[jdonn]

Please only vote if you are an ACBL member, but anyone feel free to comment. Not that I know why you would want to if you aren't one.

[inquiry]

Already said when i am in vegas this summer, i am keeping my cell phone on me. It will be turned off.

[pclayton]

They can pry it from my cold dead han.

[matmat]

pclayton, on Mar 27 2008, 11:46 PM, said:

They can pry it from my cold dead han.

poor Han... does he know?


i've been thinking about rejoining, things like this and some of the convention restrictions (or rather, the ACBL's attitude toward them) have kept me from doing so.

I would fully intend to carry the cell phone on me, and, just as in a theater, concert or restaurant with friends, i'd turn it off during a session.

[hrothgar]

Don't own a cell phone

If I were to own one, I might very well ignore the regulation. I would almost certainly pop the battery during games.

[helene_t]

I almost never wear my cell phone anyway. If I were to bring it to the venue and I didn't have confidence in cloakroom safety, I would take the sim card out and have it in my pocket during sessions. After all it would be annoying if my sim card got stolen. Don't care for the rest of the phone, it is worth appr. GBP 5.

[Gerben42]

My cellphone isn't worth anything (it can only be used for telephone and SMS, has no graphical display, and CERTAINLY no camera or whatever other functions a phone might have in 2008), so I'd simply leave it in my jacket. But that's just me...

My simcard usually doesn't have much worth either because I always forget to buy more prepaid credit

The two main reasons I having one is so that others can call me in an emergency, and for calling 112 (911 if you are in the US).

I know, only 28 years old and already oldfashioned...

I could imagine if you own a $100+ phone that this would make a difference, then I'd probably leave it in my hotel room safety box.

[gwnn]

I'd certainly follow the regulations. If I am a member of an organization, it's a good idea to follow their rules. Disagreeing with a rule is resolved by formal complaints or joining higher spheres and changing it yourself, and not by just unilaterally breaking it.

[paulg]

I'll be following the ban.

To be honest I think you are all overreacting and sounding like spoilt children. I mean, it's not like they are trying to take your guns away.

Paul

[Trinidad]

I would turn my phone off (which will lock it) and hand it in to the TD. This is standard procedure in high level competitions in The Netherlands where I play currently.

For other bridge sessions, I either have my phone in my pocket and turned off (normally), or soundless (vibrate mode) if I am expecting a call. In the last case, my phone will only alert me for incoming calls and messages from certain preprogrammed numbers.

Rik

[helene_t]

cardsharp, on Mar 28 2008, 11:19 AM, said:

To be honest I think you are all overreacting and sounding like spoilt children. I mean, it's not like they are trying take your guns away.

Well, Roland Wald sounds as if he might take our chewing gum away. So you never know, there might even be some fanatics who would take away our guns.

As for the Netherlands I would rather expect a debate about head scarfs.

[hrothgar]

gwnn, on Mar 28 2008, 01:03 PM, said:

I'd certainly follow the regulations. If I am a member of an organization, it's a good idea to follow their rules. Disagreeing with a rule is resolved by formal complaints or joining higher spheres and changing it yourself, and not by just unilaterally breaking it.

I have a great deal of respect for the whole "Rule of Law" concept, however, this pre-supposes that the legal structure in question actually deserves some respect.

In the case of the ACBL, the regulators decided long ago to throw legal proprieties out the window. Accordingly, I don't feel any real responsibility to pay attention to what the organization has to say.

I'll happily ignore ACBL regulations if I think that they are

1. Poorly conceived or unnecessary
2. Inconvenient to me in some way

In some case, when I feel particularly strongly about the regulations in question, I'll make sure that the violation is extremely flagrant and dare the authorities to try and stop me...

Don't get me wrong: I'm not going to stack a deck or exchange signals with partner or anything like that. However, thats more a reflection of the fact that I care more about how I win, not if I win...

[Codo]

I second Pauls (cardsharp) thoughts.

There is no given reason why you need your mobile phone while playing bridge.

And if you have enough money to buy a 500 $ mobile phone, you may can affort to buy a second cheap one which you can take to the Vanderbilt while your expensive mobile stays in the safe.

[rbforster]

This poll is a good idea to see what people feel is "reasonable," especially in light of a hastily conceived and inconvenient rule. However, as is usually the case with polls, a few relevant options were left off the list:

"In light of the cell phone ban, I will:"

- drop/non-renew my ACBL membership since they clearly hate me
- continue to cheat via text message
- switch my cheating to eyebrow signals until they force me to shave my eyebrows
- obey the ban, and spend my bathroom time "soliciting" strangers instead of texting
- continue to lose at bridge since I'm too lazy/old fashioned to cheat
- coordinate a victory song played on spectators' ringtones for a high level event
- other form of protest (please describe and organize)

[helene_t]

Rob F, on Mar 28 2008, 02:38 PM, said:

- other form of protest (please describe and organize)

Yep, display a "We didn't vote for the cell phone ban" at the award ceremony.

[olegru]

Will keep it with me, sorry. On silent or turned off, doesn't matter.
My phone is cheap and I don't need it during the game of cause, but I never stay in the host hotel, I need my phone before and after sessions and I don't want to spend centuries between sessions getting my cell phone from some temporary storing place.

[han]

pclayton, on Mar 27 2008, 11:46 PM, said:

They can pry it from my cold dead han.

I find this post offensive, moderators please remove it.

I don't have a cell phone, should I get one before Vegas?

[han]

cardsharp, on Mar 28 2008, 05:19 AM, said:

I'll be following the ban.

To be honest I think you are all overreacting and sounding like spoilt children. I mean, it's not like they are trying to take your guns away.

Paul

I don't necessarily agree but great post Paul.

[david_c]

I'm a boringly law-abiding sort of person so would likely follow the rule even if it is an inconvenience. If I have a hotel or a car to leave it in I would do that. But even I can be pushed too far. I sometimes go to tournaments by public transport (which involves getting back late at night and needing a lift/taxi from the station), and in that case I wouldn't see any reasonable alternative to taking my phone with me.