Questions from a local director:
"Hello friends. I think, that I have a good one?
first, In 4th seat, we get a 1D, opening bid! This, of course, is before 1st seat could bid.
so, we have a bid out of turn! More to the story! Partner of first seat, sees that his partner did not see the bid and is getting ready to bid.
This partner, immediately says, bid out of turn and we do not accept it! Is it legal for this person to make this announcement?
I believe that it is legal, but a lot of discussion arouse. Please help.
Question two: I run a little club, we get three to five tables, on Thursday evenings. Of course, I am usually the only director in the room.
I am a playing director! Is it legal for me to make director calls at my table?
I do appreciate your input and help. The situation last night happened at my table and I was the one to say: we do not accept that bid!"
Here is my response:
1. Yes, it is legal for the third seat person to call attention to the bid out of turn by the fourth seat person. See Law 9A1: “Unless prohibited by law, any player may draw attention to an irregularity during the auction period, whether or not it is his turn to call.”
2. No, the third seat person may not decline to accept the call, only the first seat person can do that. See Law 29A, which gives only LHO of the offender the right to accept or not accept the call: “Following a call out of rotation, offender’s LHO may elect to call thereby forfeiting the right to any rectification.”
3. If LHO of the offender does not accept the call, then the offender’s partner is required to pass throughout the remainder of the auction. See Law 31B: “When the offender has bid at his partner’s turn to call or at LHO’s turn to call, if the offender has not previously called, offender’s partner must pass whenever it is his turn to call.” (Note that there may be additional complications in this situation, including possible requirements to apply laws 23 and/or law 26 that could result in lead restrictions or adjusted scores.)
4. No, it is not legal for a director to make a ruling at his own table. However, when you are a playing director and there is no other director available, you have to do something creative. A lead out of turn when it was LHO’s turn to call happened at my table in a club game earlier this month. I was not directing, but the actual director was less experienced and asked me how to rule because he did not know the answer and couldn’t find the right pages in the rule book. I declined to tell him what the rules were, but found the correct pages in the rule book so that he could read them before ruling. Once he read the rules, he made the correct ruling. You might consider using a similar procedure, by choosing someone else (possibly even your opponents) to read the rules and make the ruling. As happened at my table, you may have to show them which rules to read.
5. Another director familiar with the problems of a playing director when no other director is available suggested that there are circumstances where the playing director has to make a ruling at his own table. I agree that in order to keep the game moving, that may sometimes be necessary. However, in that case you might consider calling together an "appeals" committee after the game to review the ruling. In effect, I would tell the opponents at your table to please appeal the ruling (or you could make it an automatic appeal on your own initiative), so you can create a small committee of their peers to hear the facts and the laws and then confirm or change the ruling. That way you can turn it into a learning experience for all involved and avoid any hard feelings. Explaining to the opponents their right to appeal a director's ruling in accordance with Law 92 may mitigate some of the negative feelings that can arise when you rule at your own table. However, you don't need to wait for the opponents to appeal if you have any doubt about the facts or the laws. Law 81C7 gives the direct the power "to refer any matter to an appropriate committee".
Comments, anyone?
Ed
"Hello friends. I think, that I have a good one?
first, In 4th seat, we get a 1D, opening bid! This, of course, is before 1st seat could bid.
so, we have a bid out of turn! More to the story! Partner of first seat, sees that his partner did not see the bid and is getting ready to bid.
This partner, immediately says, bid out of turn and we do not accept it! Is it legal for this person to make this announcement?
I believe that it is legal, but a lot of discussion arouse. Please help.
Question two: I run a little club, we get three to five tables, on Thursday evenings. Of course, I am usually the only director in the room.
I am a playing director! Is it legal for me to make director calls at my table?
I do appreciate your input and help. The situation last night happened at my table and I was the one to say: we do not accept that bid!"
Here is my response:
1. Yes, it is legal for the third seat person to call attention to the bid out of turn by the fourth seat person. See Law 9A1: “Unless prohibited by law, any player may draw attention to an irregularity during the auction period, whether or not it is his turn to call.”
2. No, the third seat person may not decline to accept the call, only the first seat person can do that. See Law 29A, which gives only LHO of the offender the right to accept or not accept the call: “Following a call out of rotation, offender’s LHO may elect to call thereby forfeiting the right to any rectification.”
3. If LHO of the offender does not accept the call, then the offender’s partner is required to pass throughout the remainder of the auction. See Law 31B: “When the offender has bid at his partner’s turn to call or at LHO’s turn to call, if the offender has not previously called, offender’s partner must pass whenever it is his turn to call.” (Note that there may be additional complications in this situation, including possible requirements to apply laws 23 and/or law 26 that could result in lead restrictions or adjusted scores.)
4. No, it is not legal for a director to make a ruling at his own table. However, when you are a playing director and there is no other director available, you have to do something creative. A lead out of turn when it was LHO’s turn to call happened at my table in a club game earlier this month. I was not directing, but the actual director was less experienced and asked me how to rule because he did not know the answer and couldn’t find the right pages in the rule book. I declined to tell him what the rules were, but found the correct pages in the rule book so that he could read them before ruling. Once he read the rules, he made the correct ruling. You might consider using a similar procedure, by choosing someone else (possibly even your opponents) to read the rules and make the ruling. As happened at my table, you may have to show them which rules to read.
5. Another director familiar with the problems of a playing director when no other director is available suggested that there are circumstances where the playing director has to make a ruling at his own table. I agree that in order to keep the game moving, that may sometimes be necessary. However, in that case you might consider calling together an "appeals" committee after the game to review the ruling. In effect, I would tell the opponents at your table to please appeal the ruling (or you could make it an automatic appeal on your own initiative), so you can create a small committee of their peers to hear the facts and the laws and then confirm or change the ruling. That way you can turn it into a learning experience for all involved and avoid any hard feelings. Explaining to the opponents their right to appeal a director's ruling in accordance with Law 92 may mitigate some of the negative feelings that can arise when you rule at your own table. However, you don't need to wait for the opponents to appeal if you have any doubt about the facts or the laws. Law 81C7 gives the direct the power "to refer any matter to an appropriate committee".
Comments, anyone?
Ed
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