Further we have added reservation system, the first partner that connects reserves both seats.
You can also use a Zoom breakout room cvs file to map Student's tables to your Zoom breakouts.
How it works: You upload a CSV file ( easily edited i MS Excel) where you specify table name , player nickname and the seat you want the player in. You can upload such file at any time, right click on the Add Table button and upload the file. You can then Close all empty tables. To use the file you need to add at-least one normal table at the beginning so the system knows what kind of table settings to use, that table can be safely closed after words. Below is a link to download a sample Zoom CSV file.
Adjusting partnerships for large groups is a major hassle for the teacher. We made it so that students can help and speed up the process.
We have added the Partner's Nickname at the student's login screen. Our assumption is that students requesting specific partners do know each other and, most importantly, talk to each other. So they need to agree on the nicknames they will use for the classroom and share them with our system.
The nicknames have to be unique, so using the first name and 1-2 initials from the last name will do the trick.
Examples of good nicknames are the following: LindaS, JohnBr, MikeJ, etc.
Partners need to type both nicknames at the login screen. Note the nicknames are case sensitive, so they need to be properly entered. The system will fail to match LindaS with Linda S.
Another good way to set nicknames for partnerships is like Linda-John and John-Linda. Now when Linda connects she will use Linda-John for her nickname and John-Linda for her partner’s nickname. John will go the other way around and enter John-Linda for his nickname and Linda-John for partner's nickname; this way the opponents will also know they are sitting against a regular partnership.
When it is time to start the lesson, use the Auto Seat Students drop-down and the system will seat the partners together.
Before you invite your students, you can further improve the seating by adding just one table and select 1 per table from the “Auto Seat Students” dropdown. Now when a student logs in, if his partner is already seated, the system will break your rule and seat that student across from his partner. This is the only time autoseating rules are broken. The advantage is that you can quickly see who is seated alone and assign each single person to a pair. You will end up with some empty tables that are easy to close.
Check this recipe for more seating options https://thesharkbridgecompany.com/blogs/teaching-plans/how-to-make-the-seating-a-bit-more-fun
Thank you to Max Chauvet for providing the hands that illustrate Simple Squeeze technique:
https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0057/1759/0129/files/The_Simple_Squeeze.pbn?v=1609434663
Thank you to Albert Bender for the following opening lead and 3rd seat play problems
On the image below please note the little square placeholders. You can grab any of the tools and dock them on to those place holders. Each tool is also resizable, you can grab it by the side and change its size.
]]>Breakout rooms are experimental at this time. We can only test small scale 3-4 students (which should be enough in most common case since 2-4 people will be paying at a table). 'Send to Breakout" button is at the very top right corner of your console. It opens JitSi video/chat room for each table and sends the students to it. The button turns “Back to Lobby,” which closes the JitSi rooms. Those and Zoom does not seem to interfere with each other, so you still have everyone in Zoom, but before you break them out “Mute All” Otherwise, everyone will be able to hear you over Zoom. The ability of the teacher to visit individual rooms is done by clicking on the "Talk To" button on the student table.
Here is a link for the students to test compatibility with breakout rooms; it is also available in the student's section:
The service is provided by JitSi and 8x8. There is no extra cost, at least for now; we hope they keep it that way for small groups. We have tested with Safari, Chrome, Edge, iPad, and Android, all of which seem to work well. On some browsers, there is an annoying message advertising JitSi's App, but there is a clear button to continue to Web Conference. Also, there is an initial pop up offering the Google calendar extension. There is a checkbox to never show it again and little “x” to close it. We are trying to get rid of those. Give it a try with small groups; the worst that can happen is the user will not be able to talk to the others at the table. Once you say “Back to Lobby,” the JitSi video screen on the table is destroyed. In the long run, 8x8 has a $10/month service for meetings with more than 12 people. You will have a choice of it and Zoom. Shark with JitSi will be a true one-click experience for the student. We will know more after we test our screen share from the teacher's end.
At this time the robot cannot take instruction from the teacher, so you have to check the hands and rely on the robot's decision-making skill. We have programmed code in the robots that occasionally will innocently peak in all hands, but if it sees none of the 3-4 cards it thinks will be there, then the robot may play a card that does not yield a good result. Make sure in Settings -> Robots -> Sill Level is set to Console Session.
Make sure in Settings -> Robots -> Sill Level is set to Console Session.
What I would suggest is this:
A common question we get is: "How can we start the play from where we want it and have the student play it as declarer?" and we had always answered, "it is tricky, and it needs more coding on our end". Morris figured it out without a single line of code.
Here is the kind of hands MoJo uses with his classes.
In that hand the suit to be played around with is spades. But notice the ace of clubs and three small in each hand. It is the card that helps you set the lead from where you need it. When you build your partial hand, set the student as the declarer and use an extra trick to set where the lead comes from. Read further down for an example of double entry.
Now load this hand with 'Play pre-set Tricks' and see how all fits in place. This is the resulting bridge position on the Teacher's console. Naturally, you can play around with right-clicking cards and create various positions.
Here is what it looks like on the student's end.
Here is an example of a pratial hand with two entries.
If you are wondering how do we remove the auction from the student's table, do it with the Misc Hide Auction on the Add Table screen below.
]]>You can make it a bit more fun and pre-load a hand that can start playing on the fly. Here is how!
Start as usual and add one table at the start of the session, before the students are invited. Make that table Teacher Assigned Seats. You will end up with a console screen with one table and a Teacher's table, see the image below.
Now load a deal ( something on a topic from the previous lesson or some fun one). Adjust the Control Panel as shown on the image. Choose from Auto Seat Students -> 1 per table, the position depends on the deal you load, and press Run Robots.
Invite your students now. As soon as they start coming in they will be seated alone and they can start playing a hand, while you deal with getting everyone connected. Tables will be added automatically as needed. If a student requests to seat with a partner and she/he is already at a table, then the student is seated across at the same table.
When you are ready to begin the lesson, press “Stop Play,” switch the seating by going to the dropdown menu and change from 1 per table to Auto Seat Students. Load the first hand, and let it roll.
Note: For uncontested auctions, use passing robots. It is done on the Add Table screen (switch Normal to Passing), or you can right-click on the Run Robots button on the control panel and make them pass. Then you just Run Robots during the auction.
For your bidding only lessons, you can create deals that have cards only in the hands involved in the auction (those cannot be played). You can still Run Robots so that the auction moves on without your involvement.
For more fine-grained control of the auction, you can do the following (do not Run Robots in this phase):
1. Load a deal
2. All dealer players bid
3. You look at choices, comment, and bid the right choice from the Teacher's table.
4. Bid for the next player (empty seat) from the Teacher's table
5. Now the auction is back to the dealer’s partner who chooses what to bid
6. You repeat step #3
And continue until the auction is over. Now make the opening lead from theTeacher's table. Move everyone into the declarer seat, and Run Robots. Or go to the next bidding hand.
For basic bidding situations, you can use the Deal Generator, create a set, and adjust the conditions on the hands so they produce the desired auction. Now in a session, choose “Deal Generator,” select your Set, press “Play,” hit “Next Deal” (a deal is generated ), hit “Run Robots,” or follow the controlled auction routine
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Here is how:
1. Prepare the hands in the library to include the auction and the lead. As with most things, good preparation makes for good results.
You can skip steps 2 and 3 if you don't want your students to bid the hand, and some to be aware of the opposition hands.
2. With your students sitting 4 per table, load the hand from your deal library with the “Play” button, so they can bid the hand. They will likely end up with different auctions. Alternatively, you can have people sit two per table and bid the hand having the robots bid for the opponents (likely passing all the way).
3. When the auction is done, from the Control Panel (above the Students' list), you can see a drop-down menu with seating options. Choose to seat them 1 per table at the declarer seat.
4. Open Load Deals, and this time choose “Play pre-set Tricks.” The hand will load the appropriate auction and the defender to the left of the declarer will lead. Alternatively, instead of reloading the hand, you can bring up your Teacher's table and quickly take your students thru the auction you want and make the opening lead yourself.
5. Select Run Robots on the Control Panel or Teacher's Table, and all the students can all start playing as declarer. You can sit back and monitor each of the student's progress. You can stop the play when they all make the critical play. You can also stop play on an individual table to make adjustments and give tips and hints.
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The assumption is that you have loaded a deal for your students, and you now want them all to focus on the East hand of the deal.
Click #1: Click the seating drop down on the Control Panel (right above the list of students).
Click #2: Select 1 per table E.
That's it; all the students now see only the East hand as if it were their own.
You can repeat those two clicks if you now need them to consider any of the other 3 hands. You can do that at any time during the auction or play, but it is most useful during the auction.
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