JanM, on Apr 15 2008, 10:33 AM, said:
Vilgan, on Apr 15 2008, 07:59 AM, said:
I can sort of see this in NABC events, but imo its probably not going to be enforced very well. It also seems sort of silly when they don't even have screens for a lot of sessions where they probably should (day 2 and beyond in all national events imo).
I'm a big fan of screens, for lots of reasons, but you have to realize that they are
very expensive, both because of the cost of shipping and setting up the tables with screens (even ignoring the cost of buying them to begin with) and because a table with screen takes about twice as much space as a table without screens, which usually has to be paid for. I have a feeling that if entry fees for day 2 and on in the NABC events were doubled or tripled to pay for having screens, there would be a
huge outcry.
On the flipside though, the current times they use screens the tables/screens are very heavy and expensive looking.. at least from what I recall of my experience with them. If they made screens less of an exotic item and approached it more from a mass produced perspective it seems like a lot of the size/weight/initial cost issues can be mitigated. Screens don't
have to be expensive/heavy/exotic, that's just the approach it seems like the ACBL has taken (no clue outside the ACBL). Hell, screens could be cloth as long as it was dark enough to not be seen through.
As for setup... unload them in the corner and ask players to grab the components to set it up (again, heavy is a bad thing here). I'm pretty sure those who have physical difficulties with it can get help from their opponents or a nearby table.
Anyways, I'm not saying this is implementable without there being costs. It does seem, however, somewhat naive/foolish/arbitrary to ban an item many people use constantly for a million things while ignoring all the
much bigger problems of UI at the table. The fact the cell phone ban is
very hard to enforce only makes it worse. All the law abiding people get massively inconvenienced, all the ones who might be tempted to cheat aren't going to give a flip about the cell phone rule. So the end result is a bunch of inconvenienced non cheating individuals and no reduction in the potential for cheating at a tournament.