Support your local club by playing online

ACBL has partnered with Bridge Base Online (BBO) and The Common Game to offer new opportunities to earn masterpoints online and support your local club.

This is a temporary solution that can help your club cover expenses during the shutdown. ACBL will distribute $4 of every BBO entry fee (fees are $5 or $6) to the club (or clubs) where you usually play. You will need to use BBO dollars, which can be purchased with a credit card or PayPal account. To fund your account, click the blue BBO$ box on the top right of the BBO home screen.

There are currently two types of Support Your Club (SYC) games. All SYC events are stratified and use matchpoint scoring. The masterpoints you earn will count towards annual races.

♣  SYC Black-point Games -- These are pair events held three times daily at 10 am, 5:10 pm and 7:30 pm Eastern Daylight Time (Central Daylight Time: 9 am, 4:10 pm and 6:30 pm). Entry fee is $5 for 18 boards.

You can play with any other ACBL member who has a BBO account. Registration opens two hours before game time. These events fill up quickly, so try to sign up early. You do not have to stay logged in; you can register, then leave and return when the game begins.

♣  SYC Daylong Tournaments -- These are solo events where you play against three robots. Entry fee is $6 for 18 boards.

You have up to 24 hours to complete your game, and you don't have to play all the boards in one sitting. You can even pause in the middle of a hand. When you log in later, the system will remember where you were.

Register anytime, and you’ll have until midnight Eastern time (11 pm CDT) to finish the boards. There are several different daylong tournaments. If you want to benefit your club, be sure to choose the one with SYC in its title. There's no limit to how many players can enter the daylong tournaments.

To find SYC games on BBO:  Log in and click ACBL World on the home page. You'll see a listing like the screen shot at right. More details on how to enter are here.

♣  Virtual Club Games -- Another BBO option for helping your club is to enter Virtual Club Games. These are available in limited areas and open only to members of specific clubs. The St. Louis Bridge Center has set up a virtual club for its players.  Other District 8 clubs may do so in the near future.

A private virtual club needs a minimum level of participation in each online session (recommendation is six tables). Smaller clubs, however, can consolidate or join another established club. The Bridge Academy of North Dallas (BAND) is offering to add other club sanctions to its games. Open and limited events are available, and BAND will share the revenue. For more information, contact Chris Compton (chriscompton@mindspring.com). 

To find Virtual Club games on BBO: On the home page, click Competitive (under Play or Watch Bridge), then ACBL Virtual Clubs.

For more details: