December 2022 - 8

IN Box
es. Looking at the second quarter of
2022, attendees received an average
of 0.71 masterpoints per session, far
greater than the other two formats.
Stratification of these games was
done on the basis of average points for
the pair with A = 2500+, B = 1000-
2500 and C<1000. On average, flight
A pairs received 1.48 masterpoints
per session each, B pairs 0.67, and C
pairs 0.43.
3. 18-board BBO games: These games
are extremely popular, typically
having over 200 pairs per session. In
a recent game, my section received
8.90 masterpoints split amongst
28 players or 0.32 points per player.
A tiny number of pairs get overall
awards, which incrementally adds, at
best, to an average of 0.05 points per
player. So Gator Bridge players are
awarded on average nearly twice as
many points per player as 18-board
BBO games (0.71 vs 0.37). Virtual
clubs give awards only slightly higher
than 18-board BBO games. Even
flight C pairs in Gator Bridge earned
more points per session on average.
JON SHUSTER
Gainesville FL
The ol' switcheroo
In a club match online, my partner
opened 1 as North. With 4 HCP
and just two spades, I passed, and
the opponents competed to an easy
partscore. But on the very next hand,
partner opened 1 again, and this
time I held:
A Q 2 k8 6 5 2 lK 'A J 6 4 3.
Good enough for mild slam interest?
I bid 4l, a splinter raise for
spades, and it went all pass!
LHO led, and partner tabled a hand
with three spades, six diamonds and 4
HCP. I stared at the screen in disbelief
- and RHO called the director! ( " How
could he know about the diamond
fit? " my opponent reasonably asked.)
8 | Bridge Bulletin | December 2022
It turns out that the previous round
had expired, and BBO suddenly
moved us to the next table ... without
me noticing. LHO was now " North, "
and my partner passed her 1 opener.
Fortunately, my apologies were
accepted (going three off helped),
and I am not yet banned. I didn't dare
confess I've done this before.
How about getting Bridge Base to
keep partner in the same column on
the screen? Or print partner's label
in bold or in red or underlined (or
anything) to help prevent this from
happening again?
TONY CARR
Hamilton ON
Delusional addict
I had just woken up in the recovery
room after minor outpatient foot
surgery and peered at the boot on
my right foot. But I was perplexed.
Believe it or not, I had dreamed that
my wife and I had set my surgeon in
his bridge contract just before the
beginning of my surgery, and therefore
the surgery was canceled! I even
knew what the contract was and how
we set it.
I am a retired surgical specialist
who took up bridge shortly after
retirement. My wife thinks I spend a
little too much time on bridge. Yikes!
She may have proven her point.
JERRY FRANKEL, MD
Plano TX
Friendships
I and my wonderful wife (and still
my partner) learned Goren bridge/
party bridge as newlyweds from our
parents. When we moved to a new
town, we responded to an invitation
in the local paper to join a duplicate
club. We painfully discovered
this was not our parents' version of
bridge! Thanks only to the patience
and encouragement from people in
our club, we persevered to learn and
Letters to the editor are welcome
by regular mail and email. Brevity is
considered a virtue, as is subject matter
with relevance to a majority of ACBL
members. Unsigned letters are not
considered for publication, so please
include your name and hometown. Letters
may be edited. All letters will receive a
response. Send emails to editor@acbl.org.
embrace duplicate. We celebrate
those friendships to this day.
Like all of us, we were forced to play
online during the pandemic. Yes, online
is convenient, and yes, it is cheaper,
but there is no real human component.
Without face-to-face and human
connections, online bridge is nothing
more than another computer game.
The next generation of players will be
younger. Perhaps that group can develop
friendships playing online. But
for us, bridge will always be a face-toface
endeavor.
DOUG SMITH
Steamboat Springs CO
Editorializing
We received several emails from
readers who objected to the phrasing
of a line from the disciplinary notice
on pg. 19 of the October issue.
In the October issue, I saw this
sentence in the Board News article:
" With great sadness, the ACBL Hall
of Fame Committee accepts Sharon
Anderson's withdrawal as the
2022 Blackwood Award recipient
and ACBL Hall of Fame member. "
Really?! The " great sadness " is that
Ms. Anderson, the former president
of the ACBL's Board of Directors,
has admitted to a first-class ethical
violation.
DON MARSH
District 20 President
Eugene OR
December 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of December 2022
