Madison Bridge Club Monday Morning BBO: November 2020

Monday, November 30, 2020

Summary - Glenna Shanahan and Vic Johnson Hand Analyses Information

Hand of the Week - Glenna and Vic

Glenna's Information

Glenna's Pearls - June 21, 2020

Vic's Information

Friday, November 27, 2020

How to Join Competitive Bridge on Wednesday Morning

Step 1: Acquire an American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) membership number. If you already have an ACBL number skip this step. If you did not acquire an ACBL Number then you must have one before you play.

Important!! ACBL is linked to Bridge Base Online (BBO which is where you will play competitive bridge. ACBL issues you a membership number when you enter information in the ACBL website. However, the membership information is not transferred to BBO for one or two weeks after you obtain the ACBL membership number. If BBO does not have an ACBL membership number you will not be allowed to play on Wednesday morning. If you decide to play Wednesday morning acquire this membership number as soon as possible.

To obtain a 120 day ACBL Guest Membership click here.
To obtain a regular ACBL Membership click here.

Step 2: Buy BB$, You will be charge a playing fee for each competitive bridge game. Wednesday morning is a competitive bridge game. If you have not already opened an account on BBO to acquire BB$ then click here for the procedure to obtain BB$.

Step 3: You need to supply BBO with your new ACBL number. It is not hard to do. Click on this link to discover how to complete this step.

Step 4: You should start the following steps 15 minutes before the competitive session begins. In your browser find the BBO website.

Step 5: Click on the red box listing Login/Register in the upper right corner of the screen.

Step 6: Log in to BBO with your User Name and password.

Step 7: Click on Competitive located on the left side of the screen

Step 7: Click on ACBL Virtual Clubs.

Step 8: You will see the session notice located in the upper left of the page. Note the start time in minutes, the number of entries ( i.e. the number of partnerships), and the entry fee. Click in the middle of the title.

Step 9: If steps 1 through 8 do not work for you call Ralph Patterson at 608-271-1732 and he will help you. Do not get frustrated.

Step 9: You will see either of the screens presented above. Your partner must be online. If you see the first screen enter the BBO ID for your partner. After the BBO ID is entered the button to the right "Invite (6BB$) will light up. Click on that button. If you see the second screen click on the blue "Accept (6BB$)" . Note: The amount charged per bridge competition might be different from the two screens shown above.

Step 10: When the title turns orange, you are in to play on Wednesday morning.

Monday, November 23, 2020

Purchasing BB$

In order to play competitive bridge on Bridge Base Online (BBO) you need to purchase BB$. Each competitive tournament charges from $4 to $6 per person to participate. This procedure to obtain BB$ should work whether you are using a cellphone, IPAD, or personal computer. In order to purchase BB$ you need to do the following:

Step 1 - Go to the BBO website by clicking on the next phrase: Bridge Base Online - Play Online Bridge You will see the following:

Step 2- Click on the box BB$ located in the upper left corner.

Step 3: You can enter credit card information by entering information on the left side of the above screen. The payment screen has an autopay feature that will issue a $20 debit to your credit card once you go below a certain dollar figure. If you use the autopay feature you will only need to visit this screen once. If you do not use the autopay feature you will get familiar with this screen when you play a lot of competitive BBO bridge.

Joining and Obtaining Membership Number from American Contract Bridge League - Paid Membership

Step 1: Click on this weblink: Join | American Contract Bridge League – ACBL You will see a page like this.

Step 2: Click on New Member Application. You will see a three page form beginning with this page:

Step 3: Fill in the form. You will need the following pieces of information:

Club Number 157636
Recruiter: GLENNA SHANNAHAN 2898268

Step 4: Submit the form and pay the first year fee of $25. The Bridge Club of Madison will pay the second year fee for you. ACBL will then notify you of your membership number. You can then play in competitive bridge tournaments.

Friday, November 20, 2020

Competitive Playing Fees Division Between Bridge Club of Madison and ACBL

Glenna:

This explains BBO charges, but not ACBL. So in addition, we pay so much for each game and so much for each table. Our monthly fees during this time has been around $300 per month. F2F it can be $300-500 a month. Hope this helps.

ACBL:

These payments are calculated:

· Virtual Club monies: The gross entry fees from your games are reduced by BBO's credit card fees. This amount can vary slightly each month but is generally approximately 3.5. For August, it was exactly 3.5%. After this is deducted, 80% goes to your club and BBO retains the other 20%. This means, for this month, 77.2% of your total entry fees are being sent to your club.

· Support Your Club monies: based upon player history from 2019, we divide funds that a participating player raised amongst the clubs they played at. This is a very complex process based upon percentages and therefore we are unable to provide a player-by-player breakdown, simply an amount owed to your club.

Regards,

Greg Coles

Director of Operations

662-796-7231 (o)

662-350-5320 (c)

American Contract Bridge League

6575 Windchase Blvd.

Horn Lake MS 38637-1523

Hand Analysis - Vic Johnson - November 23, 2020 - Possible Cue Bid

Problem: Interesting hand. This hand made 6 clubs but only 3 clubs were bid.

Vic:

An interesting hand to be sure. Distribution makes both the East & South hands much stronger than point count would indicate. The East hand is especially strong with a Quick Trick count of 3.5 (standard is 2.0) & a Loser Count of 3 (standard is 7). I can picture the following auction:

Pass - 1C (possibly only three clubs & 13-21 points) - 1S (5+ spades & 8+ points - tentative plan to bid diamonds next) - Pass (could raise clubs but that would imply a five card suit - cannot bid NT which would promise a spade stopper - pass for now might be best choice) - 2S (a simple raise) - 3C (six or more clubs & strong enough to bid again even though partner has promised nothing)

At this point NS should probably stop bidding. They are vulnerable. Looks to me like they deserve to lose 4 tricks in a diamond contract & 5 tricks in a spade contract (if West finds a diamond Ace lead). Penalty ladder for going down Vulnerable & Doubled: 200 (1st trick) - 500 - 800 - 1100. Down two would give EW more points than if EW were to bid & make game.

West, upset at not being able to tell partner with their first call that they had some points, should now raise to 5C. I see no way to get to slam in clubs from here except via a Ho Chunk "I feel lucky." bid.

An experienced pair might find the slam if on their second bid East opts to cue bid 3S. The cue bid might lead to a sequence where East finds out about partner's diamond Ace.

Hand Review by Glenna Shanahan -November 23, 2020 - Bidding 6

Problem: This hand made 6 clubs Was there a way to bid it?

Glenna:

This is truly a lucky hand that 6 can make. W has no way to show the ♦️ A, so E doesn’t know he has a pitch and is looking at 2 losers. If E opens 1 ♣️, south should overcall 1 ♠️ and that cuts W out of bidding. So, it’s just a lucky hand that I don’t believe very many good players would bid 6—most would be lucky to get to 5. If E should should use Blackwood and find W with an A, it doesn’t help him because he won’t know if it’s the ♥️ or ♦️ A!! Usually a ♦️ A would be useless opposite a void, but this time it happens to work. Not worth bidding a doubtful slam.

One rule for people to know is that you don’t use Blackwood with a void or a worthless doubleton because you don’t know which A partner has and therefore can’t know if it’s a working A or not,

Hope this helps.

Glenna

Friday, November 13, 2020

Logging on BBO - Competitive Section

Step 1 - Reach the BBO website either on your PC or another device.

Step 2 - Click on the Login/Register red button located on the upper right of the screen above.

Step 3 - Enter your BBO ID and password

Step 4 - Click on ACBL World located in the middle of the screen above.

Step 5 - Click on ACBL North America located on the upper right side of the screen above.

Step 6- You will see the name of the tournament in the middle of the screen above. (It is not there now.) Click on the middle of the name of the tournament..

Step 7 - On the next screen enter the BBO ID of your partner. You should only enter the BBO ID if your partner is on-line. You can see the people on-line by clicking on the History tab located either on the bottom or the right of your screen.

Step 8 - Wait for the tournament to begin.

199er Game - Questions and Answers

There appears to be a lot of questions regarding the Wednesday, November 18, 2020 199er game. This blogpage attempts to answer these questions in a question and answer format.

Partner

Question: Do I play with the person you assign to me on Monday to play on Wednesday morning?

Answer: No.

Question: How do I find a partner for Wednesday morning?

Answer: You are responsible for finding a partner. You can play with anyone having less than 200 Masterpoints which is everyone playing on Monday Morning bridge. We would prefer you play with someone from Monday Morning bridge but as long as your partner has less than 200 Masterpoints your partnership can play.

General

Question: What is a 199er?

Answer: A 199er refers to the number of American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) Masterpoints you accumulate by playing competitive bridge. People having masterpoints about 199 will not be able to play on Wednesday morning. Everybody playing Monday Morning Bridge has less than 199 Masterpoints and so will be eligible to play.

Question: What are Masterpoints?

Answer: Masterpoints are awarded in competitive duplicate bridge depending on where you place on your level. There are three levels or strata known as A, B, and C. For more information on what on strata and masterpoint awards go to https://vallartabridge.com/about-masterpoints-and-stratification/

Question: Can I see my Masterpoints on Bridge Base Online (BBO)?

Answer: Yes the number of Masterpoints you have is shown when you log onto BBO.

Question: If I play Monday Morning Bridge am I required to play the 199er game on Wednesday?

Answer: No, absolutely not. This is optional.

Question: I see one of the requirements for playing competitive bridge on Wednesday is t hat I need to become an ACBL member. Do I need to become an ACBL member to play Monday Morning Bridge?

Answer: You need to be a member of ACBL to play competitive bridge. The Monday Morning Bridge sessions are casual and not competitive, and so you do not need to become a member of ACBL. Membership in ACBL allows ACBL to track your masterpoints because BBO and ACBL are linked.

Question: Do I have to play with the same person I played with on Monday?

Answer: No. You can play with anyone having less than 200 Masterpoints. However, we would like you play with a partner from the Monday Morning Bridge group.

Question: How do I log on BBO to play Wednesday morning?

Answer: Do this at 8:45 a.m.

1. Log onto BridgeBase.com or open your BridgeBase app.

2. Go to Virtual Games

3. Click on North America

4. The Wednesday game will pop up

5. You will need to enter your partner’s BBO ID. If your partner has already completed this step then you will need to accept an invitation.

I am supplying the procedure with pictures at https://madisonbridgeclubmondaymorning.blogspot.com/2020/11/logging-on-bbo-competitive-section.html

Question: How long will this take?

Answer: Normal time frame is 21 minutes per round for 3 boards and 15 minutes for 2 boards. By starting with 18 boards, the director will be able to offer a little leeway. Notice the next time you play about how many minutes per board you’re currently using.

Incentive

Question: Who will I play against?

Answer: You and your partner will be playing against other partnerships comprised of people from Monday Morning bridge.

Question: What's the difference between playing on Monday morning and playing on Wednesday morning?

Answer: Two main differences exist. First rather than playing different hands at the seven or eight tables we play at on Monday Morning Bridge, all tables will be playing the same hands. You can compare how you bid and played versus other players bidding and playing the same hands. Second, the hands are timed. Your table will have between 7 and 10 minutes to bid and play a hand. If you go over that amount a robot will determine the result of the hand and the director will approve of this determination.

Participation

Question: Where will this 199er game be held?

Answer: It will be held on Bridge Base Online (BBO). It is the same location where you play Monday Morning Bridge.

Question: When does this happen?

Answer: Wednesday, November 18, 2020 at 9:00 a.m. You probably want to be logged into BBO by 8:45 a.m.

Question: Will there be a 199er game every Wednesday at 9:00 a.m. from then on?

Answer: We don't know. It depends on the interest in the game. We need at least 12 players (3 tables) to play each week.

Question: What will I need to play?

Answer: You will need a partner, an ACBL number, and BB$.

American Contract Bridge League

Question: How do you acquire an ACBL number?

Answer: Click on this weblink and find "Join Us" on the webpage: https://www.acbl.org/

Question: What happens when you click "Join Us"?

Answer: You fill out a form and ACBL assigns you a membership number after completing the form. You will then become a member of ACBL.

Question: Is there a cost?

Answer: For people joining before October 2020, there was a 1st year fee of $25 and the Bridge Club of Madison paid for the second year of membership. For new joiners this is information from Glenna Shanahan;

"I can give you the current ACBL free 120 day membership. There are important things YOU MUST do as I can’t go back and fix it for you later. You can play 120 days, get the free bridge magazine and win up to 20 points. After 120 days or 20 points, you must join online with ACBL. If you follow these rules, our unit will pay your 2nd year membership. At the end of 2 years, you can get a household membership for 2 or more people for less money.

These are the rules: Recruiting Club: Bridge Club of Madison and the Club Number: 157636

Recruiting Teacher: GLENNA SHANNAHAN #2898268

You will be assigned a membership number (7 digits) which you will give to the club director for your game and he’ll load it into our computer."

If you prefer, you can send the 7 digit membership number to Ralph Patterson at rcpatterson@charter.net and I will forward the number to the Bridge Club of Madison.

BB$

Question: What is the cost to play a competitive game on Wednesday morning?

Answer: 4BB$

Question: How do I acquire BB$?

Answer: Go to this webpage for an answer: https://www.bridgebase.com/help/v2help/bb$.html

Question: Where does the 4BB$ go?

Answer: The money is divided by ACBL and the Bridge Club of Madison. The Bridge Club of Madison receives a small share of the fee.

Directors

Question: What is the function of a director?

Answer: A director sets up the tournament and answers questions regarding the playing of a bridge hand. Each tournament needs a director.