[pirate22]

Would or can someone enlighten me The word Private...

One ia asked a question please state ones skill level and apart from NAME--- Private.
we now have a skill level catagorised as Private,i have never heard of a private skill level.
as to Name, one suposes one, wants to be anonoymous,could that be on religous/ethnic/racial grounds???
what is more of a mystery is to continue it, to ones skill level.if one states a level,are we
ashamed to under estimate-possibly over estimate the level??? judging by the number of
statements-- "I do not play with Privates" can we bann these persons from Tourney Bridge.
or lets have tourneys for privates only,
Bridge is about communication-a level playing field-also one delights in Experts with experts
mostly from the same country's along with expert/novice :)also similar countries.
The higher they are the harder they fall.

[Zelandakh]

I have never seen a Private skill level in offline bridge. Presumably it is tattooed on the heads of the players in your local club or something?

[dwar0123]

Private just means they don't want you to know what they think of their own skill level.

You can huff and puff about it all you want, but its their choice, not yours.

[ArtK78]

On one point, I have to agree with Pirate. I dislike coming across a player who is not willing to provide his or her name as a participant in a BBO tourney.

In live ACBL tourneys, part of the convention card requirement is that the names of both players be set forth on the CC. I don't see why that should not be a requirement on BBO - to play in a BBO tourney, the real name of the player should appear on his or her profile.

For that matter, enough of the fictitious home country designations. My regular partner, who lives within an hour of me, lists his home country as Montenegro. I have seen others do similar things.

[manudude03]

I estimate that there are more BBOers with a Reunion flag than there are BBOers who can find Reunion on a world map.

[Phil]

I list my skill level as private. IRL, 'Expert' is more like it.

Short of the Justins of the world, people who list themselves as "World Class" are the ones you should watch out for.

[TimG]

ArtK78, on 2012-December-04, 11:33, said:

For that matter, enough of the fictitious home country designations. My regular partner, who lives within an hour of me, lists his home country as Montenegro. I have seen others do similar things.

I understand that it may help you get an idea for what system your partner might be familiar with, but I dislike the prominence of the country designations (flags). It seems to me that waving a flag is more nationalistic that listing a country of residence. I'd rather not display a flag and make it appear that where I am is an important bit of information to me. So, I frequently fly the Reunion of Faroe Island flag as a small protest to the importance given to flags.

[Bbradley62]

"Private" as a skill level means "despite the fact that BBO actively encourages it, I don't feel like lying to you about this, so I'm simply not going to answer the question".

[phil_20686]

I find that private usually means "Despite the fact that I am massively better than the usual crowd of BBO experts, I know enough about bridge to know I am not an expert".

[barmar]

[jillybean]

dwar0123, on 2012-December-04, 10:59, said:

Private just means they don't want you to know what they think of their own skill level.

Or that the player realizes how futile it is to gauge a BBO'er on what they put as their skill level so being forced to select a level, 'private' is the lesser of evils.

And to those who have "I do not play with Privates" in their profiles, well, I can't say what I think of that or I will be banned.

[VMars]

When you go to a tournament or club, people aren't required to list their skill level on their cc. Why should BBO require it?

And yes, ACBL requires full names (first + last) on CCs. Want to know how many people I saw in a national event who did not comply with that? My favorite is when they hand me a card that says "Sarah Beth", and I'm looking at two gentlemen. I usually ask about it, to make sure that I'm looking at the correct CC.

I could make myself even less popular than I am by calling the director about it, but I already have enough people who don't like me.

[jillybean]

VMars, on 2012-December-04, 21:54, said:

When you go to a tournament or club, people aren't required to list their skill level on their cc. Why should BBO require it?

And yes, ACBL requires full names (first + last) on CCs. Want to know how many people I saw in a national event who did not comply with that? My favorite is when they hand me a card that says "Sarah Beth", and I'm looking at two gentlemen. I usually ask about it, to make sure that I'm looking at the correct CC.

I could make myself even less popular than I am by calling the director about it, but I already have enough people who don't like me.

I hope you were polite and wished him a speedy recovery from his upcoming surgery.

It's a very sad state of affairs when players feel unpopular when they call the director about these or any infractions but it is the reality.

[pirate22]

Surprising some comments-Flags,never thought that would upset so many persons,
agree if one is ply live bridge in ones own patch,there is no requirement,at the same time
no requirement for skill level.but internet wise i think its a fair requirement,
even if an under/over ESTIMATE-- it shows the direction you come from...
sometimes i play with self stated levels lower and higher.but never "privates".
lower and higher than my own stated "advanced" so far i have met with
very little abuse--- why should one have a game and be dissapointed.
reference No Name--- they are usually abusers,they have nuch to hide.

[barmar]

VMars, on 2012-December-04, 21:54, said:

When you go to a tournament or club, people aren't required to list their skill level on their cc. Why should BBO require it?

You often are when you go to the Partnership Desk -- they usually ask you to write down your masterpoints, systems you play, so they can match you up with someone similar.

And if you play social bridge (which is what the MBC is most like), don't most people prefer to play with people at a similar level, and who speak the same language? My mother has been playing social bridge her whole life, I've been playing duplicate for about 2 decades, I'm pretty sure we would both be totally frustrated if we ever played in the same game.

[jillybean]

barmar, on 2012-December-05, 08:08, said:

You often are when you go to the Partnership Desk -- they usually ask you to write down your masterpoints, systems you play, so they can match you up with someone similar.

Good way to find a partner who plays the same system but it is widely known that MP does not equate to skill level.

[ArtK78]

jillybean, on 2012-December-05, 09:35, said:

Good way to find a partner who plays the same system but it is widely known that MP does not equate to skill level.

Unless a player comes to the partnership desk with a good explanation as to why their masterpoint holding does not equate with their skill level for purpose of finding a partner of equal skill level, using masterpoints is the best available method of determining skill level. Aside from that, it will be difficult for the partnership desk to convince a player that he or she should play with a prospective partner with a significantly lower masterpoint holding.

[Zelandakh]

Do you have any evidence that MP numbers are better at determining level than BBO self-rating levels? I admit that in my case, MP is perfectly matched to skill rating but I strongly doubt this is generally so. I am confident that some formula combining age and MP totals would be significantly better than MP alone, so I also doubt your statement about MPs being anything like "the best available method of determining skill level".

[barmar]

I don't think anyone believes that MP is really the best possible way to match people. It may be the best way that can be done EASILY, though.

[barmar]

But anyway, the relevant point for this thread isn't whether to use masterpoints specifically, but whether you should be required to provide some indication of your playing level. We don't just pair people up randomly, we try to put them together with compatible players. If everyone put "Private" on the pairing slip, we couldn't do that.