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Hey Bridge Players of Middle Tennessee!
The VBC Online bridge games are now available 6 days / week. Our games are played on Bridge Base Online (BBO). They are located under Competitive Games - ACBL Virtual Clubs and are identified as "vacb166520". Here are some important points about these games:
ACBL Number:
This is how you confirm/enter your ACBL number is part of your BBO account. On the screen that appears after you sign in, under Featured Areas, go to ACBL World. Now, just below and to the left of screen center is a selection to "Update Your ACBL Number."
Registration:
The game will only be visible in the list of upcoming games within two hours of the scheduled start time. Both you and your partner need to be on line when you register. One of you requests the registration, and an invitation will be issued to your partner to accept. Remember, you each need to have sufficient BBO$ to register.
Partnership desk:
If you don't have a partner, there is a partnership desk within the tournament. After you click on the tournament, the partnership desk is on the right side of the upper ribbon.
Be on line at game time:
In order to play in the tournament, you must be on line when it is time to start. If you are not there, it likely will delay the start for everyone. The director has to either boot your pair or insert a sub in your place. Please try to be on line within 5 minutes of the scheduled start so that you can avoid disappointment and future regret. The directors can see who is and is not on line.
Self-Alert:
Alerting is totally opposite when you play on line. Instead of your partner saying "Alert!" you must self-alert. Before you make an alertable bid, click "'alert" and type in a description. Avoid saying a convention name (e.g. say "majors" instead of "Michaels"). Everyone should presume that 1NT is 15-17 unless alerted otherwise. Your opponents have a right to be informed as to your agreements. It is better to over-alert rather than under-alert. The opponents have a button to request additional information for any bid; you will see a box with "explain" if that occurs.
Convention Cards:
BBO will display a convention card for your partnership. Some of you have established partnerships that already have a convention card loaded into the BBO system. But if not, the default is SAYC, the Standard American Yellow Card. We will not hold you to SAYC, but if you are not playing that, you should self-alert/inform more often.
Time:
Most games run at a pace of 7 minutes a board. We almost certainly will play 3-board rounds, so 21 minutes total until the movement changes. If you are experienced playing on line, this will seem slow. If you are inexperienced, it may feel rushed. The round will change at the conclusion of 21 minutes, even if you are playing a board. The score will default to averages for both pairs. However, your directors will go in and look at the board; in most cases, we will be able to determine the likely outcome and adjust the board to that result.
DETAILED INSTRUCTIONS
How to do it:
- Log into bridgebase.com (for those of you haven't done this before, there are more instructions below).
- Go to Competitive Games
- Go to ACBL Virtual Clubs
- Find the line that says vacb166520.
- Click on the tournament you'd like to play in.
- Invite your partner.
- Remember what time it starts, log on, and play.
It costs money:
- We are going to charge $5.00 per game.
- The money goes to BBO, the ACBL, but the bulk of the money goes to the VBC.
- To pay you need bridgebucks (BB$). Instructions how to acquire BB$ appear below.
You need to plan to stay around your computer for the whole game.
18 boards = 2 hours. The games may end up being less than that over time, but to start that is what you should expect.
Schedule: VBC Schedule of Online Games
For the last 15 years, becoming a member has been FREE.*After the 299'er game there will be a BBO Roundtable discussion of some of the hands. Instructions for attendance will be provided during the game.
**2x4 Mentor Pairs. At least one of the pair must have fewer than 500 masterpoints. There is no upper masterpoint limit for the other person.**
Becoming a member of BBO:
- You may already be a member. If so, log in as usual.
- You may be a member (but secret). In order to play in the Virtual VBC games, you have to tell us what your login ID is.
- Folks from Florida or elsewhere who want to poach on your friends will not be allowed in.
- You may be a Middle Tennessee player who hasn't played at VBC for a while. If so, send your login I.D. to either David (M207343@aol.com) or Pat (Stopgaap@yahoo.com).
- You may wish to create your own login ID. Have fun, putz about, then let Pat Williams (stopgaap@yahoo.com) or David Birnbaum (M207343@aol.com) know. (No giggling)
- You may want us get you a login ID (handle), If so send David your name and ACBL number, and he will create an ID for you. (M207343@aol.com)
Acquiring bridgebucks:
- Login to bridgebase.com
- Click on BB$.
- A menu drops down
- Select Purchase BB$
- It requires you to login again (taking you to a secure part of website)
- It asks you how much you wish to purchase.
- You may use PayPal or your credit card
We hope that by the end of the first week, we will have 500 folks playing bridge online with Middle Tennessee friends. If you have questions, please contact David Birnbaum or Pat Williams.
BBO Tutorials for Players
If you are new to BBO, you may enjoy these online tutorials which were created by Silvana Morici for her players at the Sagamore Bridge Club in New York. She has created tutorials for the following:
Increase in Masterpoint Awards
VBC Virtual Games will pay a 50% premium on masterpoints. Generally, in an open game, the winner gets 0.1 per table, with fractional adjustments for those in the other placements. For example, the section winners of a 10 table game get 1.0 full masterpoint Today, that will pay 1.5 full masterpoint. Limited games receive 80% to 60% of an open game, depending on the upper level of the restriction. The section winners of a 10 table 499er game will receive 1.2 instead of 0.8 masterpoints.
Out of Town Partners
There is good news and bad news.
We made a misstep in rolling out our virtual games. It was a lack of knowledge because our facilitator did not remember to tell us. These games are meant to serve each club's community of bridge players. (Additionally, there are pooling arrangements covering multiple clubs under a host club.) Toward that end, our on-line club on BBO was associated with an eligibility list; it is comprised, generally, of all players who have played in the Vanderbilt Bridge Club since January 1, 2019. Also, folks who live and play bridge in Middle Tennessee should be eligible, regardless of where they play in the area.
As we rolled this out, we received requests to add certain individuals outside of our area, which we generally accommodated. There are exceptions, but the powers that be consider this to be "poaching." They encourage such partnerships to play in the Save Your Club (SYC) games. The SYC games benefit clubs financially as well, tracked by where an individual has played over their recent past.
We think that people ought to be able to play where they wish, but we are not the powers that be. It is being monitored. We have received two notifications of potential poaching activity already. At least one club has been suspended for a week for poaching activity.
The bad news is that we must ask that if your partner from out of town was added per your request: please play in the SYC games instead of our VBC virtual games.
NOTE: VBC Club members who live out of state are eligible for our online games.
But as promised, there is good news. If you have a remote partner and you still want to play in the VBC virtual games, have that partner contact their local club manager. If they will provide an e-mail stating that they do not mind them playing in our games, we can send it in, and all will be OK. Please send to Pat Williams at stopgaap@yahoo.com.
We think this is silly. Thanks for your cooperation.
Need Help to Play Online?
We have volunteers who are ready, willing, and able to help you. Please feel free to contact:
Reviewing Your Hands on BBO
After you play in a tournament, the results will be displayed to you. Additionally, you can access recent past tournaments within your history tab. On the display of the tournament results, notice that your percentage is in blue rather than black print. Click the percentage. You will then (most likely) be asked to confirm your identity. You will be taken to your detailed results for that tournament. There, many informational opportunities await, including: what others did; a movie of what happened at your table; the movies of what happened at other tables; play it again; export the hand.
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