Using Bridgemate & Avoiding Errors

Now that Bridgemate has been used several times patterns are begining to emerge. Considering that almost all the users are early in the learning curve, things have gone very smoothly. The indications are that once everyone has become comfortable with the system, there will be virtually no-one who would want to be without it. But to get to this happy situation as quickly as possible we need to improve in a few areas. Specifically:

North is on Lead. When North is on lead they should conform to normal etiquette and make their lead before entering the contract.

Player Numbers. Currently there are far too many wrongly entered player numbers. Players are urged to be very very careful to ensure that they have a) correctly remembered their personal number and b) that they have checked to see that it has been correctly entered.

Visitors Without Numbers. Some people are not observing the correct procedure for handling visitors without numbers, resulting in delays and problems for the Bridgemate manager. It will be much appreciated if all members take the trouble to remember what needs to be done when there is a new face at their table, or if they come along with a partner that is new to the club. Please do the following:

• Establish if they have a club/Bridgemate number. Anyone without a number is classed as a New Visitor. The procedure is as follows.
• Collect from the table at the front a blue slip for New Visitors
• The visitor should read it carefully, and complete it carefully and legibly. Note: It cannot be completed until after the table has been numbered. It is also important to make it clear which seat they are sitting in, N/S/E/W. And if there are two sections to give the section number.
• It would be appreciated if members were helpful in seeing that the slip is correctly filled in.
• The slip must then be returned to whoever is the Bridgemate manager that evening
• When player numbers are entered into the handset, the visitor must enter a zero. (This will produce a blank entry in the names list. At a convenient time, which may be the coffee break, the BM manager will enter the visitor's name into the club database, enter their name into the correct position for the evening, and allocate a visitor number.)
• The slip will be returned to the visitor with their allocated visitor number. Members should remind them that the allocated number is important to them: they must use the number on any future visits. Later their name and number will appear on the list displayed on the notice board, but not until the next update.

New Members. Visitors who become members will be given a slip that gives their club number. It will be very helpful if anyone in this situation follows the procedure given on the slip that comes with the letter from the membership secretary. Specifically:

• At the next opportunity, hand in the slip to the Bridgemate manager.
• On that evening do not use your new member number, just use the same visitor number that you have been used to using.
• Sometime during the evening the player database will be updated. It will ready to recognise your new number the next time that you play.

Board Numbers. Some members are not being sufficiently careful to ensure that the contracts and board numbers are in alignment. Several times the correct contract has been attributed to the wrong board - perhaps because the boards have been played in the wrong order. The recommendation is:

• Enter the board number before bidding the hand.
• East, when checking that the contract is correct, must also be very careful to check that the contract and board number are in alignment. Note: Especially when travellers are being filled in it is very easy for the played board to be in the hands of South, and the most visible board is then not the one just played!

Round Finished? On several occasions both N & E have managed to miss completely the entering of a board. The result is that on the first board of the next round, the handset is reported as misbehaving when the reality is that their handset is waiting for completion of the last round.
To avoid this problem N should get into the habit, at the end of each round, of progressing Bridgemate to show the information for the next round. It will show which boards are to be played, and which pair should be arriving. It is then clear that all the boards for the last round have been entered.

Have The Right Pair Arrived? On Thursday we had an imperfect skip. The end result was a scoring nightmare, and not good news for the two EW pairs who were at the wrong table, and for the two NS pairs that let it happen. So:
When you are waiting for a new partnership to arrive make sure you have progressed Bridgemate to the point where it shows the boards to be played, and the number of the pair that should arrive. The good news is that Bridgemate understands skip movements, and knows who should be playing the hands. Even were the director to forget to announce the skip, all the Norths should be checking in case there's a problem. The message is:
North should be careful to check that arriving pairs are the ones that Bridgemate expects.

Made an Error? Obviously there will occasionally there will be an error, or perhaps just unease that a mistake may have been made. In either case there is a straightforward procedure.

• Collect from the front table a green slip
• Fill it in, making sure it is exact, complete and legible
• When next convenient hand it to the Bridgemate manager. No need for any explanation, but please hand it in no later than the end of the round. But should the problem occur during the last round, please hand in ASAP. Handing in a slip when play has finished will interrupt and extend the process of getting the results out.

Phil Cooke, 27 July 2007