Psyches
Not strictly a Directors issue but .......
If a club has a player ( a very good player ) who regularly psyches and his partners know he does and most other club members know he does, what can the club do about it ?
A lot of the time, the (lesser ) opponents are intimidated so nothing goes in the psyche book because people don't want to make a fuss. So written evidence is sparse but everyone knows it is going on and the player has been warned in the past and on one occasion reported to the County after psyching in a league match.
Can the club ban the player ? or what other sanctions is a club permitted to do ?
Comments
Psyches are allowed but the "fielding" of them isn't. As this individual is a prolific psycher can you give us full details of a board played as such against "beginner/novice" players? The white book at 1.4 gives some details as to how to deal with. It would be good to see some, not seen anything like this myself so would be interested to see how other directors deal with.
CMOT_Dibbler
As CMOT says, psyches themselves aren't illegal. Do you know if the county match was a routine report of a green psych or if there was anything more to it?
We should remember that this player is also a member, and that they aren't necessarily doing much wrong. I'd try to encourage reporting of the psyches so that any pattern of fielding can be stopped. I might have a quiet word and ask them not to scare the weaker players.
You can't do much other than instigate a club policy of recording all psychic calls - or have an article in a club newsletter (if one exists) or publish guidelines to all players (including the right to call the director if a player thinks that the partner has fielded it) - even if 'everyone knows' this is because of John Doe. Far better to go to him with hard evidence that his partners are allowing for it (If they are).
A few 15% scores might reduce his ardour
You can't (legally) ban psyching
A player can psyche with success occasionally without there being anything wrong although it does upset some players.
If said player psyches habitually against weaker players then maybe he is not suite to the club game he is playing in. I think the club committee might warn him so.
I know of a club who asked a pair who did this not to come to the particular game which was aimed at relative novices. It might have been legal but it certainly did not do much for the enjoyment of most.
Of course this was protested (inalienable right to do as I wish) and there wasn't much evidence of fielding but nonetheless the committee stopped the pair coming to that game.
People do not much like having opponents psyches recorded so it is usually only a partial record but it can still prove useful if there are enough of them.
You can (legally) ban psychs of artificial calls. The EBU chose not to - but clubs make their own regulations of some situations under 40B2a , providing they keep within the law.
Has anyone spoken to the psycher about his behaviour. I guess he psyching for his own amusement. If his psyching is spoiling other players enjoyment then he should be asked to stop or do it less often.
For a start, you could ask him to call the TD at the end of the hand on each hand he has psyched so that the hand can be recorded. If you later find out about (non-recorded) psyches that gives you more grounds for complaint.
I’ve always wondered what the difference is between Green, Amber and Red Psyches when they are all technically unpunishable. Psyches seem to cause great upset at the Bridge Table at whatever level and in my opinion should be clamped down on to stop the upset and animosity they cause.
Well, a red psych actually generally will be punished, as far as I recall, to be red it usually means the bid was fielded by their partner. That can mean an automatic 30-60 score, although I haven't checked the details. The main interest in amber psyches is that if there's a pattern we upgrade them to red psyches.
I think calling a psych green is reassuring to the players as much as anything, it's a signal that we're not even inclined to punish the bid.
The penalty for a red psyche was actually increased to 15-60 recently (White Book 1.4.4); technically speaking, the board is scored as 40:60 (Av-/Av+), and a standard PP is placed on the final score, but when your scoring is simple matchpoints, a 25%-of-a-top penalty (the standard PP) on the final score is equivalent to a 25%-of-a-top penalty on a single board, so placing it on the score for the board where the psyche occurred is at least convenient.
The distinction matters in cases where the opponents get a good result after a fielded psyche, e.g. if the score on the board was 10% to the fielders and 90% to their opponents, it won't be adjusted (no damage), but the PP still exists, so the board will be scored as though it were -15:90.
There will be no "60/15" in the White Book. In hindsight "60/30" was unhelpful and "60/15" is just the wrong message.