Help
barmar, on 2012-June-20, 09:01, said:
At the beginning of last night's ACBL club game, one player's partner hadn't shown up yet, so I filled in for him to get the game moving. While I was playing this hand, a newcomer showed up. As it looked like the late player might by a no-show, I said she could play with the person who was waiting for him starting with the second board. Then the late player showed up, so I offered to partner with the newcomer (good marketing: don't turn away a new customer when it's possible to accomodate her); we would become a bump pair.
When the second round started, the first board was the one I'd played when I was filling in at the other table. My first inclination was to let the pair we were bumping play that one board, and we'd take over for the other 2 boards in the round. But one of them had already gone off for a walk. So I had the remaining bumpee take my seat and play with my partner for that hand.
Now the question arises: We have a pair made up of one player from pair 2 (bumpees), and one player from pair 10 (bumpers), which pair gets the matchpoints?
I didn't even realize the issue until the scorer was entering the scores at the end of the evening. While he was playing the hand, I still had it in my mind that I'd had pair 2 stay for the one board, so I'd done an EDMOV to switch them into the movement for that board. But the player who took my seat scored it on my line, and the scorer noticed the mismatch between what ACBLScore wanted and what was written on the traveler.
I decided the choice is arbitrary, so I told him to put the score in as I'd edited the movement. Was there a better solution?
When the second round started, the first board was the one I'd played when I was filling in at the other table. My first inclination was to let the pair we were bumping play that one board, and we'd take over for the other 2 boards in the round. But one of them had already gone off for a walk. So I had the remaining bumpee take my seat and play with my partner for that hand.
Now the question arises: We have a pair made up of one player from pair 2 (bumpees), and one player from pair 10 (bumpers), which pair gets the matchpoints?
I didn't even realize the issue until the scorer was entering the scores at the end of the evening. While he was playing the hand, I still had it in my mind that I'd had pair 2 stay for the one board, so I'd done an EDMOV to switch them into the movement for that board. But the player who took my seat scored it on my line, and the scorer noticed the mismatch between what ACBLScore wanted and what was written on the traveler.
I decided the choice is arbitrary, so I told him to put the score in as I'd edited the movement. Was there a better solution?
I think your intention is to have the newcomer as the first board substitute and the bumped player as the second round substitute, so I wouldn't have EDMOVed. The bumped player expects to play all boards with his partner and does not expect his score to be affected by a board in which he plays as a sub. The late player should accept that being late bears consequences, like being replaced by a newcomer and taking your chances.
Another possible solution, which I admit I might not have thought of during the ever-changing situation:
Bump movements are usually begun with the bumping pair replacing pair 2 in round two, but this can be changed. If you note that by making yourself a bump pair you are going to be playing the same boards in round 2 that you played as a substitute, it should be OK to add a constant to the pair you are replacing, and you may even have time to find the specific constant that has you avoiding the board you just played.
It sounds like you filled in at table 3 then began round 2 by bumping a pair at table two, meeting the boards that had begun at table 3 (#5 and 6). For simplicity let's assume a nice 13-table Mitchell plus bumping pair, without player duplication (board #1 starts at table 1). To have the bumping pair skip boards 5 and 6, starting them at table 5 in round two will work out: this is equivalent to having them sit out round one where the cycle would have had them at table 3.
For an even-numbered Mitchell, or a movement where the roving pair's cycle is irregular, you may encounter a bit more complexity. But it should always be possible to arrange the rover to miss any set of boards somehow. In ACBLScore, all rover/bump movements contain the option to start the roving pair at any table (it's one of many in ACBLScore that gets the shotgun ENTER key virtually all of the time!).
