need recomendations for machines & scorers

[mgiurgeu]

Our club has received a grant that allows us to buy duplicating machines & electronic scoring systems. I'm looking for recommendations for these. Any suggestions are welcome. tx,

[Hanoi5]

Our club has received a grant that allows us to buy duplicating machines & electronic scoring systems. I'm looking for recommendations for these. Any suggestions are welcome. tx,

 

 

I'd buy Dealer4 as the duplicating machine. It almost doesn't matter which cards you use, the machine takes a picture of the card and it recognizes it that way. If you buy the ones which need a barcode then you'll always have to use those cards.

[hen1927]

The Bridgemate Scoring System is the most desirable and reliable wireless scoring system. Please see www.bridgemate.us for more information from the America's distributor. Contact is sales@bridgemate.us

[dustinst22]

Cant believe a smartphone app hasn't been developed yet to replace bridgemate.

[Vampyr]

Cant believe a smartphone app hasn't been developed yet to replace bridgemate.

 

The phones (and ongoing data connection for all of them) would be a lot more expensive than Bridgemates.

[dustinst22]

The phones (and ongoing data connection for all of them) would be a lot more expensive than Bridgemates.

 

I think most people already have smartphones, so that's a non-issue.

 

The ongoing data connection cost would be very minimal as you would only need a data-connection when a score is entered. This is a minimal amount of data usage. Additionally, you could simply log into the wifi of the club.

 

The benefit would be you could see your score/s instantly after a session, not having to wait for some print out. You could also store results and hands on your phone for review later.

 

Bridge is so far behind in technology, we'll probably see this happen in 2020.

[Vampyr]

I think most people already have smartphones, so that's a non-issue.

 

Really? I don't think that's true. Also many event ban mobiles in the playing area.

 

The ongoing data connection cost would be very minimal as you would only need a data-connection when a score is entered. This is a minimal amount of data usage.

 

But you would need a monthly subscription for each phone.

 

Additionally, you could simply log into the wifi of the club.

 

Right, because club games held in village halls, church halls and similar are likely to have wifi.

 

The benefit would be you could see your score/s instantly after a session, not having to wait for some print out. You could also store results and hands on your phone for review later.

 

Golly, imagine having to wait the 10 seconds for a piece of paper to print out! Who has time for this anymore, really?

 

And in any case, one person would be sending the score; the other three people would still need to look at their hands and result on the internet, as usual.

[dustinst22]

Really? I don't think that's true. Also many event ban mobiles in the playing area.

 

In the US at least, yes most have one. Even old bridge players who are slow to adopt new tech :). In any case, everyone will have one within 2-3 yrs time.

 

While clubs require you to have your device off, this law I think could be changed as Bridge gets more modernized. It's already becoming more relaxed in acbl land. Imagine being able to look up any hand you've ever played in any event, and also being able to look at all of the scores.....all stored on your phone. Then imagine being able to easily import your hands into the BBO app.....possibilities are all there.

 

 

But you would need a monthly subscription for each phone.

 

Well if you have a phone, this is a non-issue obv....as you'd already have a monthly subscription (again, only referring to the US here, not sure if this is common in Europe). Maybe I'm wrong here, but everyone at least in my generation now has a smart phone, and most people I see at the clubs do as well. I'm guessing at least 75%.

[jillybean]

Our unit is considering the purchase of bridge scorers at the moment and haven't made any recommendations yet but did find this

on the ACBL Website:

 

15. Will WiFi devices (Android and iPad/iTouch/iPhone) be supported?

 

Yes. But they will connect through a wireless network to a central server (that will be Windows or Mac).

 

http://www.acblscoreplus.com/?page_id=12#15

[Vampyr]

Maybe I'm wrong here, but everyone at least in my generation now has a smart phone, and most people I see at the clubs do as well. I'm guessing at least 75%.

 

At my local club there would not be nearly enough smart phones to have one at every table. In any case, people with smartphones can already just look at the club's website to see the hands and results, so there is no gain by having also used the phone as a scoring device.

 

I am getting an upgrade on my mobile as soon as I get around to it, and I will not get a smartphone if there is a sensible alternative. Not everyone wants one, and it seems a risky strategy to rely on someone at every table, every round, having one, and having the app, and knowing how to use it.

[GreenMan]

"You mean I have to download your app to my phone before I can play at your club? Piss off."

[Vampyr]

"You mean I have to download your app to my phone before I can play at your club? Piss off."

 

LOL yeah there's that, too.

[dustinst22]

Our unit is considering the purchase of bridge scorers at the moment and haven't made any recommendations yet but did find this

on the ACBL Website:

 

15. Will WiFi devices (Android and iPad/iTouch/iPhone) be supported?

 

Yes. But they will connect through a wireless network to a central server (that will be Windows or Mac).

 

http://www.acblscoreplus.com/?page_id=12#15

 

Interesting. Sounds promising.

[gordontd]

Cant believe a smartphone app hasn't been developed yet to replace bridgemate.

It already exists. http://www.brianbridge.net. For those who don't have a smartphone, tablets are available at significantly less cost than most wireless scoring devices.

[jillybean]

"You mean I have to download your app to my phone before I can play at your club? Piss off."

No, I imagine the other people at your table will enter the scores and you can continue to keep track of your scores on a piece of paper.

[jillybean]

It already exists. http://www.brianbridge.net. For those who don't have a smartphone, tablets are available at significantly less cost than most wireless scoring devices.

Very interesting, thank you.

[GreenMan]

No, I imagine the other people at your table will enter the scores and you can continue to keep track of your scores on a piece of paper.

 

As Vampyr pointed out, this scenario we're envisioning requires that at least one suitably equipped mobile device be present at every table every round. The only way to ensure that this happens is to require everyone to bring one.

 

The Bridgemate devices may be kind of pricey (I wouldn't know), but owning them means you never have to worry that your customers will bring enough essential equipment for you to put on a game.

[Phil352]

The only way to ensure that this happens is to require everyone to bring one.

 

 

Not necessarily true in normal duplicate movements: If you bring a smartphone you get first dibs on sitting North-South (or given the stereotypical nature of smartphone users being younger maybe all EW should do the scoring and move around the room.

 

Still a pretty poor idea atm though.

[mycroft]

Given the inability of players who are told to turn the bloody things *off* at the club to do so, and get annoying rings heard clear across the room in the middle of playing 5♦, I'd wonder how much worse that would be if they were recommended on to use the scoreApp. Unless the scoreApp does the auto-muting of the ringer, but most phoneOSes are really unhappy about apps playing with basic phone settings.

 

Can you tell there's someone at one of my clubs who I believe should have a "3 IMP penalty when your phone goes off, multiplied by the number of times we've applied this penalty so far this month" rule attached to him?

[gordontd]

As Vampyr pointed out, this scenario we're envisioning requires that at least one suitably equipped mobile device be present at every table every round. The only way to ensure that this happens is to require everyone to bring one.

 

The Bridgemate devices may be kind of pricey (I wouldn't know), but owning them means you never have to worry that your customers will bring enough essential equipment for you to put on a game.

In practice what happens is that the club has a few tablets for use when there's a table with no smartphone. The system is such that a device can either be assigned to a table and it stays there, or it can be assigned to a moving pair. So, sometimes you'll have a spare device at a table, and other times you might have none. I don't think it happens often though that there are four people at a table with no smartphone or tablet.

[GreenMan]

In practice what happens is that the club has a few tablets for use when there's a table with no smartphone. The system is such that a device can either be assigned to a table and it stays there, or it can be assigned to a moving pair. So, sometimes you'll have a spare device at a table, and other times you might have none. I don't think it happens often though that there are four people at a table with no smartphone or tablet.

 

And now we're back to the club providing the equipment. I don't see the advantage of this system over the club providing all the scoring hardware.

 

Seriously: Shouldn't the club have everything needed for the game? You don't tell your players to bring cards or chairs or bidding boxes. Why should they be expected to bring scoring devices?

[Vampyr]

It already exists. http://www.brianbridge.net. For those who don't have a smartphone, tablets are available at significantly less cost than most wireless scoring devices.

 

This is very interesting; I had thought that tablets were expensive, but have just discovered that small ones cost around £70. So this might be a good option if the subscriptions can be had cheaply. What would tablets (or smartphones) need in terms of a server?

 

And is theft a potential issue?

[mycroft]

And now we're back to the club providing the equipment. I don't see the advantage of this system over the club providing all the scoring hardware.

 

Seriously: Shouldn't the club have everything needed for the game? You don't tell your players to bring cards or chairs or bidding boxes. Why should they be expected to bring scoring devices?

Our unit subsidised scoring device purchases by the clubs, quite significantly. If it weren't for that (in exchange, the unit appropriates the devices for its tournaments), they wouldn't be at half the clubs. And we're a pretty rich area, where bridge is concerned. The cost of 5 or so tablets and a router <<< 15 bridgemates and a specialised server.

 

If you're going to a club with 6 games a week, about 80 tables total, great. If it's an "once a week, need 4 tables to break even, game's between 3 and 5" game, buying the stuff won't recover its cost.

[gordontd]

And now we're back to the club providing the equipment. I don't see the advantage of this system over the club providing all the scoring hardware.

 

Seriously: Shouldn't the club have everything needed for the game? You don't tell your players to bring cards or chairs or bidding boxes. Why should they be expected to bring scoring devices?

The advantage is price. For a small club that can't afford a Bridgemate setup, they can do something similar for a fraction of the cost.

[Vampyr]

The cost of 5 or so tablets and a router <<< 15 bridgemates and a specialised server.

 

I think realistically you would want a tablet for each table, and have a uniform rather than a piecemeal approach. Also then you could have a setup that specifies the players and the boards that need to be there. But the lack of wifi in most club premises would still be a problem. And the cost of data subscriptions would be ongoing, but perhaps a "family plan" or the like would help with that, since the usage would be very light.

 

If you're going to a club with 6 games a week, about 80 tables total, great. If it's an "once a week, need 4 tables to break even, game's between 3 and 5" game, buying the stuff won't recover its cost.

 

Our once-a-week club averages about 11 tables, we need 10 1/2 to break even, and we had no trouble at all purchasing a Duplimate and Bridgemates a few years ago. So I guess you need a margin of about half a table or a little more to buy equipment such as this.