What are Robot Tournaments?

Robot Tournaments are an exciting twist on the game of Bridge. You sit south and three robot players sit in the other three seats; your partner and your opponents are robots.

There are various types of robot tournament on BBO, each with their own personality - scroll down to find out more. Try them and find out for yourself!

Robot Race Tournaments
Robot races (free robot race and the robot reward game) are very exciting, placing you against other players and a ticking clock. Play as many hands as you can for a small entry fee.

Robot Duplicate Tournaments
Robot Duplicate Tournaments are 8-boards long, scored duplicate style, in both MP and IMP.

You have to finish playing all eight deals in under 30 minutes in order to finish in the overall rankings (and to win BXP if you ranking is sufficiently high).

Playing eight deals in 30 minutes may seem like a lot, but our robots tend to bid and play very quickly. Even if you tend to play bridge at a deliberate pace, you shouldn't have any trouble finishing all eight boards before the tournament ends.

Game specifics
- Best hand. You will be dealt the "best hand" (with the most high card points) at the table unless otherwise stated. Most players find playing with a good hand more exciting and fun!
- Human Declares. You sit South, but switch North if your Robot partner is declarer so you can declare the hand. When the hand is over, you switch back to sitting south again.

Free Daylong Tournaments
- One Free Daylong game is available every day (alternating between game formats). The Free Daylong uses basic robots and does not award BXP.
- Free multi-session daylong events are also available every weekend. Look for the 2-Day Free Weekend Survivor, or the Free 2-Day Weekend Event very Saturday.
- On Sundays, you can play the Free Super Sunday Daylong. It's free, awards BB$ prizes and open for registrations all week long.

How do the robots work?
The robots you are playing with are called GIB. The GIB robot is widely considered to be one of the best computer bridge programs ever created. It is occasionally capable of brilliance. It is also occasionally capable of some really poor bids and plays (just like all human players).

Some players may find it frustrating if a particular GIB partner plays especially poorly (or if a particular GIB opponent plays especially well) on a given hand, but, these things will even themselves out over time. GIB plays at least as well as the average BBO member. Sometimes the GIB does something totally crazy (don't we all). This is what the GIB does. Everyone has the same GIB as partner and opponent, so, everyone is on a level playing field. If your GIB does something crazy we want to know about it so we can see if it is fixable, but, we cannot, under any circumstances, offer a refund.

The GIBs that play in our Robot Tournaments play a relatively simple and natural bidding system. When you play in a Robot Tournament you can find out the meaning of any bid by clicking on that bid as it appears in the bidding diagram. Furthermore, when it is your turn to bid, moving your mouse over the buttons for the various possible bids will cause an explanation of the bid you are considering (as your GIB partner will understand it) to be displayed. These explanations can be somewhat cryptic, but reading them carefully before you bid will help you to avoid misunderstandings with your GIB partner.

You can find out more about GIB's bidding system by clicking here