[Unit556] Tuesday bridge, and about robots

First, we have 0-750 pairs at 10:15 and Open Pairs at 6:15. Here's who played last week. Send corrections please! Remind me which game you're addressing. Look after the player rosters for some comments on robots ... Tuesday 10:15 0-750 5/10/22 Name BBO Name BBO Director Mojo mojoLA Simonetta May carasimo Jane Archer janearcher Caryn Musicer Caryn52 Glen Musicer themus Kerry Goldstone Fabfiftys Glen Drogin Glen1941 Graetchen Torres grete Mike Connell mconn4 John Tyner John1609 Lora Smith 1darbygal Stephen Anderson stephen13 Mike Perera mikeperera Tom Beggane tpjb Rosa Gutierez rosgut Tuesday 6:15 Open 5/10/22 Director Mike Savage patomike Name BBO Name BBO Avice Osmundson 2holtdrive Kiran Kumar cndy037 Amr Elghamry amr777 Dominique Moore DMoore0320 Bud Kalafian bekbud Lulu Minter bree leant Ernie Wong ejksw Mira Rowe bridger238 Ronald Oest Bridge1474 David White dwhite50 Pat Larin pattinoel Bill Brodek habanero_2 Bob McBroom soccerref Harry Randhawawa harkiratr David Khalieque akhalique Carol Ashbacher icenogle Hanan Mogharbel jimjj Tom Lill LillOleTom Genise Hasan kevra Judy Feder judycutie Angela Peters ltlmama1 Julie Hanson juju1944 Pamela Risinger r lita Maria Marvosh bridges100 Roy Ladd roy r ladd Sandra Marsh sandybean Amy Muscoplat neiamy Tomoko Stock tomstock Jan Ladd alohaladd6 Tom Beggane tpjb Rand Pinsky unabidder Kathy Swaine phantom4 Temo Arjani Zantem Kushroo Lakdawala khushlak On the subject of robot partners, we decided some time ago that players may choose to play with a robot partner in our games. This will not change, for those of us playing in the Unit556+PPD VACB. (That will not apply to out-of-area guest players.) We feel that it's in the best interest of our online players, and in some cases it's the only way to have a viable game. 1. Many players have difficulty finding a partner. Newer players can play with a robot partner knowing they won't be criticized for mistakes. More experienced players might choose a robot over a weaker available human player. 2. For many of us it's difficult, scary, and painful to invite someone to be a bridge partner. 3. Having a robot partner does not appear to bear results that are very much different from playing with a human partner. 4. Pairs with a robot player are supposed to be sorted into Strat A, regardless of the masterpoint holding. (I'm not sure this always works, but that's the stated intention.) 5. Allowing robot pairs gives us bigger games, and in the case of some 750 games, makes holding a game viable. 6. There is no practical way to limit the number of robot pairs in a game, so we won't attempt to do that. I know there are disadvantages. Players with a robot partner always have explanations of their partner's bids, and their own bids are explained to the opponents using the same system. Robots play quickly. Robots barely use any defensive signalling. While the VACB system is in place, we feel that this is within the spirit of online bridge, of which robot players are a major part. When (if?) the VACB system reaches a sunset, the BBO bridge club will make its own decisions about game formats. *Finally let me ask this of each of you*: If you don't have a partner for a game, look through the list of single players from my expected player lists. Any of them might rather be your partner than play with a robot. Consider asking one of them to play. Best regards, Mojo -- Morris Jones, Monrovia, CA BridgeMojo <http://bridgemojo.com> Old Town Sidewalk Astronomers <http://otastro.org> Mojo's Blog <http://mojo.whiteoaks.com>