This is a place to post your questions, comments and whatever news comes my way. I will try to answer them as best I can.
Double points on Monday, September 7th, Labor Day. Open game at noon.
September 21-27 win extra points. 75% black and 25% gold in club appreciation week. Entry will be $1 more due to $5 increase in ACBL table fees.
There is Learner’s duplicate at 1 PM on Wednesday. We play 3 boards, then have a conference call to discuss the boards. We play twelve hands in all. Master point limit of 99. Please call Libby at 209-610-7003 for more information.
For game results, click here.
Schedule The current game schedule is Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday at noon. Normal awards are in black points and 1.5 times regular awards. Registration is open 2 hours before game time. There is a Beginner game Wednesday at 1 PM.
What we’ve learned. . .
Most problems are solved by logging out and back on.
The current controversy is should we allow robot partners. Please weigh in.
6/30/20 One person’s history view was not immediately visible. It came back after some fooling around.
6/21/20 Occasionally, an explanation box or bidding description blocks the declarer’s view of the dummy. When this happens, the quickest fix is to log out and back in as quickly as possible.
5/24/20 1)Silver week starts Monday and runs through Sunday May 31. The posted masterpoint awards in BBO are multiplied by 1.5 when posted to ACBL. The correct awards are posted in Live Results. As I understand it, the silver results will be multiplied by 3. 2) It sounds like the majority want to play 24 boards.
5/23/20 1)There are no sit outs on BBO. If we have a half-table, we have a list of subs who can fill in. If someone drops out, we can find a fill-in. 2)The majority seems to want us to run 24 boards. This is technically more difficult, but we are willing to try. This week will be a mix of 18 and 24 board games. 3) We will run mostly 6 minute rounds. Everyone seems to be finishing on time and the system is very fair in awarding scores on unfinished boards. 4) if you lose internet connection and come right back, the system will reseat you. If you are gone too long this does not happen. If you want to be reseated, call the director by chat or phone (libbyl, bpage1016 or maddock) and we will reseat you.
5/22/20 It is silver week from May 25-31so we will run games everyday and maybe an evening game on Wednesday. Awards are silver points and are three times higher than normal awards.
I am getting mixed feedback on the number of boards people want to play so I will mix up the games. Some will be 18 and some 24. I will email a schedule tomorrow. Let me know what you like. I would love to have consensus on this.
5/22/20 We better at running games online now, but still learning. Libby (me (I?)) ran the game on Wednesday. I found it hard to react in a timely fashion, mostly due to my inexperience. Would you like an announcement telling you the name of the director?
The primary problems on Wednesday were alert problems and confusion about the director.
Alerting BBO uses a self-alert system which is fairer than our usual on-site system. If a player is making a non-standard bid, that player (not his partner) must alert it. There is a line for alerts underneath your bid choices. This information is concealed from your partner.
1) If an opponent makes a bid and you would like an explanation, when it is your turn, click on the bid. When you do this a private box comes up for bidder to use for explaining the bid. This avoids having the bidder’s partner in on the explanation. Your partner will not be able to see this request, but can make his own request when it is his turn. This is the fairest way and it’s to your advantage to do it this way. Don’t use table chat. That is for chatting.
2) If you forget to alert, click on your bid as soon as you remember. A box will come up to allow you to explain your bid.
Calling the director To call the director, click the blue box that has the 3 lines in it. It is usually in the upper left corner.
Feedback
24 boards The feedback we have heard so far is that you would like to play more boards, so we are increasing the boards to 24. Six minute boards seem to be working. Losing a board due to time constraints doesn’t really hurt you. If the board is pulled while you are playing it the BBO system or a director will review the board and try to make an accurate assessment and award your probable score. Otherwise, he will assign an average. People seem happier with less waiting at the end of rounds.
Blocked If you are blocked from playing, please text Libby at 610-7003. Re-check your ACBL number by going to ACBL World, an “Update your ACBL number” box will appear below. You cannot change your ACBL number without going through BBO support.
Any cool pix or news about playing at home, please send it in. I will post what I can. I am enjoying reconnecting with everyone. I hope you are as well. Pictures of pajamas accepted especially if they are embarrassing.
Undo Someone pointed out a problem with “no undo'” . There is no “undo” in BBO ACBL games. If you think this is a problem for you, go to your account tab, click settings, then click “check bid”. It will turn green and confirm with you that your bid is intentional. It will check with you every time. You can also click “check card” to get the system to check with you before you play a card to confirm that your card choice was intentional.