[uwe234]

Time after time I get the request to play faster (also from the system). How fast must I play?
Some time I have to think it over.

[Zelandakh]

 uwe234, on 2020-November-26, 06:22, said:

Time after time I get the request to play faster (also from the system). How fast must I play?
Some time I have to think it over.

Just tell them that you will think when you want to and that if that is a problem for them then this is probably the wrong table for them. If they persist, kick them after the hand (assuming you or your regular partner are the host) and make a note in their profile that they are permanently blacklisted.

[pilowsky]

Welcome to the Forum.
Context is all-important.
Bridge is a bit different to other mind sports, and players anticipate that - within limits - each person will make their move within a certain timeframe.
If you like to take many minutes over each move, then perhaps you should consider playing with like-minded friends.

It's a bit difficult to give a considered response without knowing how quickly you play, or which sort of tables you are playing at.

After thinking for about 20-30 seconds once I got a message in chat saying "hurry up I have to collect my grandson".
Online Bridge is different from Bridge in the home or at the Club. Your partner or opponent could be anywhere and doing anything.

I once had a bad result and my partner said I played too quickly.
I asked him what the correct speed to play at was.
Of course, he had no good answer.

[uwe234]

Thank you for the answers. I want to be a bit more specific.
In my club we had about 7-8 minutes for one board to play. This was organized by a referee.
Now in corona-time I play in BBO-casual-take me to a table. I do not have a good feeling what is "slow".
I mean when is it a nerve to say to me "!!!faster!!!"?

Now concerning the system.
I also organize a private table-relaxed game. I have the crown. Then I got the massage "automatic-please bid".
After a short time (15 sec) without further warning I am kicked out from my table! Why does that happen automatically?

[TylerE]

Taking 15+ seconds to make a bid is frankly pretty excessive 90% of the time.

15 seconds is a looong time.

Since online you don't have do many things that eat up time in f2f bridge (such as writing down scores, or sorting your hand), the general pace of play is a good bit faster. 7-8 minutes f2f is probably about 5 minutes online.

[Vampyr]

 uwe234, on 2020-November-26, 17:40, said:

Thank you for the answers. I want to be a bit more specific.
In my club we had about 7-8 minutes for one board to play. This was organized by a referee.
Now in corona-time I play in BBO-casual-take me to a table. I do not have a good feeling what is "slow".
I mean when is it a nerve to say to me "!!!faster!!!"?

Now concerning the system.
I also organize a private table-relaxed game. I have the crown. Then I got the massage "automatic-please bid".
After a short time (15 sec) without further warning I am kicked out from my table! Why does that happen automatically?

Try making some sort of claim and immediately cancel it (so or doesn’t get accidentally accepted). This should reset your time.

[jerryvt]

Some players are by nature, slow. But it always rankles me when a player opens a minor suit, his partner quickly responds with a major suit, but the opener then takes a rather long time to rebid. What on earth was he expecting? How could his partner's response be a surprise?

[mycroft]

"People play all these strange systems just to confuse. Why can't we all bid alike so people can understand the auction?" == "I want to play my useful gadgets, but I don't want to play against your weird stuff".

Similarly, "Faster" == "I take time when I need it, but I don't need it here, so hurry up and let me get to my turn".

Bridge online tends to be faster than IRL, especially casual bridge. I frequently play in high level (for my area) team games, and we tend to run 2x12 in 1h45 or so, and I don't feel rushed. I'm sure the ones in the team league are a little slower, but not much.

Having said that, some people are just impatient. Some people are "what could he be thinking about here, it's an obvious situation" - yeah, for you and me, who have seen it a couple thousand times. Newer players are slower, and they think in more places than more experienced players (which is evidence of failure/inability to "make a plan"; which is why bridge teachers harp on it so much. Okay, because failure to plan leads to bad results, not because it's slower, but still).

Having said that, playing to tempo is still a skill required in bridge. You should be playing boards in about 6.5-7 minutes, which means you get about 1m45s to make all your bids and plays (dummy needs less). On average, that's about 14 actions a hand (more if you aren't a consistent claimer). 15 seconds is 1/7th of that time. If it takes 15 seconds to make one of your calls every hand or two, you're eating into others' time (never mind the information passed to partner problems).

I try to keep consistent tempo (or obviously breach it). So I try to make my normal actions in "a deliberate breath", first action in some more time (hopefully as third-hand, declarer has paused for a bit to think too so I can use that time), and actions after skip bids in the 10 seconds required of me. Sure, I tank occasionally, everyone does - maybe once in 4, 5 boards.

Of course, my favourite response to "faster, pls" is "think those extra 4 seconds to ensure it works, then complete the squeeze against the complainer."

[Bob McC]

People can be unbelievably rude when they feel an opponent is playing too slowly.

For example, an opponent the other day said "TIME!!" to me when it would have been easy enough to say "time please." FWIW, I"m not a slow player, there was plenty of time, and I said "thinking" prior to the remark.

Admittedly this sort of thing is a perennial problem in f2f bridge as well as online. I do, however, think good manners make the game much more enjoyable. Perhaps BBO can do something to encourage politeness (?).

[rahulc]

 uwe234, on 2020-November-26, 17:40, said:

Now in corona-time I play in BBO-casual-take me to a table. I do not have a good feeling what is "slow".
I mean when is it a nerve to say to me "!!!faster!!!"?

Now concerning the system.
I also organize a private table-relaxed game. I have the crown. Then I got the massage "automatic-please bid".
After a short time (15 sec) without further warning I am kicked out from my table! Why does that happen automatically?

Some people are just rude.

There's a table setting that prevents this autoboot, but it's nonintuitive. Maybe "invisible" or requiring invitations does it?

[mycroft]

'Multiple exclamation marks,' he went on, shaking his head, 'are a sure sign of a diseased mind.' -- Terry Pratchett, Eric

I add multiple question marks, too, at least when playing on BBO.

[uwe234]

 TylerE, on 2020-November-26, 17:52, said:

Taking 15+ seconds to make a bid is frankly pretty excessive 90% of the time.

15 seconds is a looong time.

Since online you don't have do many things that eat up time in f2f bridge (such as writing down scores, or sorting your hand), the general pace of play is a good bit faster. 7-8 minutes f2f is probably about 5 minutes online.

Hi TylerE,
thank you. Yes, I can live with 5-6 minutes/board as a time frame.
In all other cases I will try to ignore the 'faster-faster' requests, even if it does not make my play better, or I change the table.

[uwe234]

 rahulc, on 2020-November-27, 11:39, said:

Some people are just rude.

There's a table setting that prevents this autoboot, but it's nonintuitive. Maybe "invisible" or requiring invitations does it?

Hi rahulc,
concerning the automatic kick out, it was a technical question. I was surprised, because, I thought on a private table we can do what we want, at least,
all 4 players are ok with it. I will try to find the cut-off switch.

[jamf1]

 rahulc, on 2020-November-27, 11:39, said:

Some people are just rude.

There's a table setting that prevents this autoboot, but it's nonintuitive. Maybe "invisible" or requiring invitations does it?

When I set up a table, I just turn on all the privacy options. (Move the slider all the way to the right). We never get time warnings.

[PhilG007]

 uwe234, on 2020-November-26, 06:22, said:

Time after time I get the request to play faster (also from the system). How fast must I play?
Some time I have to think it over.

I think this article from the ACBL Official encyclopedia might be interesting:-

" As opposed to careful or thoughtful play,,slow play is dicourteous,not only to the opponents of the moment,
but to all other competitors as well. In rubber bridge,it can decrease the number of hands in a session while in duplicate
tournaments,a consistently slow pair can delay the game by many minutes.
Contributing to slow play as defined here are some or all of these violations of the Proprieties:-
1) Delay in arriving at a new table after the next round has been called 2)Discussion of boards previously played 3) Failure
to pass at least one completed board promptly or pass one board if the other has not been completed. 4) Inattention to the bidding
necessitating frequent reviews of the auction(bidding boxes have virtually eliminated this PhilG) 5) Post mortems especially by the
scorer of the board in question. 6) Disputing a TD's ruling on a board result. Citing previous opponents tardiness instead of concentrating on finishing the
board in play. 7) waiting for a miracle to change opponents Aces into Deuces so that a bad contract will not receive its deserved retribution.


The Laws of Duplicate Bridge specifically provide that as a matter of courtesy a player should avoid " Prolonging play unnecessarily for the purpose of distacting the other players"
(PROPRIETIES III) In top level bridge,a team which repeatedly exceeds the time limit allowed for play is subject to penalties. These can range from having MPs and VPs docked
from their running total to the barring of offending players/pairs parrticipating in later rounds of the event in question.


There is a recurrent problemin controlling slow play in top level Bridge tournaments If a table is slow,players can ask for for a monitor to keep track of the time use
but there is no record of the period during which the problem arose. A technological solution is a possibility. Software developed by NEC and the Japanese Bridge League
for the staging of the 1991 Bermuda Bowl in Yokohama offered a possibility which was not utilized but may may well be in the future. The small terminals used to record bidding and play
at the table can keep track of the time used by each player. thus giving an objective measure of time used and therefore a basis for slow play censuring."

[Gazumper]

Apparently typing "zzz" to the table, something that had been normal to me in all my years of online bridge, when someone is taking an inordinate amount of time is worth a lifetime blacklist right out of the blue.

[Zelandakh]

 Gazumper, on 2020-November-30, 11:10, said:

Apparently typing "zzz" to the table, something that had been normal to me in all my years of online bridge, when someone is taking an inordinate amount of time is worth a lifetime blacklist right out of the blue.

Yes, if you do that at our table you get blacklisted. It might be normal for you to be rude to others but I expect better from people I choose to spend my time with.

[mycroft]

It's offensive, at least to me. Do it to me, and it'll get a "enjoy your sleep" response if you're lucky, but most commonly I'll ignore you and finish thinking the same way I do those kinds of comments at the table.

Having said that, my most common response to "zzz" or the equivalent is "I'll play once I get a response to my question (from your partner, if appropriate)". But that's a whole other issue.

You might have been doing it forever, and it might be common, but unless we're actually running out of time, any attempt to force me to play at your pace will be gleefully ignored. At a casual table, if you don't like the speed we're playing, feel free to find a faster game. I know I do.

[haka9]

 jamf1, on 2020-November-27, 23:14, said:

When I set up a table, I just turn on all the privacy options. (Move the slider all the way to the right). We never get time warnings.

When I earlier played with Flash version in arbitrary tables, the system warned two times for slow bid or play. After that kick out. Now I play with that (*#¤!/*!) new version. We start a table in Relaxed Bridge Club and begin to play. We chat during and after every board (outside BBO). Then without any warning the player who is in turn to bid is kicked out. Neither we get warnings. Instead of warnings one of us is kicked out. Can that be avoided?

[paulg]

 uwe234, on 2020-November-26, 17:40, said:

Now concerning the system.
I also organize a private table-relaxed game. I have the crown. Then I got the massage "automatic-please bid".
After a short time (15 sec) without further warning I am kicked out from my table! Why does that happen automatically?

If you set the table option 'Permission required to play', then you are unlikely to get automatically booted for slow play. It does mean that you will have to permit people to sit at your table, but that is not a bad thing.