Announcements
Due to severe inbalance in the playing strength between NS and EW, the club is trialing random seating assigments starting March 25. All pairs will draw their seat assignment from a hat. Only exception will be pairs with mobility issues. Players may trade assignments with any other willing pair BUT trading pairs must be same strat (A/B/C) if the trade is NS for EW. Strats currently are Open/1000/100). Pairs violating this procedure are subject to procedural penalties.
Our club is proud to be hosting the 2025 Canadian Bridge Championships. Come kititz in the Debates Room.
Due to logistical constraints with our larger game, robots will not be used until further notice. Thus there will be 2-board sitouts sometimes.
Players who are have never played at our club before, who have a current ACBL number, and who are listed as being in Unit 166 by the ACBL should no longer have to see the director before the game to be entered into the Bridgemate database. Others still have to get registered with the director.
You may now use the Bridgemate app to enter scores, instead of the Bridgemate tabletop units. This may be of particular interest to those having trouble seeing the tabletop unit screens, and the app is more user-friendly than the tabletop units. You should still use the tabletop units to enter names, but then you can switch to the app if you wish.
Sitouts have been virtually eliminated for our games. If there is a half-table, players at that table will use provided tablets to play against Advanced BBO Robots. Scores will count, but robots are ineligible for Masterpoints. With 2-board rounds, the director may choose to just have sitouts.
We no longer hold Virtual Club games on BBO, for a number of reasons: general lack of interest, change in 'visitor policy', gouging rates from BBO.
Membership for UofT Students Now Free If you're a UofT student in good standing, you don't pay a penny to play. Get a free 1-year membership at the front desk.
Increased Masterpoints When we play 24 boards, you get 1/3 more masterpoints than you see on the projector. When we play 27 boards, you get 50% more. This holds true for some but not all 'special' games.
Keep Noise Level Down (Law 90). When you finish play and others are still playing, you must not make noise that will disturb other tables. This includes when you have finished the session. Failure to do so will attract first a warning and then increasing procedual penalties. Please silence your cell phones; a ringing phone may attract a noise pentalty.
Do Not SNAP your cards (Law 74A2). This is annoying to others and a violation of correct procedure. Other scofflaws are:
1. Card-tossers (they throw 'em on the table, and the cards go flying ever so often)
2. Card-flippers (they play a card and immediately turn it without anyone having seen it)
3. Card-hiders (the extra physical hand/elbow blocks your view of the card they've played).
4. Card-mutilators. They pick at and bend the cards so they don't go through the dealing machine.
Opponents do not touch Dummy's cards. If Dummy must step away unavoidably, declarer must play Dummy's cards. (Law 7B).
Do not detach a card until it is your turn to play. Law 74B(3).
Free Zoom Lessons: Don't know how to play? We'll teach you. Want to get better? We'll teach you. Valid only for local people who are interested in playing at our club.
Convention Cards: By ACBL Regulation and Club Policy, all pairs must have 2 identical completed convention cards. A 1/4 board penalty may be given for failure to comply, and the pair may be required to play the ACBL "Fat Free" card until one is completed. For historical reasons, the Director will not be going around checking, but if there is a Director call is hampered by lack of convention cards, the penalty will apply. Stronger pairs will be more likely to have this policy enforced. Pairs can choose to post their convention cards on the website. This helps generate discussion and learning about various methods, and if you forget your cards, the Director can print them for you!
Psychic Bid Policy: A psychic bid is one that deliberately and grossly misstates either honor strength or suit length (i.e. more than one card off in length, or more than a Queen or King off in honor strength). Psyches are an integral part of the game and may not be banned by clubs. However, there are a number of restrictions on their use. All psychic bids must be recorded in the Club Psyche book by the end of session by the psyching pair. Failure to do so may incur penalties, including losing the right to use psychs at all. Psychs may not be made against inexperienced pairs. Psychic controls (i.e. ways of asking via bidding whether a bid is a psych or not) are prohibited. Strong forcing openings (e.g. 2 clubs) may not be psyched. A psych must fool partner as much as opponents, hence any particular type of psych must not occur by a pair more than roughly twice every 6 months, otherwise it becomes a partnership agreement and must be alerted/disclosed. Rough maximum of 2 psyches per session. See other restrictions and details here.
Tips For Excellent Table Etiquette
Penalty For Late Arrival or Early Departure: Pairs who are not present at a table ready to play at 6:30 p.m. will receive a 1/4 board penalty for the first offense, escalating to a full board, a one session suspension, and longer suspensions for repeated infractions. Pairs who are not both present to complete all their scheduled boards in a session will receive similar escalating penalties. Note that this means pairs should both be prepared to stay until as late as approximately 9:37pm.
Club Follows ACBL Zero Tolerance Policy: Athough already inherent in the Laws of Bridge, the ACBL Zero Tolerance Policy makes it clearer that unacceptable behavior which may detract from the enjoyment of the game will attract penalties. Hart House Bridge Club endorses and enforces this policy. Always call the Director if you feel a violation of this policy may have occurred. However, even if you talk to the Director later, the policy will still be applied. Common penalties for first offense is a 1/4 board penalty, second offense: ejection from the game, subsequent offenses: increasing lengths of suspensions.
Days since last Zero Tolerance Penalty:
Zero Tolerance Penalties Incurred in 2019: 5
Zero Tolerance Penalties Incurred in 2018: 7
Penalty For Fouled Boards: When a board arrives at the next table fouled (hands put in the wrong direction, hands with more or less than 13 cards, etc.) the pairs at the table whence the board came shall be penalized 1/4 of the Masterpoints available on that board. These penalties are listed under the "Adjust" column in the results. Please be careful when replacing cards after play so this doesn't happen.
Count Your Cards: Law 7 of the Laws of Bridge require that each player count the cards in his hand, face-down, before looking at them. This makes fouled boards easier to correct.
Late Arrival: Games start at 6:30 sharp, so arrive at least 15 minutes before that to have a chance to talk to your partner, find your table, etc. Once begun, changing movements and boarding may be difficult, time consuming, and sometimes impossible. Therefore, unless you have emailed or texted 647-774-5599 to let the Director know you are arriving late, we may not be able to accomodate late pairs.
ACBL Student Membership If you're under 25, 1 year membership is $5. This includes a monthly magazine subscription and discounts at tournaments. The director has instant membership cards. This also enables you to see how you did against a wider field and get more feedback on each hand via thecommongame.com. If you won Masterpoints before joining the ACBL, the Director can give you receipts for these which you can mail in to claim.
Opening Lead Must Be Made Face Down: Law 41A
Asking to see what cards were played: After all four cards are played to a trick, if you haven't turned over your card, you may require that the other players show what cards they played. Once you've turned over your card, you may not ask, although you may look at the card you played until the next card is played to the next trick.Law 66
Declarer plays from wrong hand: If declarer calls for a card from dummy, the card has been played. Dummy may not then say "you're in your hand". He should be silent. Dummy may, however, remind declarer where she is if it appears Declarer is about to play from the wrong hand. If the opponents inform the declarer he's played from the wrong hand, that doesn't constitute accepting the lead. Either defender may accept or reject the lead out of turn, but they may not confer. If the defenders disagree, the defender next to play after the irregular lead prevails. If the defender to the right of the irregularly led card plays a card, then the lead has been accepted. Law 42 and Law 55