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Why am I posting this script? explained here
1. Welcome...
Hi everyone! My name is John and welcome to Class 1 of my Online TD Teaching Series. This teaching program is designed to help you enjoy your tournament directing experience on BBO, as well as to maximize the enjoyment of those playing in your tournaments.
2. Briefly explain the 3 classes
The topics in today's class, Class 1, will include how to choose an ideal format and group of settings for your tournament, a detailed look at the procedure for adding substitutes ("subs") for missing or unresponsive players, and how to handle rudeness. Classes 2 and 3 will discuss unfinished boards at the end of a round (usually because of slow play), adjustments, claims, alerts, partnership agreements, and psyches.
3. Tournament settings
Because all of you are probably familiar with the Create Tournament screen, I will not go into detail of how to use it. If you will have a co-director, remember to give him/her recognition by adding his/her BBO name to the tournament description. Also, if the BBO name that appears on the tournament list is not acting as a director, the director's name should be placed on the tournament description. I will now offer suggestions for a few tournament settings.
4. What must/should be included as part of the tournament description or rules page?
Time per board or round, or total time allotted for the tournament
The name of the director and any co-director, other than the BBO name that created the tournament
Any restrictions of system or partnership agreements
If psyches are restricted or must be self-reported to the director
If tournament chat for players is enabled
If kibitzers are disallowed
The official language of the tournament, if not English or the language in which the tournament description is written
If any director will also play in the tournament
If the director will not offer board adjustments
5. Time per board, boards per round
Under normal circumstances, I suggest setting a tournament for 16 minutes per 2 boards (8 minutes per board), or one board and 8 minutes per round, or unclocked. BBO is usually fastest at around 8:00 pm-1:00 am EST (1:00-6:00 GMT), partly because there are less players using BBO at that time. When a section finishes a round, the next round automatically starts. Whatever time per board that you choose, it is very important that time not be added, except in the last round. Players will become very restless if the clock goes from 1-3-2-1-3, and extending the tournament time may cause some people to be late for other plans that they have made.
A director may instead choose to announce a total tournament time on the tournament description.
example: For a 10-board tournament in which the director plans on setting the BBO clock to allow 7 minutes per board, the director may choose to allow 75 minutes for the tournament. This allows the director to add a minute occasionally to allow more tables to finish a round, without making the players feel anxious or restless. Of course, players are still expected to complete each round in the allotted time.
Directors should avoid setting a tournament with more than two boards per round. In tournaments with 3+ boards per round, players have a significantly lower number of different opponents (and partners if it is an individual tournament), which drastically increases luck as a factor of the competition. (exception: if the tournament has very few pairs and setting the tournament to 3+ boards/round allows each pair to play against every other pair for an equal number of boards)
6. Number of pairs
To provide excellent service to the players, I suggest that a tournament have at least one TD for every 40-50 pairs, or 20-25 tables. Some directors with a lot of experience are able to provide good service to more tables, while others may feel more comfortably allowing only 10-20 tables, which is perfectly acceptable. Sometimes, directors who limit the size of their events will get requests to raise the tournament limit. While it may appear to be a good idea to try to accommodate everyone, you will feel a lot more relaxed and you and the players will have a better and more enjoyable tournament experience if you stick to your own limit. There will always be another place for the other 20 people to play. Also, some players prefer to play in a tournament with a relatively small number of tables.
7. Include/exclude lists
The director has the right to not permit any player to play in his/her tournament for any reason. However, not allowing a person to play just because "I don't like his bidding," for example, is strongly discouraged.
8. Undos
The default setting is for undos to not be used. This setting is automatically displayed on your tournament description. Some directors prefer to allow undos for bidding and play, or for bidding only. In general, I recommend that undos not be permitted if you desire a more serious tournament setting for several reasons, the main reason being:
--Whether an undo is allowed is controlled by the feelings of each pair of opponents, which, in effect, makes each table in your tournament play by different sets of rules. The current TD software does not allow a director to undo a player's bid. In theory, a director can demand that a player undo a bid, but this can lead to significant problems if a player does not understand the director's request, or if the player feels that the opponent will gain an unfair advantage if the undo is completed.--
For tournaments with a less serious setting and full of friendly players, that factor is less important.
9. Restricting systems, conventions, agreements, and enforcement of restrictions
Unless otherwise stated in the tournament description, your players may use any bidding system and their choice of conventions and partnership agreements. If you choose to not permit a particular system, convention, etc., this must be stated on the tournament description. If you choose to permit only one or two systems, you will also need to be prepared for what may happen:
--1. Many players will not or are unable to read your tournament description or announcements, so they will not be aware of the restrictions. This may result in a few of your players being unable to play the specified system(s).
2. You will need a method of enforcing your restrictions. It may be necessary to adjust boards where two players agree to play a system that is not allowed, or remove players from a SAYC-only tournament where players are unable to play part of SAYC, for example, transfer bids.
3. If you want everyone to play exactly the same system and conventions, you will have to fully define what is permitted. Just saying "SAYC-only" wouldn't be enough, because so many players have a different understanding of what is included in SAYC.--
10. Tournament chat
I suggest that if you want to allow the players (and kibitzers) to chat to the tournament, that you include that in your tournament description. Some players prefer to play in a more serious setting.
If you choose to activate tournament chat, it is also your responsibility to monitor the chat for messages about boards that not everyone has played (hopefully by accident) and for rudeness. It may be best to turn off the tournament chat as the last few tables finish, because it is relatively common for finished players to accidentally make comments about the boards to the tournament, instead of privately to partner or someone else.
Most players recommend that the director should make a small number of announcements to the tournament. Many players will not take the time to read longer announcements and get distracted by unnecessary announcements during the play. For example, announcing "3 minutes remaining in the round, CLAIM!" can cause slower players to take more time to finish, since they see the message and will need to regain concentration after reading it.
11. Kibitzers (allow/disallow)
Generally, players are most pleased when the director allows kibitzers, however, the director has the choice to disallow kibitzers. Players should assume that kibitzers will be permitted unless the director announces in the tournament description that they are not permitted.
12. Tournament language
Players should assume the official language of your tournament is English unless otherwise stated on your tournament description. For a tournament where the description written in a language besides English, that language should be assumed to be the official language of the tournament. Any player in your tournament should have the ability to describe bids and answer the director's questions in the tournament's official language. Later, we will discuss what happens when a player is unable to do that.
13. Start time of tournament
When selecting a start time for a tournament, a director should consider these factors:
1. Other tournaments that are listed on the tournament schedule that will start at close to the same time
2. Any tournaments that may finish close to your start time (You can estimate the finishing time of a clocked tournament by going to a table and seeing how much time remains in the current round, and adding eight minutes per board for future rounds.)
3. Any tournaments that are scheduled to start near the time that your tournament is projected to end
When the start time for a tournament is set, and the tournament is within 30 minutes of starting, the director should not change the start time unless there is an emergency, or there are almost no players or pairs registered to play. If the start of the tournament is delayed, the players will be disappointed or upset, and some players who were already registered wont be able to participate. Also, it may adversely affect tournaments that are scheduled later.
14. Start of tournament
Most of you have already directed a tournament here so you will know what to do, but here's a short list of reminders:
1. Welcome the players to your tournament.
2. Look at your table list to see if there are any sitouts and find subs for those seats.
3. (optional) Provide a brief introduction to remind players of rules that you feel are important.
15. (combined with #10)
16. No unnecessary chat by the players during bidding or play
Players are expected to be quiet during bidding and play. A quick wdp or similar comment about the previous board is acceptable, but a player should wait to offer any analysis or other comments until the end of the round. If a players or pairs discussion causes a delay, the director should privately warn the offending player or pair.
17. Subs
The most common activity for a director is to add a sub to the tournament. A player may be fully disconnected or just non-responsive and needs to be replaced. A fully disconnected player (a red bar where the players name is located) can be replaced by that player's partner. A player who has a red dot or is stuck can be replaced only by the director.
After a player goes for some time without bidding, usually one of the opponents will make a director call to say opp (or xxx) not playing. The director then arrives at the table and greets the table and/or asks if there is a problem or if xxx is still not playing. Usually, an opponent will be quick to say that xxx is not playing, has not bid, etc. If an opponent is the one who made the TD call, it is very important to allow a minute for the inactive players partner to say something to the director if necessary. It is possible that his/her partner said brb just before the round started, or the player wants to request to wait for the player to return/respond, or wants to request a specific sub from the sub list.
If the players partner makes the director call or tells the director that his/her partner needs to be replaced, it is fine to look for a sub immediately.
Under no circumstances should a director replace a player just for appearing to be disconnected without visiting the table first. A player may be reconnecting to BBO at a convenient time (as dummy if it can be done quickly, or between rounds).
In all cases, it is recommended that the director allows the player at least three minutes to return, from the time the player stopped playing or disconnected, unless the disconnected player's partner requests a sub sooner. Sometimes an opponent will call the director immediately; other opponents will be nice enough to wait for some time before calling. A large percentage of players who are briefly disconnected will need 2-3 minutes to return.
Here is the preferred sub policy:
--A player may request to wait for his/her partner to return. The director should allow a minute after arriving at the table to see if the player makes that request. If an actual result can not be reasonably be obtained for a board because of the delay, the complete pair should receive ave+, with ave- awarded to the side responsible for the delay. (I think an ave- board is a small price to pay to complete the tournament with a partner of choice.) If the tournament is set as Survivor, the player and director may also choose to not add a sub, and that pair will disappear from the tournament at the end of a round (if a red bar is displayed). If a player wants a specific sub for partner and can not sub the player him/herself, the director will choose the sub of the player's choice. This policy benefits players who are mostly interested in playing with a regular partner or his/her choice of partner. Most players would prefer to continue playing with a possibly compatible sub. If the remaining player appears to have no preference, the director should obtain a sub. If the original player returns after getting replaced, he/she may re-enter his/her original seat once per tournament, only with the permission of the sub. The sub would then be promised the next opening in that tournament.--
18. Replace a player between boards if at all possible
Whenever possible, the sub should enter the tournament at the completion of a board.
If a sub enters during the bidding, the sub is entitled to know the intended meaning of any of partner's conventional bids.
If a sub enters during play, the sub is entitled to know the cards played to each trick, and an additional explanation of any of the opponents' bids if requested.
19. Language problems, if opponent or TD can not understand each other
If a player is unable to answer an opponent's system question or request to describe a bid due to not being able to use the official tournament language, the director should be called. The director can make an attempt to ask someone not at the table to translate what the player said, or if no other alternative exists, the director may remove the player from the tournament. Under no circumstances should a director describe a player's actual hand to answer such a request.
20. Zero Tolerance
This is a quote about Zero Tolerance from the ACBL's Web site:
"The following list are some examples of behavior which will not be tolerated:
-Badgering, rudeness, insinuations, intimidation, profanity, threats, or violence.
-Negative comments concerning opponents' or partner's play or bidding.
-Constant and gratuitous lessons and analyses at the table.
-Loud and disruptive arguing with a director's ruling.
If a player at the table behaves in an unacceptable manner, the director should be called immediately. Annoying behavior, embarrassing remarks, or any other conduct which might interfere with the enjoyment of the game is specifically prohibited by Law 74A.
At the start of each event, the director shall make an announcement that the tournament will be observing Zero Tolerance for unacceptable behavior. It is requested that the director be called whenever behavior is not consistent with the guidelines outlined above."
21. Complaints about current tournament to TD
You might do everything correctly while directing a tournament, but there are some people in life who are impossible to please. These people may complain to the director about the current tournament settings (although these settings were already mentioned on the tournament description) or a ruling. The proper way for a player to request or dispute a ruling will be mentioned later. A player may state disagreement to a director about the current tournament settings but must do so in a polite way. The line between just disliking the tournament settings and rudeness may be crossed if a personal attack is added.
22. Rudeness between/among players at a table
If the director is notified that someone is rude to another player at the table, the director should first determine whether rudeness did occur (or if it was a misunderstanding, etc.) and then warn and/or remove the rude player(s). The director should advise someone who witnessed the rudeness of the right to create a screenshot and report the incident to abuse@bridgebase.com. In the case of a player being rude to his/her partner, the victim may also be asked if he/she would prefer to have a different partner for the remainder of the tournament. In cases whether two sides have conflicting stories which are equally likely to be true, or the director otherwise can not determine what actually happened, the entire table should be warned to behave properly and advise a witness to create a screenshot to e-mail to abuse@bridgebase.com. A tutorial for creating a screenshot is available at http://www.bridgebas...h/scrnsnap.html
23. How to handle BBO crashes
In rare cases, BBO will "crash", meaning that a very large number of players will be unable to keep a connection to BBO. This will happen without warning and persist for an unknown amount of time, anywhere from a few seconds to 45+ minutes. You will know a crash occurs when you see a lot of red (disconnected players) on the table list. Here is how to handle a crash, assuming you can reconnect to BBO:
1. Temporarily change the time per board to 15, the maximum permitted by the software.
2. Announce what is happening to the remaining players.
3. Wait patiently for everyone to return to the tournament.
4. Some players will give up trying to return to BBO. When you see that players have stopped returning to the tournament, then you can find subs.
5. Starting the next round, remember to change the round clock back to your original setting, although if BBO seems to be a bit slow, adding an extra minute or two might be a good idea.
24. Almost never cancel a tournament that has started
After a tournament starts, the "cancel tournament" button should be used only in extreme circumstances. If you have an emergency and must leave, you can ask in the lobby for an available director to take your place, or explain your situation to a "yellow", and he/she might be able to find someone to finish the tournament.
This post has been edited by golfacer: 2006-October-19, 09:23
That someone actually took the trouble to write all that down and post it here I think is amazing. That Todd is waiting for the other lectures to find something to complain about I find...................................no comment 
