[iamdavej]

Hi - Have been playing bridge for many years (rubber, Chicago, and online), but have just recently returned to the world of in-person duplicate bridge (after 30+ years away) and am having to learn the joys of the bidding box. Making the bids, passes, doubles, etc. is relatively straightforward, but quite a bit of a change from the spoken bidding I was using when I last played duplicate. What is less clear is how to manage the "non-bids" - is there a good write-up already in existence that would answer the following questions (and any other frequently-asked ones on this topic that have not occurred to me)?

1. If I am about to make a call that is unusually high (where in the past, I would have said, "skip bid, please wait" prior to making my (verbal) call), I first place the "Stop" card and then place the bidding card indicating my call in reasonable tempo thereafter.
a. Does the Stop card go 'in line' with the other bids or is it placed above/near the stack of bids?
b. I am to leave the Stop card for the full prescribed waiting time? Or return it to my bidding box in reasonable tempo after making my call (putting the burden to wait on LHO)?
c. Is there clear direction on which bids require the Stop card (which doesn't seem to be used much at one club, but is used frequently but inconsistently at another club). Before 2C (strong)? Before a Weak 2? Before a 3, 4, or 5 level opening bid? Before a Weak Jump Overcall? Before a splinter? What about a 'leap' to Blackwood (e.g. 1S - 2S - 4NT?) What about a 2N or 3N opening bid?

2. If my partner makes a bid that is alertable, essentially the same questions as 1(a) above? When is the Alert card returned to the box? I have also heard about leaving the Alert card sitting on the table and tapping it to indicate Alert - is this normal/acceptable? What if my RHO calls while I am fumbling for the Alert card in the bidding box - does that require the Director?

3. Announcements are something new since I last played in-person duplicate. Are announcements required? I don't seem to hear them much at all (I am playing in Beginner / 199er games). If they are required, what bids get announced - 1N opening range, Jacoby transfers on 1N and 2N openings (and 1N overcalls where systems are on?), Texas transfers - is that the full list? Does the announcement get prefaced with "Announcement" or if my partner opens 1N, I simply say "fifteen to seventeen"?

4. One unusual situation came up last time we played - my partner's bidding box didn't have a Double card in it (three Redouble cards, but no Double card). This was not noticed until he needed to Double, of course. So, we've added "check the bidding box for completeness" to our "arriving at a new table" checklist. During the bidding of this hand and at his turn to call, he said "I want to Double, but I don't have a Double card" and we provided him with one from another bidding box at the table - was this the correct way to handle this or should we have called the Director?

Thanks in advance.

Dave
San Diego, CA

[blackshoe]

iamdavej, on 2012-June-02, 20:52, said:

Hi - Have been playing bridge for many years (rubber, Chicago, and online), but have just recently returned to the world of in-person duplicate bridge (after 30+ years away) and am having to learn the joys of the bidding box. Making the bids, passes, doubles, etc. is relatively straightforward, but quite a bit of a change from the spoken bidding I was using when I last played duplicate. What is less clear is how to manage the "non-bids" - is there a good write-up already in existence that would answer the following questions (and any other frequently-asked ones on this topic that have not occurred to me)?

1. If I am about to make a call that is unusually high (where in the past, I would have said, "skip bid, please wait" prior to making my (verbal) call), I first place the "Stop" card and then place the bidding card indicating my call in reasonable tempo thereafter.
a. Does the Stop card go 'in line' with the other bids or is it placed above/near the stack of bids?
b. I am to leave the Stop card for the full prescribed waiting time? Or return it to my bidding box in reasonable tempo after making my call (putting the burden to wait on LHO)?
c. Is there clear direction on which bids require the Stop card (which doesn't seem to be used much at one club, but is used frequently but inconsistently at another club). Before 2C (strong)? Before a Weak 2? Before a 3, 4, or 5 level opening bid? Before a Weak Jump Overcall? Before a splinter? What about a 'leap' to Blackwood (e.g. 1S - 2S - 4NT?) What about a 2N or 3N opening bid?

2. If my partner makes a bid that is alertable, essentially the same questions as 1(a) above? When is the Alert card returned to the box? I have also heard about leaving the Alert card sitting on the table and tapping it to indicate Alert - is this normal/acceptable? What if my RHO calls while I am fumbling for the Alert card in the bidding box - does that require the Director?

3. Announcements are something new since I last played in-person duplicate. Are announcements required? I don't seem to hear them much at all (I am playing in Beginner / 199er games). If they are required, what bids get announced - 1N opening range, Jacoby transfers on 1N and 2N openings (and 1N overcalls where systems are on?), Texas transfers - is that the full list? Does the announcement get prefaced with "Announcement" or if my partner opens 1N, I simply say "fifteen to seventeen"?

4. One unusual situation came up last time we played - my partner's bidding box didn't have a Double card in it (three Redouble cards, but no Double card). This was not noticed until he needed to Double, of course. So, we've added "check the bidding box for completeness" to our "arriving at a new table" checklist. During the bidding of this hand and at his turn to call, he said "I want to Double, but I don't have a Double card" and we provided him with one from another bidding box at the table - was this the correct way to handle this or should we have called the Director?

Thanks in advance.

Dave
San Diego, CA

1a. I generally put it about halfway between myself and my LHO who is supposed to "stop".
1b. The regulation says put out the stop card, make your bid, pick up the stop card. It's up to LHO to maintain proper tempo. It's about 99 to 1 that he won't, no matter what you do.
1c. Any bid which skips a level requires the stop card, including all opening bids above the one level.
2. I generally wave the alert card at both opponents while saying alert. Many people don't bother — they just say "alert", sometimes so quietly I'm not sure what I heard.
3. Announcments are required. There are four basic announcements:

• After a natural one notrump opening bid. EXAMPLE: A 15-17 1NT opening bid is made. The partner of the bidder will say aloud, "fifteen to seventeen."
  
• After a ♦ or ♥ transfer response at any level to any level natural notrump opening, overcall or rebid.
  An Announcement also is used for those methods that initially treat the bid as a transfer even though rarely the bidder will have a strong hand without the next higher suit. When the message is sent that the transfer was not a transfer, just the first step in showing another type of game-going hand, the call that sends that message must be Alerted.
  EXAMPLES: 1NT-P-2♦ and 1♦-1NT-2♦-4♥. The 1NT bidder will say aloud, "Transfer." I believe what they meant to say in the second example here is (1♦)-1NT-(2♦)-4♥, i.e. the opponents bid diamonds, partner overcalls 1NT, and you transfer to spades.
  
• After a 1NT forcing or semi-forcing response to a 1♥ or 1♠ opening bid with no interference. EXAMPLE: 1♥-P-1NT The opening bidder will say aloud, "Forcing" or "Semi-forcing," if there was no other meaning attached to the agreement (such as showing four or more spades).
  
• After a non-forcing opening 1♣ or 1♦ for which the opener could have fewer than three cards in the suit opened. After the opening bid, the opening bidder's partner says, "May be short."

4. Sure. You might, if you remember, let the TD know that the bidding box is deficient after the session (which is of course easiest if you're stationary).

[Quantumcat]

Hi, my advice might not be very relevant as I live in Australia. However, while passing through America on a world trip I played in a large tournament in Orange County, and everything seemed the same (except there were no hand records?!?!? Isn't California the birthplace of modern computing?)

1. Stop cards are just an accessory in the bidding box, no one uses them. In fact us youth players sometimes steal them and wear them in our hats as a joke, or write messages on them (one kid I knew wrote "HAMMER TIME!!" underneath the "Stop" on all the stop cards he ever came across), or paste them on exercise books as decoration. In New Zealand some old people occasionally still use them, but they get a lot of eye-rolling when they do (at least from Aussies, maybe not from British people or other Kiwis).

2. Pick up an alert card, place it next to your partner's bid, and say "alert". If there are none in your bidding box, tap his bid and say "alert", and start looking aorund for one to steal out of one of your table-mate's boxes. If you are too slow and the opponent bids before you alert, if he looks concerned about it, call the director, they will let the opponent change their bid (if they would have bid something differently given the information in the alert). 9 times out of 10 he doesn't care and after offering the director you can go about your normal business. Leave the alert on the table near your partner's bid right till the end of an auction - if it's long, the opponents might want to clarify the alerted bids, and the opponents may claim you never alerted a bid if you move it and they didn't notice it was ever there. In the case of an alert card missing - the benefit of the doubt might go to the opponents. Don't get had by unscrupulous opponents - leave the alert there and no one can complain).

Don't announce the meaning of the alert unless one of the opponents asks you. However at the end of the auction, if the opponent on lead shows the slightest interest in your auction, it is polite to explain the meaning of any bid that you alerted, and any bid that isn't what it looks like that you couldn't alert (bids above 3NT, doubles, bids of the opponent's suits). You usually describe your partner's bids, and your partner describes yours. If they bang down their lead card immediately upon the final pass, they don't care. Don't feel the need to explain to an uncaring opponent, sometimes they get annoyed at you giving an unsolicited explanation (who knows why! people are a mystery), and anyway it's their loss if they don't understand your auction and misdefend as a result. You won't get into trouble for lack of explanation unless, when directly asked by an opponent, you deliberately, grossly misdescribe something in the hope they misdefend. You wouldn't do that, would you?

3. Possibly a difference between the U.S. and Australia - unsolicited announcements during the auction are not allowed, you should give the opponents your pre-alerts at the beginning of the match (these will be bids that the opponents might want to agree a defence on, before starting play. E.g. you play strong club, or myxamitosis twos), and if they want to know your NT range, carding etc, they should look at your convention card - that's what it's for.

4. Just grab a double out of someone else's box. Or else act up looking through your box for a red card, an opponent or a partner will usually hand you one. Passes and doubles usually get unevenly distributed between the four boxes on a table, since people pick up other people's alerts, doubles and passes at the end of the auction quite often. I like to keep a ready supply of doubles and alerts in my pocket - bidding boxes never seem to have enough for a whole auction!

It is very rare for a missing card in a bidding box to not simply be in one of the other boxes at the table - if you are suddenly missing a 4 club card, for example, and it is definitely not hiding between your other cards, in between hands have a look at your table-mate's boxes, I guarantee it will be in one of them!

[mgoetze]

Quantumcat, on 2012-June-03, 04:04, said:

1. Stop cards are just an accessory in the bidding box, no one uses them. In fact us youth players sometimes steal them and wear them in our hats as a joke, or write messages on them (one kid I knew wrote "HAMMER TIME!!" underneath the "Stop" on all the stop cards he ever came across), or paste them on exercise books as decoration. In New Zealand some old people occasionally still use them, but they get a lot of eye-rolling when they do (at least from Aussies, maybe not from British people or other Kiwis).

We use them in Europe, and they are very useful, but unfortunately I believe this description is correct for ACBLland.

[Vampyr]

iamdavej, on 2012-June-02, 20:52, said:

1. If I am about to make a call that is unusually high (where in the past, I would have said, "skip bid, please wait" prior to making my (verbal) call), I first place the "Stop" card and then place the bidding card indicating my call in reasonable tempo thereafter.
a. Does the Stop card go 'in line' with the other bids or is it placed above/near the stack of bids?
b. I am to leave the Stop card for the full prescribed waiting time? Or return it to my bidding box in reasonable tempo after making my call (putting the burden to wait on LHO)?

a. I usually put the "Stop" card on top of the board. I then hold it there after making my bid, as I think that it does help, in terms of people ignoring the card, to be actually holding it instead of leaving it lying somewhere.

b. I think that it is much more polite and sensible to measure the 10 seconds oneself, instead of putting the burden, as you say, on the person who is supposed to have the time for thinking, but I believe that ACBL regulations instruct one to pick it up after making the call.

In places like the ACBL and I guess Australia, where the use of the "Stop" card is apparently optional, I believe that LHO is still required to pause before bidding. I think that this is terrible. It's for your own protection, after all -- if you can't be bothered to use it, then LHO gets to choose his tempo and you can't claim damage, and RHO is deemed to have received no UI.

2. The important thing with the Alert card is to make sure that both opponents have seen it. Again the board in the centre of the table is a very obvious place to hold it.

It's true that the next player has options if he calls before you alert. One thing that many players do is remove the Alert card from the box and keep it nearby (often face down) and then wield it when necessary.

[Heron]

If you haven't seen these, they'll give you the official answer to many of your questions:

http://www.acbl.org/...procedures.html
http://www.acbl.org/play/bidboxes.html

As for specifics, for ACBL-land alerts you just tap the alert card on the table (out where everyone can see it) while saying "alert" and stow it again. For announcements, just clearly state "transfer", "may be short", "[semi-]forcing", or a point range; you should also tap the alert strip if your box has one, but the standard US club-issue bidding boxes seem not to; you can leave the alert card someplace you can tap it or just not bother. (...huh, and after reviewing the above ACBL links I realize that I'm supposed to alert our non-major transfers, not announce them! I'm also returning to ACBL-land after a bit, and while announcements may be clunky they beat having to just alert sub-16 1NT openers, forcing NT, and the like!)

Note that alerts and announcements are mandatory, and while many people don't care regardless I doubt you'd make it through an open club game without getting called on it if you omitted them.

It's much more a subject of debate whether stop cards are mandatory; the ACBL says you "should" use them to protect your rights. To my mind that falls short of "must", and I personally can't be arsed (especially at the average club game), but others disagree and there are many heat-filled threads elsewhere on this forum about whether they're really required. The one thing that is clearly required, though, is that if you use them you should always (in a given game) use them, otherwise their use or lack thereof could convey information.

[blackshoe]

In the laws of bridge, when one "should" do something, failure to do it is an infraction. AFAICS, that principle extends to regulations made supplementary to the laws, as well.

[Tomi2]

mgoetze, on 2012-June-04, 16:19, said:

We use them in Europe, and they are very useful, but unfortunately I believe this description is correct for ACBLland.

disagree to the first two parts of your statement.
Not everybody uses the stop cards in Europe as the rules want us to do because many are correctly thinking that the rules are not good on this point. In non competitive auctions for example imo there is no use of the stop card, for example 1♠-2♠-4NT, or take pass - 1nt - pass - 3nt... why spending 10seconds here and maybe get penalties for playing slow later, while in other copmetitive auctions with no skip bid stop cards would be usesfull but aren't in use, for example stop 4♠ - (5♥) - thhhiiiinnnk - double/pass.

the border "skip bid" for (non-)use of the stop card is as randomly as "no alert above 3nt"

[blackshoe]

Tomi2, on 2012-July-15, 08:16, said:

disagree to the first two parts of your statement.
Not everybody uses the stop cards in Europe as the rules want us to do because many are correctly thinking that the rules are not good on this point. In non competitive auctions for example imo there is no use of the stop card, for example 1♠-2♠-4NT, or take pass - 1nt - pass - 3nt... why spending 10seconds here and maybe get penalties for playing slow later, while in other copmetitive auctions with no skip bid stop cards would be usesfull but aren't in use, for example stop 4♠ - (5♥) - thhhiiiinnnk - double/pass.

the border "skip bid" for (non-)use of the stop card is as randomly as "no alert above 3nt"

To ignore a rule because in your opinion it's a bad rule is not a good idea. One might go so far as to call it cheating. And if someone is getting penalties for slow play, hopefully the TD has determined that in fact he was playing slowly at the time, not that he took the legally required ten seconds before his much earlier bid.

IME, the reason for the tank in your last example is that the 4♠ bidder's partner doesn't even begin to think until after his RHO bids. If he used all his available thinking time, he'd often be able to call in tempo.

I have no idea what your last sentence means.

[Tomi2]

to the last sentence: why should 1♠-3NT = something aritfical, say "club splinter" be alerted and 1♠-4♣ = dia-splinter not?

[Tomi2]

blackshoe, on 2012-July-15, 08:30, said:

IME, the reason for the tank in your last example is that the 4♠ bidder's partner doesn't even begin to think until after his RHO bids. If he used all his available thinking time, he'd often be able to call in tempo.

this would require the player must be able to decide what to do over: pass, double, 4nt, 5clubs and 5dias in 10 seconds

[mgoetze]

Tomi2, on 2012-July-15, 08:16, said:

disagree to the first two parts of your statement.

You disagree that stop cards are sometimes taken out of the bidding box in Europe? I've even seen you do it once in a while!