Background at Our Annual Meeting on October 14, 2016 a Motion Was Put Forward to Ban Psych Bidding at Our Club

Background At our Annual Meeting on October 14, 2016 a motion was put forward to ban psych bidding at our club. The Let’s Play Bridge Club is an ACBL sanctioned club and our sanction agreement with the ACBL requires the club to follow the Laws of Duplicate Bridge established by the ACBL. The ACBL defines psychs as “any call that deliberately and grossly misstates either honor strength or suit length”. The ACBL recognizes that “some psychs are disruptive to the game while others involve bridge tactics”. It is worth noting that the definition of a psych includes the phrase “grossly misstates”. A bid that was one short in the length normally promised, or a couple points short on the strength promised would normally be considered a deviation rather than a psych. The ACBL has three categories of psychs: 1. Psyching of natural bids, 2. Psyching of artificial bids, 3. Psychic controls. Categories 2 and 3 are banned by the ACBL1. Category 1 is allowed by the ACBL and is subject to the ACBL’s Policy on Psychs2. In that Policy the ACBL identifies 3 issues: 1. Excessive Psyching Bidding, 2. Frivolous Psychic Bidding, 3. Unsportsmanlike Psychic Bidding. We have crafted our Club’s policy on Psyching to balance our obligations under our ACBL sanction with the wishes of our members who overwhelmingly indicated at the Annual Meeting that they did not want psychs at the club. 1 Refer to ACBL General Convention Chart at http://web2.acbl.org/documentLibrary/play/Convention-Chart.pdf 2 Available at http://www.acbl.org/clubs_page/club-administration/club-directors/rulings-faq/psychic-bidding Let’s Play Bridge Club Policy on Psychs Psychic natural calls will be subject to the ACBL’s Policy on Psychs (attached as Schedule 1). It is important for players to understand that it is their obligation to report a psych bid made by an opponent to the Director immediately after the play of the hand, so that the Director can determine whether a player is engaging in excessive psychic bidding during that particular session. Players should recognize that even if the bid is characterized as “tactical” it is in fact a psych if it “deliberately and grossly misstates either honor strength or suit length”. Penalties applicable to psychs 1. If an individual partnership has made more than two psychic initial actions in any one session (Excessive Psychic Bidding as defined in the ACBL’s Policy on Psychs) then that partnership will be disqualified for that session pursuant to the Director’s rights under Law 91B (NOTE: it will be the responsibility of the Director to provide the partnership with a warning after the second incident is reported in the session). 2. Any pair engaging in any of the activities set out below will be awarded an Average minus and their opponents will be awarded an Average plus on the board on which the infraction occurred in accordance with the Director’s Discretionary powers set out in Law 12C2: a. Any psychic action inspired by a spirit of malicious mischief or lack of will to win (Frivolous Psychic Bidding as defined in the ACBL’s Policy on Psychs), b. Any psychic action apparently designed to give the opponents an abnormal opportunity to get a good score, psychs against inexperienced players and psychs used merely to create action at the table (Unsportsmanlike Psychic Bidding as defined in the ACBL’s Policy on Psychs), c. A psych is made in an auction where the partnership is using psychic controls (even if the psychic control was not used), d. A psychic artificial call is made, 3. The Club reserves the right to take further action in the event of repeated violations of the ACBL’s policy on Psychs. Schedule 1 – ACBL’s Policy on Psychs Psychs are regulated by taking disciplinary action against a player who disrupts a game with frequent, random psychs. The ACBL Board of Directors has defined types of disruptive bidding that make the offenders subject to penalty. The following definitions and explanations should prove helpful to all Directors trying to enforce this regulation. Excessive Psychic Bidding — When three or more psychic initial actions by members of a partnership have been reported in any one session and are called to the attention of the Director, the Director should investigate the possibility that excessive psyching is taking place. A presumption of inappropriate behavior exists, and it is up to the players to demonstrate that they were not just horsing around. It is up to them to show that they happened, this once, to pick up a string of hands unusually appropriate for psychs. The continued use of undisciplined psychic bids tends to create partnership understandings that are implied from partnership experience. Example: If a player opens 1♦ three times in one session with two or fewer diamonds, partner finds it hard to take any 1♦ opening bid seriously. When the psychic bidder’s partner, because of prior usages, has a better chance of catching a psych than either opponent, there is presumptive evidence that an undisclosed partnership understanding exists, and the result of the board may be adjusted. Frivolous Psychic Bidding — Any psychic action inspired by a spirit of malicious mischief or lack of will to win may be interpreted as frivolous. Unsportsmanlike Psychic Bidding — Action apparently designed to give the opponents an abnormal opportunity to get a good score, psychs against pairs or teams in contention, psychs against inexperienced players and psychs used merely to create action at the table are examples of unsportsmanlike psychic bidding. .

Load more