Am I ready to take part?

Before you play in any competitive game on BBO, you need to be familiar with the way things work.

Many of our members have been playing 'casually' with groups of friends at a single table – or just watching other people play. These are great ways of learning the nuts and bolts of play, as well as the etiquette of online bridge. (There's also lots of useful info in the FAQ pages following this one.)

If you feel that you need a bit of preparatory friendly bridge before taking part in a competitive Bath, Wiltshire or other EBU event, we have a team of volunteers who can show you how to play – and set up social tables yourself. Email us at chris@boxbridge.co.uk and we'll get back to you.

What if I haven't got a partner?

Our three partnering volunteers are on hand to help you find a partner for our Improvers', Social and Open Pairs sessions – details can be found via the right hand column of the home page.

And, of course, you'll need a way of paying your table money ...

What happens with table money?

Table money for BBO Bath games is £2.50. This is automatically deducted from your Bath BC account after the game (see Members' Personal Accounts on the home page). 

For other games (eg Wiltshire and EBU), you are charged in "BB$". BB$ are 'tokens' worth 1 US dollar each, and can be purchased in advance via the BBO website. At least one player in each pair needs to be in BB$ credit before the start of the game.

How do I purchase BB$?

This is easily done. When you're signed in to BBO, you'll see a   BB$   button by your name at the top right of the screen (see right). Click on that to bring up a list of BB$ options and select 'Purchase BB$'.

From there, you decide how much credit to buy (the default is $20 but you can buy as little as $10) and can pay either with a credit/debit card or via Paypal. How much that costs will of course depend on the current exchange rate: recently the purchase of 50 BB$ cost me roughly £40. There are other ways of purchasing BB$ (eg Apple Pay) but I'm told they all involve additional fees, so buying direct from BBO seems to be the cheapest option.

While you're there, you can also set up an auto-pay option which automatically buys more BB$ when you're running low. I prefer to refresh the balance manually, but up to you.

Each time you log in, a pop-up tells you your BB$ balance – handy if you're planning to play and you're short of funds.