Summary

Bridgemate Play extends your usual club game to the online environment. An online section can be added to create a hybrid club setting where online players and face-to-face players play simultaneously and their scores and rankings are compared and calculated in real-time as one seamless game. Bridgemate Play hybrid club games are possible with any scoring program that supports Bridgemate. This article is designed to give you a general overview of how to set up a hybrid game, with links to related articles for more in-depth information and instructions.

One-time preparations

Before you start setting up your first Bridgemate Play game, make sure you have made the following preparations:

  • Bridgemate club account. You have created a Bridgemate club account for your club. If you are using the Bridgemate app in your club, you already have a Bridgemate club account. Learn more about setting up a Bridgemate club account in this support article.
  • Latest version of Bridgemate Control Software. Make sure you have the most up-to-date version of Bridgemate Control Software installed on your computer. A link to the latest version is always available in this article.
  • Enable Bridgemate Play in Bridgemate Control Software. Activate the Bridgemate Play hybrid games functionality in Bridgemate Control Software to link the online and offline parts of the game together. Read more in this article.

Further requirements

There are a few more things you should know before starting your first Bridgemate Play game:

  • A stable, high-speed internet connection is required. The club computer (the computer running Bridgemate Control Software) continuously uploads information to the Bridgemate cloud server system, and a poor internet connection dramatically impairs your Bridgemate Play experience. Dial-up connections are not recommended. Using 3G/4G internet dongles is usually not a problem, but make sure your data plan is sufficient to cover the upload.
  • Minimum of four pairs in an online game. As in a face-to-face game, there must be at least four pairs (eight players) participating in an online game in order to run it.
  • Use pre-dealt boards. To create a fully hybrid game where online scores are compared and calculated with face-to-face scores, the face-to-face game muse use pre-dealt boards. The hand records of these pre-dealt boards must be used in the online section as well.

Procedure overview

After you have completed the one-time preparations, follow these steps for each Bridgemate Play hybrid game:

1. Create the online part of the game

Each hybrid game begins with creating the online part of the game first. This can be done days or weeks in advance. When creating the online game, specify the date and time of the game, whether it requires pre-registration, the type of game and the tournament director. See the Creating the online game article for more information.


2. Let players join the online game (with pre-registration if needed)

When the online game is created, online players can start registering for the game (if pre-registration is enabled), joining the lobby when the game is about to start and forming partnerships. Online players can use any PC, laptop or tablet with an internet connection to join the game. See these articles on player registrations and joining the online game for details.


3. Confirm the number of pairs in the online game and set up the game in your scoring program

When all pairs are formed and ready to play, entrance to the lobby is closed and the game is set up in the scoring program. Section(s) for the face-to-face game are created, as well as a section for the online game. Hand records are imported and the game is set to be scored across the field. See the article Confirm online pairs and set up the game in your scoring program for details of how to complete this step.


4. Start the Bridgemate system and begin the hybrid game

The next step is to start the Bridgemate system from your scoring program. Upon starting Bridgemate Control Software, you specify which section is played online and how many minutes a round will last. Read more about starting the hybrid game.


5. Process information for the hybrid game

Keep your computer and Bridgemate Control Software running and all data is automatically and instantly shared between Bridgemate Play and the Bridgemates. Bridgemate Control Software collects all the information and passes it on to your scoring program. Read more in the article Processing information of the hybrid game.

Additional information

There is no additional information available for this article.

See also

No further references available for this article.

Update history

17-01-2022 - Article published