On BBO, the self-alert procedure is even more important (and easier) than posting a convention card:



(Source: August 2020 ACBL Bridge Bulletin


- rico 8/7/2020

NEWS FLASH! We’ve listened to requests. The days are long and nice for outdoor activities.
So join us for an after dinner game! Thursday evenings at 7:15 pm! Spread the word.
Finish your dinners, then relax and enjoy a fun game with your spouse or a friend. 
It starts this Thursday, August 6. BBAD/Brook will host the 1st and 3rd, and Waukesha the 2nd, 4th and 5th.  
Hope to see you there!


Lynette, 8/4

This week Kasha Riggsbee passed away unexpectedly.  She was on a flight to meet up with close relatives when she passed.
She was a long time bridge partner of Henry Drydyk.  They played regularly at the Friday night bridge game at the Waukesha Church.
Private services will be held later.

John
8/5

Unit 222 Club Managers have consolidated and combined games in order to increase the chances of larger games.
 
Mondays                              12:45pm Ocon                         6:35pm 4 Aces              

Tuesdays     9:45am WAUK     12:30pm 199er 4 Aces                          6:35pm Ocon

Wednesdays  9:45am BBAD                                2:15pm 4 Aces        6:35pm 499er Ocon 1st/3rd or 4 Aces 2nd/4th/5th

Thursdays  9:45am WAUK                                                                 7:15pm WAUK [2nd, 4th, 5th THURSDAY]
         AND 10:05am 299er Ocon                         2:15pm 4 Aces           7:15pm BBAD [1st, 3rd THURSDAY]

Fridays      9:45am WAUK 1st/3rd Fridays 
               or  9:45am BBAD[2nd, 4th, 5th Fri]      2:15pm 4 Aces        6:35pm Ocon             

Saturdays                          12:30pm 199er 4 Aces

Click here for 4 Aces Bridge Club Results
Click here for BBAD/Brookfield Club Results
Click here for Ocon Bridge Club Results
Click here for WAUK Bridge Club Results

4 Aces, BBAD, Brookfield, Oconomowoc, Racine, and Waukesha club players are all invited to come join us. 
1.5x the normal club game black masterpoints until further notice. 
Play with friends and support your local clubs.

Click here for How to Get Started on BBO

Click here for How to Load a Convention Card on BBO

I received the following from The ACBL:

Due to the ongoing risk posed by the coronavirus, the ACBL is canceling the 2020 Fall North American Bridge Championships, scheduled for November 26-December 6, 2020, in Tampa FL. 

With this same concern, ACBL will not staff any sectionals or regionals with tournament directors for the remainder of 2020. This removes any possibility for face-to-face tournaments during the balance of the year. 

It is the right thing to do. The safety of our members – the community most at risk for COVID-19 – and our employees is of paramount importance to us. At this time, we cannot ask players or staff to travel and risk exposure. 

ACBL management and the Board of Directors found this a difficult decision to make. However, the facts are clear, and we must act based on the well-being of our membership and our staff.

John
6/17

Now that you've mastered chatting on BBO, here are some common
abbreviations you may find helpful:

p - partner
typ - thank you partner
glp - good luck partner
wdp - well done partner
wpp - well played partner
gtp - good try partner
gj - good job

glo - good luck opponents
wdo - well done opponents

lol - laughing out loud
brb - be right back or bath room break
afk - away from keyboard
pos - parent over shoulder
np - no problem

:) -  (colon-close parenthesis) smiley face emoji
;) -  (semicolon-close parenthesis) wink emoji
:( -  (colon-open parenthesis) frown emoji
!c -  (exclamation point-c) clubs symbol
!d -  (exclamation point-d) diamonds symbol
!h -  (exclamation point-h) hearts symbol
!s -  (exclamation point-s) spades symbol

ALL CAPS - shouting (considered rude)

- rico 6/13

BBO now has two main servers. Thus two sections on the same website:

When you are playing in the Casual area, you will not see players connected to the main BBO server, 
and vice versa. This means someone playing an ACBL tournament for example will not see in the list 
of online players his friend who is playing in the Main Bridge Club.

When you are playing in the Casual area you will NOT be automatically taken to your tournament, 
if you are registered for an upcoming game. So if you register for a Virtual Club Game and want to play
a few hands in Main Club until it starts, you might miss your game. Remember to switch back to 
the Competitive area with a few minutes before your tournament is scheduled to start.

The link below is from the Dallas Bridge Club. Click on the link and then scroll down until you see the BBO tutorial section. 

Click here for BBO tutorials

You should have a convention card filled out online in BBO for each partner you play with.
1) Once logged in click on account
2) click convention cards (at top)
3) click new ACBL convention card
4) Partner - is your partner's BBO login name
5) when done click save changes
6) click back to get out of convention card mode

To add your ACBL # to your login:
1) Click on ACBL World
2) Click update your ACBL number at the bottom
3) Add your ACBL number and click update
Your ACBL number must be listed to get master points on BBO.

All MP Limited games players must be ACBL members with there ACBL numbers attached to there BBO accounts. 
ACBL has advised no exceptions. Must be attached at least 24 hours prior to game time. 
New ACBL members may take up to 4 days to process. 

If you don't want to buy BB$ online you may mail them a check along with your BBO login name to:
Bridge Base On Line LLC 9030 West Sahara Avenue #710 Las Vegas, NV 89117

If you feel you mis-click often in bidding or playing a card, there is an option to confirm your bid or card played to avoid this:
   1) Click the account tab
   2) Click settings
   3) Toggle the bar to confirm bids
   4) Toggle the bar to confirm cards
This will mean you will tap each twice before the bid or card is played.

Looking out for cheaters... The ACBL (and many of you), are concerned about the ability for a pair to cheat using
the online engine. They are improving their program that runs in the background to pick up unusual bids and play
of the hand. If someone is flagged, then they will be expelled from ACBL and all their points taken away.  
Apparently, the onus will be on the players to prove that they didn't cheat and not for ACBL to prove they did.

What happens with late finishers in ACBL BBO Games? 
You are automatically taken to the next hand - try and forget about the previous one.
The computer program, looks at the tricks already played and if towards the end of the hand or the outcome is obvious it automatically adjusts the score. All players will be notified of the adjustment.
If it can't do that, then the director is notified. We look at it decide if we can determine a normal and clear bridge result. If we can we will adjust the score. We do our best. 
If too early and not clear Average is awarded Ave==. 
Of course, when you see the score you can ask for it to be checked, but carry on playing as we can adjust for 15 minutes after the game as well. Do not make for another late play whether the 1st one was your fault or not. 

If somehow you lose the internet connection when playing in a game, don't panic.

1. Try to login in and if you can't get in, just keep trying, you'll get in eventually.
2. Someone at the table should call the director and let them know.  The director will try and get a substitute until the person comes back online.
3. When you come back online, you will automatically be reinserted into the game at the next hand.
4. Partner of the person who gets disconnected, please don't leave.  Your partner will be back.

To play in a Tourney Go to Competitive from the Home Screen and Pick the type of Tourney you want play in:

1st Tab will be if you have a partner type in their BBO Username and invite them
2nd Tab will be details about the tourney
3rd Tab will be those already registered
4th Tab will be partnership desk if you see names listed you can invite them or add your name to the list
If a pay tourney you will have two options I will pay only for myself or Partner must pay for me 

If you would like to substitute in tourneys:
Go to competitive and click on the running tourneys tab and you will see a substitute button at the bottom
If you only want to be a sub for one particular tourney say an ACBL speedball game you click on that tourney

Numbers next to your name? You gain BBO points by placing in ACBL masterpoint or pay BBO tourneys

Thanks for playing in the Support Your Club pair games. They also have a SYC Blackpoint Daylong cost $6.
18 board individual robot games. You can take a break and come back later. No director bothering you. 

Click here for BBO Tutorials

Click here for Support Your Club FAQs

Mark Nehs, oconbridgeclub@gmail.com 

Paul Karas, Jill Polacheck, Henry Sokol and I play social bridge on line.  We have a blast!
It's a private social game, we make comments to each other all the time.

Here's how to set it up on BBO:

1) At home page click casual
2) Click "main bridge club" under find your own game
3) Click start a table found bottom left
4) Type in description - "John's Private Game" for example
5) Move option buttons to reflect what you want - the only option we said yes to was "required permission to play"
6) Fill in directions seats with the 4 player's that will be playing with their BBO names; i.e. mine is 4acesmke
7) There is no time to fill in, you set that up with the 3 other people ahead of time off line.  We decided our game-time to be 2PM
8) As host don't leave the BBO site
9) The other 3 people need to be off the site until the game is set up by the host, once the game is set up by the host, they login in and will see the invitation
10) The hands you play are actual Common Game hands played by others at that time slot and you can compare afterwards to see how you did versus others
11) You can play as long as you like and it's free.  We played 24 hands in 2 hours.

Just another option of playing bridge on-line.

Any questions let me know.

John
4acesmke@gmail.com

It is the Unit's policy to send The ACBL a donation when a Unit member has passed away.

Maxine Cohn is the person who advises The ACBL on behalf of The Unit.  Therefore, please advise Maxine, preferably via email,
when you know a Unit member has passed away.

Maxine's contact information is:

maxinecohn@gmail.com
Cell: 414-581-9493

Thank you.

John Pereles
Unit President
6/1