Why Should I Play At BBO?

[sceptic]

ok he can play with whomsoever he wishes, however to put that in a post in the context he did is offensive.

 

 

it is not offensive, it is his opinion and he is entitled to it, just because someone does not agree with him, does not make it offensive.

[pdmunro]

I want to put in a plug for the Main Bridge Club.

 

I enjoy playing in the MBC with random opponents. SAYC is my only system.

 

I am "advanced" and I will play with and against players of any level, but I prefer "advanced/experts".

 

If a partner asks "Why did you ...?" I have found that the only answer is to say nothing at all and just get on with the next hand.

 

Yes there are a few occasions when the bridge table in the MBC resembles a pinball machine with all the comings and goings. To my way of thinking, this chaos mirrors bridge itself. One deal we may have 23 points and easily make 3NT. The next hand we are in 3NT with 27 points, and the opponents take the first 5 tricks in their long suit.

 

I'm going to make up a statistic: The probabilty that 25 points will yield 3NT is about 70% which is about the probablility that the players at a table will be pleasant. One has to remain calm when either the cards or the players don't work out as expected. Let the frustration and anger pass by like a cloud.

[the hog]

ok he can play with whomsoever he wishes, however to put that in a post in the context he did is offensive.

 

 

it is not offensive, it is his opinion and he is entitled to it, just because someone does not agree with him, does not make it offensive.

Ok Wayne, if I substituted "Sceptic" or "Wayne" for "this specific country" you would not find this offensive? According to you I am entitled to my opinion.

[helene_t]

In time, you may notice that the people who tend to frequently vacate hands are from a handful of specific countries (or at least I have).

I think I have friends as well as enemies from all of the major BBO countries. Some are over-represented on both lists, presumably due to time zones and maybe country-specifc tourneys (my guess is that I have relatively many Norwegian friends because of the Scandinavian/Benelux club, and relatively few friends and enemies from France because I can't play in French-speaking tourneys). Maybe a slight over-representing of Chinese and Bulgarians and under-representing of Polish, Dutch and English because of bidding systems but even that may not be significant.

 

It would surprise me if there was any country-effect on my personal freind/enemy ratio other than maybe the effect of the Scandinavian/Benelux club being a relatively friendly club, which needs not say anything ambout those countries in general, of course. Then again, it might.

 

It's possible that I have a PC-based unconscious bias towards making friends with people from countries that threaten to become underrepresented on my friends list.

[barmar]

I can understand bid_em_up's opinion. Countries have cultures, and these influence how people behave (hence the stereotypes of "ugly Americans" and "snooty Frenchmen"). And the Internet in general tends to be an environment where rudeness abounds (sociologists and psychologists have done many studies that show this -- the general assumption is that such behavior is usually tempered by visual emotional cues, which are missing online). So if there are cultures that tend towards rudeness, this tendency may be accentuated online.

 

However, there are also many exceptions. So if you steadfastly refuse to play with anyone from these countries, you'll miss out on the opportunities that Helene has discovered.

[sceptic]

Ok Wayne, if I substituted "Sceptic" or "Wayne" for "this specific country" you would not find this offensive? According to you I am entitled to my opinion

 

It would not offend me, but then I am quite thick skinned, if that was his opinion of me, so be it

 

I still think that whilst he generalises, he has made a non offensive statement, he is also missing out as there are some great people from (what I believe is the country he is on about), but by and large he has a very valid point and I guarentee that he is not in a minority view, amongst the forum posters here ( they probably are a little less open about their opinion though )

 

also Ron, I respect everyones right to be entitled to an opinion, myself and you are not what I would call shrinking violets

 

If he said I wont allow the english at my table as I think they are all t*****s or I wont allow africans at the table because they are all black. then that may be offensive, I just do not think what he said is offensive and you do not seem the sort to be offended easily either Ron