Did you know you can fill out ACBL-style convention cards on BBO? Here's how to do it:
Click the "Account" tab, and then the "Convention cards" header. This will bring up BBO's convention card manager, which looks something like this:
Here you'll see several stock convention cards, plus any convention cards you have created. If you click on any line, it will bring up options to view, edit, and even delete any convention card you want (NB you cannot delete the stock convention cards). You can also use any convention card with a specific partner, including the stock convention cards. I recommend creating a separate convention card for each partnership you play with.
To create your own convention cards, click on the "New ACBL Convention Card" button above, and start editing. You can also edit a stock convention card if you don't want to start from scratch. Just be sure to name your convention card to something you won't forget. It can help to have your partner send an e-mail or be on the phone (or on Zoom—or some other platform, including BBO) while filling these out.
Now for the important part:
After creating a convention card, make sure to fill out this field with your partner's BBO username (you can also fill out this field while editing any convention card). Otherwise you will not be able to use this card in tournaments! To be sure, make sure your partner also has an identical copy of your convention card and also has your username attached to it, as sometimes only the inviter's convention card will be used, meaning if only the invitee has your convention card, it will not get used. Note that this is not the same as the "names" field on the actual convention card itself.
Note that before the start of any tournament, you can double-check that your convention card is being used by clicking on the tournament, clicking the "registration" header, and clicking the "show convention card" button. If it's not your convention card, do not panic describe your unusual bids and fill one out next time.
To access a convention card at the table, click the 3-bars (i.e. the "hamburger") on the top left. Here you can view both the NS convention card and the EW convention card. Although BBO currently allows you to look at your own convention card during tournaments, we kindly ask you to please refrain from peeking at your own bidding system.
If you want to grab a viewing link for your partner(s), here's how to do it (I used Chrome, but the process should be similar for other web browsers):
This should open BBO's convention card manager in a new tab (or window, if you prefer). Then click on any convention card, click "View," and the URL should be immediately available for copying and pasting:
Then you can send this URL to your partner(s) via e-mail (or BBO's chat if the URL is short enough—you may need to use a URL shortener).
Editors note: You do not have to find and send the URL. If you enter your partners name in the "Use with partner" box the card automatically shows up in their account and you both can edit it—it is the same card.
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