[dartagnan9]

Hi

I've played in the robot race tournaments quite a few times, and the robots often stick for quite a few seconds in the first half of each hand. If you end up as dummy, a game can be interminable. I know it's not my connection, because I don't see this with live play, and that wouldn't explain how they magically speed through the second half of each board.

Can you please clarify? Does everybody get the same hands in a robot race with best hand for South. I can't see how it's possible. I just played a tourney, and had only four boards where more than a part score was possible, and those part scores were barely made each time. Early on, I had three part-score hands as the first three hands. I could see another player had already bid and made a slam. It seems, then, completely arbitrary. The player who gets the best hands is most likely to win.

Thanks, Keith

[barmar]

In Robot Race and Robot Rewards, everyone gets different hands.

It's like rubber bridge, if you get good cards you'll probably win. But if you play often enough, luck should even out, and in the long run your skill will be the determining factor.

When GIB is playing or defending, the software works by dealing out a bunch of hands consistent with the bidding and play so far, then performing double dummy analysis to determine the best play. It does this for every card it plays. In many cases, the double dummy analysis can be slow, and since it has to deal lots of hands and analyze each of them, it can really lag.

But sometimes when you're dummy the play can fly by in a matter of seconds. It depends on the board.

[dartagnan9]

Well, I can only conclude that I'm continually unlucky. I'm a good, intermediate player, who plays the cards well. The other day, my first six hands were all part scores, mostly at the 1 or 2 level. It's really a waste of money. I don't understand why all players cannot get the same cards. You say luck evens out, but since there are often 30 or more players per tournament, that means you spend $30 and only once will you get the best set of hands. It's fine for you - people keep coming back in the hope that this time they'll get the good hands. Meanwhile, you accumulate money each time.

In a regular tournament, or even club play, most times, everybody gets the same set of hands, why not robot races?

Thanks for responding, but I'm not convinced. Keith

[barmar]

You need to learn strategy in Robot Race. Since it's total points scoring, you should only open hands that have a good chance to reach game. Since the human is given the most points, if you only have 13 HCP and no extra shape, it's unlikely that you have a game. Pass normal opening hands, only open hands that will accept an invitation. That way you won't waste valuable time on part score hands.

And when you get shapely hands, be very aggressive. The game bonus is even more valuable in total points scoring than it is in IMPs, you should bid 25% non-vulnerable games and 15% vulnerable games.

The reason the hands aren't duplicated in Robot Race is because they're run the same as Robot Rewards. Since the latter has prize money, there's incentive for players to collude. Giving them all different hands prevents this type of cheating.

If you want to play the same hands as others, play in Robot Duplicate tourneys.