Membership and Conduct

Sway Bridge Club is a very friendly club that plays two afternoons of enjoyable, sociable, duplicate bridge. The Committee would like to keep it this way. We do not accept any of our Members or Guests being rude or criticising their partner or opponents or being less than polite at a session. 

We expect our Members and Guests to respect this ethos.

Membership

Membership is open to all players familiar with playing Duplicate Bridge on payment of an annual subscription

Applications for membership will be approved or declined by the committee

The committee reserves the right to terminate membership or decline membership without assigning a reason

Computerised Scoring System

North is responsible for ensuring details of players at the table are correct on the tablet

If members don't know their ID number it can be found by asking the 'technical director' prior to the session

Guests will be allocated a number before start of play

Curtain cards should be completed and placed in the relevant part of the board. These should then be checked at subsequent tables before each board is played

North is responsible for entering the hands after playing the first boards,  East should double check this.  In the event of a share table, the table with the lowest number will input the hands for both tables

After the auction has been completed and prior to play, North should enter the resultant contract information in to the tablet

After the hand has been completed, North should enter the result into the tablet with East confirming the result

Score cards should be filled in by West and South. At the end of the session these should be handed in.

Play

It is North's responsibility to ensure the boards are in the correct compass direction before play

It is also North's responsibility to check the correct board is being played 

All players should count their cards and check them against the curtain card

Bidding cards should be left on the table, in full view, until the lead card has been faced

At the end of play, tricks should remain on the table until everyone has agreed the result 

Players should shuffle their cards before returning them to the board in the correct place

North should pass on the boards to North at the following table

In the event the Director has to be called, the Director's ruling is final

Partners

We currently operate with a Host system.

Any member attending without a partner should contact the Director on arrival and a partner will be found for you.

The Host System

All members are expected to sign up to Host at least one session per calendar year.

Only in the event of an odd number will the Host be asked to leave.

If you have volunteered for a host duty and you subsequently find that you are unable to attend, please let any committee member know as soon as possible.  Alternatively, please send an email via the 'Contact Us' section of the 'Information' menu. 

Wait list

Due to the popularity of the club, we are not always able to offer membership, in which case we operate a wait list. Anyone interested in joining the club should send an email via the 'Contact Us'  section of the Information Page of this web site.

Guests

We welcome Guests.  It should be noted however, if you should decide to play as a Guest, our fully paid up members will always take precedence, when there is an odd number, or in the event of a high turnout.  If you are happy to come to the Club on the basis that you are not guaranteed to be able to play, we would be delighted to see you. 

These rules also apply should you attend with another guest or member.

Please contact the Director on arrival. When all members are seated the Director will be able to confirm your seating arrangements.

Guests will be expected to apply for membership if they attend 4 times.

Once on the membership wait list people are allowed to attend the club 5 times as Guests in a calendar year.

Table money for a Guest is £3.00 per session.

Etiquette 

The points below have been taken from the EBU website.

• Greet others in a friendly manner prior to start of play on each round.
• Be a good “host” or “guest” at the table.
• Make your convention card readily available to your opponents and fill it out completely.
• Make bridge enjoyable for yourself, partner and opponents.
• Give credit when opponents make a good bid or play.
• Take care of your personal grooming.
• Ensure that your mobile phone is turned off.
• Enjoy the company as well as the game.