I know I’m going to jinx it right after this post. So far, it’s been a week of supporting my club using the Daylong SYC Robot tournament. I’ve managed to get some points each time I’ve played, but I’ve only done one human SYC event for the Honors evening game. There are many human SYC events, but so far BBO just feels a bit too congested during prime time. The Open ACBL-wide SYC event regularly gets 150 tables, and fills up quickly. For now, I’m sticking to the bots.
Discussion On The Price For Advanced Bots
A few people have complained that the SYC Daylong feels expensive. The SYC Daylong is $6 now, for 18 boards. It has standard Daylong Rules: Matchpoints, Best Hand, Human Declare, Deal Pools, and Advanced Bots.
You could pay $1.35 for the ACBL Daylong that has all the same rules, but only 12 boards. However, you only earn online points instead of black points. And more importantly, you aren’t supporting the clubs!
There is also a $0.39 daylong which is only 8 boards and doesn’t give any ACBL masterpoints. You will earn BBO points, which give you that number next to your badge when people find you online. It’s also free to challenge a Basic Robot, or $0.25 to challenge an Advanced Bot for 12 boards.
Black points are normally only earned at club games. You need a certain amount to make Life Master, and they count towards the annual Ace of Clubs and Mini McKenney Races. Online points do not count towards those races, but they will increase your total points needed for hitting your next rank (or to bracket higher in our favorite Bracketed Round Robin format).
The final way to play with Advanced Bots is to rent one directly for $1 per day. You only pay $1 whether you have 3 humans and need a 4th bot, or you are a partnership needing 2 bots, or want to play solo with 3 other bots. BBO Prime members always receive Unlimited Advanced Bot usage when creating a table (but not for challenges).
To recap:
ACBL SYC Daylong Pay $6.00: 18 boards, Earn ACBL Black Points, $5 goes to clubs
ACBL Daylong Pay $1.35: 12 boards, Earn ACBL Online Points, nothing goes to clubs
Daylong (MP) Pay $0.39: 8 boards, Earn BBO Points only
Challenge Pay $0.25: 4-12 boards (you should probably pick 12). No points
(You can challenge for free using Basic Bots)
Rental Pay $1.00: Rent an advanced bot for 24 hours. No points
How Does Club Support Work?
We will look into this more, but for now BBO plans to look at the clubs where your played in the past one year, and somehow donate in a prorated way to the clubs where you play most frequently. You are not allowed to direct the funds yourself. Some players have not been active at physical clubs in the past year, but I’m sure they can do something reasonable. Either split the funds over all sanctioned ACBL clubs, or split it across clubs near your city or in your ACBL Unit.