[jillybean]

mycroft, on 2025-March-06, 16:43, said:

I don't think the full-face number cards would be readable (the dealer just looks at one corner).

The Jumbo Index cards work. But that may not be big enough.

The player gave me a pack of cards they use, they are these Bicycle Jumbo cards. I will keep my fingers crossed that they are compatible with the dealing machine and boards.
We use the plastic flip top boards in the dealing machine and the standard cards are quite loose.

After discussing this with others, the plan now is to put a full set of boards with the Jumbo cards in play, and wait for the groans and grumbles.

[pescetom]

barmar, on 2025-March-07, 17:33, said:

Do you also need special boards? When hands are put into standard metal boards, it's a tight fit, so thicker cards wouldn't fit. The plastic flip-open boards that can be fed directly from dealing machines are not so tight, do they accomodate the braille cards as is?

No we don't need special boards: we use the plastic flip open boards that are standard for dealing machines and as you say they are not tight for the cards at all (to the point where the top cards from the end pockets can slip out if the board is carelessly handled).
I've never seen a metal board, but then I haven't been playing that long. We did once have square plastic boards and I've also seen a soft plastic strip with four envelopes.

[jillybean]

https://canadianbrid...-by-jannersten/

I wonder if these cards will work in our dealing machine. Dealer4Pro

[mycroft]

They should. But I will warn you that the players (except those used to them; after a week or so they don't notice any more) *hate* the barcodes. That was the whole advantage of the Dealer4, the optical card reader that meant "normal cards" could be used.

[jillybean]

The "Jumbo" cards did not fit in the plastic boards, these apparently will.
We can put up with a bit of grumbling. The grumbling about using a dealing machine rather than Shuffle, Deal, Play has all but disappeared.

[barmar]

I wonder: Why do card decks intended for duplicate bridge include jokers?

[mycroft]

Ad fundamentum extractum, but:

• ObFiddler. "Tradition...Tradition!"
  
• the jokers, as well as the major Ace of choice (spades in NA-influence, hearts in EU-influence) are traditional places for branding.
  
• I know there are other games where bridge-width cards are traditionally used, due to "size of hand". It's been years, but some I know require jokers. Canasta? Some rummy variants?

And sorry, but it's required: any relevant chance to link to the great Flin Flon story and specifically the "two thousand jokers vs air security" bit; and the time in Chicago when I (having looked in at the Spinderbilt first day and picked up about 80 jokers that were laying around (and threw about 40 plastic wrappers into the bins)) walked up to the director first round of the midnights and said "I'm sending this hand [13 cards and a correct-coloured joker] to the other table. You okay with that?" I'm glad I did, because when the other table called the director and explained that "we've counted three times, everybody has 13 except South, who has 14", he was able to run with it, grabbing the hand and saying "okay, we'll just pull a random card and have you play it(!)". A couple of go-arounds of objections later, he showed them the card he'd pulled "at random"...

[jillybean]

Update

We have been using Mike Rothwell's Bridge Timer for the past 4 months.
The players like it and look for it. You can't miss it, unless you are sitting South, we have have it displayed on a huge screen at the front of the room.
We can add short messages to the display, "registration for fall series opens August 10th" etc, players can see current round#, how many tables still playing this round and time the game is expected to finish.

This has reduced the number of questions I get to the point where, at times, I am sitting around wondering what to do next. (web movements)

The time improved immediately after we starting using it and again after we let the players know that we could generate a report which would highlight whom the routinely slow players were

The average time per round has improved to the point that I am hoping to add another round to the game so that we will be playing real bridge.

And we post "one rond to go" results to the big screen at the end of the game. It makes for some nice, friendly pats on the back for the finishers in the overalls and gentle banter between pairs vying for top place. No more having 80+ players crowding around 2 A4 sheets of paper pinned to the wall or bugging me for results while I'm trying to get the game completed and results posted.