The bridge clubs in Idaho Falls, Pocatello, and Jackson have joined forces to run Virtual Club Games online at BridgeBase.com. These games will be regular ACBL pairs games that award black (club-rating) masterpoints to each of three stratified flights within the game. Entries are restricted to ACBL members that have played in one of the Wydaho clubs within the past twelve months.
Schedule
- Monday 4:00 pm
- (Tuesday TBD)
- Wednesday 1:00 pm
- Thursday 4:00 pm
- Friday 4:00 pm
- (Saturday ??)
- Sunday 1:00 pm
Format
Duplicate Pairs: 18 boards, 3 boards per round, 7 minutes per board. Matchpoint scoring. No Undo requests. The format for the games will likely evolve. No sit-outs or robots; if there is a half-table, it will be filled using substitute players from the greater BridgeBaseOnline community.Cost
$5.00 per player. This is charged directly in BB$ from your BBO account. If you need help, see Silvana Morici's quick tutorial on how to purchase BB$. You can also purchase BB$ from within the BridgeBase app on iPad or Android; there is a surcharge for in-app purchase. The proceeds from BBO -- approximately $3.00 per player -- will be returned to each player's home club.
Before Playing
- Verify that your BBO profile has your correct ACBL member number. If your member number is missing or incorrect, you will not be eligible to play. This must be set up the day before your first game.
(From the Home page, under Featured Areas, click ACBL World. On the next screen, find the blue button at the bottom titled "Update your ACBL number") - Put your real name in your BBO profile; as a minimum, first name and initial. We're all friends here, but some of us might not recognize your imaginative BBO username. Make sure we can click on your username and find out who you are.
(Go to Account tab, Settings, your Real Name is editable at the top right).
How To Play
Sign up online. Registration opens two hours before game time. You and your partner must both be logged in to register. After registering, you can log out; just be sure to be back online by game time or we will start without you. Please sign up well before game time, in case you encounter any problems we might have time to solve them.
Find our club game on BBO: From the BBO home page, click "Virtual Clubs"
then "ACBL Virtual Clubs"
At the list of all pending club games, search for "Wydaho"
If we have a game starting in the next two hours, it will be listed as "Pairs Wydaho" or something similar. Clicking on that game will open the registration dialog.
Note that our games will have a $5.00 entry fee. Enter your partner's BBO username, and click Invite. Your partner must be logged on at the same time. If your partner accepts the invitation, you both will be signed up to play.
The Details heading shows additional information about the game: number of boards, who to contact for help, etc.
The Entries heading lists those pairs currently signed up to play
The Partnership Desk heading lists those players who are currently looking for a partner for this session.
After you and partner are signed up, you can log out of BBO if you wish. But make sure to come back before game time; we will not wait for you!
At game time: You will be seated at your table with your opponents. If you lose your connection to BBO while playing, log back in immediately; you will be automagically returned to your table.
When all players have finished the boards in the round (or if the clock runs out!), the next round will start automatically. If you do not finish your boards in time, the director will assign an adjusted score.
Don't Have A Partner?
Find the game (as above) and choose "Partnership Desk" at the top. Then either add your name or invite a player already on the list to play with you. Both players MUST be online to make this agreement and get registered as a pair. If you do not find a partner, consider being a "substitute" for our game. Once the game starts, find us in the "Running" column and click on our game. Click the blue "Substitute" button and check the box. If we have a sitout or a player disconnects, we will invite for join the table. Note: You can do this for any game that is running, not just ours. You do NOT need to be an ACBL member to be a substitute.
During The Game
Everybody plays the same boards at the same time. Everyone starts with Board 1, then Board 2, etc. So, no more 50% scores because the board hasn't been played before (unless you're very fast!).
IF YOU NEED A BREAK. Take a break while you are dummy, if possible. Let the rest of the table know that you are stepping away for a minute. Use the "Be Right Back" button on the Account tab.
Notice that your name will appear grayed out. The button will highlight yellow to remind you to turn it off when you return
After The Game
Hand records are available in the History tab on BBO. Go the "Recent Tournaments" heading, and find the game you are interested in; click that line to open your results. You'll be able to see all four hands, results from other tables, the auction at your table, and even the play-by-play at your table!
The JHDBC ACBL Live For Clubs website will also have results, but no hand records at this time.
The JHDBC ACBL Live For Clubs website will also have results, but no hand records at this time.
Questions?
Please submit questions by posting a comment below. We will answer questions here as soon as possible.
Edit history:
2020-04-14 RKF schedule
2020-04-13 RKF partnership desk info
2020-04-12 RKF added Live For Clubs
2020-04-12 RKF Added section During The Game.
2020-04-11 RKF. Updated for launch; schedule, how-to, etc.
2020-04-08 RKF. Added instructions for updating ACBL number and editing real name.
2020-04-08 RKF. Clarified how JH club proceeds will be used.
