[blackshoe]

Not sure getting 50% of the matchpoints for boards you did not play is kosher.

No, actually I am sure it's not.

[McBruce]

Subs from the general sub list tend not to misbehave or leave unexpectedly if you:

--thank them in table chat for helping out
--thank them publicly in your opening announcements
--let them know if they enter in the middle of the game whether you expect the original player to return soon
--mark the ones who do not behave or leave after poor results with 'ignore' so they show up in black in the list next time
--use select sub, not any sub, to avoid the ignoramuses
--in ACBL Virtual Club land, use the BBO Web Portal tool (ask your onboarder for the link) to check for masterpoints in limited games before selecting a sub

This all takes extra time (especially the last) but usually results in good subs who stay to the end.

[peterb001]

 Crawley107, on 2021-January-14, 09:06, said:

If I’ve understood this post correctly, I can leave sit outs in place for a BBO clocked pairs tournament, with an odd number of pairs, using either a Mitchell or Howell movement. I am unclear about what the TD will need to do, playing two board rounds. Presumably, cards for the the first board will be dealt at the sit out table at the beginning of each round. When the round clock times out, the first board will be terminated as incomplete, and the second board won’t be started. Will the TD be asked to provide a score for both boards, or just the first, or neither? Assuming the TD assigns average scores to incomplete and unplayed boards, will the tournament results show the pair Sit Out and Sit Out as scoring 50% on all boards, and hence 50% as a final result?

So yes you can leave a sit out in either movement as long as it is clocked. The first boards not played will all be shown on BBO as averages, but all of these boards will appear on the TD action list to be adjusted. I can't remember if the subsequent boards are also initially scored as averages, or you have to put that in yourself. However if you then use the BBOtoXML website / facility to create your 'final' results, which we do, that program will recognise the sit-out, and drop those results from the results file it creates (do select Advanced Scoring (Neuberg) as the scoring method), so you get the results you would expect with a sit-out. I never looked at the final scores on BBO to be able to say exactly what happens there, and now we always use BBO robots to make up any half-table as mentioned by other people.

[BudH]

 Keene_JP, on 2021-January-14, 21:15, said:

when we run a '299 tourn, we do NOT use human subs for a sitout since they do not get screened for MP limit. (it took a while for us to realize that the subs in a '299 could be super life masters). so, what we do:
1) sub robots at beginning for the sitouts
2) each round, ask opps if they would rather play against robots or have a sitout
2a) if robot = no problem, then play on
2b) if do not want to play against robot, then do nothing. When board(s) times out, score will become A==

AND, as others have noted, robots might finish 1st (2nd etc.) but are discarded from score before masterpoint awards are given.

For the ACBL virtual club games, the Director can use the VPortal tool that is provided and quickly check the masterpoints of possible substitutes. (I have with experience been able to make this check in less than 10 seconds, and if the masterpoints are low enough, invite the substitute.)

This means you in general would be looking for only USA or Canada players.

[aeroguy99]

I often avoid subs when running my 299er game. For example, if I have 7 pair (3 1/2 tables), I will run a 7x3 Howell. Each pair gets one sitout, and each pair plays 18 boards. The sitout table gets an NP (no play). IMPORTANT NOTE HERE. Sometimes a pair having a sitout will not notice that they have a sitout and will go ahead and bid. At the end of the round BBO will ask you to assign a score. DON'T. Currently the Director can not assign an NP. If you assign A==, the sitout pair will get 50% for that board. Just dismiss the request to score the board and it will also get an NP assigned by BBO.