Inconsistent Use of Stop Card

[bixby]

What, if anything, is the redress for inconsistent use of the stop card? I've been somewhat put out recently by opponents who use the stop card before pre-emptive jumps but then fail to use it before raising 1NT to 3NT or before Blackwood or something like that. I haven't called the Director because it seems too petty. If I did call the Director, is there any chance of anything other than an instruction to use the stop card consistently? I'm in the ACBL.

[blackshoe]

Depends almost entirely on the director. Most club directors, at least, won't do more than tell them to be consistent. Repeatedly. :(

 

Technically, inconsistent use of the stop card is an infraction. The regulation uses the word "should" so according to TFLB, a PP would be unusual ("not often penalized" is the wording used) . So they have to keep doing it after being warned/instructed not to. How many such warnings is appropriate is up to the TD. IMO one is enough and three is too many, whoever is the miscreant.

[pran]

What, if anything, is the redress for inconsistent use of the stop card? I've been somewhat put out recently by opponents who use the stop card before pre-emptive jumps but then fail to use it before raising 1NT to 3NT or before Blackwood or something like that. I haven't called the Director because it seems too petty. If I did call the Director, is there any chance of anything other than an instruction to use the stop card consistently? I'm in the ACBL.

Depends almost entirely on the director. Most club directors, at least, won't do more than tell them to be consistent. Repeatedly. :(

 

Technically, inconsistent use of the stop card is an infraction. The regulation uses the word "should" so according to TFLB, a PP would be unusual ("not often penalized" is the wording used) . So they have to keep doing it after being warned/instructed not to. How many such warnings is appropriate is up to the TD. IMO one is enough and three is too many, whoever is the miscreant.

I would also say that it depends on how they use the stop card inconsistently.

 

When STOP was first introduced in Norway it was (also) to be used with 1NT opening bids that was weaker than 15 HCP (because weak 1NT was uncommon at the time).

 

Within an "inventive" region the players then began declaring their 1NT opening range as 12 - 17 and used the Stop card to indicate that it was 12 - 14 while without Stop it was 15 - 17!

 

As the Secretary General in the Norwegian Bridge Federation later told me: "It was impossible to make them understand that this was illegal, so instead we removed Stop with weak 1NT opening bids".