PROFILES - who are you and what conventions do you use?   It would be helpful if players have a recognisable name in their BBO profile.  To amend your profile, log in to BBO and click on the Account tab on the right side of the page.  A window will open with your BBO profile.  Enter your Real Name or a recognisable name (e.g. Lawrence P).  In the Other section enter a brief description of your conventions.  Save changes. 

When you are playing you can click on the name of a player at the table.  A window will open, showing their profile.  You can see who they are and what conventions they use.

RESULTS - how are we doing?  You can see your results during the session by opening the History window on the right side of the screen.  My Table tab will show your results and scores for the boards you have played.  Your overall score will change as other tables play the boards.  The Other Tables tab will show the outcome at other tables for a selected board.  But don't let all this interesting information distract you from your play.

At the end of the session you can see much information about the hands you have played in the Hand Records.

ROBOTS – during the session.  If a player loses their internet connection the Tournament Director will bring in a robot so that play can continue.  When the internet connection is restored the player will be returned to their seat.

ROBOTS – as partners.    We cannot provide a host system.  If you don’t have a partner for the session you should go to the Partnership Desk.  If you are not able to find a partner and you don’t want to miss the session you can choose to play with a robot.  Playing with a robot should be a last resort .  You should not choose to play with a robot if there is a player waiting in the Partnership Room, and you should not play with a robot to improve your score.

ROBOTS - beware.  Robots have a bidding system which is very different from ACOL (and beyond mere human understanding).  Their card play is sometimes very different to what you would expect from fellow Bookham players.

ALERTING – Bids which would normally be announced or alerted should be self-alerted.  Enter the explanation BEFORE you complete your bid.  The opponents will see the explanation, your partner will not.   Bids which would be normally be announced but which are an obvious part of your bidding system do not need to be alerted.  For example, if you have said you play weak NT and Transfers, you do not need to say “12-14” when you bid 1NT,  your partner does not need to say “transfer to Hearts” when they bid 2 ♦ .

- If you want to ask about an opponent’s bid which has not been alerted, click on the bid in the auction area

- If you want more information about an alerted bid, click on 'Explain' in the explanation box

- If you forget to alert your own bid you can click on your bid in the auction area and add your explanation.

UNDO - When you play a ‘Casual’ game with friends if you misclick when you bid or play a card you can ask to undo your bid or the card you played.  Click on Options (the blue box with horizontal white lines) top left of the screen.  An options window will pop up.  Select Undo.  The player on your left will be asked whether they accept the Undo.

The Committee has discussed the matter with the EBU Director and has decided that Undos will not be allowed in Bookham sessions.  This avoids awkward questions about whether a request for an Undo is a correction for a genuine misclick or second thoughts about the bid or card play.

STRANGERS AT THE TABLE – You may find that the User Names of your opponents are not on the Bookham list.  They are not Bookham players.  This happens because you cannot have half-tables and sit-outs in a Bookham session.  The pair sitting out would be disconnected if they weren’t playing.  The solution to this problem is to invite another pair to join the session to make up a full table. This is arranged by the EBU Tournament Director, we have no say over who is invited.

If you don’t recognise your opponents click on their seat to see their BBO  profile.  An invited pair may come from anywhere in the world and most likely will not be playing ACOL

CONFIRM BIDS AND CARDS  – You can avoid the problem of a fumbling finger or a maladroit mouse by changing your settings so that your bid and/or card play must be confirmed.  Log in, select the Account tab and Settings. Switch on the options Confirm bid and/or Confirm cards.  When you bid you must click OK  to confirm your bid.  When you play a card you must click on a card twice. If you click the wrong card mistakenly you can click the correct card twice.

This takes a little getting used to.  You could try it in a friendly game first.  Some people find the confirmation helpful.

Watch the clock: There is a strict limit of 16 minutes for a two-board round.  If you finish early you will have a few minutes to wait (as you would at a Barn Hall session).  If you run out of time the Tournament Director will assign a score, taking into account tricks won and the cards remaining.

Greet your opponents  - When you start a new table you should greet your opponents and tell them (briefly) about your conventions.  The easiest way to do this is to record a message in Chat Manager before you start playing.  Click anywhere in the message section and select Chat Manager. The Chat Manager window will open and you can type in your message, then click Add.   Close the chat window.  (Note:  you can record more than one message)

When a new table starts, click in the message area and select Chat Manager again.  You will see the message you prepared earlier in the Chat window.  Click on your message.  A chat window will open on the right side of the screen with your message.  Make sure you have selected “Table” then click the Chat button.  Your message will appear on the main screen where it can be read by all players at the table.