[Michael000]

I1. There is BBO forum and BBO play (my critique is of the play section).

2. I play EBU ACOL 4cm wkNT etc., and have played my games in the BBO ACOL section of BBO.

! play Golf by day and Bridge by night (not every day and every night). Injured and denied golf I joined BBO to play some Bridge and maybe learn something new. I have logged in and played about 20 times.

The hands pop up, are played in super fast time with partners popping in and out never quite sure of whether he is playing my system/conventions or I am playing his. The hand ends and the next one pops up with no opportunity for review and no way of knowing whether it was bid or played well or better or worse than others and off we go again hand after hand after hand.

What's it all for, what's the objective? With all day and every day, sat in the comfort of your own home what is the rush to get it played and onto the next hand? Why is there no pause for review of what we all held and why we bid it as we did and played it as it was and what did others did better?

And why is the site not configured to comply with (EBU) rules; there's no Stop card, there is no way (apart from chat) of asking what that bid meant and the alert system is a mess. If that was all sorted it might slow things down to make play of each hand a strive for excellence rather than a race.

Why is the competency grading system not clearly explained before joining members decide whether they are as advanced as they think they are. I played with a person last evening described as Intermediate who bid 2H over my 1S opening with 4HCP; that's either Novice of Super Advanced!

[diana_eva]

Michael000, on 2014-December-27, 05:21, said:

The hands pop up, are played in super fast time with partners popping in and out never quite sure of whether he is playing my system/conventions or I am playing his. The hand ends and the next one pops up with no opportunity for review and no way of knowing whether it was bid or played well or better or worse than others and off we go again hand after hand after hand.

What's it all for, what's the objective? With all day and every day, sat in the comfort of your own home what is the rush to get it played and onto the next hand? Why is there no pause for review of what we all held and why we bid it as we did and played it as it was and what did others did better?

You probably play with the Results panel closed. Look to the right of your screen, there are two tabs there, one is "Who's Online" and the other one is "My Results". Click on My Results and you'll see scores and hand diagrams for the games played at your table. There's also an "Other tables" tab at the top where you can see what other tables played for each deal.

Random games are usually speedy on BBO. If you like to discuss and go over results you can either do that later, after the game, with your partner, or open a table of friends who wouldn't mind chatting instead of playing. My guess is lots of random opps would be annoyed to see you sit and discuss a hand while the game is in progress - most just want to play.

If you meet someone you like mark them as a friend and next time you see them online invite them to play with you. Random games are random, best way to have an enjoyable game is to make friends and play with them.

[Michael000]

diana_eva, on 2014-December-27, 05:53, said:

You probably play with the Results panel closed. Look to the right of your screen, there are two tabs there, one is "Who's Online" and the other one is "My Results". Click on My Results and you'll see scores and hand diagrams for the games played at your table.

Thanks I didn't know that, that's helpfull.

diana_eva, on 2014-December-27, 05:53, said:

Random games are usually speedy on BBO. If you like to discuss and go over results you can either do that later, after the game, with your partner,

I wasn't suggesting a discussion; we all like to look at the traveller after the hand has been played to see what others bid and made. And, we all (I presume) after each hand review it (in our heads) to consider if there was one more trick to be made. And, if it were possible the hands laid out for a few seconds after play we'd have those answers.

[diana_eva]

Ah OK, yes of course that makes sense. It's possible, check out the Results.

Still the key is to make friends and play with them. I just spent all yesterday playing on BBO via Help Me Find A Game, trying to get a feel of what's going on in Main Club, and the level of play was totally random. If you're looking for a decent game you really need to find at least a couple of people willing to partner you and agree on some basic system requirements otherwise it's all a guess.

[P_Marlowe]

Dont forget the My Hands Option, that allowes you to retrieve the results at a later point in time.

https://www.bridgeba...hands/index.php

And I also want to stress: If you want to play serious, at least to a certain degree, make friends.

With kind regards
Marlowe

[Michael000]

P_Marlowe, on 2014-December-27, 06:40, said:

https://www.bridgeba...hands/index.php

Thanks for the link, that's helpful

Clearly there are features of the site which I didn't know of and perhaps more?

[Michael000]

diana_eva, on 2014-December-27, 05:53, said:

You probably play with the Results panel closed. Look to the right of your screen, there are two tabs there, one is "Who's Online" and the other one is "My Results".

'My Results' on my page is greyed out i.e. I can see it but clicking on it does nothing! Maybe it's greyed out until I'm actually playing?

[paulg]

There are various places to play on BBO and the Main Club is a little like the Wild West. They are a lot of good people there but difficult to find them amongst all the cowboys - the anonymity of the Internet often leads people to inflated opinions of their playing ability and increases their analytical skills to Michael Rosenberg's level, meaning that they often leave abruptly after a board, or sometimes during it. It can be very frustrating.

It does sound like you have found the Acol Club on BBO (http://www.acolatbbo.org.uk/). The club tries hard to maintain discipline and is a friendly area to play, with a clientèle that I would describe as mainly club rather than tournament players. Perhaps this is why it is friendly. The club also organises its own tournaments, team matches, and a league.

As Marlowe and Diana has said, the real key to playing is to make friends or, at least, identify players that are unlikely to run away after one poor score. Marks these as friends, and you can even categorise friends with different colours to distinguish those who are friends and those who you are happy to play against. With your expanded friends list, you will then be able to see them all when you log onto BBO. After a while you find that you have a network of friends, and friends of friends, and there is less need to broach the randomness of an unknown table.

[paulg]

Michael000, on 2014-December-27, 05:21, said:

And why is the site not configured to comply with (EBU) rules; there's no Stop card, there is no way (apart from chat) of asking what that bid meant and the alert system is a mess. If that was all sorted it might slow things down to make play of each hand a strive for excellence rather than a race.

A summary of the site rules can be found at http://online.bridge.../doc_rules.html but the system policy and alerting policy for any table or tournament is the preserve of the table/tournament host, not BBO. For example, the ACBL tournaments are run by ACBL Directors, the alert policy is the ACBL policy and your system must comply with the ACBL General Convention Chart (GCC). The GCC is quite a bit more restrictive than is permitted in EBU games and the alerting policy is very different.

Stop cards are not available. In the old days connection problems rendered them unnecessary and there has been very little demand for them on the forums. The ability for people to pause after a jump bid is very similar to a club game - variable. You can ask for the meaning of a bid by clicking on it in the bidding box - this generates a pop-up window for the bidder to explain his call. Self-alerting works well when used properly, although there is a tendency for people to follow their local alerting rules: so Americans rarely alert transfers or Stayman, Brits rarely alert a weak no-trump, both of which are alertable in some countries. Just self-alert any call that you do not think your opponent will not understand or expect.

Good luck.

[Michael000]

Thanks for all the helpful replies

[barmar]

Michael000, on 2014-December-27, 07:02, said:

'My Results' on my page is greyed out i.e. I can see it but clicking on it does nothing! Maybe it's greyed out until I'm actually playing?

It will become clickable once you're at a table.