[euclidz]

I need a simple stand alone Round Timer (i.e. not a Timer that requires real time access to the internet)

I have downloaded two Duplicate Round Timers and both fail to meet our needs. They both want to be set up for the whole event with the presumption that players will fold their hand and walk to the next table when the round time ends.

The rules here are that once they have started bidding the hand they must be allowed to complete it, so a timer that simply says “the round has ended all move” doesn’t work when a table has started to play the last hand. . . . I need a timer that reaches a point in time and then says “if you have not yet started the last hand, halve it” and then stops the clock OR after ‘x’ minutes says “you have 5/6/7 minutes left” I could simply instruct them that if they had not started the last hand when that message came they must halve it.

Before I go out and but an alarm clock - does what I need exist anywhere?

[blackshoe]

"Halve it"? What do you mean?

[aguahombre]

I prefer the round timer to display the time remaining for the round and that it not attempt to do my job. So, I mute it, adjust it, or stop it --- then keep the event moving with my alleged communication skills.

[euclidz]

blackshoe, on 2015-May-03, 05:49, said:

"Halve it"? What do you mean?

When a table are prevented from playing a board because they ran out of time it's 'averaged' and the Scoring program awards both pairs 50% (a half - it's halved)

[Phil]

These are pretty standard in the US:

http://www.electroni...ridge_timer.php

[blackshoe]

euclidz, on 2015-May-03, 07:44, said:

When a table are prevented from playing a board because they ran out of time it's 'averaged' and the Scoring program awards both pairs 50% (a half - it's halved)

That's not legal. But at least it's marginally better than "not played'.

[Vampyr]

I don't really think that players will take much notice of a message from a computer telling them not to start any more boards. The director should be responsible for that.

You could make an announcement that there is 5 minutes left, because this will prompt some people to hurry; then with about 3 minutes to go announce that they may not start any new boards. You realise that even if it were the case that always assigning 50%/50% for a board not played due to time constraints were legal, players are not permitted to assign adjusted scores, artificial or not, to themselves.

[euclidz]

blackshoe, on 2015-May-03, 12:04, said:

That's not legal..

At the risk of this going off at a tangent . . . . why is it 'not legal' and what do you believe to be the 'legal' procedure when a table runs out of time and fails to play a board?

[TylerE]

Dont' have a lawbook handy to cite, but basically an artificial adjusted score may only be assigned when it is impossible (note IMPOSSIBLE, not inconvenient) to obtain an actual result.

[Vampyr]

euclidz, on 2015-May-03, 15:06, said:

At the risk of this going off at a tangent . . . . why is it 'not legal' and what do you believe to be the 'legal' procedure when a table runs out of time and fails to play a board?

The director must investigate and see which pair was responsible for the delay. This pair will receive average minus and the other pair average plus. If both pairs are partially responsible then you can give 50/50 or even 40/40 if they spent the time going on and on about a hand etc, 60/60 if eg the delay was due to a director call, and I'm sure there are even some situations where 60/50 is the appropriate score.

[blackshoe]

The legal procedure is to assign a late play unless there is some overriding reason not to do it — contractual time limits on use of the space, for example. "I don't wanna" is not good enough, whether it's a player or the director who "don't wanna".

If no late play is possible, the director will cancel the play of the board. However, that board is still part of the set the two pairs concerned were originally scheduled to play, so an adjusted score should be awarded. See Law 12A2 and Law 12C2.

[barmar]

We use a timer that says "There are 3 minutes left in the round, do not start any new boards." In practice, what players usually do when they hear this is call the director and ask if they can try to play the last board quickly. Some players don't notice it at all (if you're busy thinking about the hand you're playing, distractions like this can be tuned out) and start another board anyway.

In any case, I don't think the exact words of the timer really matter. But maybe you can find a program that allows you to record your own message.

[blackshoe]

barmar, on 2015-May-04, 13:59, said:

We use a timer that says "There are 3 minutes left in the round, do not start any new boards." In practice, what players usually do when they hear this is call the director and ask if they can try to play the last board quickly. Some players don't notice it at all (if you're busy thinking about the hand you're playing, distractions like this can be tuned out) and start another board anyway.

In any case, I don't think the exact words of the timer really matter. But maybe you can find a program that allows you to record your own message.

One player here found the wording of the warning ungrammatical, so he recorded his own version. Seems like all the clubs around here use his now.

I well remember an incident before clocks at a local club. The director announced "don't start any new boards" while we were playing board two of three. When we finished that board, North took her hand out of the third board, saying "let's play it, she won't notice".

[barmar]

blackshoe, on 2015-May-04, 18:59, said:

One player here found the wording of the warning ungrammatical, so he recorded his own version. Seems like all the clubs around here use his now.

Yeah. Ours actually says "There's 3 minutes left in the round". The bad grammar always grates on me.

[gordontd]

My favourite timer comes from Mike Rothwell and is used in all EBU events.

[barmar]

FYI, the one we use at our club is at

http://www.bridgeace...dgeprograms.htm