mikeh, on 2019-March-06, 11:52, said:
I am one of those you believe have attacked you personally. It isn't personal at all. I have no idea who you are and, were we to meet, I'd likely be happy to buy you a beer, if you turned out to be as you describe yourself. Unfortunately you have a pattern of seeing all criticism as being a personal attack, which is a very unattractive quality. Maybe you are like that only online.
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Says he is not one of the people to have attacked me personally (which you werent, except on a couple of occasions) and continues with a multi-sentence, multi paragraph, personal attack, insults and abuse, totaly uncalled from the so-called self-proclaimed top player you are. Ive spent my life working with the top people in many fields. Generally the better people are at what they do, the less they need to be rude and abusive, since they develop humility and understand their limitations - not always true I understand - some still tend to have an unnecessary insecurity and attack and bully their subordinates
I appreciate your expertise/knowledge on IMPs/MPs but dont have much respect for your behaviour towards me personally on occasions or some of the other unnecessarily rude and abusive players on this site.
It seems to me like a totally unnecesary attack. I could waste a lot of my valuable time and address each individual part of your attack word by word, sentence by sentence but to be honest I'm fed up with it. All I can assume is that you are one of those so immersed in your little subculture of arroagance, insults, rudeness that you dont even know when you are doing it
I'm putting all previous interactions down to a cultural misunderstanding. I now realise that you and many others never learned anything other than rudeness, insults and arrogance. You seem to think that is what passes for constructive criticism. However I understand it now. If you are so immersed in it you will never be aware of doing it, nor will those who are so insecure they feel they have to grovel at a self-professed experts feet.
But thanks for the comments on IMPs/MPs and all your comments and knowledge of bridge on the forums. They would be worthy of respect if they didnt come after such an unnecessarily incorrect rude and personal attack. May I add you are also totally ignorant about me, my bridge level, my knowledge and experience
I never attacked you. I never attack anyone except in self-defence and sadly, despite me using an alias, I am ethically obliged to point out when I have been misrepresented in any way in public.
But I do agree with you about the level of play on BBO on average. otherwise I would not not do nearly as well as I do (despite me playiing an alien US style convention - I'm most comfortable with basic Acol -, and competing against people who like to openly - they brag about it - cheat the dumb bots and flout the rules of Bridge; and also lie about their expertise - bridge base rankings are meaningless and seemingly the site/business esists largely to give ordinary ACBL players an easy way of buying cheap and easy masterpoints - BBO points mean nothing). I also agree that Robot bridge is no test of true Bridge ability, despite many who think it is. Most of the tournaments are best hand - that isnt even bridge. You have tooltips explaining bids - that isnt bridge. If BBO players were as good as they claim (on average) how is it possible for me to win ACBL duplicate tourneys without cheating the bots. I agree robot bridge is no real test of bridge ability. Nothing substitutes for the requirements of face to face club/tournament bridge - all the skill, memory, knowledge, psychology, stress, pressure etc is lost.
Your worst misrepresentation of me was my lack of knowledge and what constitutes a top player. I started learning when I was in my teens over 40 years ago from a very good player and spent a fair bit of my youth learning how to play from watching and reading people such as Bob Hamman and Zia Mahmood. Maybe you have heard of them. I think I know what a top player is. I havent heard of you despite the way you brag about being in the Bermuda Bowl (did you win it?) and kibitizng a few world class players. Also, what upset me most in the early days on this forum (less so recently) is the way "good", "expert" or "top" players insult and abused people on the noivce and beginner forum of all players. You were one the offenders in that Mike which is why I was upset with you in the first place. It was like Serena Williams going to a local club childrens tennis tournament and telling the children how useless they are, and shouting at them from the side of the court. Its rather childish Mike whoever you are
Finally, and this doesnt apply to you since I have never sat at your table in Bridge, almost every time I have tried to host a table, play at a table, or kibitz a table on BBO I have observed or been subject to incredible rudeness and ignorance by people who probably arent very good. Most of them are so ignorant they dont even allow you time to discuss conventions with your partner when you sit down, to ask the meaning of bids, to announce and alert bids. Most of them dont even know the rules, values or ethics of bridge, let alone have the right to abuse and insult someone who does. There are even occasional threads on the more advanced forums from so-called "experts" about how to cheat at Bridge and get around the rules. There is a total culture of rudeness, and it seems to have been encouraged and/or condoned by senior plays such that it is now the norm and seems accepted. It is disgusting having players insult attack and abuse players at a table. I'm not talking aboout tournaments - these are meaningless casual games in the BBO club. Normal common decency and behaviour or human beings is not to be rude, obnixous and insutling to strangers. If you want a top game play people you know but dont insult people who come to a site to play a friendly game and get abused. OK. Ive faced that disgusting behaviour and rudeness in clubs face to face and more so here. It is obnoxious and unnecesary. The whole place and the whole game seems to have been taken over by a poker- style mentality. Poker is a different game. Sadly many playing bridge here dont seem to realise that. I'm quite an anarchist and libertarian myself but even under anarchy the whole point of a game is that it has rules. If people cheat at a game then their success is meaningless and everyone knows that. That goes for academia, bridge, business everything - although increase in anything goes, cheating and reduction in overall quality is prevalent in all parts of the world. Those who win by cheating can sit and think they were successful but only in their heads (which for some is enough I guess). Noboby else respects them, except maybe other cheats.
I would be interested tho know if the ACBL/NABC/BBO have done anything to address the widespread cheating that polluted the last NABC Robot tournaments
But thanks again for all your comments on IMPs/MPs and all your comments and knowledge and expertise of bridge on the forums. That is certainly worthy of respect. I never denied you that despite having to put up with your rudeness.
Cheers
P