enforce the rules against bad behavior." Pfui. Don't yammer about it, just do it!

[jillybean]

As long as someone is benefiting for each butt on a seat and the general membership tolerates this behavior nothing will change. Why enforce ZT and risk reducing your profit?

[matmat]

heh. i doubt there are many people who have posted here who have not, at one time or another, wanted to punch their p or opponent in the face. of course sanity prevailed (or perhaps fear of consequences) and none of us have done this.

 

to actually exert physical violence during a non-contact sport such as bridge is quite uncalled for...

 

I've also found that some directors wish to avoid confrontation at all cost. Had a boistrous opp accuse my p of cheating (didn't quite say the magic word, but it was quite clear what he was implying). Director said nothing, and instead gave a split ruling on a hand to appease the opponent that rather stupidly bid himself into -800.

 

c'est la vie. money rules, rules of decorum are secondary.