I thought I would share some thoughts and tips on my experiences with Bridge Base Online (BBO) in case I can persuade you to try it. I am not going to duplicate David Farmer's comprehensive article - you should go through its detailed instructions carefully.
I haven't tried the other sites but BBO has much to offer the average player - including that one can play with friends and it is free! I know many people would not want to play with strangers and would be more relaxed playing with people they know; apart from each player having to play in reasonable time in turn, there is no time pressure to finish.
So if you can arrange a time with three people, all of whom have registered with BBO, one of you has to start a table and nominate the user names of the other three and where they are sitting. They can be already logged in or not, and they will get a message inviting them to join the table. When all have joined, play starts. You probably want to be in the Casual section (I'm not sure the difference from Competitive exactly).
Starting a table
- set up the table with the right privacy settings. We had a problem when someone got disconnected and a stranger jumped in. In this case i think one should play out the board and then all leave the table apologetically and the host start a new one. I'm not sure how the settings inter-relate but you want to make the table invisible and/or that permission is required to play. (Slide the control to the right, the opposite of the image here).
- kibitzing is others viewing your table but you can be private if you like.
- You probably want a relaxed game rather than competitive, but I'm not sure the difference.
- At the top you set the scoring method, the default is IMPs. We change it to Matchpoints.
Play
- if a player is disconnected, the host can invite them again. You go into table setting again via the button in top LH corner with 3 bars and reserve the seat like before.
- unlike duplicate play, one alerts one's own not partner's bids. It seems that you have to press alert before making your bid. I think you can also click Explain which asks an opponent's to explain the bid.
- there is an undo command (in the top LH corner button with 3 lines) but you should only do that if you press the wrong button! Your opponents have to accept or reject it.
- it is a good idea to claim when you obviously can.
- dummy can see declarer's hand which is nice.
- you can send each other messages while at the table. It seems like one can have a private chat with one player - but this could lead to cheating? - so i would always chat with the table so everyone can see it.
Screen layout
On the right hand side of the screen are tabs for Messages, People, History and Account.
Within Messages is the Chat panel. The host can clear this. The blue button at the bottom can be used to change who your message goes to - eg the table or to a particular friend. You can also Mail a board to another user or yourself.
I recommend you add your Friends in the People tab. Then you can see if they are logged in and you also get a message when they do connect. You can chat with them even if they are not at your table. They also make a prompt list for when you start a table. There is a slider to see all your friends listed, even if they are offline.
In the History tab, My Table seems to show the hands you played on the current table. Then after you leave, they are later moved to the Recent Hands panel (they seem to be sorted in descending order so most recent at the top). Your score is how you fared compared to the various other tables that have played the board. As well as seeing the bidding, it seems like you can step through the actual play using the Next trick button - handy for the post mortem with your partner! Other Tables shows you what others did with that board. As we used to say in IT, having all this is just SMP - 'a simple matter of programming', the data is there!
Bridge Master
I highly recommend the Bridge Master practice hands under Practice. They are programmed to make you, declarer, go down unless you play the hand the best way. NB the default is Advanced, be sure to click on Beginner or Intermediate! You can also access this directly via http://www.bridgebase.com/v3/?bridgemaster=y and you don't need to be registered with BBO to play them.
Any comments/corrections/additions on this, please let me know.