[jillybean]

I am not at all experienced with movements and I am stepping in for an 8 table, 24 board game in which the players do not like skips.

I can run a bystand relay , table 1 and 8 sharing boards, bystand between 4 and 5

It's not ideal as the game is shuffle deal play, so the game doesn't run as smoothly as I like. Some players can't get the HR entered in the Bridge mates , others do more than "their share".

Is there a better way?

I can McBruce it with an arrow switch on round 8. I am more comfortable running a 2 section game ,20+ tables.

[barmar]

I'm not sure there's anything better you can do. If using predealt boards you could run a web movement, but that requires two sets of boards which is precluded by hand shuffling.

Back when we used to get 8 tables at my regular club, the bystand-relay movement was our normal preference. But we haven't done hand shuffling in decades, so we never had to deal with entering the hands into the computer.

[crazy4hoop]

I believe in ACBLscore's Movements section, you can find something in the External Pairs subsection called Crisscross movement (or something similar, maybe scissors). It is designed for 8 tables playing 3 board rounds (can also be for 12 tables playing 2 board rounds). Only one set of boards is needed. The odd numbered EW pairs go to the next higher table and the even numbererd EW pairs go to the next lower table. The boards from a given table go the opposite direction of the departing EW. Half way through (before round 5), once the boards are passed, you will have to board swap between tables 1 and 5, 2 and 6, 3 and 7, and 4 and 8, and continue as before. I would highly recommend printing guide cards for all pairs to double check correct pairs and boards. Good luck if you try this movement!

[jillybean]

crazy4hoop, on 2025-September-05, 08:30, said:

I believe in ACBLscore's Movements section, you can find something in the External Pairs subsection called Crisscross movement (or something similar, maybe scissors). It is designed for 8 tables playing 3 board rounds (can also be for 12 tables playing 2 board rounds). Only one set of boards is needed. The odd numbered EW pairs go to the next higher table and the even numbererd EW pairs go to the next lower table. The boards from a given table go the opposite direction of the departing EW. Half way through (before round 5), once the boards are passed, you will have to board swap between tables 1 and 5, 2 and 6, 3 and 7, and 4 and 8, and continue as before. I would highly recommend printing guide cards for all pairs to double check correct pairs and boards. Good luck if you try this movement!

I like it, thanks. I will try this on a boring, dull day in the fall. The players will hate it but they will still come back next week.

[blackshoe]

That's also know as a Double-Weave Mitchell, and one of my favorite movements. Works, as I recall, for any number of tables evenly divisible by four.

[jillybean]

I have not tried this yet but today I ran a perfect 9 table, 8x3 board and was able to accommodate an E/W pair who did not want to sit at the same table as a certain N/S pair.
The lengths we go to keeping players happy!

[pescetom]

 blackshoe, on 2025-October-02, 17:52, said:

That's also know as a Double-Weave Mitchell, and one of my favorite movements. Works, as I recall, for any number of tables evenly divisible by four.

That would work well with our phone app that tells them where to sit and which boards to play, without any specific action by the lazy Director (beyond "At the end of this round, all boards go to the interchange table instead of the usual movement").
I'll try to have it inserted.

[jillybean]

pescetom, on 2025-October-03, 06:52, said:

That would work well with our phone app that tells them where to sit and which boards to play, without any specific action by the lazy Director (beyond "At the end of this round, all boards go to the interchange table instead of the usual movement").
I'll try to have it inserted.

You are miles ahead of us here. I really want to explore an alternative to BridgeMates, perhaps this small game would be manageable.

[pescetom]

 jillybean, on 2025-October-03, 08:29, said:

You are miles ahead of us here. I really want to explore an alternative to BridgeMates, perhaps this small game would be manageable.

It's not particularly difficult to develop a phone app that would substitute Bridgemates (and the Bridgemate app). You can make it look like the Bridgemate monitor to ACBLscore. You are probably up against more Apple devices than we are which makes development a bit trickier.

[mycroft]

I'd love to try the double-weave, but I "never" run 24. But I do these days, so I might try it. Thanks for the heads-up that it's called something else in ACBLScor (Yet Another "separated by a common Language")

But I usually have two sets of boards, and the bye-relay (with no relay)(*) Just Works, and I don't have to worry about E-W freaking out about moving backwards (or moving the boards).

(*)Or, you know, "share and relay with no share". YAScL...

[mycroft]

Practically for shuffle-deal-play-enter, assuming you aren't playing, your job for round 1 is to make boards 13-15 and figure out how to enter them in the bridgemates :-).

The big issue with the share is showing the players how to put in the "wrong" board to start, and *insisting* that the board go on the share table after it is played, not underneath the other one. You shouldn't have to remind them more than three times...And, of course, not putting the two slowest pairs who love postmortems N-S at the share tables.

[jillybean]

mycroft, on 2025-October-05, 22:28, said:

Practically for shuffle-deal-play-enter, assuming you aren't playing, your job for round 1 is to make boards 13-15 and figure out how to enter them in the bridgemates :-).

The big issue with the share is showing the players how to put in the "wrong" board to start, and *insisting* that the board go on the share table after it is played, not underneath the other one. You shouldn't have to remind them more than three times...And, of course, not putting the two slowest pairs who love postmortems N-S at the share tables.

I'm playing, most of the time, in this 6-10 table game.
Not having pre duplicated boards is very frustrating, the shuffle is sub par, it's a pita for the players to enter the hands, a few boards don't get put in.
To make matters worse, the BridgeMate on the sitout tables shuts off and the players at that table can't enter the boards during the first round.
I think I will do some fund raising for a dealing machine

[pescetom]

jillybean, on 2025-October-06, 10:14, said:

I think I will do some fund raising for a dealing machine

A few years ago I told my club president to find the funds for a dealing machine or to find another TD.
Suddenly a dealing machine appeared (not very good, but still).

[jillybean]

 pescetom, on 2025-October-06, 15:39, said:

A few years ago I told my club president to find the funds for a dealing machine or to find another TD.
Suddenly a dealing machine appeared (not very good, but still).

Perhaps in 10 years I will have the same negotiating power 😃

[jillybean]

Off topic. If we do manage to get funds for a dealing machine are there any options worth pursuing other than Dealer 4 ? (Canada)

[mycroft]

Your other option is players make the boards at the table.

Now, obviously this only works when you have a set of boards more than the number of rounds (hence the Blackpool movements for 9 tables/9 rounds and 13/13, et al), but ACBLScor will give you the relevant options when setting up the movement (the one that you never look at that starts with "No Player Duplication"). You will have to create and print "tossers" so that players know what to make, and you pass out the boards and get them to sort beforehand - and if there are more boards in play than on the tables, there are some for the director to make up.

But if you have 8 tables, and would normally run the 7x4 (or 7x3!), or 6 tables that you can run 5 5s, or ... those are an option.