The club’s first online event was held on 2^nd April 2020. The intention was to ensure that our members had access to a bridge game playing with people they knew, during the COVID-19 crisis.  We are indebted to Peter Bushby and Jacks Morcombe for their drive, energy and patience in helping us on our way.

Since that first day, the club has grown to encompass members from many other Suffolk clubs and, more recently from some Essex clubs too. 

We aim to cater for all abilities, and we are proud of our members’ approach to playing both our expert players and those less experienced players giving them the opportunity to develop their bridge. Many of that latter group are graduates from the club's bridge education programme.

To see the history behind our online club’s development in this difficult year, you may like to explore the letters that have been sent to all members presented in reverse date order.

2.   You will be charged table money for playing on Thursdays, and you pay this charge using BB$ which you buy from the online website.  Note: if you are using a Mac or an Ipad, first login to BBO using Safari, THEN find the BB$ icon. This is very important. 
We charge $3.00 per person per game, which is about the same amount as the £2.50 table money charged normally.

3.   Register your interest in playing in our club by completing the "Register your Interest" form. You only have to do this once.  From then on you simply need to login to BBO on Thursdays and follow the standard joining instructions (see item 4). 
Note: your partner for that week must also have registered with the club.

4.   Here are the joining instruction valid for every Thursday’s event.
Please make sure that both you and your partner have sufficient BBO$ in your accounts to pay the required entry fee.

Joining Instructions

5.  After each event, we have a zoom session in “The Post Mortem Arms” where you are invited to join your directors and fellow bridge players to discuss hands or ask questions.

Help files:

• Peter Bushby’s series of excellent videos about playing on BBO

• How to copy and paste (a useful skill for BBO players)

• How to communicate at the online bridge table (important reading)

Peter’s videos

Copying and pasting

BBO Table Communication

Need a Partner?

Want to play but don't have a partner?
First visit the Partnership Desk on the Club website to find others looking for partners enter your details, If you have trouble finding a partner, contact Anne who may be able to help – no guarantees though!

Robots and Hosts

Due to excellent co-operation from our registered players we are able to run a host system where a pair are asked to turn up for the event and be ready to make up any half-table.  We reward our hosts by transferring BBO$6 into their BBO accounts.  The list is efficiently managed by our host secretary Alison Simons.

We only use robots to replace a player whose internet connection has dropped out and that person is unable to re-join quickly.  The original player is re-seated when they are again online. 

Robots play an American system and to prepare you for suddenly being faced with a robot here is a link to their system card.

Online Competitions

We offer all online players the opportunity to take part in our online competitions.  Details in the “Online Competitions” page

Currently we run:

• Online Pairs

• Individual Competition (handicapped)

• Barbara Barker Online (for those below the rank of Master)

• Men’s Pairs (5 events from June to Oct on 1^st Thursday

• Ladies’ Pairs (as Men’s)

• Mixed Pairs (as Men’s)