Substitutes

[DavidF]

Another question relating to how to best handle substitutes in particular for club novice or supervised sessions.

Based on our limited trial sessions, when we run a novice or supervised BBO session and have a sit-out we have limited options to fill it with compatible players:

• The substitute pool is not normally well-endowed with novice players
• When we try to have our own substitutes on hand and they register as substitutes they seem to only be able to decline invitations from two other tournaments before they are thrown out of the substitute pool

Have we misunderstood the ways we can use the substitute pool? Are there better options we are missing?

David

[Peter Busch]

There is a button that allows a pair to be a substitute in your event only, but unfortunately that button doesn't appear until after your event is launched. If they choose "Running Tournaments" and select your event, a different Subs button appears and the confirmation button says they're enrolling as a sub for your event only.

This unfortunately takes time as both your subs need to register as subs after you launch but before you fill the sit-out table, so the first sit-out table will need to be patient. Doubly unfortunate is I don't think I can see, as director, whether my event has any subs in the queue and really don't want to insert a random player if my people aren't in the queue yet.

A workaround I have used here with some success is I create two BBO logins that I add as event subs as soon as I launch, then I go straight to the sit-out table and replace the two sit-outs with randoms which will be my two logons as BBO fills from your own subs list before the world-wide subs list. Once my two logins are sitting, I can them replace them with anyone else.

(There is an option to replace a sit-out with a specific sub that that seems not to work - it looks like you can only replace a sitting player with another specific person.)

Peter

[DavidF]

Thanks Peter! Didn't see that in the standard documentation...

[Nick Fahrer]

Hi David,

BBO can be quite temperamental when it comes to substitutes. Here's a link to a document I wrote last week. I hope it answers most of the how-tos.

Nick

[DavidF]

Thank you Nick, very useful and shareable document.

Two related clarification questions - sorry if I have misread it.

If you arrange a substitute for a player who drops out, and do not use the Reseat Player menu option, do they get automatically reseated at all when they log back into to BBO?

Is there a way to get them reseated automatically at the end of the next board?

David

[Nick Fahrer]

If you arrange a substitute for a player who drops out, and do not use the Reseat Player menu option, do they get automatically reseated at all when they log back into to BBO?
Yes, there is the danger that will happen - but see the last instruction of the document I linked to to circumvent that.

Is there a way to get them reseated automatically at the end of the next board?
No, the automatic reseat is immediate.

[DavidF]

Thank you.

[MTAB]

Now, I may be a victim of my fading memory capacity but in a game I was directing yesterday a couple of the club players arrived late (ie after the tourney was running). I had already assigned a couple of random subs (through Substitute - Any) to the sitout table. I got my club players to logon to BBO (no more than that), I then used Substitute - Select and typed their names in the invite box (separately of course) and each then replaced my temporary substitutes. Now, I may have been lucky or dreaming but it could be worth a try.
???

[DavidF]

Thanks MTAB - will try that out next time. Would be far easier.

[Peter Busch]

I am uncomfortable about inserting a couple of random subs and then immediately dumping them in favour of preferred replacements.

Is this de rigueur on BBO?

[cathryn]

Hi
A couple of things about subs and sorry Nick I haven't read the doc yet.
There are 2 ways to substitute:
1. By clicking on the tournament button and choosing "substitutes" in the dropdown menu. Here you can sub: any or sub: select.
2. By right clicking (or option click on Mac) on a name (usually red if no-one there) on a table. The sub:any works there but the sub:select doesn't. This fix I'm told is in the pipeline.

If you want to fix someone in the seat after they have been subbed in you must go to the dropdown menu and choose sub: select and substitute them for themselves eg substitute personA for personA.
A message appears in the directors message area saying they have been assigned permanently. You need to do this if you have a sub for a sub and want to keep the second one.

In regards to subbing people in temporarily. I usually have a private chat to the sub and say that I may put someone else in that seat because..... Most realise that they could be temporary.

Reseating doesn't always happen automatically. Sometimes the computer waits until the end of the board - you need to chat to the player and tell them to wait online for a few minutes. If it doesn't happen at the end of the board automatically there is the "reseat player" option in the tournament dropdown menu.

Cathryn

[niftyneville]

Hi Nick
I had trouble with replacing the sit outs in our first tournament - I wanted to use the Replace > Select option but when the players I had on standby registered as subs after the tournament had started their names did no show up in the list.
In the end I was able to just type their names in rather than use the list.
Neville

[Peter Busch]

It seems that to have your event subs come into your event, you need to choose Sub Any, not Sub Select.

Sub Any seems to pull subs from your event subs list first, and failing that, it will look for any other subs from around the world.

[niftyneville]

Just so I understand the process - is there any way a sub can nominate to be in the substitute list before the tournament starts?
We started ours there were several there as soon as I was able to get to the screen!

[niftyneville]

I have done some more research and now understand the process - any player who is on line and not playing can be used to replace a Sit-out.