These opinions are mine. Although I believe them to be shared by many, I am taking full credit for them. Since I believe myself to be open-minded (albeit, somewhat bullheaded), I will entertain posting opposing opinions, if you care to submit one.

Courtesy comes in all shapes and colors. Happily, for the most part, I can honestly say that OKBridge members are an extrememly wonderful and considerate group of people. I am honored to call many of them friends. As with anything in life you must overlook certain things just to get along, but lack of courtesy should NOT be one of them.

• Rudeness at the table is inexcusable. No bridge mistake warrents rude behavior. You have no way of knowing what is going on in your partner's life. There are many things much more important than bridge that may be on his/her mind. If you don't want to continue to play, fine.... excuse yourself and be on your way. Notice I said, excuse yourself. You do not need an excuse.. but, a simple "last hand.... time to go" is required.
• Lessons at the table are welcomed by some, resented by others. Err on the side of courtesy, keep your words of wisdom to yourself unless asked. I find that most gratuitous comments and lessons, though perhaps good intentioned, are WRONG!
• ASK before sitting! ASK before sitting! Which word didn't you understand?
• When a table server requests opponents that have stats greater than 48, 53, or whatever, why do so many players under the requested minimum come and ask to sit? Why do they think it rude when they are rejected? It is the same if the request is for under 49. Don't go and expect to play where you are unwanted!
• If you see the words "Open Stats", and you don't have any..... it means DON'T ask to sit.
• If you see "Goren only", "Women only", "Bow-legged monkeys only", or even "No robots", be big enough to accept the limitation, and search elsewhere for a game.
• We have all experienced times when it was difficult to find four people for a game. The best method is to join a table that does not already have 4 players; but sometimes advertising in the lobby works well, too. Some people, I have found, post messages that are MUCH more important than everyone elses. They use 2, 3 or sometimes 4 lines of text graphics to request that someone join their table. Believe me, friend, your message is NOT more important than anyone elses but, your message did keep their's from being visible for very long, since you caused it to scroll off.

These Guidelines of Courtesy are required at any table I play at, and should be required at yours. Most of this is just plain ol' common sense. If you don't have any, there are other games besides bridge that will probably suit you MUCH better.

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There has been lots of controversy about the Lehman rating system. It is probably the best and the worst part of OKBridge. Unfortunately, many players spend too much time worrying about their ratings and too little time having fun playing cards. It is a game, isn't it?

But, as imperfect as the ratings are, it is the only objective measurement we have to compare one player with another. The Lehman ratings are sometimes deceptive, but they never lie. They are indicators of one's past performance playing online bridge. **Past performance, not ability** But, isn't that what a racing form tells about horses? What if your bets were based solely upon the owner's hyped-up opinions? You can draw your own conclusion as to someone's ability as long as you have something to base it upon.

It seems that most players drop below 50 when they first join OKBridge. I believe the reasons are:

• Computers and the mechanics of online bridge are foreign to many people and it just takes some time getting used to.
• Many are returning to bridge after a long hiatus and must get their heads back into the game.

After some period of readjustment, their scores usually reach a level that is indicative of their skill level. For these reasons, a "newbie" should not be judged solely on Lehman ratings.

As long as your Lehman ratings are posted, it really doesn't matter how you choose to rate yourself. If your scores are in the 30's and you say you are an "expert" or "advanced", that is fine. We can all make our own evaluation. But to claim "expert" and hide the ratings, is downright deceptive. Why should you subject another player to your inexperience or general lack of card sense without their knowledge? They might still choose to partner you, but at least it will be by choice, not chance. They are entitled to have some idea of what to expect.

Ok, so your scores are not as high as you think they should be. You have had some partners that weren't of your caliber and they dragged you down. Should you reset your scores? It will not improve your bridge abilites. If it would, I'd suggest it for all of us. It is just another way of circumventing the system. Fortunately, OKBridge records how many times you've been reset, and when the last occurrence was. Again, we can draw our own conclusions. Note: OKBridge, in their infinite wisdom, have allowed some players to reset their stats WITHOUT a notation. WHY??? I know one who was reset 4 TIMES with no indicator.

What I have the most problem with are those who first try resetting their stats, and when they don't improve, they hide them, call themselves "advanced" or "expert", and begin protesting the system.

Some players with very high scores hide their stats. Others have been known to reset them when they get too high. They claim that they have trouble finding opponents. This is just as deceptive as when a poor player does it, only I have more difficulty understanding it.

Let's be sure we don't judge people by their scores. It is not a sign of intelligence, morality, or goodness. There is NO correlation between scores and the fiber that people are made of.

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I have had many conversations about cheating on OKBridge. The unanswered question at the end is always, "WHY?" There is no money involved, no masterpoints, and little or no recognition for the Lehman rating achieved. In fact some who cheat even hide their Lehmans.

In 1997 when I began playing on OKBridge it seems to me that there was very little cheating going on. Maybe that is an accurate statement, or merely my perception of things at that time; but today it seems like there is a lot... certainly there is entirely too much.

There are many pairs that share a residence. It is terrific that computers are cheap enough today that many households can afford more than one. I know some of these pairs personally. Some I know online only and still others I don't know at all. I do know that most play honestly, for the sport of it, and are over and above suspicion.

Unfortunately each basket has just a few bad apples and those few tend to spoil it for the others. I have no good ideas for curbing the cheating, but I know that left unchecked it will spoil OKBridge. Perhaps some of you out there DO have some ideas. If so, please share those ideas. Anything short of vigilante justice might be worth consideration.

Perhaps a registry could be maintained, where our suspicions could be collected and counted. If the same name or names are reported repeatedly, the player or pair could be notified privately. That may be enough to send a wake-up call. After all, we just want the behavior to STOP.

I'd love to name some names, though I will not. I cannot really prove anything. I can, however, give you a few signs that you may want to watch for. At the very least you can avoid playing against people and pairs that engage in unsportsmanlike practices.

• When two people move-in together or add a second computer online and their Lehman ratings quickly jump by 10 points, I think it safe to conclude that something strange caused it.
• When one player consistently plays with average or below players and still scores in the top ten week in and week out, it may be a sign of knowing too much.
• When a player or a pair are consistently involved in strange auctions that end up in the best contract, like bidding 7 after a signoff and finding a surprise void, ask yourself what prompted their action.

Remember though, consistent good play is NOT a sign of impropriety. Many of our numbers are VERY good bridge players and demonstrate it day in and day out. We can all learn from them.... they maintain a high level of ethics and sportsmanlike conduct.

It is not difficult to cheat online and the number of ways to do so might surprise you. The people who do it are often times intelligent, experienced players, who have a good understanding of the game. The most innocent of all beginnings, however, might be when two people have their computers set up in the same room... or adjoining rooms. They probably never intended to do anything wrong. They probably never discussed cheating online. Perhaps they have never cheated at anything before. Well... let's just listen in on two ficticious players r5d5 and r7d7:

• r5d5 sits waiting for r7d7 to lead against a very "iffy" slam.
• Probably no one else bid this thin slam.
• r5d5 bid hearts without the top honors and knows partner is about to lead one.
• r5d5 inadvertantly yells, "LEAD A DIAMOND". (I do it all the time, but there is no one around to hear me)
• A diamond lead comes from r7d7. Wow.... +12 imps.
• We didn't really cheat, did we?.... It was a dumb contract, wasn't it?.... They deserved to get a bad score, didn't they?.... I won't ever do that again, will I?.... I'll be more careful, won't I?
• It was SO easy.... nobody suspected anything.... This pair may not do it on every hand, but whenever the going gets tough, a little comment aloud may prove extremely helpful. Maybe they do it on every hand. I know I don't want to play against them in either case. Do you?

We cannot blame the tools that are used; a second computer, ICQ, or the telephone. The problem lies solely with the perpetrators. YOU know who you are. YOUR FRIENDS know who you are, they talk about you when you're not around. Look in a mirror.... do you like what you see? Do you sometimes take undue advantage? - if so - STOP it today!!

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Come back soon to get my opinions on this subject.

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