[Alaine]

I have started playing some of the robot races but are mainly getting wiped all over the floor when EW get into a game contract which I can't defeat. I am not sure whether to punt for game or slam to keep scores up and hopefully not go down, or to sacrifice against EW game contracts. I am familiar with IMP tactics but this has got me beat. Once in negative score territory its very hard to turn it into a positive score.

[helene_t]

Hi Alaine, welcome to the forum, I hope you'll like it here and find lots of new friends and lots of bridge wisdom ♥

Total points is like IMPs but more extreme. By bidding a making vulnerable game you win 450 and by bidding a vulnerable game going one off you lose 190 (or 170) so a 31% chance is enough. (OK you might get doubled, or 3M might get down as well, so the 31% may not always be accurate but you get the picture).

There's a lot of luck involved, though, so don't take it too personal if you lose one of the races. Of course if you lose consistently it's not so good.

[Mud Reelo]

If you hoover your mouse over your own score in the upper left corner, you'll be able to see the scores of Top Five. That's a big help

I played my first Robot Race just yesterday, and what a welcome:

Board 1: Opps bid and makes 7♠, -1510
Board 5: Opps bid and makes 6NT, -1440

I did not win.

[zasanya]

Read "Why You Lose at Bridge" by S J Simon,

[Al_U_Card]

The most important thing to do (you can't help what cards are dealt as that is purely random luck) is to hover your mouse cursor over the bot bids (ESPECIALLY YOUR PARD BOT) to see what they are actually showing. Although they occasionally "fudge" a bit, it really helps to know that they never lie...

[Rossoneri]

zasanya, on Feb 29 2008, 10:12 PM, said:

Read "Why You Lose at Bridge" by S J Simon,

I second that.

[gwnn]

Try to beat their vulnerable grand slams.

[barmar]

Al_U_Card, on Feb 29 2008, 10:36 AM, said:

The most important thing to do (you can't help what cards are dealt as that is purely random luck) is to hover your mouse cursor over the bot bids (ESPECIALLY YOUR PARD BOT) to see what they are actually showing. Although they occasionally "fudge" a bit, it really helps to know that they never lie...

Oh yes they do!

Getting back to the total points strategy question, if you're in 4th chair, you should probably pass out any mediocre hands -- don't waste time competing for a part score. So forget the rule of 15.

Slams are critical -- if you can make a couple of them, and avoid having the bots make any against you, you should place high. Conversely, if they make a vulnerable grand against you, you can usually just give up.

As others have mentioned, you should look at the leaderboard often. If you're already way ahead, you should go into defensive mode: try to interfere with the bots' bidding so they can't find their games and slams. I haven't had much luck with this myself, though -- I've pushed them into more making games than I care to think about.

Maybe that's a good time for you to psyche, but be careful because I doubt your robot partner can take a joke.

[Alaine]

Thank you all for your help and advice. I've clawed my way up to 5+ master points and am 22nd in the March robot race.