[CSGibson]

Reading another thread, I found the following thought interesting:

Phil, on 2012-February-02, 12:33, said:

I've known a lot of people in bridge that think the best way to promote themselves is to literally walk around with a sandwich board advertising their accomplishments. I have a friend who has a website that details all of his regional wins, and flighted national high finishes. I have told him I think this is extremely bad taste and its a sure-fire way to get scorned by other top-level players, if they happen to come across his pages. There is a west coast pro that promotes in a similar manner, and most people avoid him like the plague.

If you are truly good, then your results should reflect that, and I do not mean your Lehman rating, or how many contracts you make (whatever this means). If you have never played against good competition, then your results really don't matter at all anyway.

Outside of some relatively small circles I'm not well known as a bridge player, and therefore find occasions where I feel the need to establish my playing credentials. The quickest way I know to do that is to say that my partner and I have represented my district at nationals in the open GNTs and the open NAPs in the last year - we're probably one of the weaker districts (D20, Oregon, some N California, some S Washington, Hawaii, Guam, and now two units in Idaho), but its something that ACBL members of a certain skill level can recognize.

To give context, I have never played pro and have no interest in doing so. Usually the circumstances are that I am looking to team up with relative strangers in a teams environment.

Is this the type of inappropriate that Phil is talking about here, or is this generally acceptable in the right circumstances?

[Phil]

A number of years ago when the LA Regional was still held at Hollywood Park I showed up without a partner. I filled out one of those 3 x 5 cards they have at the partnership desk, and at the time I had about 500 points, so good teams that happened to be looking at the partnership desk weren't exactly seeking me out. I did mention on the card that I had about 12 blue ribbon qualifiers, and this got the attention of one good team needing a 4th. We played nicely together and beat some good teams but ended up losing in the finals of a Bracket I. I think thats about the only time I've felt like I've had to tell anyone about my bridge credentials.

Most of the good teams I have ended up on have been through word of mouth, and they are generally 'one-off' situations. At the elite level, and JL can expand on this, but partnerships and teams are made for full tournament cycles, and sometimes longer I believe.

A few weeks ago I received a phone call from a local looking to have a game with me and possibly develop a partnership. While I had zero interest in this because a) I really don't like the person, and b) he isn't that good in the first place, after awhile it was pretty evident that I wasn't going to play but he kept on and on telling me about how good he is, and how he plays pro, and oh...how GOOD he is. I might have had more respect for him if he could have told me about something he actually won.

A few years ago I asked a really good D22 player how one got on good teams, and the simple answer is "just win" and people will ask you. I do think its more than that, because there are some people that aren't that good that get picked up for some really good GNT teams and get invited to be on pro teams, so getting your name out there is definitely a positive, as long as you aren't too overt about it, although clearly unsolicited bragging about your accomplishments is a turnoff to many.

[georgeac]

"A few years ago I asked a really good D22 player how one got on good teams, and the simple answer is "just win" and people will ask you"

this has been my experience when just looking for knockout teams or a pair for swiss.

[jjbrr]

Phil, of course, is right.

My answer would have been

1) Simply win, or
2) Be a good salesman, or ideally
3) Both


Being 2) alone is the nut low, and non-suckers will see right through it.

[rogerclee]

You must convince someone who is already good and established that you are good. This can be done by winning a lot or playing with someone who is already good and established and impressing them.

I would courteously ask the best active player in your area for a game sometime when they are free, and then just try to play very well and down the middle.

You must also be well liked. I can think of several LA people whose reputations are not as good as they should be, simply because the best players in LA don't like them. It's not very fair, but it's the way it is.

[Siegmund]

"Just winning" works very well for finding teammates. It works much less well for finding good partners. (Still trying to find the right recipe for finding new partners from anywhere out of one's own hometown, though the internet does help.)

[rduran1216]

"The best bridge player in orange county"

Any chance that was the person you meant Phil hahaha.

[ggwhiz]

I've never been into the "Wonder of Me" promotion philosophy.

When I started in the early 80's my pard and I were lucky enough to be asked to play the Sunday Swiss a few times with students of some top pro's as they were otherwise booked because we were fun, especially in the bar and/or midnights. We also started to make ourselves available for such things.

A few good results later we were pretty well set for assistance from a growing network that appreciated our teammate skills as much as our play and I have followed that path ever since.

Teaching pro's with this attitude (and students at intermedate levels) were very generous setting us up when they only knew of really good pairs looking for a team long before we were ready for prime time.

They matched us up with a perfectly crafted disclaimer as to our ability vs potential and we got to play up many times with superb teammates.

[gordontd]

georgeac, on 2012-February-08, 18:22, said:

the simple answer is "just win" and people will ask you

The other thing is that if you are a good & supportive team-member you may well get on stronger teams than you would if you were a critical & difficult person to have around.

[wank]

just to hikack this thread:-

i've never [intentionally] been to a nabc thing and noone i know would want to go for the whole thing. still, i feel it's time i should give it a whirl.

i could rustle up some partners for some bits i think, but assuming i didn't want to sit in my hotel room for the rest of it, is it really possible to find good partners/teamies on a ad hoc basis through these desks?

in europe, everything's open, but i know american tournaments have these stratifications, so would i be stuck in a rabbit warren as i've got no acbl record?

[blackshoe]

You can talk to the DIC about your experience level in Europe and elsewhere. In fact, as I recall, they prefer you do that. He'll try to put you into the stratification at the appropriate level. You might want to do that before you go to the partnership desk, so you can better describe the level of partner you're looking for.

[gnasher]

wank, on 2012-February-10, 00:09, said:

in europe, everything's open, but i know american tournaments have these stratifications, so would i be stuck in a rabbit warren as i've got no acbl record?

Most events are open. The events that aren't are the Life Masters Pairs, the Blue Ribbon and the Platinum Pairs. You should email Rick Beye at the ACBL beforehand, sumarising your experience and results, and telling him what you want to play in. He will certainly grant you exemption for the Life Masters. He should let you play in the Blue Ribbon too - they let much worse players than you in. I don't think they let any non-qualified pairs into the Platinum Pairs.

He will also give you some number of virtual masterpoints to be used for bracketing and seeding. The seeding points don't matter that much - if they give you too low a seed in the Vanderbilt or Spingold, it just means that you get a better game of bridge. If you find yourself playing in a bracketed knockout, it's a good idea to go and talk to the director in charge and try to talk your way into the top bracket.

[paulg]

wank, on 2012-February-10, 00:09, said:

just to hikack this thread:-

i've never [intentionally] been to a nabc thing and noone i know would want to go for the whole thing. still, i feel it's time i should give it a whirl.

i could rustle up some partners for some bits i think, but assuming i didn't want to sit in my hotel room for the rest of it, is it really possible to find good partners/teamies on a ad hoc basis through these desks?

Not in my experience, although I've only tried a couple of times in the early trips to find team mates. The first time half of our team was going to a show and the 'must play every session' player on the team still wanted to play, even though we were an irregular partnership. We went to the partnership desk, announced we had the equivalent of 11,000 points, and the very pleasant lady said we have no chance and how did we have so many points as we were too young (under 50!).

However there are competent players floating around as they get knocked out of events at different times. Knowing forum members helps.

wank, on 2012-February-10, 00:09, said:

in europe, everything's open, but i know american tournaments have these stratifications, so would i be stuck in a rabbit warren as i've got no acbl record?

The conversion formula for the UK to ACBL points is: green points/6 + (black points)/0.35

So a UK Life Master with 150 greens and 150 blacks would be 150*6+150/0.35 = 1,329 ACBL masterpoints

This will get you an approximate masterpoint total that is appropriate to use for the bracket KOs and other stratifications.

I did a series on my blog last year for aliens who want to play in the nationals:

http://thebeercard.b...eparations.html
http://thebeercard.b...ationals-i.html
http://thebeercard.b...tionals-ii.html
http://thebeercard.b...ionals-iii.html

[barmar]

wank, on 2012-February-10, 00:09, said:

In europe, everything's open, but i know american tournaments have these stratifications, so would i be stuck in a rabbit warren as i've got no acbl record?

Stratification doesn't stick you in a rabbit warren, you're thinking of flighting and bracketing. With stratification, you get credit for the highest stratum that you do well in. So if a bunny beats the experts, he gets flight A masterpoints.

[Mbodell]

wank, on 2012-February-10, 00:09, said:

i could rustle up some partners for some bits i think, but assuming i didn't want to sit in my hotel room for the rest of it, is it really possible to find good partners/teamies on a ad hoc basis through these desks?

It may depend on what you mean by "good", but in my experience, yes. I've often found myself in this situation (where I have a partner lined up for 2/3 to 3/4 of the days at a national but not for some of the sessions like the first day pairs, or a morning pairs, or some random day in the middle). The partnership desk matches lots of people so it is very easy to find team mates and somewhat easy to find a partner. I've found that I get someone pleasant to play with at least 2/3 of the time, and someone who is good that I can click with results wise a little less than half the time when looking for a random partner. It is easier for someone who has more masterpoints, or who knows people - even if only sort of vaguely from other nationals - as friends of friends and what not sometimes know good people looking.

The partnership desk does focus a fair amount on masterpoints, and it is important to be able to play 2/1 (and to a lesser degree standard american) if you want to play with most folks, but you can control who you play with by being at the partnership desk for a while and shopping well. When in doubt evaluating people with the same number of masterpoints choose folks who are younger and/or from remote locations as they'll likely have a higher skill per master point level. Where possible, play your partner's card. And if you find someone you like playing with, ask to keep playing with them or if they become busy ask them if they have friends who are looking.