Change of a bid after undo request

[mink]

In this hand, South replaced his original 4♣ bid by 3nt after an undo request. The 2nt and and 3♠ bids were alerted. The alerts are present in the lin code, but are not displayed by the movie (barmar please check).

 

Do you think that 4♣ can possibly have been a misclick? Would you adjust, and if yes, to what? What would you do if this happened at a real table with bidding boxes in use?

 

Karl

 

Edit: it was of course South who requested the undo, not West as I originally wrote.

[billw55]

This happens a lot, many players use undo because they change their mind. I don't believe that 4♣ is a misclick of 3NT. Isn't the NT button clear at the other end of the line from the ♣ button? Although the old client might have buttons next to each other .. I really don't remember. How quickly did he ask for the undo?

 

At a live table with bid boxes, 4♣ could easily be a mechanical error. The players and director should consider this when responding to the situation.

[barmar]

The 2nt and and 3♠ bids were alerted. The alerts are present in the lin code, but are not displayed by the movie (barmar please check).

Apparently the handviewer only highlights bids if there are explanations to go with them, not if they're alerted without explanations. Only 3♣ has an explanation.

[Zelandakh]

I usually ask my opponent if their undo request was a misclick or a change of mind before accepting. If they say it was a misclick and it later transpires that it was not then they get booted and a note on their profile made that effectively blacklists them from future games at our table. BBO is good like this - at the club you just have to put up with all the shenanigans most of the time and still have to play against the same opponents with a straight face the following week.

 

On the flip side, if we find out an opponent did make a genuine misclick and did not ask for an undo, we always tell them that they should ask for one the next time, since they are always welcome for misclicks (with the exception of opening lead).

 

It is naturally a bit harder in a tournament. If it is a regular tournament then you could mark the profile to say no undos ever. Or you could just ask the question and accept the answer; most opponents answer honestly.

 

 

Edit: having now looked at the hand, my guess is that South got confused as to whether the slow route or the fast route showed a spade stopper. After 4♣, I would guess that North bids 4♦ and now South either bids 4♥ or 5♦. At a real table it would probably be more immediately obvious whether the change of call was due to an inadvertent bid or a change of mind.

[GreenMan]

IIRC if the previous bid was 3♠ then in the bidding box clicking the 3 produces a "NT" option where the Clubs option would normally go, since other 3-level bids are no longer available. If South has played a lot he would have known this and may have intended to click "3" and "NT" in quick succession, then realized that he mistakenly hit the "4" on the first click so the second click was on "♣".

 

Not saying this is what he did or even that it's likely, just that it's not as much of a stretch as some have suggested. I click with that method sometimes, and I doubt I'm the only one.

[Vampyr]

BBO is good like this - at the club you just have to put up with all the shenanigans most of the time and still have to play against the same opponents with a straight face the following week.

 

................

 

At a real table it would probably be more immediately obvious whether the change of call was due to an inadvertent bid or a change of mind.

 

This seems kind of contradictory.

[GreenMan]

This seems kind of contradictory.

 

Not really. If it's obvious that they changed their mind, at the club you can't just block them and not have to deal with them next time you play. They'll keep showing up.

[barmar]

If the cards are sticky, then trying to pull 3NT could drag the next card (4♣) along with it.

[TylerE]

This happens a lot, many players use undo because they change their mind. I don't believe that 4♣ is a misclick of 3NT. Isn't the NT button clear at the other end of the line from the ♣ button?

 

At a live table with bid boxes, 4♣ could easily be a mechanical error.

 

I don't get this line of logic. It's either a potential mechanical error or it's not. All the physical boxes I've ever seen have the ♣ cards at the opposite end as the NT cards.