♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ONLINE BRIDGE....AT YOUR LOCAL CLUB ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 

ACBL-sanctioned pairs games are now available daily for most if not all players in the region.  That is mostly good news. Our regular afternoon team time conflicts with pairs play.  Some teams will prefer team play and have little interest in pairs.  While others will want to play in sanctioned pairs they Convey masterpoints and benefit local clubs. Some teams, “Feel the Bern” for example, are remaining intact but trying to schedule 12 board matches in the morning, then breaking up for pairs play in afternoon.

Some thoughts going forward:

1. Support your local club! They are the lifeblood of organized bridge. They are the bridge faithful....and will continue to be when we emerge from the crisis.

2. Keep your teams together. One of the negatives to online bridge is it’s anonymous.  You feel like you are always playing against robots.  The best part of our  team events is playing with and against people you know and like.

3. Build your BBO Friends list....mine (Mark) includes everyone on our teams roster...

4. BBO (Online Bridge ) will be integrated into all bridge clubs, regional and national tournaments in the future.  The features built into the software, (no revokes or leads/bids out of turn, history tab, barometer play and scoring..) make bridge that much more fun and interesting.  It’s going to be a while before players feel ok with sharing cards, or even space around the table.

So keep your teams together, be flexible in scheduling matches, and support your local clubs. You are bringing us closer together as we remain apart.

Online virtual games at your bridge club

BBO Registration procedure

How to buy BB$

To access Bridgebase Online (BBO), go to https://www.bridgebase.com. You will need to create a logon ID (free), a password of your choice.  Remember your screen name/logon ID, because you or your team leader will need it to set up matches.

Here is an instructional video on how to play a hand on BBO. (The play is weak, but it explains the basic mechanics.)
Here is a video demonstrating play against robots.

BBO only allows a player to set up "Competitive" matches like our team games after they have been on BBO for a while.  A new BBO player who tries to set up a match will get an error message saying that "very new" players are not allowed to do so.  (I have not found out how they define "very new" - Bill H)  Be sure someone on one of your teams has been on BBO for a while so they can set up the match.  Anyone, even new players, can set up a "Casual" table with four players.

Note that the Alert feature on BBO differs from face-to-face methods.  BBO bids are self-alerting.  When you are about to make a bid that should be alerted, you enter a description of your bid on a line in the bidding box before you click the actual bid.  That description is visible to your opponents but not to your partner.  You can also request an explanation of an opponent's bid or add an explanation to your own bid by clicking the bid in the auction display.

Some BBO hints:   [These hints work in Windows browsers.  Others may differ slightly.]

1. If you need to leave a competitive game, perhaps because it's been set up wrong, click the three-bar icon at the top of your screen and select Call the Director.  You won't actually call the director; you'll be given an option to leave the table and the enter a phrase of explanation.  If more than one person leaves a team match this way, BBO may close the match saying there are too few to continue.  (That can be a good thing if the match was begun incorrectly.)  To leave a casual game you can just click on your seat at the table; you'll be asked if you want to leave the seat.
    
2. The same three-bar icon allows you to request an Undo during bidding or play.  Opponents will be given an option to accept.  In our friendly community undos should always be accepted if they are to correct accidental mis-clicks (but not I-wish-I-had clicks).
    
3. To look at hands from a completed game (including bidding and play at the other table in a team match), click the History tab at the right of your screen and click on the match or series of hands you want to view.  Click the blue Results button in the upper right to see a complete list of boards with active links to see the bidding and play at each table.
    
4. When a prior hand is being displayed you can see the card-by-card sequence of play, one trick at a time, using the Next Trick button below the hand display.
    
5. Also when displaying a completed hand you can click the blue 3-bar icon near the hand display and choose Show Double Dummy to see what leads the computer thinks are optimal.  A red number next to a card means leading or playing that card is on a path to set the contract by the indicated number of tricks.  A green number means that lead or play is on a path to yield the indicated number of overtricks.  An equal sign indicates that card is on an optimized path to make the contract exactly.

As of May 14, BBO has added a separage server for casual games to remove some of the load from the main server. When you first log into bridgebase.com you will be on the Main server.  If you want to play a casual game you will need to switch to the Casual server.  You can do this by clicking "Casual" in the home page options.  (To switch back, click the "Back" button on the BBO page, not the browser back button.)  People logged into the Main and Casual servers will not see each other in the People (friends) tab, nor can they play in any games together.  This means that if you want friends to join you in a Casual game they all need to be on the Casual server when you send your invitations.

Directions for a Team Leader setting up a BBO match

Warning: BBO only allows a player to set up "Competitive" matches like our team games after they have been on BBO for a while.  Until they have logged into BBO 100 times, a BBO player who tries to set up a match will get an error message at step 11 below saying that "very new" players are not allowed to do so.  Be sure someone on one of your teams has 100+ BBO logins (your number of logins is shown on your profile) so they can set up the match.  Anyone, even new players, can set up a "Casual" table with four players.

(These directions are for a PC but the sequence for a tablet or phone is similar.)

1. Be sure you have the BBO logon names for all players, both your team and you opponents.
2. Log into https://www.bridgebase.com
3. Under "Play Or Watch Bridge" click "Competitive"
4. Under "Other Community Games" click "Team Matches"
5. At the bottom left click "Create Team Match"
6. In the Create Team Match box select "Identification" if it's not already selected. Enter a title and/or description and/or the team names.  All of these fields are optional, but it's suggested that you enter "Unit 190 game" as the description.
8. In the same "Create Team Match" box select Options. Choose a scoring method (probably IMPs), a number of boards (a range of 3-32 is allowed).  Select "Use random deals."  Probably leave all of the four Options boxes checked; in particular it's good to Allow Undos in cases of a mechanical error, for example.
9. In the same "Create Team Match" box select Reserve Seats.  Here's where you enter the BBO IDs of your teammates and opponents.  Put your four teammates in the upper box (N/S/E/W) and your opponents in the lower box.  Bridgebase will sort out where they sit at the table.
10. IMPORTANT: At this point all of your players must be on line and logged into bridgebase.com.  You can pause here to wait if necessary.
11. To start the match, click the blue "Create Team Match" button at the bottom of the screen.
12. Have fun!

A MORE DETAILED SET OF INSTRUCTIONS IS AVAILABLE HERE.  Thanks, Mark Henderson!