Mbodell Posted January 2, 2014 Report Share Posted January 2, 2014 In this neck of the woods we have the PlayBridge duplicating machine that reads not barcodes but the actual card corners. We also have a supplier who makes excellent aluminum boards and supplies decent plastic cards. I am told that the process is faster with the flip-top boards but I have never used one. But the supplier takes the same 20-40 sets around to various week-long tournaments in the area, perhaps 15-20 in a year, and thus they are used much more than 50 times a year. Most ACBL regional tournaments will see each set used at least ten times over the course of 18 sessions in seven days. Yeah, around here where our clubs have the machines most of our club directors direct multiple sessions in a week and probably make the cards (between different sessions, sectionals, regional, etc.) closer to 150-200 times a year rather than 50 times a year. But rather than the speed with which cards are replaced in the US can we bang the drum for hand records for all KO and Swiss events? Is it really that hard? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackshoe Posted January 2, 2014 Report Share Posted January 2, 2014 This. The club in one city where I used to live doesn't have the business to justify the expense, but it got one anyway, and provides sets of boards to nearby clubs for a fee. In effect, several organizers are sharing one machine.That's exactly what we're doing here. The difference is that RABA is a formal organization, a subdivision of unit 112. And IIRC, without some fairly large donations by a couple of our wealthier players, even RABA would not have had the money to buy a machine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vampyr Posted January 2, 2014 Report Share Posted January 2, 2014 I don't understand any of this. I am a member of a club that charges £12/year for membership and £5/weekly session (very cheap by London standards), and pays London rent. We average probably 12 tables/week and have had no trouble affording a Duplimate machine and Bridgemates. We also offer free coffee, tea and biscuits. We so not provide boards to anyone else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackshoe Posted January 2, 2014 Report Share Posted January 2, 2014 Clubs here do not charge for "membership". Technically, I suppose they don't have members, just customers who come to play bridge. Table fees run $7 per player per session. $6.50 at the one large (30 some tables) club. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vampyr Posted January 2, 2014 Report Share Posted January 2, 2014 Here membership of an affiliated club entitles you to EBU membership, reduced table money, and the right to represent the club in various competitions. The club will often pay the entry fees for these competitions as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackshoe Posted January 2, 2014 Report Share Posted January 2, 2014 Different strokes… Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mycroft Posted January 3, 2014 Report Share Posted January 3, 2014 I can't imagine charging $6 for a set of hands; even at "reduced rates", my time for collecting and distributing would be more than that, never mind actually running the boards and making the hand records. If "printing the hand records" means more than one sheet the recipient can copy - if I have to make 10 tables worth of HRs - then I would guess that it would cost me $6 just to do that. So, yeah. That's not even enough to cover costs, never mind labour. I'd be looking at $10 a set for one copy of the HRs - and the club owners responsible for transportation both ways (I'd be willing to do a deal if I played at a particular club, or they wanted 8 sets a week and had 10 sets :-). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zelandakh Posted January 15, 2014 Report Share Posted January 15, 2014 Heh. Well, then the only things I can think of that might explain the great difference in the lifetimes of our respective cards areI think the big difference was contained in pran's last post - they play barometer tournaments. That probably means the cards are used about 10 times more often per session for you than him. So your 3 years and his 20-25 years are not so different, and perhaps actually more favourable for Americans. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pran Posted January 15, 2014 Report Share Posted January 15, 2014 I think the big difference was contained in pran's last post - they play barometer tournaments. That probably means the cards are used about 10 times more often per session for you than him. So your 3 years and his 20-25 years are not so different, and perhaps actually more favourable for Americans.Oddly enough I have never thought of it that way, but yes your thoughts are indeed reasonable. Instead of having just one copy of each board, shuffled and dealt at the table, we typically have from four to ten copies (depending on the number of tables and boards per round) and the net result is that each copy is handled at only a fraction of the tables. However, I am still convinced that we save a lot of wear on the cards by not shuffling them. The card machine is far more gentle with the cards than any person shuffling them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vampyr Posted January 15, 2014 Report Share Posted January 15, 2014 However, I am still convinced that we save a lot of wear on the cards by not shuffling them. The card machine is far more gentle with the cards than any person shuffling them. Yes, it is shuffling that causes cards to wear out, not dealing or handling them (well, not nearly as much, anyway). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackshoe Posted January 15, 2014 Report Share Posted January 15, 2014 Interestingly (I mentioned this in another thread) recently the club owners tried to institute a new regulation stating that the cards should be sorted rather than shuffled before replacing them in the board. Several people (including me) objected on the grounds that the regulation illegally contravenes the law, and some of those people continue to insist on shuffling. Setting aside the legal question, it seems that sorting might prolong the life of the cards, although that was not given as an argument for the regulation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aguahombre Posted January 15, 2014 Report Share Posted January 15, 2014 I doubt the kind of "shuffling" we do while complying with the reg after play has any more affect on wear and tear than sorting them would. A couple of chops. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pran Posted January 15, 2014 Report Share Posted January 15, 2014 I doubt the kind of "shuffling" we do while complying with the reg after play has any more affect on wear and tear than sorting them would. A couple of chops.There is indeed a difference between shuffling 52 Cards in preparation for dealing, and "shuffling" 13 Cards before returning them to the Board. But experience has shown (me at least) that any shuffling means increased wear on the Cards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barmar Posted January 16, 2014 Report Share Posted January 16, 2014 There is indeed a difference between shuffling 52 Cards in preparation for dealing, and "shuffling" 13 Cards before returning them to the Board.Except for one guy at my club, who does at least a half dozen riffle shuffles of his hand before returning them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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