[AAr]

I love the Bingo Reward Tourneys, except for two things.

1. This is not a suggestion to improve it, but an observation. It seems like 80% of the time I sign up for a Bingo Reward tourney, at least one of my opponents gets BINGO within five minutes of it starting (20+ Minutes left on the clock). Since it seems like it takes about a minute or so to play a hand sans a redeal, and the least number of hands you could possibly play in order to get a BINGO is four, it's like my opponents must be getting BINGOs in five or at most SIX hands! That seems like it takes a LOT of luck. Am I unlucky to get stuck with such lucky opponents when I sign up, or am I missing something? Are such feats are normal? (They sure don't seem to be with the hand's I'm getting: I usually end up DEFENDING most of my BINGO Reward hands, and often end up in unmakable contracts and contracts not in my card.) So, if I screw up in as few as TWO hands (bid contracts not in BINGO card, fail to make contracts, make contracts outside my line, not make my contracts, etc.), that could seal my fate right there? Does getting BINGO in five minutes (and perhaps five or six hands) that normal? Would I be adviced to just stick with the Bingo Race tourneys (where everybody gets the same hand)? Comments on this, please.

And, this leads to:

2. Redeals. I do like games with SOME luck element, because the best and same players always win if it's strictly strategy and not enough luck. But, when I have to earn my FIRST redeal, it seems to me that it adds TOO MUCH of a luck element. Like I said above, you get lucky oppoenents, esp. in Reward, and playing just one or two hands where you don't fill a square can be enough to get you beat. So, if you get dealt bad cards on the first or second deal, you could not only be one down with potentially so little margin for error, but with a further deficit to try to get to the +500 points for the redeal. I think we should start with ONE redeal (losing it you get -500 points before using it, which would pretty much be stupidity, although when you play fast and don't think...), THEN get 500 points for each redeal. This way seems more fair (Game involves more strategy and less luck) than the way it is set up now.

I do seem to have slightly betting luck in Bingo Race than I do in Bingo Rewards. Some of the struggles in BINGO tourneys are be my fault sometimes (Playing too slow, going down in makable contracts, etc), but I think having one redeal to start is more fair than the way it is set up now. And, I wonder what is with always getting opponents getting BINGOs five minutes into the tournamant in BINGO Reward each time I sign up for those?

Other than the above issues, I really like these BINGO tourneys.

Comments, please.

[ArtK78]

I played a few Bingo Rewards tourneys. The luck element is extremely high.

[wayne_b]

I play and win a few BINGO tournaments. One thing is never play marginal deals. Only play contracts your self that are "slam dunks." Pass alot and double even more.

[scampy_008]

Most people wont tell you this because its like cheating but it kinda bove board.

Its not about redeals or making unmakble hands.

If you have less then 15 points just PASS, you will get a new hand. How do you think WE do it!

if you pass with 12+ points and your partner opens you know your in game.

Good luck in your Bingo Quest!

[barmar]

scampy_008, on 2012-February-11, 10:29, said:

Most people wont tell you this because its like cheating but it kinda bove board.

Isn't it in the Robot Race strategies thread?

[Rain]

Bingo Race are slightly different. You get the same hands as everyone else in the same order there (Can still redeal if you've earned them of course).

Bingo Reward is actually extremely skill based, though I don't mean pure bridge skill.
Skill playing with robots, skill in deciding what contracts to bid and how to get there, which square to choose, when to accumulate redeal and when to use, pure speed. All these are as important as bridge skills. The players who play the reward instead of race are generally much better bingo players too, so you will need familiarity before you can hope to consistently place in the top few here.

[AAr]

Sorry to bump this thread.

My opinion on redeals still stands (You start with one, and earn additional redeals for each 500 points), but here is a new one.


Change the 25 Minute Clock and reduce it to a 15 Minute Clock, in both Bingo Race and Reward. This is how I see this being better.


1. It is still enough of a long shot that enough players will BINGO to allow anybody not BINGO in even 15 minutes to be in the rewards that it will not change anything major. At least in Reward, the majority of the time I sign up, you're out of the rewards in 10 minutes.

However...

2. It does make it slightly more likely that not enough players will end before the clock expires to allow somebody who fell just short of BINGO to still place in the rewards. This is, IMO, a good thing because...

> A. It actually adds to the strategy of trying to get the least squares needed to BINGO (to go from B to BI to BIN to BING), as it will down to getting to BING (or even BIN) more often to get in the money or points.

> B. It allows more ties, which makes it more attractive to join, esp. in Race (where it actually is more likely to come down to the strategy listed above. If there is a multi-way tie for the last place because, FE., it's a seven player tourney, only two players have botten BINGO, but three players have gotten to BING, there is a three-way tie for third place, and all three players get the full points. I know the money in Reward is still split. However, this chance would make it slightly more likely to be in the money or points, because ties are more likely now, and therefore making it more attractive to join with the slightly better odds.

> C. The Clock actually will come into play more often, again because of the strategies listed above. You see that BIN will keep you out of the points, but as long as nobody else BINGOs before the clock runs out, you still place with BING, but still need a square just to get to this, it makes the fun rush to try to get that needed square, tie the others in BING, and get in the points!

3. As it stands now, the only thing the Clock is usually good for, esp. in Reward, is that if you have a player that wants to play out the tourney and mess around, or just get away from the computer without withdrawing, the ones who BINGOed 20 minutes ago are still waiting for their rewards. If nothing else (Meaning: Even with the 15 minute clock, enough players get BINGO to ensure that anybody who doesn't will not place in the points, which will still happen the majority of the time), esp. in Reward, you know if you BINGO in five minutes, the results and rewards will come in no more than 10 minutes, not 20.

4. As far as getting as many hands in as possible in 25 Minutes (if it's still possible to place without BINGOing, if they want to continue playing even if they have no chance to win, etc.): Well, can't they still do that in Best Hand or Robot Race (in which it always comes down to the last second, at least to some extent)? You can keep Best Hand and Robot Race at 25 Minute, while changing the BINGO clock to 15 Minutes. This is what I see as the biggest argument for keeping it the way it is, and I'm countering it.

The only good argument I can think of for leaving it the way it is is that a 25 Minute clock makes it easier to try to see how many squares you can fill before you finally gst a BINGO than my proposed 15 Minute clock. I can see this one, but it think the higher chance of making the points because of more ties for places still in the rewards alone easily trumps getting more hands to just see if you can cover more squares without getting a BINGO.

So, anybody else think that changing BINGO's 25 Minute Clock to a 15 Minute Clock is a good idea? Or, am I in the minority? I could see one argument against me: With any luck, you should be able to BINGO in 25 Minutes and not place if you can't. But, I could argue that if you can't, but not enough players also can't, you should get something for being close.


Do you agree with my suggestion about changing BINGO's 25 Minute Clock to 15 Minutes, or leave it like it is. If you think it should stay the way it is (Other than just, "That's the way it's always been and it's worked fine enough so far"), please let us know your side.

Thanks!

[barmar]

I'm not sure why you're concerned about the players who bingo early. They don't have to wait for everyone else to finish, they can enter other tourneys if they want.

[AAr]

barmar, on 2012-February-22, 23:15, said:

I'm not sure why you're concerned about the players who bingo early. They don't have to wait for everyone else to finish, they can enter other tourneys if they want.

True. If they could enter another tourney as soon as they BINGO, while other tables still play. I do this myself. I should have phrased that better. Sorry.

I think the added strategy of just trying to get close to BINGO in the event you get bad cards and nobody else is BINGOing either, the fact that the Clock would actually comes into play more, and the increased (while stlll slim) chance of ties for places still within the point reward range, without too much change from how they're run now, is what makes this change worthwhile.

[barmar]

I think the intent is that most of the winners should bingo, so we want to allow enough time for this.

[mgoetze]

AAr, are you insinuating that getting from BIN to BING requires a different strategy than getting from BIN to BINGO?