Conundrum

[onoway]

In BIL people are encouraged to be supportive of the play with such comments as wdp or wdo. In other threads, it seems that some people find this objectionable.

It gets to be meaningless after a while, though. Sometimes it's difficult to know what to say if p says gtp when I know exactly what dumb mistake I made that lost the contract or wdp when it was only the opp's mistake that allowed it to make. OTOH, it feels sort of grim to sit there in silence hand after hand.

 

it's sorta like saying hi how are you when you don't really mean to ask, it's just a formula to demonstrate friendliness and general good will, it seems. Aside from a stolid silence are there other options?

[helene_t]

I don't make any assumptions about what p and opp mean by their comments and whether or not they are paying attention to anything. So I can't get excited about this issue. In general, I believe in free speech, though.

[Phil]

Usually when I kib pard's play I don't pay much attention, so sometimes I'll give a WDP when the opponents hand over the contract. Not a good thing.

 

Personally I think WDP's and WDO's are for really good plays. If you WDP for a claimer, it sounds patronizing.

[Echognome]

Isn't that what WCP (Well Claimed Partner) is for?

[ArtK78]

If a "wdp" is to mean anything, it should be reserved for significantly good plays. My partner and I are usually silent at the table. If one of us gives the other a "wdp" it is well deserved.

 

The flip side is that when the defense gives away a contract, or if the declarer makes an "ambitious" contract due to an extremely fortunate lie of the cards but without any remarkable skill, the use of a "wdp" by the dummy can be viewed as insulting. Players should learn to take their good fortune quietly so as not to "twist the knife" into their opponents.

[el mister]

Split the difference I guess. I don't enjoy playing in silence with a pick up partner, but an endless stream of glp, wdp, gtp is pretty meaningless. Like you say, it's akin to a formulaic 'how's it going?' Nothing of substance in the phrase but it's a lot better then just saying nothing.

[qwery_hi]

It'll be interesting to know how the top partnerships are in this regard in RL. Do they gtp wdp glp too?

[ArtK78]

It'll be interesting to know how the top partnerships are in this regard in RL. Do they gtp wdp glp too?

Absolutely not.

[onoway]

No doubt the top players don't, when they are playing serious bridge. However, that strikes me as being in the same league as asking if the top jockeys at Churchill Downs and Belmont saddle their own horses when getting ready to ride a big race; the answer has little to do with the vast majority of people who ride.

 

However, thanks to the miracle of BBO I have on one or two occassions seen top players who were playing with lesser mortals offer a comment when it was a result clearly requiring the player to play at the very top of his/her ability. It seemed to me to be a gracious acknowlegement of an excellent effort rather than an attempt to "twist the knife".

 

In fact, I don't recall ever seeing an incident where a wdp or wdo was said intending to be sarcastic or hurtful to anyone.

[qwery_hi]

It'll be interesting to know how the top partnerships are in this regard in RL. Do they gtp wdp glp too?

Absolutely not.

I wonder if they even follow the play when they are dummy - seems to me to be a good idea if I am dummy to conserve energy .

[andy_h]

I think it depends what level you're at. When you're BIL I think it's nice to say wdp to be more supportive and encouraging. You may not have broad enough knowledge to identify what went wrong or if the contract can actually be defeated. But as you gradually improve, you start to learn more and more, and the messages associated with wdp and gtp now have a side implication which could be interpreted wrongly.

It's kinda weird because in all sports when you play as a partnership/team you generally constantly keep on supporting each other by high-fiving and not wanting to each other down because you want to stay focused, but in bridge it's just best to be silent.

[peachy]

In BIL people are encouraged to be supportive of the play with such comments as wdp or wdo. In other threads, it seems that some people find this objectionable.

It gets to be meaningless after a while, though. Sometimes it's difficult to know what to say if p says gtp when I know exactly what dumb mistake I made that lost the contract or wdp when it was only the opp's mistake that allowed it to make. OTOH, it feels sort of grim to sit there in silence hand after hand.

 

it's sorta like saying hi how are you when you don't really mean to ask, it's just a formula to demonstrate friendliness and general good will, it seems. Aside from a stolid silence are there other options?

Silence is best. Filling the chat area with strings of typ, glp, wdp, typ, wdo, tyo, is so pointless, and it can very easily be seen as patronizing. The only time I think it is good is when a teacher plays with a student and wants to keep up the spirits of a perhaps struggling learner.

[CSGibson]

I provide a constant flow of glp's in online bridge, and "good luck, p" in face to face. It's just part of the ritual of putting down dummy and showing solidarity for partner, just like saying "typ" or "thank you, p" is the completion of that ritual. Ultimately meaningless, it still has a small place in a social game like bridge.

[Gerben42]

glp and typ are desirable, and I try not to say the same every now and then.

 

Wpp has to be deserved, i.e. not when partner made his contract only because the opponents handed it to him on a silver platter. I also say WDO when I mean it.

 

The only other time when I say wpp is when partner claims at trick 1 :) Then everyone at the table knows it was just a little joke *g

[Codo]

I must have my roots in the Netherlands, because all is said by Helene and Gerben.

[vuroth]

Silence is best. Filling the chat area with strings of typ, glp, wdp, typ, wdo, tyo, is so pointless, and it can very easily be seen as patronizing.

No to single you out, as several people have expressed this point of view, but it does make me wonder why my parents taught me to fill the air with a pointless, incessant stream of "please", "thank you" and "you're welcomes".

 

I can't recall the last time someone offended me or annoyed me by being overtly polite in real life, so I'm not sure why it should happen on the computer.