[easy]

Anyone care to hazard a guess as to why we have so few matchpoint tables? My guess is because imps form of scoring is much more forgiving than matchpoints.

I normally play imps but of late ive been trying to practice matchpoints (with my regular partner) As often as not no one will join the table.

any ideas??

[keylime]

That's a very good question...I've wondered this myself. Maybe it's something different for players, maybe it's the more forgiving nature, who knows?

[dageaux]

like many (i suspect), i began playing online bridge at the zone. for a very long time i played matchpoints exclusively. but on the zone the 'advanced' rooms were anything but. the expert matchpoints rooms didn't seem to attract very many players, so i began going into the expert imp rooms. i continued doing so because the competition was better.

when i first came to bbo i noticed the same thing fred is speaking of, the almost total absence of matchpoint games. it seems that the better players prefer imps, but i think i personally need to mix it up more.

maybe when the geniuses who write the software (f.g. et al) get the time, we'll start having duplicate tourneys. when that happens i think the format will probably be matchpoints. at least i hope so

[easy]

my guess is that the tourneys will be both mp and imps. A little something for everyone

[inquiry]

I will hazard a guess for you. Online matchpoint is almost a random event. What good is it for you to pull of a perfect backwash squeeze for an overtrick while half the field the defense is giving up not one but two overtricks with truely horrendous defense? At imps, good bridge is rewarded (true, there are the impossible 3NT making time and time again so you get -3 for a normal good partscore, but it averages out fairly quickly).

And second, when you go down trying for an overtrick in 3NT to correct for missing a sure 10 tricks in 4S, on line your partner often doesn't understand and will preach to you about how you had a sure 9 tricks. I love MP, but don't play it on line very often.

[Cave_Draco]

I can think of several reasons...  but they all come down to player attitude,  ;D.

Partially, it's a snowball effect. At BB, I play MP almost exclusively (rubber bridge can be fun); but a vision of bridge hell is one table playing MP... You play brilliantly &... 50%; you mess up &... 50%! There is no immediate feedback.

At IMPs, in a partial or a cold game, you can relax (OK, safety plays) but at MP you have to work all the time... that overtrick!

MP requires finer judgement of what the "room" is doing, I describe MP as more "cut-throat".

Finally, I don't play golf but... why are most golf matches stroke-play? You CAN carry that water hazard, at stroke-play it isn't worth the risk; at match-play, what's the worst that can happen?

[EricK]

Quote

Anyone care to hazard a guess as to why we have so few matchpoint tables? My guess is because imps form of scoring is much more forgiving than matchpoints.

I think that MP is more forgiving than IMP!

Playing with pickup partners, as most of us do much of the time on BBO, you are bound to have bidding misunderstandings.  If these lead to missing a cold slam, or going for 1100, or whatever, it is very difficult to ever catch up.

But playing MP, there is a chance for a top on a large proportion of hands (make an overtrick when no-one else does, or drop one fewer trick on defence etc).  So one bad board doesn't put you behind for the rest of the session.

Having said that, I have no idea why MP is less popular than IMP!

Eric

[csdenmark]

I really dont care whether IMP or MP. To me only the language(the auction) matters. The test is of course a part of the game but of less interest to me, maybe because I make too many faults here!

The real reason I think is more simple - when I play or kibitz a table the settings for that table is automatically copied as my settings when I open a table. I really only need to enter a table by a mistake and then I have that host's settings as mine. Oops - and nobody warns me!

I think this, I dont know if it is a bug in software or not, is the real reason not only why we see so many IMP tables but also why we see so many table-host's using restrictions for entry. They cannot manage I see, I admit it is difficult because it is the last and not the first applicant coming to your front.

When I overtake host from somebody else, nothing tells me I now have to modify or administrate settings which seems silly to me.

Another reason may be to avoid complaints. Once I had set for MP a player complained not many results to compare with. Since then I always use IMP and to me it matters not at all.

Claus - csdenmark      

[Cave_Draco]

Turn the question around!

Why do I prefer MP?

Because, my favourite contract is 3NT...  .

[jcalex2]

Well, all good in-depth comments....but I think it is more straightforward---the default for "start a table" is IMP's, i have pointed this out to several quality players with lots of experience who never noticed. Most start a table and it is set to IMP's, and they do not think any more about it.

[smerriman]

jcalex2, on 2022-May-19, 02:05, said:

Well, all good in-depth comments....but I think it is more straightforward---the default for "start a table" is IMP's

This is true. It was probably also true when the above comments were made, though given they were made over 19 years ago, it's tricky to remember for sure..

[AL78]

inquiry, on 2003-March-09, 05:58, said:

I will hazard a guess for you. Online matchpoint is almost a random event. What good is it for you to pull of a perfect backwash squeeze for an overtrick while half the field the defense is giving up not one but two overtricks with truely horrendous defense? At imps, good bridge is rewarded (true, there are the impossible 3NT making time and time again so you get -3 for a normal good partscore, but it averages out fairly quickly).

And second, when you go down trying for an overtrick in 3NT to correct for missing a sure 10 tricks in 4S, on line your partner often doesn't understand and will preach to you about how you had a sure 9 tricks. I love MP, but don't play it on line very often.

Yes that is like the sessions with a wide variance of standard at my club, although IMPs isn't necessarily more forgiving. Even if you are a world class declarer, it will do little for you when you are on the wrong end of a huge hand bias* when you only declare twice in 20 boards, and if you are playing IMP pairs, the opponents find the cold slam against you that the room doesn't find giving you -13 imps. Good luck getting that back when you keep picking up flat single digit HCP hands and all you can do is pass and follow suit. The other annoying ones at both methods of scoring are where the opponents ignore their eight or nine card major fit and play in 3NT which makes when the major game goes off. I have found the luck element at my local club has gone up significantly over the last decade.

*Like me a week ago, my average HCP 8.75, partner's average HCP 7.54

[riverwalk3]

AL78, on 2022-May-19, 07:33, said:

Yes that is like the sessions with a wide variance of standard at my club, although IMPs isn't necessarily more forgiving. Even if you are a world class declarer, it will do little for you when you are on the wrong end of a huge hand bias* when you only declare twice in 20 boards, and if you are playing IMP pairs, the opponents find the cold slam against you that the room doesn't find giving you -13 imps. Good luck getting that back when you keep picking up flat single digit HCP hands and all you can do is pass and follow suit. The other annoying ones at both methods of scoring are where the opponents ignore their eight or nine card major fit and play in 3NT which makes when the major game goes off. I have found the luck element at my local club has gone up significantly over the last decade.

*Like me a week ago, my average HCP 8.75, partner's average HCP 7.54

That reminds me of my total points daylong rewards tournaments for the past few days. I haven't cashed in 5 days and I realize at the end of my -2500 point or so sessions that my opponents had an average of 22.5 HCP or so per hand.

I agree that IMPs isn't necessarily more forgiving but bidding becomes more important. Also, one defensive allowing the opponent's game to make can be 12 IMPs.