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Tips for Leaders |
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Software
Besides Windows
Useful information
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To make bridge an enjoyable activity, there is nothing like playing around a table, obviously. New players learn to hold and hide their cards, to handle the bidding cards, to lay down the cards on the table, and of course to respect the rules of the game. They learn as well, and this is important, to behave well towards their partner and opponents. This is why playing around a table should be favored as much as possible.
Small advantages of playing on computer
Even so, you can disable the automatic saving of deals, if a player asks to play totally incognito. This can be done by the general preferences at the Files tab.
The different types of game
SimiliBridge proposes several types of game that the leader will be able to choose according to his educational objectives or simply to what his players like best.
In rubber bridge with random deals, a game has the advantage of being short (sometimes 2 or 3 deals) while often making players feel skilled if they are a bit lucky. So, it is quite suitable for beginners who at first will be very happy to win a game without too much effort. It allows to start being concerned about the scoring, and to remind that bridge is a card game like the others, that can be played by four players with the family or friends.
Still, if the player finds the game interesting, remember that you can switch on the comparison with the computer. Then there will be two challenges : winning the game against East-West, and winning the comparison against the computer. Doing so, you will smoothly introduce the player to the notion of duplicate bridge.
You can make a player play little games of 3 or 4 random deals like in tournaments, that is to say with the scoring used in tournaments. You will then switch on the comparison with the computer, and direct the player towards the objective of making a better score than the one the computer makes when replaying the deal. Now you directly introduce the player to duplicate bridge, where each deal is interesting whatever the dealing may be.
You should not be afraid that random deals might be too difficult to play. They probably would if the three other players had a very good playing level. But if these ones don't have much technique and play simply, the difficulties vanish very quickly and random deals can then be compared to the ones prepared for low level players.
Playing random deals also allows to get players used to reasoning about the real probability that the distribution is favorable or not, and not about what they guess the traps and difficulties are prepared by the leader. When a player is beginning to refuse to establish a suit or try a finesse because he suspects the leader of having intentionally put the cards in the wrong place, then it is probably time to make him play again a few random deals.
The leader can group several deals together in a file and have them played by his players as a prepared game. Then, the playing conditions are the ones of a normal game (no way to see the other players' cards, playing North's hand when declarer, comparison with the computer, button for ending a deal rapidly, etc.), but the deals played are those included in the file. Here is a short reminder of how the prepared games work in SimiliBridge :
For the three types of game
For some players, computer games have a very bad reputation (the machine is unbeatable, it cheats, etc.). It is important to make a player play at his level, if needed by setting with him the different options (Preferences / Rule preferences menu).
The tool tips of the bidding box give real help to players when it is time to bid. Don't forget to inform the beginner about them, so he can play with greater ease. Still, according to the player's level, you may need to disable the tool tips by the general preferences at the Display tab, or hide the decision table at the Play tab, or even stop using a special color for the system bids (Colors tab).
If the sounds are not played too loud and do not disturb the other players, you can keep them on. Certain players feel happy and proud for activating the various applause sounds. Nevertheless, you may want to remove or replace the mocking sounds that could make some players feel uncomfortable. This can be done by the Preferences / General preferences at the Sounds tab.
How to set the technique options rapidly
So, when a player wants to play a few deals on computer, he must play at his level with the right bidding and playing techniques. And if several players of different levels want to play one after the other, setting the options may become tedious very quickly.
Fortunately, SimiliBridge allows to rapidly change the current user, and at the same time all the preferences, including the general preferences (colors, sounds, etc.) and the rule preferences (scoring, bidding and playing techniques). You can do it by :
Then the Choose user window opens :
By correctly naming each of the 6 users (or 6 using modes), you can easily skip from one set of preferences to the other. Besides, players can learn to change the current user themselves, what makes the leader's work even easier.
Tips
If the leader uses his computer in very different situations, it is possible that the 6 users (or using modes) are not enough for what he needs. Still, he can find solutions by taking into account the following points :
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