Schedule for October 25 - 31

We have added a Thursday, 6:20pm Columbia Basin game starting October 21!

Spokane DBC is closed for in-person play UFN. This is due to the prevalence of Covid-19 in Eastern Washington and North Idaho.

ACBL Special Game Schedule URL

https://web2.acbl.org/documentLibrary/play/2021_Online_Event_Schedule.pdf

These games are for just our virtual club members (Idaho, BC & Tucson) and invited guests. The game cannot fill up with non-local players. There will be substitutes to fill half tables and off-line players. Robots may also be used to fill in half tables. The games designated as Columbia Basin have a lesser charge to help our Canadian friends with the currency exchange. ACBL's guest policy has changed and is now more liberal. If you plan to play with a guest, let the director know ahead of time, so we can add your partner to our list and not be blocked.

Finding a Virtual Game: Log in, under Play or Watch Bridge, click Competitive. Then under Tournaments, click All Tournaments. In the Search Box (top right), type in the name of the club or area. All games that you are eligible for will appear (within 2 hours of present time). Select your game. If possible, try and register by 9:30am. This will help our attendance as potential players will see that we have a viable game.

BBO Play: First, you must join BBO - bridgebase.com/v3/, get an ID and password and acquire BBO$ via credit card. Games will normally be 18 - 22 boards - this will vary by table count. Barometer scoring, so everyone plays the same boards simultaneously. Cost is $5 in BBO$, Columbia Basin games - $4. You will only see the games in which you are eligible to play two hours prior to start. Log in. Below the green bar that says Featured Areas, click on Virtual Clubs, then ACBL - North America.  All of our games consist of a number and contain Spokane DBC, Columbia Basin or Tucson in the title. You and your partner must both be on BBO at the time of registration. One partner invites, the other accepts. You may also use the procedure above.

Convention Cards: Please fill out a convention card with your partner as you would do in any club game. Go to Account, Convention cards and click the New ACBL Convention Card at the top. Fill in your partner's BBO ID and give it a title. Fill out the card and save it. You may edit saved convention cards. To see your opponents convention card, click the blue box with three parallel horizontal lines in the upper left hand corner of your screen. This also confirms your CC is on-line. If your convention card is not visible, at the beginning of each round state your system, carding & discards in CHAT.

Self Alterting: The player who makes an artificial bid alerts - not partner. This is done by clicking Alert, typing the explanation in the Alert box, then entering your bid. Only the opponents see the alert and explanation. If you forget, click on the alertable bid and a box will appear for you to enter an explanation. You should alert as you would in a club game - any thing on the convention card in red must be alerted. Items in light blue which are announced are alerted - really no difference in BBO.

The ACBL has modified the Alert procedure beginning January 1. See the January Bulletin, page 35 for the complete change. Alerts for Transfer Bids only show the transfer suit. Support Doubles are no longer alertable. When you alert a short non-forcing minor, you must state how short it could be, e.g., could be 2.

Undos: BBO does not allow undos after the fact. There is a setting in your account that allows all bids or card play to be a two step process. Go to your Account, click Settings. There are settings for Confirm bids and Confirm cards. I recommend Confirm bids. You will now have to make your bid then click OK in the bidding box. Confirm cards is more time consuming and not recommended. Unfortunately, there is nothing to be done for mis-clicks. Please do not comment on this in Chat. It gives partner unauthorized information. There may be changes to this in the future. To call the Director, click on the three white horizontal lines at near the left top of the page.

If you need help, are blocked for registered or get disconnected and cannot get back on, call me at 509 389-9582.