[croquetfan]

The 6 board free tournaments are fun but are rather spoilt by the failure of so many players to read the simple instructions.
It clearly states the all players agree to play 2/1 but it seems most participants don't know the system.
I don't know how to fix this as no discussion is allowed. I have been sent a message by an enraged partner who bid a new suit at the 2 level with about 7 points and was obviously upset to find himself playing an impossible game.
Any suggestions?

[pescetom]

croquetfan, on 2018-January-05, 00:15, said:

The 6 board free tournaments are fun but are rather spoilt by the failure of so many players to read the simple instructions.
It clearly states the all players agree to play 2/1 but it seems most participants don't know the system.
...
Any suggestions?

Couldn't agree more. Two suggestions:
1. a weekly 2/1 bidding quiz, cannot enter free tournaments until you pass it (say score 100%, or 80% average over three attempts)
2. automatic ranking for tournament entry based not just on Completion Ratio (as at present) but also on analysis of tournament results and/or partner assessment of bidding (vote 0-3).
"Free TR80 Tournament: your Tournament Ranking of 73 (TCR=84, Assessment=62) is insufficient for this type of tournament"

[steve2005]

pipedream bbo isn't going to analyze your 8 board free tournament when it wont do a rating system for it's members.

[barmar]

Individuals are crapshoots. Players bid and play however they want, there's nothing you can do about it.

If we were to put too many restrictions on it, players just wouldn't enter them.

[maartenxq]

If you participate in this kind of tournaments you must realize you are on your own. About 50% of the players do not know any system and their declarer play and defence are on the same level. It is a free for all and fun only thing. Find yourself a serious partner for serious bridge.

Marten Baltussen

[Joe_Old]

maartenxq, on 2018-January-06, 03:49, said:

If you participate in this kind of tournaments you must realize you are on your own. About 50% of the players do not know any system and their declarer play and defence are on the same level. It is a free for all and fun only thing. Find yourself a serious partner for serious bridge.

Marten Baltussen

Dead on, except the percentage, at times, approaches 90.

I recommend the tournaments to new players who want to get used to playing on BBO, or just playing duplicate. Looking at the explanations that pop up in the bidding box is a big help for them, too. Since there's no chat, there's less pressure.

For the rest, it's a good way to waste 30 minutes, just don't take it seriously.

[johnu]

pescetom, on 2018-January-05, 08:13, said:

Couldn't agree more. Two suggestions:
1. a weekly 2/1 bidding quiz, cannot enter free tournaments until you pass it (say score 100%, or 80% average over three attempts)
2. automatic ranking for tournament entry based not just on Completion Ratio (as at present) but also on analysis of tournament results and/or partner assessment of bidding (vote 0-3).
"Free TR80 Tournament: your Tournament Ranking of 73 (TCR=84, Assessment=62) is insufficient for this type of tournament"

I like suggestion #1. It shouldn't be too hard for BBO to set up a quiz like that, which would also serve as a learning tool.

[nekthen]

It's been a while since I played in these (I hate 2/1) from memory I played SAYC and no one was surprised
Perhaps BBO could implement the CC for these tournies so we know what bids should mean

[Stefan_O]

croquetfan, on 2018-January-05, 00:15, said:

The 6 board free tournaments are fun but are rather spoilt by the failure of so many players to read the simple instructions.
It clearly states the all players agree to play 2/1 but it seems most participants don't know the system.
I don't know how to fix this as no discussion is allowed. I have been sent a message by an enraged partner who bid a new suit at the 2 level with about 7 points and was obviously upset to find himself playing an impossible game.
Any suggestions?

Totally agree, very frustrating.

Unless I play with regular pd, I much rather play robot-tourneys or robot-games.

Not perfect of course, but much less strain on your blood-pressure than playing with random humans.

So my suggestion: play robot-games instead