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Ben made a good point.
I have several educational bridge programs, for example, Lawrence's Counting at Bridge. From time to time a play a few hands. I have to admit, I don't "get" them all right. But I surprise myself by getting quite a lot of them.
But I don't get nearly as many at the table. And I sometimes make horrible mistakes (went for 1400 at the bridge club yesterday -- must be the first time in quite a few years that I've gone for a number that big).
Oh, well. For what it is worth, I support the opinions that say an expert:
- shows good judgement (especially in the bidding)
- rarely makes a mistake - that is, is very consistent
- can count a hand when he needs to
- can visualize unseen hands (I don't mean "knows all 52 cards")
- has a good repetoire of play techniques
I have several educational bridge programs, for example, Lawrence's Counting at Bridge. From time to time a play a few hands. I have to admit, I don't "get" them all right. But I surprise myself by getting quite a lot of them.
But I don't get nearly as many at the table. And I sometimes make horrible mistakes (went for 1400 at the bridge club yesterday -- must be the first time in quite a few years that I've gone for a number that big).
Oh, well. For what it is worth, I support the opinions that say an expert:
- shows good judgement (especially in the bidding)
- rarely makes a mistake - that is, is very consistent
- can count a hand when he needs to
- can visualize unseen hands (I don't mean "knows all 52 cards")
- has a good repetoire of play techniques
1400 is a nice number but somehow I only attract 800s :-) They even wanted to setup a 0-800-Luigi line once..... Oh yes I went 3 800s in a row in one tourney :-)
My contribution to this thread: I like the self-rating BBO approach, but maybe I'm naive, when I play with an exp who makes a lot of mistakes I always assume he's also watching TV or sleepy or something else.