BBO Guide

Registering with BBO

Using your browser, navigate to the BBO website. The address is https://www.bridgebase.com or you can click here: BBO Website.

Click the red button  Play bridge now ;

Click the blue button  Become a member (Free!)  ;

On the next screen enter a User name. This is what you will be known as, so is an alias.

• It can be any string of up to 10 characters composed of letters and/or numbers and can include spaces (please don’t you’ll regret it later);
• It is not case sensitive. With over 40,000 members it can be tricky to find something that is not already in use. As you enter a name, the indicator at the end of the line will show ‘Searching’ and then change to ‘Available’ or ‘Unavailable’. Adding numbers or changing ‘I’ to ‘1’, ‘o’ to ‘0’ can help.

Enter and confirm your Password. A maximum of 10 characters, this is case sensitive so it’s worth noting whether you have the Caps Lock on.
Enter your email address. This is used to confirm your account when setting up and if you should ever forget your password. It will never be passed onto a third party.

• It helps if you enter your ‘Real name’. This will then appear if another member views your profile, however it is optional;
• ACBL Number stands for American Contract Bridge League – leave this blank;
• Under ‘Other‘ enter a summary of your convention card for other players to view easily;
• You can choose to set your Skill Level and Country for others to view when looking at your profile;
• Tick the box ‘I agree to the Terms of Service’ and click the  Register  button;
• Finally you are taken to the log-in screen with your alias and password filled in;
  But WAIT you will be sent an email and need to click on the link to confirm your registration request before you can log in.

TIP: If you tick Remember Me on the Log In page you will not need to re-enter your username or password when logging in.

Depositing Money in your BBO Account

From the home page after logging on, in click the blue button  BB$  at the top right. This will pop up the BB$ panel providing access to your BB$ Account. Clicking the second button  Purchase BB$  will take you to a credit card/PayPal screen.

TIP: It is recommended to use a credit card to purchase BB$ as it is cheaper than Paypal. It is also cheaper to do this via the BBO website (link above) rather than the BBO App e.g. on a Tablet/Pad. The amount deposited will be credited to your account immediately.

Using BBO

SETTINGS: Once logged on, you will see a set of tabs either vertically on the right side of the screen on a PC or along the bottom on a tablet/iPad. There are two settings in particular that we recommend you change.
Go to the Account tab/ key icon, then click on 'Settings' from the top of the screen:

PEOPLE: It is also recommended that you build a list of 'Friends'. This makes it much simpler when you are setting up a table and want to invite players. It will also show when these players are on-line and if they're available.
Go to the People tab/icon, then click on the 'Add friend' line at the bottom the screen. Type in the alias and then click the  Add  button to the right of the line. If the person is on-line they will appear in the list. To see the entire list there is a 'lever' at the bottom of the screen 'Show Offline'.
ACOL PLAYERS’ BRIDGE CLUB: To watch or play games with players playing Acol. Once logged on under 'Watch or Play Bridge' select Casual then under 'Find your own game' select All Public & Private Clubs then click on ACOL Players’ Bridge Club which is the 3rd from the top
VIEWING RESULTS: Once at a table either kibitzing (watching the play) or playing you can see previous hands played and how other tables fared with the same hands. Click on the ‘IMPS’ box. This shows the tables History. The last hand will be highlighted in pale blue. Click on this to see your hands you can replay the board using Next/Previous trick buttons.
Close this and from the History screen select Other Tables. Scroll up & down, again if you wish to replay any of these hands click on them.