Boasts on BBO of being an expert. Advertises "professional services".
Advertised on BBO for an expert partner for Dallas nationals
(apparently disregarding his website post that he is done with the
ACBL)
Has several spectators when he plays on BBO.
They normally make fun of him, just as before... even one BBO employee
was found to poke fun at him.
His comments after a bad result are still priceless.
Several innocent people are still banned from BBO.
Several of the same group... are NOT banned.
Uday won't answer my emails. (Cowardly in my opinion.)
Gerard results from March:
1166 Imp hands
Losing 1086.41 Imps (ave -.93 per hand)
248 MP hands about 48% ave.
Good God, not this again. If everyone who claimed expert status but
couldn't count their way to 13 were censured or banned from BBO, there
would be a lot less - a LOT less - folk around. For heavens' sake,
can't we just let this go?
As for his results, who cares?
As to whether he can legitimately claim expert status, who cares?
As to whether he makes money from his clients, who cares?
If you don't think Gerard is right in his claims, (1) don't play with
him and (2) don't pay him.
Sheesh, Henrysun909
Karen
Bob
You cannot police the universe.
JB
Just to let you know, most of us DO NOT CARE!!!!!
All I take from this is that there is a group of petty and vindictive
people who seem to have made it their lifes work to humiliate some guy I
don't know and am unlikely to meet.
This guy may be a fraud but the people obsessed with him come across as
pathetic.
But that is just my first impression. I might think worse of them once I
got to know them.
Otis
Rich
There is an old saying that a man can be judged by the quality of his
enemies.
This obession with Gerald really reflects quite poorly on you
To reiterate... I am NOT bringing up "Gerard is a liar, cheat..... etc.
etc." I AM pointing out that there continue to be a legion of Gerard
spectators that ridicule his play and his comments. I also think there
is something wrong with Uday's selective banning. BBO is not a private
club with no affiliations. They are by far the largest online bridge
club, and they are the only one that broadcast the marjority of the
NABC big events.
I know of 3 situations where people are banned from BBO. None of these
violated any of BBO rules. None of these were given a reason by Uday.
None of these have been given an opportunity to "repent". The 3 were
all pointed out to Uday by Gerard himself. They all posted on RGB. I
don't think being kicked off of BBO for stating opinions on RBG is
right. I am not 100% sure why Uday does what he does. I know he
cowardly won't return emails. I know he selectively enforces what
rules he decides to.
You making personal assualts towards me neither hurts me, nor
diminishes my opinions.
Rich
i simply note here that 'unfairly' is a relative, not absolute, term.
what is 'fair' to one can easily seem 'unfair' to others. to take a
matter infinitely more important that the obsession of some with
gerard, it seemed 'unfair' to many americans that oj simpson got off
and 'fair' to many others that he was acquited. it seemed 'unfair' to
many americans that michael schiavo didn't divorce his wife and let her
parents decide her fate, and 'fair' to many others that he stood by her
side.
so, without knowing - and without wanting to know - the circumstances
behind the 'unfairly kicked off' and without knowing -and without
wanting to know - the reason why fred and others did so, it is
impossible for an outsider to judge this claim.
whether there are others who '[brag] quite as much about [their] bridge
prowess with as little talent,' i simply observe that the vast, vast,
vast majority of bridge players over-state their prowess because it is
the nature of the game to do so. most of us, myself included, are not
able to evaluate their own ability fairly. i'm sure that my own
opinion of my own bridge game is not realistic when set in the world
of, say, the top 1000 bridge players in the us. i call myself an
'advanced/near expert' when i've only one one regional open pairs?
scored below over-average in the GNT flight B open pairs (both
sessions)? can barely average 600 per month in the bridge world MSC?
never come close to making it past the qualifying round in any open
nationally rated event? never won more than 2-3 matches in any
national swiss?
my absurdly high self-evaluation would be comical if it weren't so
often repeated online. I'd lay good money on this proposition: take
away the gold-starred players who have earned the right to represent
their country internationally. then take all of the other 'expert'
players so designated on BBO who reside in the US. i'd wager that
fewer than 10% of those players have won anything in the last 20 years
in an open/unrestricted regional or national event, excluding events
they may have played with a bridge pro. 10% may be too high. it might
be fewer than 50%.
i've played face to face bridge with a number of players on BBO. i
politely request that they not throw up on their keyboards when
deciding whether to respond to this post.
henrysun909
ps: and if some players are still banned from BBO, been offered the
chance to come back under certain conditions, and chosen not to accept
those conditions, well one can hardly say that they are banned
'unfairly.' they are choosing not to come back under the offered
conditions.
The self-righteous 'public service' banner that you're now wrapping
yourself in is difficult to take seriously when one considers that
roughly 90% of your original post is comprised solely of mean-spirited,
derogatory remarks that serve no purpose other than to ridicule and
belittle Gerard Cohen.
And they certainly diminish your opinions.
Nick
Who cares? I'm sure many "experts" do worse.
Let's switch the topic: How did these people who are banned from BBO
get themselves banned? You really have to work for that, you know.
Gerben
[scyardman]
> His comments after a bad result are still
> priceless.
[nige1]
The significant difference between Cohen and the
other players was that he apologised for some of
his mistakes.
The kibitzers sustained a humourless barrage of
critical and inept comment. Judging from the
quality of their analyses, most seemed to be
novices enjoying a visit to the Bridge equivalent
of the Coliseum.
[scyardman]
> Several innocent people are still banned from
> BBO.
[nige1]
You can't expect BBO to publish its reasons.
: Some things are destined to remain the same....
: Gerard Cohen 1 year later...
Oh, get lost. Or should I get my fly swatter out?
Sid
: No, I am not a teenager, nor and I stupid.
Surprise!
* plonk *
Sid
i offer, in an attempt at reasoned debate, the following analogy with
an individual acbl club. if my memory is correct, the acbl grants
virtual dictatorial discretion to the owner of a bridge club. said
owner can bar, for any reason whatsoever, any individual from playing
at the club. so if, for example, a club chose to bar someone who
insisted on playing blue team club with a mini-1nt because people were
upset and threatening to boycott the club, the club owner would have
the absolute right to bar the system and if the players in question
chose not to accept that, to bar the players. the individual player
has no real right of appeal.
so if fred, as the owner of BBO, choses to bar someone, that may be
'unfair' as some have claimed, but it is certainly not without
precedent in acbl-dom.
henrysun909
Close, but not quite. An open club may not bar a player based on
his/her race, creed, religion, political affiliation, sexual
orientation, national origin, or proficiency at bridge.
Tim
M. Hopkins>
JB
JB
Ron
Tim
Gerard who?
--
Chris Ryall Wirral UK <cjr...@my.domain>
Chris who?
Mmbridge
Er ... Mmbridge who, if you want to use that particular context?
--
Chris Ryall (aka Dr Who)
Don't ask.
Your life will be much richer.
--
Julian Lighton jl...@fragment.com
/* You are not expected to understand this. */
National origin? The ACBL has rules based on national origin:
apparently racial discrimination is unacceptable, but national
discrimination is not.
--
David Stevenson Bridge RTFLB Cats Railways /\ /\
Liverpool, England, UK Fax: +44 870 055 7697 @ @
<bri...@blakjak.com> ICQ 20039682 bluejak on OKB =( + )=
Bridgepage: http://blakjak.com/brg_menu.htm ~
As for the innocent people who have been banned over this, if they
really want to be unbanned they can just email fred, uday, or abuse. If
they just apologized and asked for another chance, I'm quite sure they
would be unbanned. Uday is quite reasonable.
You're my friend man, and we used to make fun of G on OKB but it's
over. G is a thing of the past. Let's move on. Aaron's site did it's
job, anyone who wants to hire G can just go there to see that he is a
fraud.
Honestly, when I reflect on it I'm pretty embarassed that I was as
involved in the whole thing as I was. I'll just blame it on my age :P
--
Justin Lall
http://squeezingthedummy.blogspot.com
Kudos to you for your admission. Makes me wonder just what yardman
attributes his childishness to though -- since he can't legitimately
use a (somewhat) forgiveable sin like adolescent pranks, could it be a
form of pre-senile dementia? He'll no doubt have to consult with the
good doctor (aka ko'c) for a defination of his newest affliction. If he
behaves on the couch, a highly dubious expectation, he'll get a red
lollipop!!
Such obsession!!! Must be love incognito!!
Dr.Fill
BTW, Gee is now playing on BBO.
Cheers,
Mitch Edelman
This may be a language problem. In the US, "national origin" means
where you came from before you came here. It is not a synonym for
"nationality" or "country of residence," and in general discrimination
on either of the latter grounds is permissible. Indeed in some cases
it's required (voting or jury duty, for example).
The ACBL has rules based on residency. As far as I know, it has none
based on nationality, but I could be wrong. (I'm thinking of entry to
international events, but I think eligibility depends only on
residency, not nationality.) I'd be very surprised if the ACBL has
rules based on national origin. Such rules are considered highly
invidious and rightly so.
Of course one can argue that rules based on residency are a bad idea,
but I think such arguments have to be made on a case-by-case basis.
There is nothing invidious in the general proposition of discriminating
by residency, at least in some situations. This is not, however, to
defend the ACBL's procedures for Blue Ribbon entry.
> David Stevenson wrote:
> > National origin? The ACBL has rules based on national origin:
>
> This may be a language problem. In the US, "national origin" means
> where you came from before you came here.
Da country you gotta onna da boat before you gotta offa da boat?
<big SNIP>