We are open (virtually!)

Our physical club may be closed, but we are now hosting online club games on BridgeBase Online (BBO).

We are hosting fully-sanctioned duplicate games through Bridge Base Online (BBO) on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays at 1:15 pm (Central Time). In addition, all of our club members are eligible to play in games hosted by the Puerto Vallarta Bridge Club on Mondays and Fridays at 1:15 pm (Central Time).

In order to play in these games, you will need to sign on to BBO (www.bridgebase.com). If you are not already a member, you will need to register with a username and select a password (registration is FREE). Note that in order to play in our club games, you will need to enter your ACBL member number (if you are a member) and you will need to fund your BB$ account using a credit card. Instructions for doing all that can be found below.

You will need to register for our online games beginning two hours before game-time (so anytime after 11:15 am on the day of the game).

Here's what you do to register for our online club games:

1. Log in to BBO
2. Under "PLAY OR WATCH BRIDGE," click "Competitive," and then "ACBL - North America." 
       
3. Upcoming games are listed in order based on how soon they start, but you will only see games hosted by clubs where you are eligible to play. Scroll if necessary to find our game, or use the search box at the top to find "pv." All our games will be shown with VACB142398 as the host, and the name of the event will be  PV/Lake Chapala DBC Open Pairs. (Note that our game fee is now $4, not $3, and the name has changed since we pooled with the Puerto Vallarta club.)
   
4. Click on the game, and a box will appear allowing you to register. When you register, you need to indicate your partner's BBO username. They also need to be logged in to accept the registration. (Or you can pay for them.)
   
5. That's all there is to it! Just be sure you and your partner are logged in at game time, and the game will start and you'll be seated with your partner. The entry fee of 3BB$ will be charged when the game starts.

Other ways to support our club by playing online

ACBL has set up a web page specifically to provide information on daily "Support Your Club" games (now at 10am, 5:10pm, and 7:30pm eastern time -- 9am, 4:10pm, and 6:30pm in Mexico).

There is also a "Support Your Club" Black Point Daylong on BBO every day. This is an 18 board individual tournament with robots, awarding ACBL Black Masterpoints. You can register, play at your own pace, leave the table, then resume the game later during the day without losing your results. Entry fee is 6 BB$ and the majority of proceeds goes back towards supporting your club.

https://www.bridgebase.com/v3/

Please feel free to email Lane if you have any questions.

There are three (or four) steps involved in getting set up to play bridge on BridgeBase Online (BBO).

1. Register on BBO
2. Associate your ACBL number 
3. Fund your BB$
4. Optional: Save your convention card(s)

Each step is simple. Here are the instructions. (Note: these instructions are for a desktop or laptop. You can also do this using an app on Android or iOS devices. The process is exactly the same, but things will be laid out a little differently.)

Register

1. Visit the BBO website (https://www.bridgebase.com/).
2. Click Login/Register (in the upper right hand corner of the page).
3. Click Become a Member (free!).
4. Fill out the form. (Note that you might need to try several different usernames to find one that's available.) If you are an ACBL member, be sure to include that here so any Masterpoints you earn will be applied to your ACBL account. Check the box to agree to the Terms of Service, and click Register.
5. A confirmation email will go to your email address with a link to activate your account. The activation must be completed by clicking on the link in your confirmation email within one week.

Associate your ACBL number 

If you just registered, you already did this. But if you've played on BBO in the past and aren't sure your ACBL number is associated with your BBO account, here's what you do:

1. After you are logged in, find and click ACBL World. (It's right on the main screen under Featured Areas.)
2. Now click Update your ACBL number.
3. If you already have your ACBL number on file, it will be displayed here. To update it (e.g. if you have become a Life Master), simply click in the box and type your updated number.
4. If there is no ACBL number on file, enter your number in the box.
5. Click Update.
6. When you're done, click either the Back or Home button in the upper left corner of your screen.

Fund your BB$

Game fees on BBO are played with BridgeBucks (BB$). You purchase BB$ with a credit card. One BB$ is equivalent in value to one US dollar.

NOTE: If you're playing on your phone or a tablet, you need to use a browser and go to https://www.bridgebase.com/purchase/pay.php. There you can follow the instructions starting with step 3 below.

1. Click BB$ (in the upper left corner of your screen next to your user name).
2. Click Purchase BB$. This opens a new tab in your browser.
3. Enter your BBO username and password and click Continue.
4. Follow the instructions to select the amount you wish to buy and provide your credit card information.
5. I recommend selecting an Auto-Purchase option. That way, when your BB$ account runs low, your stored credit card information will be used to add BB$ to your account automatically.
6. When you are finished, close the tab to return to BBO.

Save your convention card(s)

If you are playing with regular partners, you will want to save your convention cards on BBO. When you save your card, you can specify which partner you play it with, and then whenever you play with that partner, your convention card will be used automatically and will be available to be viewed by your opponents.

To save a convention card:

1. At the far right edge of your screen, select Account. Then click Convention Cards. 
   
2. Click "New ACBL Convention Card."
3. Fill out your convention card by clicking into each field and typing, or by clicking checkboxes. Be sure to give it a title and enter your partner's BBO username in the area at the top with the dark blue background, in the box marked "Partner." Note: once you enter your partner's name and a title, you can save your card and come back to edit it later. If you fail to enter your partner's BBO username correctly, your convention card will not be posted when you play together in our games.
4. 
5. When you're done, click "Save Changes."

Note that there is online help all over the BBO website, so if you are unsure about any of these steps, or if you want to update your personal profile, add a convention card, or change BBO settings, it's pretty easy to find what you're looking for.

Playing with a Visitor

Just as in our regular club, visitors are always welcome. However, there are some limitations imposed by ACBL. In order to make life easier for everyone and ensure we don't violate ACBL rules, here are the guidelines for playing in our virtual club games with a visitor.

• In order not to be blocked, visitors have to be added to our list of eligible players. Email Lane with your request to play with a visitor.
• Once your visitor is approved, you will be able to play with that person at any of our virtual club games.
• However, you are limited to one game per week with visitors. Additional games must be played with club members.
• If you violate the rule and play with visitors more than once a week, your visitor(s) will be barred for two weeks. Repeat violations will be dealt with on a case-by-case basis.

The reason for these rules is that if our club violates the ACBL limitation on visitors, our entire club could be barred from running games on BBO.

BBO Acronyms

Many players use acronyms to chat on BBO. Here are some of the most common:

• glp: Good luck, Partner!
• glo: Good luck, Opponent!
• ntp: Nice try, Partner!
• gtp: Good try, Partner!
• wdp: Well done, Partner!
• wdo: Well done, Opponent!
• typ: Thank you, Partner!
• tyo: Thank you, Opponent

If you see others, it's good to just ask the players in chat.

Enjoy your games on BBO!

Getting Your Results

There are a number of places you can get results of your games on BBO.

• During the game, you can follow your progress in real time. Click on the History tab, and then My Table. If you have a game in progress, you can see your results here.
• The same History tab gives you a chance to look back at past games you've played in. Click on Recent Tournaments, and you'll see a list of games you played with results. Click on a specific game and you can view all the hands and even replay them.
• Results of each of our club games are posted here on our website. Just click on Latest Results in the upper right corner, or select Results in the menu.
• ACBL Live for Clubs and BBO Results are two additional places you can find results.
• Starting on Saturday, August 8, 2020, we've been using hands from The Common Game. You can get those results at https://thecommongame.com/ by entering your ACBL number in the login box. You can also see detailed results with hand records for each game at http://tcgcloud.bridgefinesse.com/ClubWebHost/142398/.

Your Board has been focused on attracting novice and former members to play in our open games. We want to remind everyone that bridge is a game of respect for all, regardless of experience. Please remember the "play nice" guidelines as posted on our bulletin board. Many thanks.

The Lake Chapala Duplicate Bridge Club cordially invites all those interested in playing bridge to visit us and enjoy the fun of bridge.

The club is located on the Carreterra in Riberas del Pilar on Lake Chapala between Mom’s Deli and the Maskaras Clinic. We are open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday afternoons with games starting at 1:30 and ending before 5:00. Friday mornings feature a short lesson and a beginner game at 9:15. The doors usually open about 12:30 for afternoon games and 8:30 for Friday morning games so come by, say hi and make some new friends.

Don’t know how to play the greatest card game ever invented? No problem! The Lake Chapala Duplicate Bridge Club offers lessons for beginners and intermediates. Our friendly instructors will make you feel at home and have you playing in no time. Wednesday afternoons (November-March) starting at 1:30 are a great time to get your feet wet when the club offers lessons and supervised play. Come join us and have some fun.

They are well-known bridge devotees together with Dwight Eisenhower, Mahatma Ghandi, Deng Xiao Ping, Agatha Christie, Oprah Winfrey, Woody Allen, and Martina Navratilova.

The most challenging mental sport, bridge is a game of skill, concentration and infinite possibilities. It’s part science, part math, part logic, part reason and embodies cooperation, problem solving and has even been linked to higher test scores among children. It is an easy game to learn, a hard game to master and you don’t have to be an expert to enjoy it.

Millions of people worldwide play at home, in clubs or on-line. Many advance to tournaments or “duplicate” bridge to enjoy its social competitive aspects.

The medical profession is only now coming to realise that, as people are tending to live longer. Remain mentally fit may be as important as maintaining their levels of physical fitness. More and more often chess, bridge, backgammon and crossword puzzles are being cited as excellent activities for keeping the brain exercised and stalling the onset of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias.

Bridge provides an excellent mechanism to improve a player’s:

• Logical thinking skills
• Mathematical ability
• Memory
• Teamwork
• Social skills
• Concentration
• Critical thinking ability
• Communication skills
• Problem solving ability, and
• Inferential reasoning

Bridge is one of the few games played today by people of all ages and nationalities.