Wireless recording
Register the complete game with the Bridgemate wireless recorder!
Do you want to register the complete bidding and play of your bridge tournament? Do you want to offer full coverage
to your spectators not only of one or two tables but of all tables without making huge investments in computers?
Then the Bridgemate wireless recorder is your solution. By using the same hardware as the Bridgemate wireless scoring
system but adapter with a recorder firmware package, your existing wireless scoring devices will operate as full
wireless recorders for a complete and real-time registration of the bidding and play. No more pen and paper is required
to cover all tables!
The concept of recording bidding and play
One of the great aspects of the game of bridge is the possibility to register the complete progress of the game,
using it for future reconstruction, analysis, learning, etc. Currently, most registration is done by writing the
bidding and play on a piece of paper, and in fact, afterwards this information is seldom used for any of these purposes.
Moreover, during play, this information is not available for spectators. Only those tables that are directly
covered by real-time vuegraph or internet broadcasting systems can be watched by the outside world. Since this type
of recording requires large investments in computer installations for each table, the financial costs are high and
consequently only a few tables have live coverage.
The Bridgemate wireless recording system helps you in overcoming those limitations. What you need is only one
Bridgemate device per table, loaded with special recorder firmware, and a fifth person who operates the Bridgemate.
This person watches the game and keys in the bidding and the play as it happens. Every single bid and card entry is
instantaneously transmitted to the server using its wireless communication technique and is stored in the scoring
database. From the database, the information can be made available real-time to any service that wants to publish.
Time registration is automatically included, offering the TD the possibility to determine how much time is used by
each player.
How it works
To start using the Bridgemate wireless recording system, you require the following products: Bridgemate scoring system
(consists of Bridgemate scoring devices, a server, and the Bridgemate Pro Control program), a Bridgemate-enabled scoring
program and the recorder firmware package. The firmware is a commercial product and is available from your Bridgemate
distributor.
Once the firmware is loaded in the Bridgemate devices and server, you are ready to use the Bridgemate as recorders.
Similar to the normal scoring version, you first prepare the session in your scoring program by setting up the number of
pairs and tables, movements etc and then launch the Bridgemate system from within the scoring program. Now the Bridgemates
at the tables can be activated and start doing their job.
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First, the number of the board being played is entered. Also here, there is a check on the correct board number.
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After confirmation of the board number, the screen changes and it shows an entry mode in which the bidding is
registered using four columns for west, north, east and south respectively.
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The left column is west, the right column is south. Using the board number, the Bridgemate decides in which column
it should start. Entry of bidding is easy and straightforward by simply pressing the appropriate keys. Incorrect entry
is recognized and the operator is asked for confirmation. Each individual entry is directly transmitted to the central
server and stored in the scoring database. After three times pass (or four times if no other bid was made), the
Bridgemate asks for confirmation of the contract and switches over to the cards entry screen.
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On the card screen, there are again four columns for each direction. Each trick is numbered for easy recognition
of which trick the operator is currently at. The Bridgemate will automatically start at the right position and for each
trick it decides the winner and continues from that position. This makes it easy for the operator not to think where to
start from but he can just watch the game and enter the cards while they are being played.
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Entry of cards is again easy and goes without any explanation. Cards are entered first by their suit and then the
value of the card. To speed up the entry process, the following functions are available:
- If for any second, third or fourth card of a trick no suit is entered, the suit of the first card is followed.
- If from second trick onwards, no suit is entered at the first card, the suit of the previous trick is followed.
- To indicate a small card, the X symbol is used. This is also registered in the database as small card.
- To complete the trick with small cards for remaining hands not registered yet in that trick, the XX button is used.
- A board can be claimed at any time by pressing the OK button.
After the board is completely registered or has been claimed, the Bridgemate asks for the result. This is sent to the
server and the Bridgemate proceeds to the next board.
In both screens of recording bidding and play, the operator can make corrections by pressing the cancel button.
This information is also passed on to the server and previous entries are removed from the database. Pressing the N/S or E/W
buttons results in changing the order of the registration and this can be used when a player makes a bid or plays a card
before it is his turn.
Making the data available
The recorded data of bidding and play is stored real-time in the same database as the board results. By passing on this
data to vuegraph systems, internet website etc, life coverage can be realized for every table in play. The data is
structured in such a way that complete reconstruction of the board is possible at a later stage as well, including
reconstruction of the time consumed by each player. This is ideal for a tournament committee to determine whether a
player has used up too much time.
For more information on the Bridgemate wireless recorder system, please contact your local distributor or Bridge Systems.
See the contact page for contact details.
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