19
Make sure you know the policy on rares - will rares be re-drafted at the end? Do you keep all rares you draft? Is it a 'winner-chooses' system? Most of the time you'll keep what you draft, but not always.
Talking about the cards you're drafting is generally frowned upon - reading signals and predicting what your opponents are drafting is a big part of the ...
14
When playing games that are supposed to eliminate some of the players and then speed up, you can always play as teams.
In my group games with that kind of mechanic do not work, we are simply either too competitive or too strategic to come to an entertaining experience for everyone.
This lead us to play in teams so that if one 'player' loses there are ...
13
There's two schools of thought on this subject - one is that you can do anything unless the rules say you can't, the other is that you can only do what the rules say you can. I believe there's a better argument for the second case, because the rules are generally written to define the game, and can't expressly prohibit everything you might try to do. The ...
13
There is no time limit for each turn and etiquette for turn length depends on the group that you are playing in. The best suggestion that I can make for you is to remind your wife that she can start planning her next turn while others are playing. While things will change based on other players move not every action they take is going to impact her choice.
...
12
What is legal?
Cards go on the stack when you cast them. They remain there until they resolve or are otherwise removed from the stack.
According the the Tournament Rules, the current zone of any object is free information. The stack is a zone. Therefore, the presence of an object on the stack is free information.
It does not matter where the card ...
11
Law 20 of The Laws of Duplicate Bridge deals with review and explanation of calls. Quoting partially:
F. Explanation of Calls
During the auction and before the final pass, any
player may request, but only at his own turn to
call, an explanation of the opponents’ prior auction.
He is entitled to know about calls actually
made, about ...
10
There's no time limits in the rules.
In the online version of the game, one can set an amount of time per player. Even 7 minutes per player (total, for the entire game including time spent choosing tickets) is sufficient for experienced players, and 15 minutes per player is quite comfortable. The whole game shouldn't take longer than that. If it does, and ...
10
This is all about your social contract1 - some groups play to win, in which case the behaviour you've described seems perfectly reasonable. Other groups play more for fun, and fun can often be reduced if one player is significantly better at the game than everyone else.
I'd wouldn't go so far as to call it "cheating" as you didn't break any of the ...
9
The games you are talking about are ones that possess a positive feedback loop for players who are in the lead, causing them to continue to be in the lead in an exponential way. This is generally considered bad game design for the exact reason you are implying. As such, you have two simple options:
Stop playing these games, due to their flaw.
Create house ...
9
Victor Mollo addressed this problem in one of his books (I forget which). His suggestion, if you wished to stop and think at your turn of play, was to place the card you plan to play face down on the table, announcing that you were playing that card, and then do your thinking. Provided your thinks don't take inordinately long, no-one will complain.
9
It's usually easier to prevent these things than it is to fix them.
Set the mood
Make sure everyone's doing alright. Put on some music, get some food and drinks on the table (or a lot of drinks, if you really want to be sure).
Pick the right game
The type of games can also make a big difference. Some games are really harsh on those who fall behind. There's ...
8
I believe that cases 1-3 are all ethical, but these are simple problems that should have been solved at the end of some earlier trick (In duplicate bridge, after all the cards to a trick have been faced, players should indicate that they are thinking about the hand by keeping their card face up. Play does not proceed until all players have turned their cards ...
7
You know, it never occurred to me to ask whether playing a completely legitimate move in a competitive game is "ethical". The designers already figured that out when they made the rules.
Now, if you are making up your own house rules that say you can make binding contracts with players, like "if you give me the Edinburgh route, I'll let you build to ...
7
I think you have to understand the game sufficiently to gauge whether the information really is secret or not. For games where information isn't secret due to being calculatable, it sounds like a good, sporting house rule to instead play openly rather than punishing less acute players.
Good etiquette would mean communicating why you wish to invoke this ...
6
I'll take the other side here.
Keeping private notes is always ok (unless the rules specifically forbid it.)
When I'm playing a game like Settlers of Catan, I can keep track of what other players have in their hands without too much difficulty. Am I acting against the rules by simply remembering what's happened so far?
Using a piece of scrap paper to ...
6
In general, king making is contentious.
In my mind, it's best reserved for when it will allow ending a game "Now-ish" in order to either facilitate a different, more generally enjoyable game, or to allow players to leave.
There are a few other conditions where I find it less than unacceptable. These basically boil down to "not letting A have a runaway ...
6
It is perfectly acceptable to observe other matches.
If you are not currently playing, and you are not a judge, then you are a spectator by definition. There are a few rules governing spectators mentioned in the Tournament Rules.
Players may request (via a judge) that you not observe their matches. You may not make notes while drafting. You may not place ...
6
There is no rule that specifically governs the physical location of cards on the stack, so you should put them wherever makes the game state clearest. That usually means that you should put them in an actual stack in the play area.
Since Instants and Sorceries go to the graveyard when they resolve, if you put them in the graveyard immediately, you are ...
6
If your goal is to keep that same game fun even though you're certain to lose, then perhaps you could rebalance on the fly by choosing a more attainable goal, e.g. "We can't deal 15 damage and win, but how about we try to reach 12."
However, if your goal is to have fun playing games, you could also just concede and use the time you save to play again (or ...
6
This is a common problem in come strategy games where a "tipping point" is reached, after which victory is assured for one player or faction, but the end game conditions are such that play must nevertheless continue.
Sid Meier's Civilization tends to have this problem, but it also occurs not infrequently in Go. In the latter case, the losing player will ...
5
Make the first eliminated player be "the banker." When more than one player is eliminated, they should start another game.
Like the banker in Monopoly, they'll hand out all cards/tokens, make change, and manipulate pieces that aren't controlled by a player directly. It's not that fun, but it keeps them participating, and they can heckle all-the-while.
...
5
Always - it is a recommended action.
As Declarer I always pause for the 5 or so seconds you recommend when Dummy comes down; as East I will do so (by initially playing my card to the first trick face down) whenever Declarer has been so discourteous and undiscerning as to not do so. Occasionally I have to pause longer, for particularly complex hands, but I ...
4
We let players who lose team up with other players. As more players get eliminated our teams get larger and the game gets more intense. As a bonus this preserves all the mechanics of the original game.
4
Casinos are much like any other business; if they want, they can tell you that you are no longer welcome for any reason, or no reason at all. There are some exceptions, primarily the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which prevents "places of public accomodation" (basically any property that welcomes the average Joe coming in off the street) from refusing service ...
4
It's against the rules.
The rules call for playing with the cards kept secret, but tracking everyone's resources on paper would be virtually no different than playing with all cards revealed.
It makes the game less enjoyable.
It slows the game down. It leads to "what did I miss" type questions. It takes your attention away from players, reducing social ...
4
Essentially, yes you can. Simply do not turn over the card played to a trick until you are finished thinking about the hand.
In fact, East in your example may not pause to consider the whole hand before playing to the first trick (unless that is necessary to determine which card to play to the trick). Instead they must usually play immediately to the trick, ...
4
Absolutely! This type of disruptive behaviour is in no way acceptable by any player.
The Laws of Duplicate Bridge (2017) provide mechanisms under which the Director can act in such a circumstance of disruptive play.
LAW 90 - PROCEDURAL PENALTIES
A. Director’s Authority
The Director, in addition to implementing the rectifications in these Laws, ...
3
It's tough for the Type A personalities so often attracted to competitive games like Bridge, but all criticisms of partner should be reserved until after the match. I suggest noting to your partner "Make a note of that hand, and we'll discuss it after the game." One or two violations per game, that accept such a comment with a positive attitude, can be ...
3
As the answers to another of your questions said, it is unethical to hesitate over a play when you actually have no choice, since there can be no good reason for your hesitation. The same principle applies in the situations you mention here; if, when it is your turn to play, you have a choice of cards and your decision will affect the hand, you can take as ...
3
Among people you don't know as well or don't know at all (the key here is familiarity, not exactly what you stated at the end of your question about people you don't see regularly per se), it's typically safe to fall back to the assumption that games are played more socially and less competitively. You can imagine any number of brutal or brilliant ...
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