It's very straightforward to play BBO once you get used to it. Here's some useful things to know. Most information applies to laptops and tablets- all items are there on a tablet too but may be in different places.

• If someone else is hosting the table, you need only login, go into "Casual" and then wait until you are invited on to the table- just say yes to the invitation
• You can chat with your table- just make sure the little blue box is on "Table" otherwise you might find yourself talking to the whole club, which can be annoying for people. If the little blue box is not on "Table" click on it to change
• To Alert, you alert yourself as you bid when your bidding box comes up when it's your turn. Press the alert button and type in a short reason and then make your bid. Your opponents will see whatever you type, but your partner won't know you have alerted or what you said
• You will always appear as seated at the bottom of the screen. This can get confusing as you will still be there if you are E,W or N. Be careful when bidding to make sure you are recognising what your partner is bidding, and not someone else's bid 
• You can "Claim" remaining tricks. Click on the blue Claim button bottom left and state how many tricks you want to claim. The request will go to the table and show what you have left. Both opponents need to accept for the claim to succeed. If there is no response or your opponents refuse, you can cancel the claim and just play the tricks
• If you click on the "History" tab, you can see the scoring card and also can find out what 'Other Tables' did on your boards
• At any time you are logged in you can search for your friends by their user name and then, when their profile comes up, you can follow them. You will then be notified on a pop up and on the People tab when they are in the club- useful if you are hosting
• If you play a card by misclick or bid by misclick and want to ask to take it back you can click on the blue box with 3 lines and select "Undo". This is only to be used for misclicks, not for if you changed your mind or made an error. This will automatically make a request for permission to undo the card played or the bid made and your opponents can approve it, although they are not obliged to and may reject. The system will not allow you to play a card out of suit if you have one left in your hand.
• If you are thrown out by your internet connection, your host will be trying to find you and invite you back once you have logged back in. Don't panic- as long as your host has switched on "permission required to play", your space won't be lost. However, you can help by going to Casual>All Public and Private Clubs>Acol Players' Bridge Club (Or Relaxed Bridge Club) then look for your table and your seat. If it has a padlock symbol on it, that's fine- click on  the space and you will ask your host permission to rejoin, which they will accept, and you'll soon be back on your spot. In the meantime your host will be repelling all boarders! Hosts be careful to put the " permission required to play" switch on when starting the table, or people will just jump in the vacated seat and start playing, even if it is halfway through a hand. (The voice of experience!). You can make this process easier by "following" your friends, in which case the table is easy to find in the Friends area (along the same line as Open Tables and Full Tables)
• If your host is thrown out by their internet connection then the host duties are transferred to the next person, even after your host makes it back to the table. You will know if it's you because of the little crown

Andrew Robson You Tube explanations of BBO procedures

• How to Undo and Alert click here
• How to add Friends, Chat and join a table on BBO click here
• Filling out your Bridge Base Profile click here
• Setting up a Convention Card on BBO click here

It's very straightforward to play BBO once you get used to it. Here's some useful things to know. ..........

The table host will need to know the username of each person who is going to be playing. It is important to get this exact. For example, if the username is JimW (space)123 and you reserve a seat for JimW123 he will not be able to join you. 

When you know the usernames of all concerned and have arranged a time to play the person who is going to set up the table should:

• Login a few minutes early
• Click on CASUAL  then ALL PUBLIC AND PRIVATE CLUBS
• Click on THE ACOL BRIDGE CLUB (PUBLIC) or the Relaxed Bridge Club if you prefer
• Click on Start Table (bottom left)
• Type your friends’ usernames in the Reserve seats spaces (This stops anybody else from taking these seats.)
• Switch on the slider for Permission required to play (This stops anybody else from taking any seats that become empty without your permission.)
• Change IMPs to Masterpoints, which is the normal %age we’re used to, by clicking the little triangle next to IMPs
• Choose your preferences in relation to Kibitzers (people who watch the play on your table). You can choose to allow kibitzers, and allow them to chat, but if you set permission required to kibitz, then you control who kibitzes. In practice only people you know are interested in kibitzing your table.
• Click on Start Table, which sends out invites, and wait for the others to join you. As host you will have a little crown next to your name
• Please note, players at your table will need to access the "Casual" area in order to receive your invitation

Occasionally there are issues where a player on your table might not receive the invite or might fall off your table.

• If it appears a player hasn't seen your invite, click on their seat and select remove and reserve and type their username in again- the invite will be sent again
• If a player drops off your table, if their name is still there, you may need to remove and reserve again, or if NSE or W is showing, just reserve- an invite will be sent
• If you fall off the table yourself, then host duties will fall to another person on the table and you may need to help them deal with any issues if they have not hosted before

The table host will need to know the username of each person who is going to be playing. ..........

If you choose to, you can play a teams game made up of 2 teams of 4 playing over 2 tables. So NS of Team 1 play EW of team 2 and NS of team 2 play EW team 1 with both tables playing the same hands at the same time. It's an exciting game, as you can watch the overall score change as the hands are completed. It's free. 
One person sets this up for all 8 players. When you have logged in, go to Competitive, then Team Matches, then click the blue box 'Create Team Match'. You now have 3 tabs to complete. These must be completed before you press the final 'Create Team Match'.

1. Identification. Complete a title (eg Kelsall or whatever you'd like to call it). No description is necessary unless you want to include one. Add names for Team 1 and Team 2. These can be what you want or just call them Team 1 and Team 2. Click on Options

2. Options. Normally leave 'IMPs' and 'Use random deals' selected. Be sure to amend the number of boards. Clicking next to it will bring up tiny up/down arrows or you can just delete the number and type in what you want. 18 boards is a good game without going on too long. I would normally leave all the other boxes ticked, but untick 'Allow kibitzers' and/or 'Allow kibitzers to chat with players' if you prefer. Barometer scoring means that you will get a cumulative score for the two tables in the IMPs box as you play, so leave that ticked, and also Undos, unless you particularly don't want them.

3. Reserve seats. Now you need to add the team's usernames. This is by team, not table. BBO will sort out the tables automatically. 

Once all of the tabs have been completed, you are ready to start the match and send out the invites by clicking on the blue box 'Create Team Match' but all players need to be logged in before it will work. You may get a "can't start" or other message and may need to click on 'Create Team Match' again to resend the invites. Only when all players are logged in AND in the "Competitive" area of the website will the tables start once the invites are accepted . It's useful to have already 'Followed' each player, so you can see they have logged in. 

If at any time a player is thrown out of BBO, they will automatically be brought back to their seat on logging back in. The player does not need to find the table and the host does not need to re-invite them.

If you choose to, you can play a teams game made up of 2 teams of 4 playing over 2 tables. ..........

If you haven't played in a teams game on BBO, there's a few things it would be useful to know.

• You need to log in and go to competitive (not casual) and then wait for the organiser to invite you to your table
• The organiser will set up the table, but everyone playing needs to be logged in and in the competitive area before the tables will open, once the invites are accepted. So, for various reasons, it doesn't always work first time, even if you have accepted the invite, and you may have to be sent another invite- so please be patient if there is a delay
• The teams play over two tables, but you don't swap tables or opponents at all
• The number of boards to be played is input at the start and can't be changed. 18 is normal. Both tables will play the same boards in the same order
• Points are IMPs, as any team game in the real world.
• NS from one team will play EW from the other team and vice versa
• As you will know, IMPs are very different to MPs, in that it's key to get the contract you bid and overtricks are less relevant. There's an interesting comparison to pairs playing here, if it's of interest
• The scoring you see in the IMPs box top left is the overall TEAM score, not your table score
• Scores will not appear until BOTH tables have completed the board
• In the History tab, you will be able to see your table scorecard and points, but the actual IMP score will be the TEAM score. Once the IMP results appear for a board, you can check what the other table bid in 'Other Tables', or what the board score was for t(e other table by hovering over your own table score
• There is a very abrupt end once the last table has played the last board and you may not be quick enough to see the final score. However, full information on everything, including hands, scores and trick play, will appear in your History tab under 'Recent Tournaments' eventually, although not immediately
• If at any time you get thrown out of BBO for whatever reason, you will be brought back to your table automatically once you log back in

If you haven't played in a teams game on BBO, there's a few things it would be useful to know. ..........

Donald Cochran has kindly passed on this information regarding using robots to practise or train with your partner. Be aware that the robots play SAYC (Standard American Yellow Card). Basically a strong NT and 5cm. There's a long and complicated explanation of what robots bid here. However, they will clearly state what they are bidding and cost $1 a week to use, for basic robots. 

Quote: “Perhaps you and your partner would like to play bridge some time but have no-one to play against.  Perhaps you would like to be in touch on the telephone as you bid and play? If your partner is a novice and would welcome a bit of guidance in this way, this might be useful. Then here’s how to do it:

• Before you start you will need to know your partner’s username, and have at least 1BB$ to your credit as you need to hire robots.  Only one dollar to hire the robots for a week (that’s good value!)
• Log in to BBO
• Select Casual
• Select ‘start table with three robots’
• Click on the robot opposite to you
• Select ‘remove and reserve’
• Write in your partner’s username
• Click OK

If  your partner is waiting in Casual then they will be able to take their place at the table. And away you go!

Give it a try – it’s fun. No matter how slow you are, the robots will never complain, you will never run out of time and, as it's just the two of you practising, talking on the phone at the same time is not cheating" (when it clearly is otherwise!).

Donald Cochran has kindly passed on this information regarding using robots to practise or train with your partner. ..........