Frequently Asked
Questions
Play Bridge With
Larry Cohen
- How do I install the CD ?
- How do I exit the program ?
- Where can I get more help ?
- Why doesn't Restricted Choice link work?
- Will the Program know where I left off ?
- Why do I have trouble re-entering the program ?
- Bridge-specific Questions
- Why am I having trouble printing?
- Why does nothing happen when I click on the
cards?
- Why doesn't the image fill the full screen?
- Why does the CD cost more than a book?
- Why won't this program work on a MAC?
- Why does your software cause my screen to freeze up
during installation?
Place the CD in the CD-ROM drive. The computer will automatically load
and install the program -- just click Yes/Next to use the standard installation.
NOTE: Once the Program is installed REMOVE the CD
from the disk drive. If the CD remains in the drive, the program
will not work properly when you use it the second time.
In the early release, the only way to exit the program is by clicking the
"X" in the top right corner. (Upon next usage, you will automatically
be returned to the place where you left off.)
For technical assistance you can send e-mail to fred@bridgebase.com
and for general information you can send e-mail to bridgecruises_lessons@larryco.com
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There was an error on some disks from the first release of Day 1. The
Restricted Choice link does not work on some CD's when clicked. If it was
working, this is what you would see:
Restricted Choice
Restricted Choice is a mathematical principle that should be used in the play of
certain card combinations.
It says that if a player plays a card that might have been played from a choice
of random equals (for example, SQJ), it should be presumed that he had no
choice.
Let's say you have this layout:
A109
K87643
You lead the 3
and LHO plays the J
and dummy wins the A,
East following with a small spade.
Next, you play the 10
from dummy and East plays low.
Restricted choice implies that LHO was "restricted" when he played the
J.
He might have played theQ
if he started with QJ.
So, when the J
appears, we should presume he had no choice.
Accordingly, (by a 2:1 margin) we should let the 10
run for a finesse through RHO's presumed
Qxx.
A lengthy explanation of Restricted Choice can be found in the Encyclopedia of
Bridge.
Whence
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Will the
program know where I left off ?
Yes. When you quit (exit) the software remembers where you were. When you
enter again, you will be placed where you left off. Just pretend you
"earmarked" the book you were reading -- the program will return to
that place.
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Probably because the CD is still in the drive.
When you installed the program, it should have created an icon on your
Desktop. Clicking (2 rapid left-clicks) that icon should get you
back into the program
1) What are our methods? Why do they change from deal to
deal?
The methods are specified for each particular deal within the
text. There is no "one set convention card." In the
interest of presenting the deals in the best manner, each deal uses the
convention which the author thought most appropriate.
2) Why can't we obtain a score?
Because the user is really just answering some questions --
there is no way for the software to enable the user to actually play out the
entire deal -- that would require a level of artificial intelligence that is
still many years away.
3) Why can't we play out the deal ourselves?
Pretty much the same answer as #2. There is no
programmable way to walk every different user through their own private line of
play. The program has to follow the particular branch that the author leads the
user down.
4) Why don't we know who our opponents are?
Because most of the opponents in the CD are hypothetical.
The actual deals (all 52 cards of every deal) are as they were in real life.
However, the auction and play are both creations of the author's mind. In
a few instances where the results are actually those attained in real-life,
there is some mention of the at-the-table opponents.
Hi Steve,
I am glad you are enjoying Larry Cohen's product and I am sorry
that you have been unable to print.
There is a bug in the program such that it does not print properly on some
computers.
There is a way that you can print the program's screens, but it takes a little
work. Please follow
these instructions:
1) Run Larry's program and get the screen that you want to print to be
displayed. Make sure that
the title bar at the top of the program window is blue (indicating that this
program is active).
2) Hold down the ALT key and press the Print Screen key (this might be
abbreviated as Prt
Scr or similar on your keyboard). Let go of both keys.
3) Go into your favorite word processor (Microsoft Word for example).
4) Click on the Edit menu and select the Paste command. The picture should
appear in the word processor's window.
If it does not appear you have made a mistake - go back to step 1 and try again.
5) Click on the File menu and select the Print command. The picture should be
printed.
Please let me know if you have any questions or problems regarding these
instructions. I am sorry that such a roundabout
method is required to print on your PC. Hopefully I will be able to solve this
problem in the future (I have been trying) and that
you will be able to print normally in the next version.
Seasons greetings,
Fred Gitelman
Bridge Base Inc.
www.bridgebase.com
Because nothing is supposed to happen. The only time you click on a card is when
you are presented with a "Which card to play quiz." (Users of
OKBridge and other bridge programs are used to clicking or dragging cards -- but
that does not apply in this software).
Why doesn't the image fill
the full screen?
D. wrote :
I thought "Day One" was the most awesome bridge program I've ever
used.
Maybe the graphics could be improved a little -- allow full screen. I am
anxiously awaiting "Day Two" and, hopefully, more!
Hi D.
Very glad you like Larry's program. I am the person that wrote the software
itself.
This program is designed to run at full screen on a PC that is set at 800x600
resolution (the most
common setting these days). It sounds to me that your PC is set to a higher
screen resolution.
You can make the program fill up your entire screen if you change your screen
resolution
when you use it. This can be done by clicking Start, then Settings, then Control
Panels, then
Display. A window will come up with several tabs. Click the Settings tab and
move the
"slider" to 800x600. Then click OK. It may sound complicated, but this
operation is
pretty easy. When you finish a session with Larry's program you can use the same
method
to restore your normal screen resolution.
I am sorry about this inconvenience. The wide variety of monitors and screen
resolutions on
various PCs with various versions of Windows is one pretty much an intractable
problem for
programmers such as myself. There is no perfect answer to this problem and the
decision
to work with 800x600 was made to cater to the "lowest common
denominator" of PC users.
I am sure you will also enjoy the other educational bridge software products
that my company has
produced. Have a look at our web site: www.bridgebase.com
for more information about our other products.
There are also plenty of interesting articles and features available through
this web site. Check out The Deal
of the Week in particular. Everything on our web site is free.
I hope you continue to enjoy Larry's program.
Thanks very much for taking the time to offer your thoughts.
Best regards,
Fred Gitelman -- Bridge Base Inc.
www.bridgebase.com
Why does the CD cost more than a
book?
T.P. wrote:
I purchased CD-Day 1 and found it most entertaining. I do have a question
about the value equation that has been nagging me. Essentially this is an
interactive book, yet is priced way beyond book prices. The physical
production costs are way
under the cost of a book. Is this just predatory pricing or is there some
other reason that is escaping me.
regards, T.
Dear T. --
Your question about pricing is a good one (the $64,000 question!!).
There are many factors involved, but you are right that it is less costly to
produce a CD than a book. What the reader/user is paying for, is basically
time/labor. Right now, to produce 50+ full deals in CD format is incredibly time
consuming -- I'd say I spent more than twice the hours on the CD than on any
book I've written.
As it is, it is hard to write bridge for profit. There isn't a wide enough
audience for the things I write -- so, that makes the per unit cost high if I am
to at least get something in return for the hundreds of hours I spend on a CD.
It is sad to say that if I earned as much as $10 per hour that would be on the
high side! So, mostly, the fact that it takes many hours and not many copies can
be sold is the main reason for the (relatively) high price. For me, it's more
the joy of hearing that people liked what I wrote than the money.
Also, a large commission goes to the software developer. With books, no such fee
has to be paid.
I do hope that down the road the cost will come down. That would be possible if
there were skilled people that could take over some of the coding/typing from me
-- and that could allow me to spend my time on just bridge.
The main cost is simply labor. If I could reach thousands of customers, the cost
would come down. Any word-of-mouth referrals always help lead to that desired
outcome!
Thanks for your interest and comments,
Larry Cohen
T.H. wrote:
Larry,
I compared the pricing of your books and cds. It appears to me that you
should raise the price of your books. After all it only costs $0.60 to produce a
CD and about twice that for a book. So you should charge more for your
books.
TH
Dear T.
You're not the first to question the pricing. (But most people suggest lowering
the cost of the CD instead of raising the cost of the books!).
Actually, the production cost for the CD is not much different than for a book
(60 cents is not doable unless I printed, maybe 100,000!).
What the price is based on has no relation to the actual physical production
cost. Instead, the price is set so that I can at least recoup some money for the
hundreds of hours I spend writing books or CDs. Bridge writing is not a way to
make money! Even if I were to sell 10,000 of everything I wrote (and that's
difficult - only TO Bid or Not to Bid has had that kind of success) -- I might
end up making $10 per hour spent. Not a great return.
For the CD, there is a necessary commission to the software developer.
Furthermore, the CD takes at least twice as long as a book to produce. All the
coding and graphics (and matchpoint tables, etc.) are very time consuming.
So, in short, the prices of all these products are based on LABOR -- not
physical production costs.
Hope you enjoy the work -- that's really why I do it!
Larry Cohen
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Why won't
this program work on a MAC?
Hi G.,
Thanks for taking the trouble to answer Larry's request for feedback. I am the
person that wrote the software that drives Larry's program and I am sorry to
tell you that we do not have any plans to create a Mac version in the near
future.
I realize that the MacIntosh is a wonderful machine and that there are plenty of
Mac users out there. Themain reason we do not have a Mac version is that we are
a very small company and our programming staff (me) has no experience with the
MacIntosh. It simply does not make good economic sense for me to spend the time
and effort that would be necessary to create a Mac version of our software. In
the same time I could make several PC products, each of which would sell 4 or 5
times as many copies.
The only good news I have for you is that all of our software products can be
run on a MacIntosh that is equipped with Windows emulation software. I know very
little about this, but apparently there are several programs available (one is
called SoftWindows I think) that can be used to run our software on a Mac.
I doubt you will get any satisfaction from the above, but I hope you understand
my reasons.
Fred Gitelman
Bridge Base Inc.
www.bridgebase.com
More on same from Fred ...
All of our programs can be run on a Mac as long
as the Mac is equipped with Windows emulation
software. I don't know much about this, but I
suggest that customers contact their Mac dealer in
order to find out what is involved. I believe the
program that they will need is called "SoftWindows"
or similar.
When we sell software to a Mac user we do not
"guarantee" that the program will work, but we do
offer a full refund if it turns out that there is a
serious problem. For as long as I can remember
this has never been necessary which leads me to
believe that the Windows emulators that I refer
to really do a good job.
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Why does my
computer freeze up when I try to install your software?
There is a bug in conjunction with the Windows ME that occasionally
causes this to happen. If you restart your computer and try to install
the software again everything will be OK. If you still have trouble,
you can e-mail fred@bridgebase.com for
help, or call in North
America, toll-free : 1-888-631-9581
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For additional information e-mail to bridgecruises_lessons@larryco.com
Copyright � [Natco Press]. All rights reserved.
Last update: November 17, 2007.