[bschmidt]

I'm having a hard time finding suitable partners on BBO. I consider myself "Advanced +". I've never won an unlimited master point (i.e., Flight A) event, and my highest-ever National event placement was 48th. So, I can hardly call myself an Expert. Yet, most of the players on BBO who claim Expert status seem to be considerably below my level -- I'd call them Intermediate, or at the lowest rung of Advanced. Meanwhile, since I won't follow the crowd and lie about my skill level, many Expert players, even ones that may be below my skill level, won't allow me to play at their tables. Even if I did lie and call myself an Expert, nobody would believe me, just like I don't believe them. I'm getting very tired of playing with one Bozo after another. I know there are excellent players somewhere out there.

So, my question is: How do I find Advanced + players on BBO, AND get them to play with me? The second half of the question is just as important as the first.

[cloa513]

 bschmidt, on 2013-January-19, 21:16, said:

I'm having a hard time finding suitable partners on BBO. I consider myself "Advanced +". I've never won an unlimited master point (i.e., Flight A) event, and my highest-ever National event placement was 48th. So, I can hardly call myself an Expert. Yet, most of the players on BBO who claim Expert status seem to be considerably below my level -- I'd call them Intermediate, or at the lowest rung of Advanced. Meanwhile, since I won't follow the crowd and lie about my skill level, many Expert players, even ones that may be below my skill level, won't allow me to play at their tables. Even if I did lie and call myself an Expert, nobody would believe me, just like I don't believe them. I'm getting very tired of playing with one Bozo after another. I know there are excellent players somewhere out there.

So, my question is: How do I find Advanced + players on BBO, AND get them to play with me? The second half of the question is just as important as the first.

You are thinking about this wrong- you actually want to find decent players that you are happy to play with- play lots of Express tournaments and friend players you were happy to play with.

Me in real life in Western Australia only won a local tournament (they get everyone from Perth- Western Australia's capital).
The rating of players is overrated- you need to play with someone you sync with and hopefully can coordinate the styles (conservative or aggressive) and perhaps some bidding.

[Bbradley62]

 cloa513, on 2013-January-20, 03:01, said:

play lots of Express tournaments and friend players you were happy to play with.

This is complete nonsense; you can't possibly find suitable partners in the Express tournaments. You get one hand with each partner, and even then the vast majority are masterminding rather than letting you see how they actually play bridge. You should keep playing in MBC, "auditioning" partners. Don't feel the need to hang around a table for more than 8-10 boards if that's enough to determine whether or not you want to mark any of the other three players as "friends" so you can find them to play another time.

You should also check out some of the free clubs, like BBO Hornets, BBO Fans, etc. You'll see many of the same names, so you can make more informed decisions as to your compatibility.

[jillybean]

Ignore anything a player has listed as skill level. Many beginners and novices are very good players, most experts aren't.
You may get a better indication reading what a player has written in their profile, "no transfers" is a give away but then
again many good players have a blank profile. Kibitzing good games and befriending the players and the kibitzers of those
games will allow you to start adding to your friend/player pool.

Other than that, you've got to kiss a lot of frogs.

[Cthulhu D]

Isn't this a straight up argument for matchmaking? Shouldn't BBO automatically find the guy a suitable skill level partner if he wants the game to find him a partner of a suitable skill level?

Edit: Related note, someone tell me how to find a decent partner! I promise not to complain about matchmaking.

[cloa513]

 Cthulhu D, on 2013-February-05, 00:38, said:

Isn't this a straight up argument for matchmaking? Shouldn't BBO automatically find the guy a suitable skill level partner if he wants the game to find him a partner of a suitable skill level?

Edit: Related note, someone tell me how to find a decent partner! I promise not to complain about matchmaking.

You do have the option to check multiple people using bboskill.com- better than self-assessed ability.

[mr1303]

 cloa513, on 2013-February-05, 01:34, said:

You do have the option to check multiple people using bboskill.com- better than self-assessed ability.

Barely....

[jandrew]

I suppose that a very good way to attract good partners is for you to be a good, generous and non-teaching partner first.

Such partners are like gold dust and you might find - like the proverbial mouse trap maker - that the world will beat a path to your door.

[mgoetze]

 Cthulhu D, on 2013-February-05, 00:38, said:

Edit: Related note, someone tell me how to find a decent partner! I promise not to complain about matchmaking.

Step 1, move to a different time zone...

[Cthulhu D]

 mgoetze, on 2013-February-05, 15:16, said:

Step 1, move to a different time zone...

Bah, though this is the problem. I only play with a pickup partner when I cannot cajole my face to face partners from logging in and I decide to play some hands instead of war thunder or whatever, which is infrequently.

 jandrew, on 2013-February-05, 06:01, said:

I suppose that a very good way to attract good partners is for you to be a good, generous and non-teaching partner first.

Such partners are like gold dust and you might find - like the proverbial mouse trap maker - that the world will beat a path to your door.

Yeah, I do periodically meet people that extend an offer to play again, but because I play an irregular schedule, I don't actually see the same players very often. It's quite a perpetuating cycle, because it's so annoying to find someone to play with, I just play with the free bots, which means I meet less people, wash, rinse repeat. That's why I harp on about matchmaking endlessly - it would greatly improve my BBO experince and I am nothing if not selfish

[chasetb]

It is *IMPOSSIBLE to find a good partner online.

* The asterisk is there because it is not in fact impossible. It's just hit-and-miss for most. Some have the ability to sync up very well with people, others just have to keep playing and persevering. Only if you are chasetb will you not be able to find a partner, because your life is such that you are on at odd times, take weeks off of bridge at a time, but have enormous potential and an NAP Flight C title to his name, so really no one person fits well.

EDIT - Cthulhu D, it sounds like maybe you and I should try to play together. After all, my best partners both moved away, one to Toronto and the other to Philadelphia, both for school. You live in Australia, apparently get on at varying times as well, and play against robots for practice. This is sounding too good to be true.

EDIT 2 - I forgot to mention the other big thing - I am ignored pretty often on these forums, so don't worry about skipping this post and other future posts by me. It happens.

[Cthulhu D]

Haha, sure, add me to friends in BBO and hit me up if you see me online.

[Zelandakh]

 cloa513, on 2013-February-05, 01:34, said:

You do have the option to check multiple people using bboskill.com- better than self-assessed ability.

Yeah right. I had not even realised that bboskill was back. Having just checked it it is still saying that I am "Expert" (I am actually Intermediate) even when I have been playing badly lately (last 2 club evenings were 44% in (very) low-level fields, for example). As far as I can tell, bboskill is only useful as a way for bad players to justify giving themselves even more inflated self-ratings.