[euclidz]

Reading through the information and fabulous reviews on the website leaves me with some VERY basic questions; what does it do; how does it work; what need does it meet; who is it aimed at?

I can see that it's used as a teaching aid; it seems to have a function for analysing how hands might be played / might be better played. Is that its primary function? Is it, for example, used by Clubs to generate hands (pbn file) which are then manually constructed and played and then uploaded with the results to the web site; is that a need it meets? I can see it's American, does that limit it to whatever it does i.e. limit it to SAYC etc., and not Acol?

[johnu]

For clubs, DmPro can create a file with all the hands that is input into dealing machines. I suppose somebody could manually sort the cards based on the hand records produced. It does a double dummy analysis so you can print hand records which also show what contracts can be made by each side.

For teachers and players, you can specify all 4 hands, either by inputting a specific hand, or by setting a bunch of parameters, e.g. how many cards in each suit (either a specific number or a range), points in a hand (either a specific number or range). You can also specify specific honor cards in a hand (e.g. West has K, KQ, or A in a specific suit).

By specifying point counts and suit lengths, you can basically model any unknown hand. e.g. 15-17 NT for 2/1, 12-14 for weak NT systems, 4+ length for 4 card major systems, 5+ length for 5 card major systems.

[euclidz]

johnu, on 2018-April-29, 12:58, said:

For clubs, etc.,

Thanks for the helpful reply

[barmar]

johnu, on 2018-April-29, 12:58, said:

For clubs, DmPro can create a file with all the hands that is input into dealing machines. I suppose somebody could manually sort the cards based on the hand records produced.

Before dealing machines became common, at ACBL tournaments it was pretty normal for players in pair games to make hands based on printouts that were passed out at the beginning of the session, so that they could provide hand records after the session.

[pescetom]

barmar, on 2018-April-29, 13:15, said:

Before dealing machines became common, at ACBL tournaments it was pretty normal for players in pair games to make hands based on printouts that were passed out at the beginning of the session, so that they could provide hand records after the session.

That's still common in much of the world. Sometimes the Director is required to make the hands before the players arrive.

[PhilG007]

pescetom, on 2018-April-29, 14:40, said:

That's still common in much of the world. Sometimes the Director is required to make the hands before the players arrive.

Yes In worldwide tournaments like the "Epson" in the 1990s the hands are already pre-dealt. I really loved playing in that
tournament and reading the analysis booklet and commentary of the hands by the late lamented Omar Sharif. When Epson ended
its sponsorship,no other company was willing to continue it. Pity. It would have been fun to play in it again
and read analysis of the deals by a world class player like Mike Lawrence,Eddie Kantar Jeff Rubens Ron Klinger or "Meckwell"

[paulg]

A few examples how we Dealmaster Pro at the club.

It generates all the hands for our club sessions, producing the printout and the file for the hand dealing machine.

Teachers use it to generate hands for specific sessions, for example bidding a weak or strong no trump hand, or defensive problems, or play hands, and then write commentaries on each hand which can then be printed out in a glorified printout. One teacher now wants to combine hands from different sessions for his end of term 'party' and we can do this with DM Pro without having to retype hands or commentaries.

I often use DM Pro to generate hands for internationalists to practise specific parts of their system on BBO.

I believe it is worth the money if you are going to use it frequently. Although the help is extensive it is not particularly intuitive when you start and it takes some time to become really proficient. It is not a tool to use once a year.