[Phil]

TimG, on 2012-July-19, 12:17, said:

You're not betting $ on the outcome of an ACBL event, are you?

I'm quite sure he is speaking in the metaphorical sense of the word "odds".

[wyman]

Phil, on 2012-July-19, 14:09, said:

I'm quite sure he is speaking in the metaphorical sense of the word "odds".

I was thinking he was speaking in the metaphorical sense of the word "got."

But in the highly unlikely event that he was being literal, it's pretty nitty to care anyway imo.

[jallerton]

mfa1010, on 2012-July-18, 22:35, said:

Spingold is going really fine so far, and tomorrow we are (hopefully) going to have Lynch for lunch

We survived an unusual disaster against Amoils today (won by 4):

---

Double for ♦-lead or not?

mfa1010, on 2012-July-19, 11:42, said:

I have never seen anyone play in 3♦XX after a 2NT showing a 5-4 fit in a major ever. So until it happens to someone I am not going to fear that.
I tried the dubious double, because I thought I couldn't stand a black suit lead - certainly not a spade.

Well done mike777 who guessed the theme. I hit partner with SIX diamonds, but after the double I suspect declarer thought I also had the length in diamonds so he finessed my partner for ♥Qxx to make 6♥. It felt annoying because with 6 or maybe even five very strong diamonds, I could have made a 3♦ overcall after 2NT nv vs vul to insure the lead.

Congratulations on your victories so far and good luck for the rest of the week.

When this hand was shown on vugraph, there were a few differences. First of all, the vulnerability was shown as game all. Secondly, you were shown as having passed as dealer with the 1♥ opener in second seat (though I believe that you could not open a weak two in diamonds, so the inferences from passing as dealer may not affect too much).

I would have doubled 3♦ too; Larry Cohen thought it was obvious to do so. Passing is dangerous, as when partner has roughly equal holdings in the side suits, the one suit he won't be leading is diamonds, noting your failure to double.

Your opponent did very well to get the hearts right; diamonds are quite likely to be 5-5 from his point of view.

[mfa1010]

@ jallerton
You are likely right about the details. I posted from my bad memory
@ JLOGIC
Sorry, we sucked in 2&3 so it was not good enough to play well in 1&4.

[JLOGIC]

edit: had to edit this post, thanks gnasher

[gnasher]

JLOGIC, on 2012-July-20, 12:09, said:

Serious questions because I don't want to do anything unethical or that would alter anything, and if someone gives me a good reason that these things are bad I will stop of course.

Obviously there's nothing morally wrong with betting such as you describe, but here are some good reasons not to do it:

ACBL General Conditions of Contest said:

Betting at Tournaments - Wagering on the results of an ACBL-sanctioned event is specifically prohibited. Any member found guilty of any form of such betting in a game or tournament is liable to severe disciplinary action.

WBF General Conditions of Contest said:

It shall be a violation for any player, team captain or official, or any other persons associated with or related to a player, team captain or official participating in any WBF event to wager on the results of any such event or part thereof.
Any violation will be subject to charges to be presented to a hearing before the WBF Disciplinary Commission.

In contrast, the EBU regulations are less restrictive (and better thought-out, in my opinion):

EBU Orange Book said:

It is permissible to have a bet with another competitor but only on the success of one of the two players. No bet is permitted where a player can affect the outcome in his favour by not competing to his best efforts.
It is inappropriate for a player who has made a bet on an event to serve on an Appeals Committee in the same event.

This post has been edited by gnasher: 2012-July-20, 12:32

[JLOGIC]

Well ok then. Didn't even realize it was against the rules, luckily we just make lines for fun to see who would win and don't wager really money!

EBU is the nuts it seems

[wank]

pmsl

[wyman]

Congrats to my friends (team Glick) who won the 1500 Spingold in convincing fashion! Q1 was 21-20, Q2 was 96-1, and opps WD.

Well deserved win for the Michigan crew.

[Bbradley62]

ACBL General Conditions of Contest said:

Betting at Tournaments - Wagering on the results of an ACBL-sanctioned event is specifically prohibited. Any member found guilty of any form of such betting in a game or tournament is liable to severe disciplinary action.

So, Calcuttas have to be non-sanctioned games?

[TimG]

Bbradley62, on 2012-July-20, 19:24, said:

So, Calcuttas have to be non-sanctioned games?

Yes, I believe that is the case.

As an aside: Calcuttas are likely illegal in many states.

[JLOGIC]

jesus worst tourney ever, gotta win the swiss

[Mbodell]

JLOGIC, on 2012-July-21, 00:34, said:

jesus worst tourney ever, gotta win the swiss

So, how about those early morning 10am starts?

I need to figure out when the registration desk is open so I can make sure I register as here and get the survey about the start times. This has actually been a very good nationals for me result wise, but I have a significant difference most days with much better play and results in the second session than the 7am PT session.

[JLOGIC]

Mbodell, on 2012-July-21, 22:12, said:

So, how about those early morning 10am starts?

Heh. I'll just speak about my general experience. Usually in the big events, I play at like 3 (2nd/3rd/4th of spingold etc). In other events I ply at 1. On my new team, I play 1/3/4, which is the preference of both Joel and Johnny who are like me, and my partner who is used to that. Ok, whatever. But now with 10 AM start times, I start at 10 as opposed to 3, a 5 hour difference.

Now usually I go to sleep at maybe 4, so I figure with the 10 AM start time I'll go to bed at 11 or midnight. It's not that simple...some nights I attempted to sleep that early and flat out couldn't, so I went to the bar lol. My average sleep time is like 2, so 2 hours earlier than normal but I am losing 5 hours, so thats -3 hours.

On top of that, I realize my body just doesn't function as well in the morning, regardless of my sleep status. I don't know what it is, but I am definitely more alert/whatever at midnight than at 10 AM.

Maybe it's just about what I'm used to, but this tourney has been really tough, I'm getting less sleep and am less alert when I play. Of course that doesn't mean the start times are wrong/bad, other people might have the opposite feelings/experiences and it's not like they are trying to cater to me or should. It still has been hard for me. I am also not blaming my bad results on this, at the end of the day I'm a bridge pro and I have played many foreign tourneys with this schedule. I have played poorly and in worse luck than I have experienced recently (where I have definitely been lucky, you don't think of it that way but there is luck in bridge and I've clearly been running good and this tourney have run bad).

I have also had other things affect my sleep which is bad for me, mainly my girlfriend being here which added stress/distraction and also I just sleep worse when I'm not alone. As I get older (lol) I realize quality sleep is just really important for me. Again, not blaming her or anything, it's awesome having her here, it's just something new that I have to learn to get used to/optimize.

Lastly, to be really honest, Bob and I have been pretty poor on slams. Maybe this is a function of a new partnership, but it hurts the team a lot when we have a ton of slam hands and do poorly on them. I feel like our game/partscore bidding and our cardplay has been good, but the slams have not. I guess this is growing pains with a new partnership.

It is disappointing to do so poorly, especially given that I've been running good and have had good results in recent times. It has been humbling, and makes me realize I still have a long way to go. Maybe I have been overconfident (though I honestly don't think this was this). But, all you can do is move forward, remain confident in yourself but also hungry/motivated, so that's what I'll do. Hopefully we can win this swiss. I love the pressure and expectations and people rooting for me, but it sucks when you don't perform. So it goes I guess.

/Signed, the guy who lost in the R16 of the GNT (surviving 1 day), not qualifying for D3 of the LM pairs (estimating the chances of that to be about 5-10 %), the R64 of the spingold (losing our first non bye day), 7th in the mixed BAM with the best teammates ever, and hopefully the winner of the swiss!

What a great game, what a humbling game, when it's good it's great, and when it's not, it, well...it sucks. But no excuses, gotta play better and consistently if you expect to have great results all the time. I will get there, because I'm willing to work and learn and admit my flaws. But I still have to get there.

[JLOGIC]

Also, I hope I did not imply that we lost in the spingold due to bad luck. We had some unlucky hands, but also some lucky hands. We were outplayed, those guys can play and did, and also beat bocchi-madala in the next round.

[mike777]

Monaco put up an incredible 4th quarter versus 4 of the very best players in the world.

[MrAce]

mike777, on 2012-July-22, 19:25, said:

Monaco put up an incredible 4th quarter versus 4 of the very best players in the world.

It was not just an incredible 4th set, they basically ran over Nickell like a train runs over a mini cooper. There was really nothing Meckwell can do at their table, Fantunes played very good, at the other table H&H dominated the table. Upsetting match for Nickell fans. Congrats to Monaco though they deserved to win it.

I agree with Justin that the field in USA nationals, which was already probably the strongest field in the world, has become tougher and tougher each year with all the european top players regularly playing it. I don't even see it as US Nationals anymore, it is like a worldchamp every 4 months.

[rduran1216]

that 1nT xX was a superb F*** up. They deserved to lose a hand where both guys can easily set, with good defense can collect 1000, instead go -760.

[GreenMan]

I was amused, after the commenters were shaking their heads that such a match could turn on a 1NTxx contract, that the total swing (~20 IMPs) still wouldn't have changed the outcome unless H&H fell apart, which is unlikely.

[aguahombre]

The 1NXX hand seems to have been more than 20 IMPs worth of swing (-17 versus plus 8?), and we really don't know the emotional toll on it. It certainly had an emotional effect on us kibs.

However, I believe the whole problem was whether Weinstein was privy to the same information dummy had during the auction. He can see five diamonds in dummy. If Weinstein (North) could assume that East would have run to 2♦ unless East knew West only had 2 of them, then the rest would have been easy.

Weinstein would have then cashed the Diamond Ace as well, setting up Levin's Queen or Jack (whichever it must be) at trick 3 before continuing with the second spade.

Levin had a less obvious solution: to lead the diamond Queen at trick 5 or six when he realizes he will be squeezing partner.