[xviolist]

Tonight I played in a tourney (1734) where [director name removed by administrator] was the TD. On the announcement for the game, it says "reg 10+ before game 2nd wins $1." I had registered 10 minutes before, came in 2nd. When I messaged [the director], I got no response, no reply whasoever.

This is not the only time a TD has failed to answer a quiry of mine. This is a paid tournament, and I believe I'm entitled to some response from the TD for an honest question.

Also, when I tried to go to abuse@bridgebase.com, the server said the site was not to be found. Is there something wrong with my server or are we all floundering around at the mercy/whim of the TD.

In addition, I'd like to say how much I hate it when I sub for a player, and the TD boots me in the middle of the hand. That is a disservice to the sub and the returning player. Have a little courtesy, Guys! I understand that a player might want to return, but please wait until the hand is over.

[REMINDER - names are not allowed to be mentioned in post like this, as the accused is not here to defend themselves or their actions. As rain said, report this to abuse@ bridge base dot com, not post in a public forum. There you can mention names to you are blue in the face. -- inquiry ]

This post has been edited by inquiry: 2007-November-24, 10:57

[Rossoneri]

Wrong forum.

[mcphee]

Abuse@bridgebase.com is an email address to report abuses to, and they have a lot of things to do, often a thankless task. It is not a wed site.

Being unhappy with a director is not uncommon, often unwarrented. The simple solution is to not play in a game this person directs, and send your complaint to the head tournament person.

[Rain]

When you receive the wrong award, need to ask the org in charge (bboland@ bbo) or whatever (send me private mail and I'll tell you the right email address, will need your name and name of tourney/TD).

If they are wrong, they usually clarify it fast and make up the mistake fast.

If you don't meet whatever criteria for award, they'd always be able to tell you.

Re sub policy - tds all have their own sub policy. If a TD chooses to be discourteous to subs, he probably will have less good subs in the future and it'll bite him, but it's up to him to decide what to do.

Finally, your abuse email address looks correct. Check your spelling? Our site looks okay. Check to see you got a return validation email though.

[kenberg]

Between suffering in silence and refusing to play in a tourney that TD directs there could be other solutions. Here is a recent example of mine (of course it requires taking my word for it, but I am not making it up).


I was playing in an ACBL mp tourney, two boards to a round. On the next to last round our opponents, my partner declaring, played really slow. I mean really slow. Must have been a bad connection because following suits with spots, with no possible coffeehousing advantage, was really slow. I clicked on "summon a director" and in the window typed n that we would be having trouble finishing. At the end of a painfully slow auction on the second hand I was declarer with two minutes on the clock. I played my cards at warp speed, (but had to wait for them) and just had time to click the claim button after five tricks, no time to type in the obvious explanation. I claimed but no response, the round ended, we were given an average minus. I sent a note to the director asking that he review the hands to assess responsibility for the lateness. No response.

On the hand, I was in three of one major, undoubled, down one while they were cold for four, maybe five of the other major. I expect we were entitled to a good score. We were second in our section, first place was out of reach. But really I don't care about the score, honest, just as I imagine life will go on for the poster if he never gets his buck. But right is right.


Now: I don't want to stop playing in the ACBL tournaments or even tourneys where this director is working. This sort of problem is infrequent and I'll live with it. Saying that I will live with it is not the same as saying that I think everything is running smoothly. So talk to the head director? Well, maybe. But who is that? After reading this suggestion I went to the ACBL tourney site to see if such a person is identified. I couldn't find it.

Personally, I am not interested in getting anyone fired or particularly dressed down. I know most directors are in this as a service to the game, not to make a buck. But I think there was a problem, I would like to have a good mechanism for bringing it to people's attention, and then I would forget it.


Ken

[ArtK78]

It has been my experience in ACBL tourneys on BBO that, in situations like Ken describes, the TD will review the board and assign the proper result after the round is over. All you have to do is ask.

Perhaps some TDs are better than others, but I am more than satisfied with the ability of the TDs in the ACBL games on BBO. They do what they can, and if they cannot they usually tell you why.

[kenberg]

ArtK78, on Nov 24 2007, 12:38 PM, said:

It has been my experience in ACBL tourneys on BBO that, in situations like Ken describes, the TD will review the board and assign the proper result after the round is over. All you have to do is ask.

Perhaps some TDs are better than others, but I am more than satisfied with the ability of the TDs in the ACBL games on BBO. They do what they can, and if they cannot they usually tell you why.

This has been my usual experience as well, this time was an exception. Thinking it over, I guess that's what prompted me to say you have to take my word for it because, I agree, it is not what would be expected in the ACBL games. I don't much keep track of who is directing, so it seemed likely to me that this was an inexperienced director. I just let it go at the time, and perhaps should have kept to that plan, but if there was a convenient way to bring it to someone's attention it might have been useful. Very possibly the director did not know what the usual policy is or maybe how to implement it. Or maybe s/he was just too busy. It happens.

Anyway, a clear indication on the ACBL site of how to bring these things up could be useful. Some complaints would probably be frivolous, but some wouldn't.

But to the essence of your post, that the games are well-directed, I agree. It's online bridge, not the Spingold, and adjustments have to be made for both the reasonable and the possible. Given that, I am fine with the directing in general.

[blackshoe]

kenberg, on Nov 24 2007, 02:41 PM, said:

It's online bridge, not the Spingold, and adjustments have to be made for both the reasonable and the possible.

To quote Dr. Temperance "Bones" Brennan, Ph.D., "I don't know what that means."

[kenberg]

blackshoe, on Nov 24 2007, 04:22 PM, said:

kenberg, on Nov 24 2007, 02:41 PM, said:

It's online bridge, not the Spingold, and adjustments have to be made for both the reasonable and the possible.

To quote Dr. Temperance "Bones" Brennan, Ph.D., "I don't know what that means."

I mean something along the lines of:

In high level bridge there is a team of highly trained directors and committees for the appeal of rulings. In online bridge there is one person. A qualified director I imagine but surely there are levels of qualification. The game moves along and folks expect to see their standing when the game is over, not a couple of hours later adter appeals have been dealt with.

To suggest an analogy: My 15 year old granddaughter plays soccer, seriously enough so that decent referees are important. No one expects, at least I hope they don't, that the refereeing is up to the standards at the World Cup.

There are only so many highly trained people in any profession. We should expect competence, we should go easy on demanding perfection. As you can see, I wasn't saying anything extraordinary. The case I mentioned was, I think, less well done than what I expect from acbl tourneys.

[blackshoe]

Certainly there are levels of qualification. Equally certainly the average TD on BBO is far from qualified to direct a Spingold. A TD is nonetheless obligated to rule IAW with the laws and (legal) regulations in force.

Bridge players' thirst for instant gratification notwithstanding, and the usual "it's online bridge, who cares?" notwithstanding, I hope you're not suggesting that a TD take an expedient but illegal route, simply in the interests of getting the scores posted within 30 seconds of the end of the session.

[kenberg]

No, I suppose not. Once though, in a maze of one ways, no left turns, etc I asked a cop how to get to where I wanted to go. He thought a bit and advised me to go down to where the no left turn sign was and take a left. But no, we shouldn't do this.

I would greatly appreciate it if directors would deal with the communicative hesitations during bidding and the coffeehousing hesitations during play. I have heard the arguments against it. The dog had to be let out. There was a mouse malfunction. etc. Could be. But these dogs and mice seem to act up only at very convenient times for their owners. In some ways, the online problem is easier than f2f. There is an electronic record of exactly how long the delay was. But, maybe the dog really did have to be let out.

Directors do not deal with this, i wish they would, I have come to accept that they do not. Oddly though, and maybe naively, I think the problem is not as strong now as it was a while back. Respect for the game may solve a problem directors do not.

Anyway, I hope the original poster either got his buck or got an explanation of why he didn't. Seems right.

Btw, I don't usually read this particular forum. Probably that means I am saying things that have been said a thousand times before. I guess I will hold off on further comment until I read what some others had to say.

[blackshoe]

One wonders why, if a player was called away from the computer for some urgent matter, he didn't bother to do the others at the table the courtesy of telling them so at the time. As a director, I'm inclined to consider that failure as sufficient to allow me to disregard his later testimony.