Directing while playing
At our club the Director is almost always playing.
I know this creates lots of problems such as UI when called about a hand you haven't played but there are also occasions when a playing Director does not have time to go through proper processes.
The other day I was called to a table with three tricks to play. Well, almost three! Three players had three cards left, one had only two. A quick check revealed that two cards must have been played simultaneously early in the hand.
I know what I am supposed to do.. Go back through the tricks, without revealing anything to the players... Find where the error occurred.. . Check all subsequent tricks for a revoke... Then make my judgement.. And go back to the hand I was playing.
There was no way I had time to do this. It was a Gentle Bridge session, NGS average 40%, with no other Directors present.
I suppose my question is: Can I just make a quick decision on an equitable result without following the laws precisely?
They had already decided that the result was 5D going one off or possibly two. So what I actually did was to look at the other results. It had been played several times, almost all 3 D + 1 so it was a virtual top and another undertrick would not have changed the result. Both pairs were happy to let it stand.
Alan
Comments
When it comes right down to it, you can rule pretty much whatever you want and then advise the players that they can appeal if they wish.
Before I took the EBU directors' course, I used to direct at our weekly gentle Weds morning session. The session wan't graded and there were no master points up for grabs. All the players (and the club) wanted was someone to make rulings and manage the session. No one cared whether the rulings were "perfect", so long as they seemed fair.