[zhasbeen]

I wonder what it will take for BBO management to face the reality of GIB. It is the big elephant in the living room of an otherwise great web site. By my observation it is already hurting business and it is only going to get worse.
I’m having to wait longer for a reasonable number of players to enter a tournament and I also noticed that the last NABC 3-day tournament had more than 300 fewer entrants than the one before. I play only in the ACBL 12-board tourneys; mostly matchpoints but have been playing more ‘instant’ matches in recent weeks. My comments are based only on these tournaments consisting of 1 human and 3 robots at each table.

In the Help system under “About GIB Robots” it says:
“GIB is widely considered to be one of the best computer bridge programs ever created….”
That might have been true years ago but not anymore, and nothing can be done to bring him up to date. He is too old and not powerful enough to play like the stronger ones that are out there. If it were possible the programmers would have done it by now.

I have hands scattered all over the room where I play, saying to myself "I’m going to post it on the forum", then apathy sets in and I don’t do it. It would be an exercise in venting only, with nothing that will help GIB get any better.

Last week I bid 5 clubs and GIB raised to 6; down one. On the very next board I bid 6 and GIB raised me a trick to 7; down 1. For the 2 boards I was slightly above average but it’s just not fun to play with a partner that consistently makes these kinds of bids. He has done it several times since then, but “only” one at a time rather than back-to-back. Nobody enjoys this even though many continue to play. Who likes playing with a partner you can’t trust? What kind of a dummy is he going to lay down this time? Do I lie about how may aces I hold when he launches into blackwood? Will he put up his ace when declarer leads small to dummy’s queen when I hold the stiff king? (he’s done this or similar several times – GIB loves ‘second hand high’)

Call me a basher if you want but I’m sure not indifferent. I would much rather see BBO do well than not and have hung in there for more than a year, despite all the frustrations. I like everything about these tournaments except this one problem. Unfortunately, it is so big that there are too many days that it cancels out most of the good. My goal is to finish out this year since I’ve spent so much time and money trying to compile a good record. No way will I play as much next year, if it all.

Good scores don’t balance out the frustration that occurs when you have GIB as partner. I understand that his antics don’t have much, if any, effect on matchpoint scores. It’s the same for everyone. However, it has a major effect on how it feels to play under these conditions. I’m not talking a few minor errors either. Volume is high, and errors are major.

I would gladly produce some examples if I thought it would do any good. Obviously, I’m not the only one who feels that way as you can tell by how much participation in the forum has dried up.

Doesn't Warren Buffet has some connection with BBO? Maybe he could help.

[johnu]

Quote

What's it going to take? Not even one reply since the 14th...

Are you talking about a specific post that BBO has not commented on? If so, 5 days is nothing. Very few posts receive a BBO response, and most posts never receive any BBO response.

[zhasbeen]

johnu, on 2018-October-19, 16:40, said:

Are you talking about a specific post that BBO has not commented on? If so, 5 days is nothing. Very few posts receive a BBO response, and most posts never receive any BBO response.

No, I was suggesting that players have given hope that GIB will ever improve. Participation in this forum has dried up. When I Joined a year ago there was much more involvement, both from players and BBO. When I said “not even one reply since the 14th…” I meant from anyone. No responses from players or BBO—none for days at a time. It wasn’t like this a year ago, but even then, I could sense the apathy after standard support sent me over here.

GIB’s problems are not minor and cannot be fixed. If you or anyone can prove otherwise I will be a happy customer. BBO can say there have been “upgrades” but I’m not seeing any evidence and I’ve played a LOT—probably more than 90% of BBO’s customers. If anything, GIB has gotten worse.
The ill-advised leaps to unmakeable slams are as frequent as they ever were. Handling of 2-suited hands is as poor as it ever was. Cue bids are grossly misused, often putting human partner to an impossible guess on what to do. This happens time, and time again. The same incorrect definitions that existed a year ago are still there. The list goes on and on and on. Apparently GIB is impossible to work on. Anything that doesn’t solve at least a few of these problems does not qualify as an "upgrade", IMO.

Look at the hand that Jammen submitted yesterday. I’m talking about the one with KQJ98764 of diamonds and A98 of clubs. He passed as dealer, passed west’s 3 hearts opposite a partner that opened the bidding! Then he doubled 4H!! This is not minor stuff we are talking about.
Yesterday I overcalled a 1H opening with a balanced 16 and heart stopper, after which my LHO bid 2S to end the bidding. Holding a stiff spade and KQ10954 of clubs GIB did not compete. Vulnerability was favorable. I wouldn’t want to play with anyone who let the opponents play at 2 level in that situation. Not as bad as Jammen’s example but still very poor.

The obvious question is why I continue to play, and it is good one. Thus far I have I’ve continued to remind myself that it’s the same for everyone. I like to compete are there are dozens, if not hundreds, of good players to compete with. You can still score well when others are faced with same problems you are.I like the layout and the easily accessible videos of every hand that you and your opponents have played. You can even download them to your computer if you like.
However, playing with GIB everyday is so annoying that it comes close to canceling out all the positives. It makes me wonder if it means anything when you do well. The cumulative effect has been wearing me down to the point that it makes this hobby of mine barely worth continuing. I hope to finish out this year playing the ACBL tournaments and reaching the goal I’ve set. If I use BBO at all in 2019 it will be only for practicing card play in the 25-cent tournaments.

I have yet to hear anyone from BBO admit that GIB has serious problems or evidence that they can do anything about them. I still remember a few months ago when Jdonn said the plan is to stick with GIB indefinitely. He said something to the effect that he had customer complaints and threats to quit for past 9 years, but they continued to play. Translation: “take it or leave it”.

Is there anyone here who frequently plays in ACBL robot tournaments? If so I’d be happy to have a discussion.