[OldPlayr]

It would be nice to have more tournaments where an individual can play with real people, instead of the robots.

The Express-free fun format is nice 30 minutes & playing with real people. The downside of that is that, being a freebee, the player quality is lacking. Too bad there are not more chances to play that format in a BBO or ACBL tournament. I know that there are a few offered, but they are few and far between.

I don't understand why so many tournaments are robots-only, forcing their single convention use, or nothing. I feel like I'm stuck in an old Twilight Zone episode - only a robot for companionship

[Bbradley62]

OldPlayr, on 2012-October-19, 17:40, said:

The Express-free fun format is nice 30 minutes & playing with real people. The downside of that is that, being a freebee, the player quality is lacking. Too bad there are not more chances to play that format in a BBO or ACBL tournament. I know that there are a few offered, but they are few and far between.

I don't get how Express is playing "with real people" if we cannot even say "hello" to each other. There might as well be robots in all the other seats.

I think you overestimate the difference between the quality of playing fields in pay tournaments vs in free tournaments. I've played lots of free robot tournaments and enough $0.25 robot tournaments to be convinced that there is no real difference in the strength of the fields.

It appears to me that the paid Express tournaments have been completely eliminated, presumably due to low enrollment.

Lastly, I hope you understand that by enrolling in the Express tournaments you are agreeing to play the GIB 2/1 convention card; it is a published condition of contest.

[OldPlayr]

Simply because it is this way does not mean that is has to be. This is why I made my suggestion.

I'm looking for more individual tournaments that offer the opportunity to play with real people.

There are many options to vary bidding systems.

BTW. No chat is probably the only thing I like about robot tournaments. I've not seen player comments of much value, but have seen many that expose the less attractive side of people. I've never heard a robot say anything mean to anyone

[diana_eva]

I don't understand the suggestion too well. There are free tourneys hosted by volunteers, besides the free Express that run every 10 minutes + two 80% TCR Express per hour. That's 7 house tourneys per hour plus the free tourneys organized by other hosts. Are you looking in the Free Tournaments list?

[barmar]

OldPlayr, on 2012-October-19, 17:40, said:

I don't understand why so many tournaments are robots-only, forcing their single convention use, or nothing. I feel like I'm stuck in an old Twilight Zone episode - only a robot for companionship

Because we can run as many of these as we need without hiring more directors.

[Bbradley62]

diana_eva, on 2012-October-21, 23:47, said:

OldPlayr, on 2012-October-19, 17:40, said:

The downside of that is that, being a freebee, the player quality is lacking. Too bad there are not more chances to play that format in a BBO or ACBL tournament.

I don't understand the suggestion too well. There are free tourneys hosted by volunteers, besides the free Express that run every 10 minutes + two 80% TCR Express per hour. That's 78 house tourneys per hour plus the free tourneys organized by other hosts. Are you looking in the Free Tournaments list?

He's not looking for free tournaments, which are plentiful. He's looking for a higher caliber of player, which he thinks he would find in pay tournaments.

[diana_eva]

lol ty for the edit. counting/typing is hard before coffee.

OK understood now. More pay indies. I think most private clubs such as Sky, BBO Turkiye, BBO Land offer individual tourneys and not pairs. Check in BBO Masterpoint tourneys.Also, the default CC there is SAYC, not GIB 2/1.

This post has been edited by diana_eva: 2012-October-22, 01:47

[OldPlayr]

barmar, on 2012-October-21, 23:52, said:

Because we can run as many of these as we need without hiring more directors.

I don't follow... You have FREE tournaments without robots that need directors. PAID tournaments would be better in covering director costs, don't you think? I'm simply suggesting that you start running some express tournaments, with all live people, and charge for them to get a larger percentage of serious players.

[OldPlayr]

diana_eva, on 2012-October-22, 01:39, said:

lol ty for the edit. counting/typing is hard before coffee.

OK understood now. More pay indies. I think most private clubs such as Sky, BBO Turkiye, BBO Land offer individual tourneys and not pairs. Check in BBO Masterpoint tourneys.Also, the default CC there is SAYC, not GIB 2/1.

I can't seem to see any of these tourneys that you mention. Does one have to join these 'private clubs'? Sorry, I'm rather new here.

[diana_eva]

You don't have to do anything special - their tournaments are generally open to all, no restrictions.

Click on :List all tournaments, then BBO Masterpoint Tournaments. Look for tourneys hosted by Sky Club, BBO Turkyie, BBO_PL, BBO Land, Alpil, BBO Italia and some other organisations. Almost all run individual tournaments.

[Bbradley62]

Other clubs like BBO Hornets and BBO Fans have free individuals several times per day. You would have to join their clubs, but that simply means going to their website and registering.

[Bbradley62]

OldPlayr, on 2012-October-23, 16:14, said:

I'm simply suggesting that you start running some express tournaments, with all live people, and charge for them to get a larger percentage of serious players.

They did that when they first introduced Express tournaments. No one registered for the pay ones, so they stopped having them.

[barmar]

OldPlayr, on 2012-October-23, 16:14, said:

I don't follow... You have FREE tournaments without robots that need directors.

No we don't. Those are run by the members themselves, not BBO. If the directors are being paid (I think in many cases it's just the tourney host doing it themselves), it doesn't come out of BBO's pocket.