[redouble07]

My question to y'all is what is the fastest way to earn BBO points. Ok, I am an Intermediate to Advanced level player, who plays SAYC, and do not have a partner. It appears to me that you can play with people or robots. If you play with people, you can play quick, Express games, 4 rounds, or longer games with 8-12 rounds. With robots you can play short games or Daylong games up to 24hrs. I have tried both the Express games and earned a few points and the longer Galaxy game but didn't earn any points. At my current rate it could take me a year to get 2 BBO points. I'm not sure I'm really that bad?? Is there a better/faster way??? Thanks all. Cheers

[AL78]

As far as I'm aware you have to place well in events to earn BBO points. To place well you and your partner have to play well or get lucky, or you have to play in a field that is well below you in ability. I think I've only got about three points despite being on BBO since the start of the pandemic, that is because I am a poor player.

[smerriman]

 AL78, on 2022-March-09, 16:32, said:

I think I've only got about three points despite being on BBO since the start of the pandemic, that is because I am a poor player.

You have an *award symbol* of 3 by your name, which means you have somewhere between 5 and 12.5 points (it's a mainly exponential scale). And your forum posts have proven you're not a poor player BBO points are more about how *much* you play than how *well* you play.

If the OP is solely looking to get points *quickly*, then you'll want to play in large robot daylongs. In an example daylong with 1300 entries, you can get 14 points in a single go by winning the tournament; while that's extremely rare, you'll still get 2 points by finishing in the top 10% of entrants, and half a point in the top 20% of entrants. You can also play in smaller tournaments like 8 board Instant Tournaments; in these you'll only get fractions of a point, but you can play heaps of them in a row to build up points.

But the real question is why you're looking to get BBO points quickly..

[redouble07]

 smerriman, on 2022-March-09, 18:45, said:

You have an *award symbol* of 3 by your name, which means you have somewhere between 5 and 12.5 points (it's a mainly exponential scale). And your forum posts have proven you're not a poor player BBO points are more about how *much* you play than how *well* you play.

If the OP is solely looking to get points *quickly*, then you'll want to play in large robot daylongs. In an example daylong with 1300 entries, you can get 14 points in a single go by winning the tournament; while that's extremely rare, you'll still get 2 points by finishing in the top 10% of entrants, and half a point in the top 20% of entrants. You can also play in smaller tournaments like 8 board Instant Tournaments; in these you'll only get fractions of a point, but you can play heaps of them in a row to build up points.

But the real question is why you're looking to get BBO points quickly..

Hi smerriman, Tks for your helpful reply. Some of it I didn't understand. For example currently I have .21 BBO pts. I think of it in dollar/cents terms......21cents and I have to get to $2.00. So, your first line about 3 by my name and between 5-12.5 pts, what is that? Secondly, it took me a week playing Express games, quite a few, to get those .21 pts. I was not as successful playing the 8 board games.....0 pts. On average I can play somewhere around 50%, in the top half, but need a few good boards/pards to get 55%+ and be guaranteed of points. At my rate I'll be a while.......so that's why I was wondering if I was doing it the fastest way? Cheers, Chris

[smerriman]

To get a symbol of 2 next to your name, you need 1 point. See here.

But yes, if you're not regularly finishing highly in tournaments, it's going to take longer to get points, so you're going to have to put more hours into it. But points don't "mean" anything, so I'd suggest just playing whatever you feel like playing and not worrying too much about them.

[redouble07]

 smerriman, on 2022-March-10, 13:34, said:

To get a symbol of 2 next to your name, you need 1 point. See here.

But yes, if you're not regularly finishing highly in tournaments, it's going to take longer to get points, so you're going to have to put more hours into it. But points don't "mean" anything, so I'd suggest just playing whatever you feel like playing and not worrying too much about them.

Hi smerriman, again thanks for your help. I assumed I had to earn 2 points to obtain a 2 beside my name. You've now made that task twice as easy. You sound like a very relaxed person and I must admit sometimes like Don Quixote I try to tackle too many windmills all at once!!! Let me know if you'd ever like a game. Cheers, Chris