[blml] A player's view [SEC=UNOFFICIAL]

[John Probst]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: <richard.hills at immi.gov.au>
To: <blml at rtflb.org>
Sent: Tuesday, February 13, 2007 2:07 AM
Subject: Re: [blml] A player's view [SEC=UNOFFICIAL]


> Richard Hills wrote (15th July 2004):
>
> [big snip]
>
> Secondarily, I argue that (in some circumstances)
> non-objective or subjective Laws are highly
> desirable, despite Nigel Guthrie's vehement
> philosophical opposition.
>
> Edward Tenner, Why Things Bite Back, page 251:
>
>>For clubs, the rules become deliberately
>>subjective.  The head must be "plain in shape".
>>This, for example, really means that it must
>>look like a golf clubhead.  Defining plainness
>>precisely would have the revenge effect of
>>promoting a search for loopholes.
>
> A recent blml search for loopholes has been on
> the extensive thread discussing when, exactly, a
> card has been played.  I like the plain in shape
> subjective solution proposed by John (MadDog)
> Probst that "a card has been played when the
> player stops waving it around".

I had a nice one last night. Iraj is playing with Bijan's wife and Bijan's 
playing with Iraj's wife. There's a dinner on the outcome. (No doubt this is 
illegal in the US but I thoroughly approve of a side bet on the game). I 
play pound bridge with the girls (2 cent) and 3 pound (5 cent) with the boys 
at my f2f rubber club and know them all well. They're very occasional 
duplicate players. Iraj (while I'm kibbing) half plays a card in defence and 
then starts to pick it up. "Iraj, you've played it, pard has seen it" 
"yeah, quite right John, perfectly reasonable".

There was no point in quoting duplicate law at Iraj, but equally he knows 
what is "fair".  A TD almost never has a problem with a played card since he 
just needs to get into the mind of the player who has played it.

HIJACK.  I had a law 59 ruling this afternoon; first time I've ever used it 
in half a million directed hands. OLOOT;  "Lead one"; "haven't got any" :)

John
>
> *     *     *
>
> Richard Hills writes (13th February 2007):
>
> Thirdly, I argue that (in some circumstances)
> non-objective or subjective Alert regulations
> are highly desirable, to prevent sea-lawyers
> wriggling through loopholes.
>
> There are two ways to construct an Alert
> regulation.  One way, chosen by the Australian
> Bridge Federation, is to create (non-objective or
> subjective) general principles, and then to
> provide some indicative examples as guidance for
> players and directors on the application of those
> (non-objective or subjective) general principles.
>
> The other way is the "death by detail" approach,
> with large numbers of specific situations
> specifically defined as either:
>
> (a) non-alertable, or
> (b) pre-alertable, or
> (c) announcable, or
> (d) alertable on the first round of the auction,
> but non-alertable if occurring on the second or
> later round of the auction, or
> (e) alertable in theory, but not in practice,
> since players must "protect themselves", or
> (f) alertable because forcing, or
> (g) alertable because non-forcing, or
> (h) no longer alertable, because of the "death by
> detail" requirement that alert regs change each
> year as details of popular conventions change, or
> (i) et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.
>
> :-)
>
>
> Best wishes
>
> Richard James Hills, amicus curiae
> National Training Branch, DIAC
> 02 6225 6285
>
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