[eagles123]

PhilG I mean this with the greatest respect but either you are a (not very good) troll or you wildly exaggerate your own ability at bridge

Literally no advanced player in world bridge would agree with 90% + of your posts, in fact I think a player of just a few weeks experience would be scratching their head with some of the stuff you come out with!

[fromageGB]

If I may post a dissenting opinion, I think PhilG007 is an asset to the forums. While his ideas are not always mainstream, he sometimes does provide a point of view which prompts you to reflect more on the situation under discussion. If that results in reaffirmation of your previous thoughts, so be it, but you may have gained from the reanalysis.

I welcome suggestions and different approaches, and hearing about pet gadgets - such as a penalty double...

You can't blame PhilG from replying to personal criticisms. Let's douse the flames.

[gwnn]

fromageGB, on 2016-April-28, 04:49, said:

You can't blame PhilG from replying to personal criticisms. Let's douse the flames.

As usual when we have a troll or suspected troll, you see people trying to assert that said troll was only replying to personal criticism. In fact if you check out their history it is invariably the poster in question who got personal and eventually got replies in kind. Of course it's difficult to tell if you're new or you don't follow the history too closely but it's not like PhilG just came here advocating penalty doubles and everybody just started the name calling.

I don't have a problem with advocating penalty doubles or strong unspecific cuebids, but only with asserting them as totally obvious and never even mentioning the fact (or entertaining the possibility) that this opinion is extremely non-standard. Again: it's OK to espouse old-fashioned methods but it's not OK to espouse them while calling everyone who disagrees with you clueless.

[Vampyr]

gwnn, on 2016-April-28, 05:57, said:

I don't have a problem with advocating penalty doubles or strong unspecific cuebids, but only with asserting them as totally obvious and never even mentioning the fact (or entertaining the possibility) that this opinion is extremely non-standard. Again: it's OK to espouse old-fashioned methods but it's not OK to espouse them while calling everyone who disagrees with you clueless.

To be fair to PhilG007, he says he is a rubber bridge player. So negative doubles and Michaels cuebids are probably not allowed in his club. So initially, anyway, he was unaware of modern duplicate methods.

Anyway, from time to time people come onto the forums to teach the rest of us to play bridge, say they are right and everyone else is wrong, and object to the fact that more consideration is given to the opinions world-class players than to their own. Who remembers HighLow21? Eventually they may, like he did, tone down their posts and their attitude. But they don't last long, because the forums turn out to be other than they had hoped.

At the moment their are people who are either inexperienced or have no exposure to methods other than their own who are posting pretty low-quality posts stating obviously this or always that. But they don't insist that they are right when they are corrected or (sometimes) criticised.

PhilG007 has neither gone away nor does he subside when everyone disagrees with him. Well, it's a public forum. Many of us occasionally spout drivel, and I think that a poster is entitled to do it more than occasionally, and I guess some people prefer to hoe a very lonely row. However I do worry about newer players being misled, and am not sure how this can be prevented.

[Phil]

gwnn, on 2016-April-28, 01:56, said:

bottom line: PhilG007 is a bit outdated and needs certain repairs. We would need to wait until PhilG015 at least until they are allowed in the wild again, but more probably, the next line, PhilHxxx, is our best bet.

This happened w v6 too. It was released into production with several patches. Help desk support was swamped with calls.

V7.0 attempted to strip out key features like negative doubles and Micheals.

V7.1 is nothing more than the marketing department claiming that less features mean better response times and makes a statement that others are actually the backward ones. It will release a commercial showing bonobos playing 2/1.

V8? Who knows?

Theres been discussions about PhilG "AAS". I doubt I'll subscribe until required functionality is built in.

[Stephen Tu]

It's one thing to be "anti-dogma", anti- conventional wisdom, anti modern bidding methods. If he had come along, and displayed an awareness that some of his ideas are only used by < 0.1% of duplicate players, haven't for 40+ years, and some ideas had never been used ever, and then tried to craft some logical argument why conventional wisdom is wrong, and his way is superior because of [...] reasons, that would be one thing. We'd probably politely disagree, and maybe pick apart some of his arguments. But there would be less thinking he's a troll, and less animosity.

But instead he just comes along and declares his ideas as correct without any logical supporting arguments, and casually dismisses opposing arguments by players with far more experience and success in high level competition, again without logical supporting argument. We are supposed to listen to him since he is a self-professed expert I guess and none of us know anything ourselves? That's why he's getting blasted.

[JonnyQuest]

PhilG007, on 2016-April-27, 08:56, said:

Is it me?

Yes!

[PhilG007]

Stephen Tu, on 2016-April-28, 10:26, said:

It's one thing to be "anti-dogma", anti- conventional wisdom, anti modern bidding methods. If he had come along, and displayed an awareness that some of his ideas are only used by < 0.1% of duplicate players, haven't for 40+ years, and some ideas had never been used ever, and then tried to craft some logical argument why conventional wisdom is wrong, and his way is superior because of [...] reasons, that would be one thing. We'd probably politely disagree, and maybe pick apart some of his arguments. But there would be less thinking he's a troll, and less animosity.

But instead he just comes along and declares his ideas as correct without any logical supporting arguments, and casually dismisses opposing arguments by players with far more experience and success in high level competition, again without logical supporting argument. We are supposed to listen to him since he is a self-professed expert I guess and none of us know anything ourselves? That's why he's getting blasted.

I never professed to be an 'expert' and I said so in an earlier posting. My opinions on these discussion boards are only suggestions
and were never meant to be anything else but that. Where does it say on my profile I'm an 'expert'?????? all I'm asking is to contribute
to what is supposed to be 'discussion' boards.

[Jinksy]

PhilG007, on 2016-April-29, 07:06, said:

I never professed to be an 'expert' and I said so in an earlier posting.

PhilG007 said:

If anyone doubts me as a player,then take me on head to head in a challenge match. THEN we'll see who's the master and who's the duffer

'I did not have sexual relations with that woman'.

[Stephen Tu]

PhilG007, on 2016-April-29, 07:06, said:

I never professed to be an 'expert' and I said so in an earlier posting. My opinions on these discussion boards are only suggestions
and were never meant to be anything else but that. Where does it say on my profile I'm an 'expert'?????? all I'm asking is to contribute
to what is supposed to be 'discussion' boards.

It doesn't matter that you only claim to be "advanced" rather than "expert" (which probably a lot of us also don't believe considering the opinions you have presented). It's the manner in which you post. You are posting opinions that 99.5+% of good experienced duplicate players think are either just totally wrong (for any era), or are totally antiquated. When you are presenting such out of the mainstream ideas, the onus is on you to acknowledge that your idea is an extreme minority position, then to present some compelling logical argument why conventional wisdom is wrong, why your opinion is right and everyone else is wrong. But your posts don't contain such arguments. They just say "do this", based on basically "I'm a good (even if not expert) player, listen to me".

Then most of us are going to think your contributions are just garbage to be ignored. We slam them so that random newbies don't take your opinions seriously and so they know that most people think your ideas are rubbish. It's the way of the internet, if some one posts what is considered nonsense, someone else is allowed to come and rip the nonsense apart. If it isn't nonsense, and has logical underpinning, you should be able to present that logic and rip apart the rebuttal, instead of relying on argument from personal authority.

So try to gain awareness of when you are in the extreme minority, and try to post actual bridge logic arguments to back your case. If your arguments start to actually make some sense, you'll earn respect. If you just spout nonsense without any argument other than your claiming some level of knowledge, you won't.

[PhilG007]

Vampyr, on 2016-April-28, 06:45, said:

To be fair to PhilG007, he says he is a rubber bridge player. So negative doubles and Michaels cuebids are probably not allowed in his club. So initially, anyway, he was unaware of modern duplicate methods.

Anyway, from time to time people come onto the forums to teach the rest of us to play bridge, say they are right and everyone else is wrong, and object to the fact that more consideration is given to the opinions world-class players than to their own. Who remembers HighLow21? Eventually they may, like he did, tone down their posts and their attitude. But they don't last long, because the forums turn out to be other than they had hoped.

At the moment their are people who are either inexperienced or have no exposure to methods other than their own who are posting pretty low-quality posts stating obviously this or always that. But they don't insist that they are right when they are corrected or (sometimes) criticised.

PhilG007 has neither gone away nor does he subside when everyone disagrees with him. Well, it's a public forum. Many of us occasionally spout drivel, and I think that a poster is entitled to do it more than occasionally, and I guess some people prefer to hoe a very lonely row. However I do worry about newer players being misled, and am not sure how this can be prevented.

Not a rubber bridge player...not for 10 years... I WAS a rubber bridge player when I was a then member of a bridge club.

[PhilG007]

eagles123, on 2016-April-28, 04:03, said:

PhilG I mean this with the greatest respect but either you are a (not very good) troll or you wildly exaggerate your own ability at bridge

Literally no advanced player in world bridge would agree with 90% + of your posts, in fact I think a player of just a few weeks experience would be scratching their head with some of the stuff you come out with!

That is entirely your opinion both of which are unwanted and unneeded.

[PhilG007]

Everything I stated in my topic on 'Etiquette' in another forum has been glaringly borne out in this one.
Anyone who is new to these boards is probably thinking "Whatever happened to this nice friendly game called
'Bridge'(?) Is it no wonder nobody wants to take up the game if they have to face the sort of bullying and harassment
I've had to undergo????
Well get this,since none of you own this site,you have no control what is said on it. As a patron,I have every right to
say what I want to. Anyone who disagrees with it can just ignore it as though it were invisible.

[1eyedjack]

PhilG007, on 2016-April-29, 13:38, said:

I have every right to say what I want to. Anyone who disagrees with it can just ignore it as though it were invisible.

Or ... anyone who disagrees with it can, er, disagree with it.

Despite the subject header I detect the closed mind of someone incapable of accepting any personal responsibility for the consequences that are the subject of complaint.

Seriously, I reckon that the main reason why anyone publicly disagrees is out of concern for inexperienced players who might, absent an expressed disagreement, assume tacit agreement; particularly where posted in the beginner sub-forum.

[billw55]

PhilG007, on 2016-April-29, 13:38, said:

Well get this,since none of you own this site,you have no control what is said on it. As a patron,I have every right to
say what I want to. Anyone who disagrees with it can just ignore it as though it were invisible.

I made an honest effort to discuss with you. But you failed to participate in that. So, since you have suggested it ... done.

No further replies.

[PhilG007]

billw55, on 2016-April-29, 13:57, said:

I made an honest effort to discuss with you. But you failed to participate in that. So, since you have suggested it ... done.

No further replies.

Good...will others follow you(?)

[hrothgar]

PhilG007, on 2016-April-29, 13:38, said:

Everything I stated in my topic on 'Etiquette' in another forum has been glaringly borne out in this one.
Anyone who is new to these boards is probably thinking "Whatever happened to this nice friendly game called
'Bridge'(?) Is it no wonder nobody wants to take up the game if they have to face the sort of bullying and harassment
I've had to undergo????

When you act like an asshole, you lose the right to complain when people treat you like one...

[PhilG007]

hrothgar, on 2016-April-29, 14:31, said:

When you act like an asshole, you lose the right to complain when people treat you like one...

Well,it's a comfort to know that I am not alone here in that respect (!)

[PhilG007]

I remember reading once how the late legendary player and author Rixi Markus related in one of her books
how she frequently had very heated discussions especially with male players who were half her age.
Now,I am no way in the class of the illustrious Mrs M but I can see where she is coming from (!)


"His hand shall be against every man and every man's hand against him"
-Genesis 16:12

[diana_eva]

PhilG007, on 2016-April-25, 06:55, said:

If anyone doubts me as a player,then take me on head to head in a challenge match. THEN we'll see who's the master and who's the duffer

There is a way to challenge people in one-on-one matches. I just sent you one such challenge. Click Challenges. You'll see one from me. Click it, and Accept: