Question about Speeball Games

[E Laurvick]

I'm used to ACBL tournaments, so I'm trying to figure out where BBO is different.

 

Tonight, playing in a Speedball tournament, it was my turn to bid when my RHO called the Director. There is no explanation when this happens, and I had no idea what the problem was. However, as I do in regular ACBL games, I waited for the director to arrive. Eventually I was told to bid, which I did. When we had finished the hands, I asked my opponent why he called the Director and he said I was taking too long to bid. He also said I should not have waited, I should just have continued bidding. Is this correct?

 

Personally, I think his director call was out of line. I am not a slow player and we finished all three boards in spite of the difficult slam my partner and I bid (which made easily). If he was out of line, does BBO make a note of unnecessary director calls? My partner and I discussed it later and we both think he may have done it to try to throw us off, since we were obviously exploring for a slam.

 

I don't know who to ask about his. I sent an email inquiry but haven't received a response. I hope BBO monitors this forum and someone will tell me what the proper procedure is when a Director is called.

[barmar]

Most of the time players first try to get a player's attention through chat if they seem to be stuck. They'll type "bid pls" or something like that. If there's no response to several inquiries, then they'll call the TD to ask them to take some action.

 

If someone just calls the TD without first making an attempt to contact you, that's inappropriate. But I don't think you should have stopped just because you saw the "So-and-so has called the director" message. For all you know, he was calling him about something that happened in a previous round, nothing to do with you.

 

Jacki and our ACBL directors have a pretty good memory of which players are regular troublemakers. So if this player makes a habit of intimidating players like this, I'm sure they know who he is.

[blackshoe]

But I don't think you should have stopped just because you saw the "So-and-so has called the director" message. For all you know, he was calling him about something that happened in a previous round, nothing to do with you.

So Law 9B2 doesn't apply online?

[barmar]

So Law 9B2 doesn't apply online?

It depends. If the director is being called about an irregularity, then you should wait for him to resolve it. But if he's being called to tell you to get moving, just get moving -- don't make things worse (especially in a speedball, where time is quite limited). And if he's being called about something totally unrelated to you and the board being played, ignore it totally.

[Vampyr]

It depends. If the director is being called about an irregularity, then you should wait for him to resolve it. But if he's being called to tell you to get moving, just get moving -- don't make things worse (especially in a speedball, where time is quite limited). And if he's being called about something totally unrelated to you and the board being played, ignore it totally.

 

But how would I know unless the opponent told me? If I don't know why the director is being summoned, of course I will wait. And I think that the most likely reason for the director call in the middle of the auction is because the player in question gave me misinformation (or suspects that partner did. I am not sure how he would know that, since players' alerts and explanations are obviously hidden from their partners. But it could have been based on a follow-up question from my partner, or the like. Or maybe there is a suspicion that partner or I gave MI. I would certainly not continue the auction before I knew what was happening.

[barmar]

But how would I know unless the opponent told me? If I don't know why the director is being summoned, of course I will wait. And I think that the most likely reason for the director call in the middle of the auction is because the player in question gave me misinformation (or suspects that partner did. I am not sure how he would know that, since players' alerts and explanations are obviously hidden from their partners. But it could have been based on a follow-up question from my partner, or the like. Or maybe there is a suspicion that partner or I gave MI. I would certainly not continue the auction before I knew what was happening.

Usually the reason for a director call is pretty obvious, although the case of misinformation from partner's explanation is a good counterexample.

 

In the case of speedball games, it's probably reasonable to ignore 9B2 in many cases. Time is limited, and BBO doesn't allow you to keep playing after the round is called, so speed is of the essence. Sometimes practicality takes precedence over strict adherence to the laws.

[Vampyr]

In the case of speedball games, it's probably reasonable to ignore 9B2 in many cases. Time is limited, and BBO doesn't allow you to keep playing after the round is called, so speed is of the essence. Sometimes practicality takes precedence over strict adherence to the laws.

 

OK, but it seems very strange that a player would call the director to try to get his opponents to speed up instead of saying "hurry up this is speedball". The director call was for an immediate issue at the table in question... if the player did not want to wait for the director to arrive, why did he call him?

[barmar]

I agree it was strange. I can't explain what was going through his mind.

 

Maybe he was trying to avoid an additional delay if he waited to call the TD until after poking you a few times, so he called the TD proactively.