Newton Bridge Club

with bridge games and classes at
Temple Emanuel in Newton
Temple Reyim in Newton
Temple Aliyah in Needham


CLUB POLICIES SUMMARY

Bringing Food to Games

Temple Emanuel has strict rules prohibiting non-Kosher foods from the premises. It is Temple policy that no food of any kind is to be brought into the Temple except by those authorized to do so. We serve refreshments at all games. Please restrict your eating snd drinking while on Temple grounds to that which is provided.

Cell Phones

With the exception of emergencies, and Doctors on call, cell phone usage is generally prohibited during duplicate games. Please turn your phone off before the game begins. If you must keep it on, please switch it to vibrate mode.

Cleaning Up

"Your mother doesn't play bridge here."
Players are expected to clean up after themselves, placing all trash, empty plates, cup etc into the trash cans. Please also fold up your bidding boxes after the game and return them to the plastic bins, and return your pencils to the pencil box.

Coming Without a Partner

We encourage players who do not have a partner to come anyway, and in most cases can guarantee them a partner. If you are coming without a partner, please make things easier on the poor director and arrive a bit early. We do our best to pair people compatibly, but to a certain extent it is "pot luck". If you are paired with someone, you have an extra obligation to be gracious and friendly to your partner, no matter how terrible their mistakes. This is a game - the goal is for everyone to have a good time!

Parking

The Temple Emanuel Board has been very concerned about the lack of parking in the Temple area during bridge games and classes. Of course they recognize that in order for us to be successful, we need to be able to park as well, but they also want to be able to have parking available for other events.

We came up with the following compromise:
We agreed to ask bridge players NOT to park in the Temple parking lot on Ashford Rd, nor on Ashford Rd itself, so as to reserve those spaces for other Temple events. (Ashford Rd. is the road where the side entrance to the Temple is, the "downstairs" entrance on the side of the Temple furthest from where we usually play).

All other streets in the area, including the spaces on Ward Street in front of the Temple, and all other side streets in the area, are OK. But please refrain from parking in the lot or on Ashford Rd.

I cannot overstress how important this is! The Temple, as much as they support our being here, would be forced to consider closing the club if parking for other events continues to be a problem.

Posting of Scores

Game results are generally available within a few minutes after the game finishes. They will be displayed on screen or printed out and hung on a wall as soon as possible. They will also be posted on the website as soon as possible on the day of the game: Wednesday morning results are usually posted sometime Wednesday afternoon, and Thursday evening results will be posted [very] late Thursday night.

Requesting a Particular Table or Direction

The entry sellers will try to accommodate as many requests for a particular table or direction as possible. However, if they are unable to accomodate you, either because they are trying to balance the field, or because everyone can't sit north-south, please be understanding.

Reservations

We have plenty of space, and have no need to accept reservations for our games. We have never had to turn a pair away who showed up before game time due to lack of space. If you want an entry at a particular table or direction, however, it would help if you show up early.

Slow Play

When a table is sufficiently behind that playing their last board will hold up both the pair waiting to play at that table as well as the pair waiting at the next table, the director may request that the final board not be played, except perhaps as a late play. In any case, under no circumstances will a pair be allowed to start a board after the round has ended (and usually not within 2 minutes of the end of the round).
THIS IS NOT MEANT AS A PUNISHMENT FOR EITHER PAIR.

We hold to a "no fault" policy in these situations - we do not look to blame or punish either pair, merely to keep the game moving. As such, we usually score such a board (if not made up) as "not played", so that it does not affect the score for either side. Please do not take such rulings personally - they are based on the undeniable fact that you are behind, and not meant to imply how/why you are behind. "no fault" means it doesn't matter why. This may well happen to fast pairs as well as slow.

The purpose of late plays is to keep the game moving along briskly, so we are able to get to all 24 boards. If the director allowed you to play while others waited, you would not lose that board... but instead you (and everyone else) would lose the final round. In this vein, when you are asked not to start a board, please do not argue, tell the director how fast you are, or play the board anyway. If the board is started after an announcement or a request not to do so, we will throw out the result on the board, and award matchpoint penalties to both pairs.

Smoking

Smoking is not allowed anywhere in the Synagogue, or on Temple grounds. If you need to smoke, please go to the sidewalk. Please dispose of butts properly - do not discard them on the Temple grounds, the sidewalk, or on the the street in front of the Temple.

Score Corrections

The director enters the scores from the travelers at breakneck speed at the end of the game. Mistakes happen. It is recommended that you check your scores on line, and report scoring errors to the director that you find. For most games, any scoring corrections requested within 5 days of the game will be accepted.

Some people feel they are not obliged to report scoring errors in their favor. We feel that an ethical player will report any scoring error, in the interests of fairness.

Stratification of Games

Stratifying a game means dividing the players into 2-3 groups, generally based on masterpoints. The groups are usually designated by a letter ("A" players are the strongest, then "B", and "C" the weakest). When the game is scored, it is scored 3 times - once with everyone, once with only B and C players, and once with only C players. If you place in more than one scoring, you get whichever award is the largest. This allows weaker players (in "C" strat) to have a chance to do well - all they have to do is do better than the other "C" players.

Almost all of our games are stratified, based on masterpoints. For most games, the exact strata used are not determined until after the entries are sold, and are based on the players attending the game (the top third are "A", the middle third are "B", and the lower third are "C").

Sometimes we sell entries with a "stratum" designation (A,B, or C) on them. These preliminary strata are used just to "balance the field", i.e. to ensure we have approximately the same number of strong and weak players in each direction, and in each section. These may not correspond to the actual strata used in the game itself.

Unacceptable Behavior

Bridge is a game, and people come to our bridge club to have fun. Occasionally, a player seems to forget that, and behaves rudely to his partner, his opponents, or to the director. SUCH RUDENESS WILL NOT BE TOLERATED. Players who behave this way may be subjected to penalties, and may be asked not to return to the club.