[daveharty]

Congratulations to the winners of the 2011 Posty Awards, as selected by their peers.

Newcomer of the Year: Antrax
From a strong crop of new posters, Antrax stood out. His posts are reliably cordial and free of an agenda. When he poses questions, they are non-trivial; when he answers them, he is thoughtful and non-dogmatic. It seems clear that he takes advice to heart without following it blindly. He is clearly an up-and-comer, both as a poster and a player.

"Bridge in the Real World" Award: JLOGIC
Several posters had notable at-the-table accomplishments in 2011, but JLOGIC towered above them all with a year for the ages: high finishes in several nationally rated ACBL events, including his first win in a national pairs game, and a silver medal in the Bermuda Bowl, the most prestigious event in bridge. Currently ranked 64th in the world by the WBF, with a bullet. Oh yeah...and he's what, 25? It's almost scary to imagine where he might go from here.

Thread of the Year: Inquiry's "B/I Defensive Play" series
With this post, Inquiry started a series of threads, targeted at intermediate players, that covered a wide range of crucial defensive themes. They are uniformly high-quality problems: accessible, yet challenging enough to force an improving player to think logically rather than depend on well-worn cliches. Inquiry provided other posters with a blueprint for making the sorts of posts that really help aspiring players learn how to think about the game.

Most Helpful Poster for B/I Players: FrancesHinden
In a close vote, FrancesHinden is the winner in this category. Though an expert player herself, she consistently takes the time to provide thoughtful, informative answers to B/I questions. Going beyond simple poll responses and one-word answers, she provides B/I readers with insight into expert thought processes about all aspects of the game. Blunt, but rarely sarcastic, she successfully navigates the tricky territory between suffering no fools and taking seriously those legitimate questions that some other experts might ignore or view with scorn.

Poster of the Year: JLOGIC
All of the nominees in this category made outstanding contributions to the Forums in 2011, but in the final tally, JLOGIC is 2011's Poster of the Year, in the closest vote of all the categories. He manages to be both authoritative and flexible, a rare feat. He brings enormous real-world credibility to bear on a wide variety of topics; his cogent and penetrating posts can be found in any number of sub-forums. Having largely abandoned the "LOLs" of his younger days, he frequently takes the time to examine issues in greater depth than just about any other poster, and to persuasively argue why his way is usually the right way. A truly world-class talent who doesn't hesitate to share his knowledge, he is an unmatched resource in these forums.

Thanks to everyone who voted. I hope to repeat this every year; I don't post nearly as much as many of you, but I spend a fair amount of time reading the forums and have a deep appreciation for the contributions so many people make.

[JLOGIC]

Thanks for everyone who voted for me, appreciate it, even though I voted for gnasher it's nice to beat him! lol.

[MrAce]

Weldone, good job dave.

And congrats to winners

[han]

I didn't follow this thread but the B/I defensive series were absolutely wonderful, also for me. Thanks again Ben!

[gnasher]

JLOGIC, on 2012-February-03, 23:41, said:

Thanks for everyone who voted for me, appreciate it, even though I voted for gnasher it's nice to beat him! lol.

You couldn't have done it without me - I voted for you. It's a good thing I did - otherwise Dave would have had to devise a tie-splitting procedure.

[JLOGIC]

gnasher, on 2012-February-04, 03:06, said:

You couldn't have done it without me - I voted for you. It's a good thing I did - otherwise Dave would have had to devise a tie-splitting procedure.

Unless you had voted for yourself instead of me then you woulda won. Thanks

[glen]

Not so fast.

JKW is now suggesting all winners must sign this code of conduct:

Quote

Bridge forums are not the place for any type of planned or spontaneous personal statements, demonstrations or public displays. I agree that they are intended as a respite from politics, with all posters and bloggers welcome to participate. Without permission from BBO, only the winners are to appear on the podium to receive medals at the award ceremonies where full respect is to be given to BBO through absence of all non-bridge related activity.

Congrads to all the winners, and Justin you continue to spur on the young players by your successes, honesty, openness, and availability, always much appreciated by everybody here!

[y66]

All those qualities Glen mentioned are most definitely much appreciated here. Congrats to Anthrax, JLOGIC, Inquiry, FrancesHinden and their colleagues. This forum rocks.

[blackshoe]

Congrats to the winners!

[gwnn]

nice idea, great winners

[jjbrr]

i admit when i first read about this concept i thought it would be sort of superfluous. i was quite wrong.

congrats to the winners. daveharty did a great job organizing this, and i think the results are remarkably accurate. thanks to everyone who has made BBF such a great place for bridge discussion, particularly in light of some new competition in the market. i still think BBF is vastly superior for bridge discussion for the normal BBO user, and i admit i hope it stays that way.

wd everyone

[nige1]

Congratulations to the well-merited winners and
Thanks to Daveharty for his hard work, his diplomacy, and the original idea

[SimonFa]

Very well organised and worthy winners all, well done.

Simon