Thank you to the approximately 200 members who have registered for online bridge so far. Here are some things you might want to master (if you haven't already):
Registering for a pairs tournament - Most of our club BBO sessions will be pairs tournaments register at BBO | Competitive | All tournaments | Search for "PenBC" and click on the one you want - check this 3 min video Pair Tournament Registration on BBO for a full coverage of how to register and the full options available. Peninsula's tournaments will all have "PenBC" in the event title.
Being on BBO when the tournament starts - If you are not logged into BBO when the tournament starts, you and your partner will miss the tournament even if you have successfully registered. Some also say that if you are just waiting in BBO that you might be automatically logged out after a period of time, so it might be worth doing some BBO solitaire practice play while you wait. If you do miss a tournament start please quickly private chat in BBO to the director in case he/she has a half table to fill. If so and you and your partner register as substitutes (see below) the director may be able to pull you in to fill the sitout positions.
Registering as a substitute for BBO tournaments - Registering as a substitute for BBO tournaments puts you in a common pool accessible by any running BBO tournament. If asked you will have the opportunity to accept or decline the invitation to join a tournament. Substitutes are used in two main situations - a tournament starts with a sit-out table in which case the substitution is likely to be for the full length of the event, or a player drops out due to loss of connection or other reason in which case the substitution may be for a short period (such as till the player is able to reconnect). To register as a substitute for one of our tournaments check this step by step how-to article.
Chatting, undoing and claiming - These three elements help make online bridge friendly like face-to-face bridge. Saying hello to your opponents and congratulating them on good play is just as polite online as at the table. Check this 3 minute video and you will be chatting, undoing and claiming on BBO with the best of them.
Alerting artificial bids - This is different and better online. You alert your own bids (so you explain what you understand your system says) and your alert is only seen by you and your opponents - your partner doesn't see the alert. Check this 3 minute video on Bidding and Alerting. Note that if you want more explanation about an opponent's bid, you should click on the bid to ask the bidder to explain further - this is not seen by the bidder's partner, whereas a question via Chat to Table would inappropriately alert the bidder's partner.
Checking your results on BBO - One of the advantages of online bridge is the immediate and ongoing access to detail results information after you have played a board or match. While you are playing a set of boards, you can see your results in BBO | History | My table. If you are playing matchpoint, these % results will change as each board is played by other tables. For self-contained tournaments played with the barometer option (all playing the same boards at the same time) these scores are updated each round. Check this 3 minute video on Checking the results of a teams match or tournament for how to delve into a tournament's detail results after the tournament is completed. In all cases you can replay the board card by card, including using double dummy/GIB to determine how a contract was or could have been made or defeated.