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Oh, I hear ya. I get that sometimes, because I'm counting, perhaps re-counting (adjusted) meld, I'm checking offensive tricks/support tricks, and I'm deciding my course of action considering *multiple* scenarios. When someone whines about this, my general take is, they don't even know the issues involved.
I have 2 monitors, so I keep a spreadsheet open with an extensive list of poor players. Some are "don't play with..." while others are "don't even play against...." The latter usually means I believe they cheat, or they stall or FF. And I have notes for the type:
insulting
hand hog
FF/staller/throws games
cheat
pathetically weak player
mastermind
Those last 2 make great opponents.  There's something close to 500 names; been doing this for several years. Many of em haven't shown up...at least under that name...for a long time.
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Glossary Check:
What is an "FF"?
Rick Hall
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(03-15-2013, 06:15 PM)richardpaulhall Wrote: Glossary Check:
What is an "FF"?
FF is more of a Yahoo term, than a Pinochle term.
Yahoo offers a button to "Force Forfeit".
It's unbelievable how much you don't know about the game you've been playing all your life. -- Mickey Mantle
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Should I create a Forum for Venting? In all the Poker forums I haven been involved in they always had one called for Bad Beats, but basically it was a venting forum for unlucky hands and/or rude/poor players.
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The lunatics were playing Pinochle at Yahoo today. Poor sports, hand hogs, speed demons, everything.
The Beginner area, of course.
So we start a game, 4 greenies, under 1500. Right off my partner starts out telling me I bid too slowly. And I play too slowly. Any time someone hitches a second or 2 to play a card she starts hitting those stupid "player request" buttons.
The opponents win a hand, win another with a double run, and a third hand. Score: They-350, Us-0
We start to creep up,win a hand, set them, they win a hand but we score more points, etc.
Nerve wracking for me because Partner is on me all the time. And she's playing catch-up. I'm bidding my hand and we're always playing at 60, 65, and 70.
I'm a student here. So what to I do? I don't play "get in run your aces, and try to throw partner in."
So I have to think, try to find the bidder's short suit and force his trump, set up a cross-ruff with partner. etc. Thankfully I generally have something to work with. I preserve my side aces for entries to force the Bidder to trump.
I try to open 50 with my 35, 7, and 6. I bid 51 over Righty's 50 with a real hand. And I pass when I have nothing. I give Partner Meld and Aces.
When I get the bid I play in my inimitable screwy style. I duck trump leads to preserve my aces and force out their aces.
And Partner is on me, I play to slowly, I bid too slowly. She punches buttons when I am trying to count Aces and trump, and trying to find out who is short in what.
So its Hill-Hill, ~450 to ~460. And I take the bid. 10 good trump, 5 losing diamonds, and short suits with aces. I play off side aces to protect them and lead a diamond. I get in, I lead a diamond. We make more than 31 and score 117 points.
We win 560-ish to 460-ish.
The instant the hand is over Partner leaves the table; no goodbye, no nice hand, no good game, nothing. I don't even have a chance to say "Good game".
Righty leaves quietly, definitely a tough loss for him.
And Lefty pipes in "Dirty Cheaters".
He accuses me and my nasty partner of cheating. No evidence, just a feeling that being ahead 300 early is enough to guarantee a win. Of course, my partner and I got no hands early, Lefty overbids his hand, Partner and I got better hands later, and I got hands on defense where my background as a dog-meat bridge player came in handy.
He tells me that he will go to Yahoo and complain. I tell him to go ahead as he has no grounds.
I play tournament bridge, I'm not a good player, but I've had the Director over to the table dozens of times. At a club game an opponent called a committee on me, accusing me of an unethical bid. I know the rules and proprieties.
And when I lead a card its nice to know Lefty will hop in with his ace and lead a card into my A-10 suits.
It would be so much easier for me to open every hand 100 and play the leftmost card whenever possible.
But I don't do that. Either I do my best, take my time, and try to win for the partnership, or I can play fast.
But -they- don't get to choose. I do. I made a decision long ago that my job was to do what was best for the team. I chased guys who ran faster than me. I dove in front of soccer balls and hockey pucks to keep them out of our net. I skated after and caught guys who skated better than me. I played in an 8-ball tournament with a broken collar bone, on my stick side, because I was the best player available. I skated into and knocked down guys who weighed 100 pounds more that I did. That was my job. (Yes, it was fun too.)
And -=THEY=- don't like the way I play cards? With their ratings of 1450 an 1100! In the Beginner's area? They don't intimidate me.
Catch me on a better day.
Rick
Rick Hall
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It happens. The lower the level, I think, the MORE people think they know everything when they don't.
I have dual monitors. I built up a now rather large spreadsheet, of players I try to avoid as partners and/or opponents...the latter most often restricted to those who'll FF given the opportunity, or those I strongly suspect of cheating. And, of course, always be on the lookout for profiles that tell you to avoid someone...given a reasonable number of games played, say at least a couple hundred, anyone winning 2 out of every 3, or better...assume they cheat.
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A couple days ago a player in a social lounge was complaining about his partners playing speed and calling her names, cursing...overall total rudeness. So his partner says she is going to take the entire 3 minutes to lay each card until her partner apologizes to her. Since I was playing under my practice id of rakbeater (my old one is rak_beater), I just left and took the forfeit loss. GRRRRRRR!!
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There is nothing worse than a staller, IMO. There is NEVER an excuse for it. It might've been worth commenting at the table something like "just put your partner on Ignore." Both players would be added to my Avoids list; stallers are, of course, intolerable, but someone being THAT rude, especially in social, deserves it as well.
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