[xeno123]

Right now in the free daily tournaments there are two "Just Declares" a week vs one IMP. And the "Survivor" tournaments seem to often have the first round "Just Declare" as well.

I've noticed higher participation in the IMPs than the Just Declares, and would like to suggest BBO switch to two IMPs a week and just one Just Declare.

Do others agree?

The other idea I have is to have a tournament where the flat boards are excluded - only pick hands where there was a wide variance in outcomes in some previous tournament. Bit of work to do, but would make for a very exciting and special tournament. Obviously there would be lots of close decisions on slams vs sacrifices etc. Maybe this could be a Prime-only tournament.

[Douglas43]

I'm not a fan of just declares because of the speed with which the bidding disappears.

[hrothgar]

Because BBO's 8 and 12 board tournaments need even more variance?

[nob turner]

Douglas43, on 2021-January-12, 09:16, said:

I'm not a fan of just declares because of the speed with which the bidding disappears.

you can click on the contract to see the bidding for as long as you like.

[Mr Dale]

nob turner, on 2021-January-12, 11:02, said:

you can click on the contract to see the bidding for as long as you like.

Well I didn't know that. I just saw lightnbing fast bidding and then I'm in a contract with no idea what just happened. I only played it once - never again.

[noldi]

I second the move to increase the number of IMP daily tourneys because it makes for better bridge

[dottoro]

Just declare tournaments are not interesting to me as there is no defence which is an integral part of the game. Dottoro

[Joe_Old]

dottoro, on 2021-January-13, 11:50, said:

Just declare tournaments are not interesting to me as there is no defence which is an integral part of the game. Dottoro

So IMP and Matchpoint tournaments are uninteresting as well, and for the same reason. You can't possibly be excited about the robots' bidding skills.

[zimiaris]

I totally disagree, Just Declare are the only tournaments that you don't have to rely on the robot's stupid bids, where you can get a top or a zero based on purely luck and with a process you don't have any influence on. They are the only robot tournaments I enjoy and play consistently.

[nige1]

I like the variety of formats but prefer straight Match-points. IMPed pairs tend to be a lottery because your luck on a slam hand often decides the tournament.

[mycroft]

...as opposed to the 12-board MP games, which aren't a lottery at all because getting the wrong lead into weak 1NT-3NT (where the field is going 1m-1M; 1NT-3NT) means we get the overtrick that turns a 40% score into a 90% one, thus giving us an extra 4% on our result. That's usually enough to go from bottom of leaderboard (55%) to mid-plus (59%).

The luck on a slam hand can also move you from 48% to 56%, whether it's "the only pair that could find it" or "the only pair that could make it" or "the only pair that couldn't find it, and therefore went plus on the bad lie".

Sure, IMP pairs have *more* luck. But the "we can survive one zero" of MP applies much less when it's 8-10% of your result than when it's 3-4% of a 24-27 board session.