Procedure for players (on arrival)

1. On arrival (by 6.45 p.m. at latest), go to the Director to register by drawing a card to determine your table number and direction (N/S or E/W).  Tell the director who your partner is.  If you don’t have a partner, make sure the director knows.

2. If your partner has not arrived by 6.50 p.m. then the Director will offer you the choice of playing with someone else looking for a partner, or, if nobody else is looking for a partner, playing with the host, or not to play. If your partner is unavoidably delayed, they must ring the club to let us know. In this case we may ask the host to stand in until your partner arrives if possible; however this is at the Director’s discretion.

3. All players should be sitting in their allocated seat by 6.50 p.m., at which time the Director will close entries, so that the movement can be set and a prompt start can be made. It is unreasonable to ask the Director to relax this rule, as the Bridgemates system would have to be re-set, causing a long delay, which is unfair to all other players.  Seats will be allocated on a first-come first-served principle, and if more players want to play than the spaces available, then anyone without an allocated seat at 6.50 p.m. would, unfortunately, be told that there is no seat for them that evening.  

We are a friendly club and we want to keep it that way. Please observe the following:

Good Bridge manners at the table...

• Please switch off your mobile phone before the start of play
• Be a good 'host' or 'guest' at the table
• Always greet your opponents at the start of the round
• Don't give unasked for 'tuition' after a hand
• Don't gloat over a good result nor moan over a bad one
• Give credit to your opponents (or partner) when they have bid or played well and avoid public criticism of others' play
• Remember that calling the Director for a decision is helpful and not a critical action
• Always be polite to the Director. He/she is there to help you
• In fact, always be polite…there is no excuse for rudeness in Bridge or any other situation in life
• AND PLEASE, if anything has occurred during the evening to upset you, don't go home unhappy - have a quiet word with the Director or any member of the committee before you leave.

Fair Play

• Shouting out the contract, or the number of tricks made, can create unfairness e.g. a game contract the others may not have bid, or when the number of tricks made show that game could have been bid.  With Bridgemates, there is no need to say anything at all, the score can just be shown to everyone at your table.
• Talking loudly about the detail of a particular hand could create an unfair situation and ruin other peoples’ evening. For example, players who hear too much about a hand are ethically required to tell the Director that they can’t play it.  Also, players overhearing some information may have unfair advantage over others.   We would be genuinely reluctant to apply penalties, like point deductions, for persistent offenders.
• If you think any unfairness has occurred, please call the Director, it is his/her job to sort this out in an equitable way. 

Speeding up play

It was an AGM vote to play 27 Boards in the event of a half table (to allow sitting out pairs to play 24 Boards when the movement calls for it). In order to finish at a reasonable time, we need to do all that we can to speed up play. 

• While we all enjoy the social side of Bridge,  it would be really helpful if any chat can be reserved until the end of the round i.e. when all boards have been played, if there is time.
• If you are on opening lead, always make your lead as soon as possible and before writing the contract down on your score card or attending to the Bridgemate.   This enables dummy to go down and speeds up play.
• If you are dummy, once the opening lead has been faced, put your cards down on the table as soon as possible.  Only then put away your bidding cards, attend to the Bridgemate or note the contract on your scorecard
• If it is a Howell movement, take note of your pair number, which table you will move to next and who you are following, as you will do this all night
• Before pairs move, it is North's duty to pass the boards to the next table (normally down one table).  If you are still playing a board, pass the one(s) you have played when the move is called.
• When the Director calls ‘move,’ move promptly.