Welcome to the Bridge Center of Austin - where the best game in the world is played everyday. We offer a variety of friendly beginning, intermediate, and open games and a full array of classes. All games feature pre-duplicated boards, hand records, and tabletop scoring devices. Our address is 6700 Middle Fiskville Road, Suite 408, Austin, TX  78752. Call us at (512) 300-2743.
The Center is currently closed until further notice due to the coronavirus; however, please read below and join our virtual BCA Club Game.

Update on the BCA Virtual Club

Our first virtual club game took place Saturday, April 4. We now have experience with several games and are experimenting with dates and times for various Open and Limited games. We welcome your feedback. 

What follows is information and advice, based on our experience so far.

• BE SURE YOUR ACBL NUMBER IS CORRECT IN BBO. Click on ACBL WORLD on the left, the click on "Update ACBL Number" below.
• NO MORE ROBOTS. You can no longer play with a robot in our virtual club. It is not fair for you to have "artificial intelligence" as a partner while the rest of us have to partner with mere human beings. If you want to play and you don't have a partner, click on "Partnership Desk" when you get the registration screen. You may see other singles there and you can ask them to play if you wish.
• CONVENTION CARD. If you do not post a convention card, the system will automatically post a SAYC. Not sure how? https://www.sagamorebridgeclub.com/help-everything-bbo
• YOU MUST SELF-ALERT YOUR ARTIFICIAL BIDS! There were problems in this area yesterday. Your partner will not see your alert but the opponents will. If you do not know how to self-alert, please watch a short tutorial. https://www.sagamorebridgeclub.com/help-everything-bbo
• QUESTION ABOUT YOUR OPPONENTS BID? Don’t use the chat. Click on their bid. This prompts a dialog box for them to use to explain.
• DO NOT TRY TO EDUCATE YOUR OPPONENTS. Some people are new to BBO and might not understand the rules. Don't "talk to the table" in an attempt to educate them. Even if you have good intentions, your comments could be misinterpreted. Call the director to do the educating.
• YOU AND YOUR PARTNER MUST BOTH BE ONLINE TO REGISTER AS A PARTNERSHIP.
• BBO$: Be sure you each have enough money in your BB$ to cover the entry fee before you register. 
• YOU AND YOUR PARTNER MUST BOTH BE ONLINE WHEN THE GAME STARTS. If not your registration will be cancelled.
• TABLE LIMIT IS INCREASED. Most of our games from now on will have a 30-table upper limit, so you don't need to rush to register two hours before game time.
• BBO RESULTS ARE NOW POSTED IN THE RESULTS CALENDAR. To have your name (rather than your BBO handle) displayed, enter your BBO User Name in our membership data (see the article below).

UPDATED SCHEDULE

We are experimenting with different start times. Here is our schedule for the next few days. Note that we are adding some limited games.

• Sunday April 5 1:30 pm Open
• Monday April 6 9:30 am Open
• Monday April 6 9:30 am 0-1000
• Monday April 6 7:00 pm Open
• Tuesday April 7 10:30 am Open
• Tuesday April 7 10:30 am 0-500
• Wednesday April 8 10:30 am Open
• Wednesday April 8 10:30 am 0-350
• Thursday April 9 11:30 am Open
• Thursday April 9 11:30 am 0-500
• Friday April 10 12:30 pm Open
• Friday April 10 12:30 pm 0-100

Remember that these games will not show up in the Virtual Clubs menu until two hours before game time. Our club is BCAustin.

PLAYING ON BBO - GENERAL

Some of you have already played on BBO and are familiar with the mechanics. If you have not yet played on BBO, please go to this web page:

https://www.sagamorebridgeclub.com/help-everything-bbo

These are superb tutorials created by Silvana Morici for members of her virtual club, but they apply to any club.

PLAYING ON BBO - BCA CLUB GAMES

BCA games will have an entry fee of 5 BB$. After you log onto BBO, within two hours of the scheduled game time, click on "Competitive" on the left. Then click on "ACBL Virtual Clubs." DO NOT look for "BCA." Another club got that acronym before us. Our club is BCAustin. When you find our game, click on the game description. Don't click on the club name on the left. You will get a dialog box. If you have played before, or seen the tutorials above, you will know what to do.

You will not see our game in the menu until two hours before scheduled game time. Your partner must be online for you to register as a pair. Once you register, you can log out of BBO if you wish, but you MUST be back online in BBO a few minutes before game time. If you are offline at game time, your registration will be cancelled.

You are playing for black points and could win 4.0 black if you finish first. The games are stratified - 1/3 pairs are A, 1/3 are B, and 1/3 are C. 18 boards, 7 minutes per board, 3 boards per round.

Procedures for Posting BBO User names

In order to have your name (rather than your BBO handle) displayed in the results on the Results Calendar and to facilitate getting in touch with other BCA BBO players, players can now use the BCA website to find another member’s BBO user name (along with their contact information). Select the Members Only: Contacts tab on the menu. Once logged in, select Account.  The BBO User Name field is at the bottom. Enter your user name and click Save. Go to the Player Directory (Members) tab to see the BBO User Name for those that have been entered. Click on the header for the BBO User Name field, and it will resort the list, putting all those with BBO user names at the top.

KEEPING IN TOUCH THROUGH FACEBOOK
We have many players who are BBO experts and can offer guidance and assistance, plus help answer questions. We hope that all of you who have not already will follow the BCA Facebook page so you can participate in the discussion. Those of you who are "experts" can post your suggestions and support on the page.
Finally, these are hard times for everyone. At BCA, your health and safety are of utmost importance to us. We will get back to the business of playing together just as soon as we can. In the meantime, we will do what we can to support these online games. Any suggestions or comments you have regarding these efforts would be much appreciated.

ACBL BBO Support Page

Milestone Achievements: Postponed Until Further Notice
Unit 207 will recognize our Milestone Achievements at a date to be determined once the BCA reopens.

Austin Spring Sectional at the BCA: Apr 30 - May is cancelled
 

Need a Partner?

If you need a partner for a BCA club game, call Robin Tucker at 512.917.1133 or email her at austinreztx@gmail.com.  Standby partners are also available at the following games. If you come without a partner, you must arrive at least 15 minutes before the start of the game or before the lesson if there is a pre-game lesson.

Monday 0-100 game (10:30) 1 LM/Max (11:30 am)
Monday Eve Open game (7:00 pm)
Tuesday 0-500 game (10:30 am)
Wednesday 0-350 game (10:30 am)
Wednesday Eve Open game (7:00 pm) 
Friday Open game (11:30 am)
Friday 0-50 game (1:00 pm)
Saturday 0-100 game (1:00 pm)