BAM strategy?

[helene_t]

What you're basically saying is that a strategy that averages 60% on all the boards in MP is the same as one that wins 60% of the boards in BAM, but this assumes that your teammates are equivalent to a matchpoint field.

Exactly, that is semeai's point. Semeai said "If not[i.e. if there is no difference between your teammates and the generic ...], I disagree.".

[Stephen Tu]

On the other hand, if you think your teammates are worse than the field, you should play carefully -- you can't afford to give gifts at both tables.

 

Eh? Giving gifts at both tables doesn't matter, one gift already lost the board. Just play not to lose the board as previously stated. Winning the board at both tables, or losing the board at both tables just is overkill and doesn't count. That's what Richard Pavlicek emphasized on r.g.b., he won 4x Reisinger so I'll take his word for it.

 

If you get a gift, try really hard not to give it back. The situation talked about was an extremely rare example, where you got a presumed gift of 2 tricks, where 1 trick was presumed enough to win the board under normal circumstances. Only then can you risk 1 of the tricks back in order to get the third trick to save against your teammates screwing up by going for 200. Even here you have to estimate the chances of teammates getting in the auction to be greater than them giving one trick rather than two on the defense. This situation almost never comes up, in my experience (admittedly limited).

 

If your teammates are worse than the field, at BAM you simply get clobbered. Just enjoy your day of competition against generally better opps (than at a typical regional), and plan your next day doing something else.

[barmar]

Eh? Giving gifts at both tables doesn't matter, one gift already lost the board. Just play not to lose the board as previously stated.

That's not what I meant. You don't know whether they've given a gift on any particular board. If they've given a gift on board 1, there's not much you can do about it, but don't make things worse by giving a gift on board 2.

[Stephen Tu]

But you also said

Then when you get a gift, you now have the opportunity to take a risk that's likely to at worst give it back (only risking half a board) but which might turn a loss into a win if something weird happened at the other table.

 

which I object to. You can't afford to risk half boards at BAM. You *assume it's a win*, that your teammates didn't give away your victory at the other table.

 

The extremely rare situation presented, you got two gifts, not just one. There you can risk one gift (since still win board if teammates were normal), in order to get a third gift to maybe save the board if teammates weren't normal. I am saying this almost never happens. If you only get one gift, you try like hell not to give half the board back, you don't risk it to cater to something weird at the other table.