[jillybean]

Sectional start times seems to be a contentious topic in our Unit and I am interested in BBF'ers opinions.

Assuming a local , 3 day Sectional, Friday games are 1pm and 7:30pm, Sunday Swiss Teams starts at 10am, what is your preference for the Saturday games?

[Siegmund]

They are a contentious topic in everybody's unit, I think.

I voted 1-7:30, though I'd really prefer 1-7 both Fri and Sat. It seemed close enough in spirit to not stir up the mud with 'other'.

(As such I am in the minority in Idaho and Montana, but the majority in Alaska. I'd be curious to poll a bunch of WA and BC folks and see where this changes.)

[Phil]

Start times should be very dependent on location. In LA, starting later is a good idea since you miss traffic. In a city that isn't crippled from 8 to 10 AM, the earlier start makes sense.

[barmar]

Phil, on 2016-August-31, 08:40, said:

Start times should be very dependent on location. In LA, starting later is a good idea since you miss traffic. In a city that isn't crippled from 8 to 10 AM, the earlier start makes sense.

I know LA traffic is notoriously bad, but even on weekends? Did you miss that the question was about Saturday games?

[mycroft]

All I can say is make it match one of the games. For a year or two, we had 1/7:30, *10:30/3:00*, and 10/TBA. INVARIABLY, either a whole team or half of one would not be there by 10:05 Sunday, "knowing" it was a 10:30 start. No matter how many announcements we made.

I prefer evening games, because "if my hobby job is going to be just as 9-6 as my real one, why not work that instead?" ("what does the 0 stand for?" -"Adrian Cronauer"). But clearly if the players want it, we do what they want.

Of course, what I noticed here was that of all the people who said "we don't want to be leaving <area> at 2300", maybe two tables came back when we went to 10-and-3.

[Phil]

barmar, on 2016-August-31, 08:50, said:

I know LA traffic is notoriously bad, but even on weekends? Did you miss that the question was about Saturday games?

Yes I did. Weekend mornings are generally less of a problem.

[jillybean]

Not much of a poll, oh well.
Thanks to the 7 who did respond.

[jeffford76]

Seattle actually just polled its players. Among the 750+ MP group it was very evenly split between 1/7 and 10/3. Among the under 750 MP players it was heavily in favor of 10/3 (approximately a 5:2 ratio).

[barmar]

Interesting division. Maybe when you've gotten hooked on the game, you consider bridge a fine activity for a Saturday night, but before that they'd rather go to the movies or something.

[billw55]

Definitely like the general idea of 10/3. For small details I would try to add a half hour in there, maybe 930/300 or 10/330, just to be sure there is plenty time for a meal in between. Sometimes sessions run long, or start late, or there is a little speech beforehand, etc. People like to eat at their leisure, if the sessions are too close together you are just ensuring some lateness IMO.

[mycroft]

Heh, I like that "people".

Remember that the TDs are usually done 10-15 minutes after the last table plays (so 30-odd from when "the game ends"), and need to be back ~30 before the second session if there's a single-session game to sell.

"Oh, the dinner break is way too long, We could start an hour earlier, no problem." Yep, but you won't like the rulings you get :-)

[jillybean]

We've just finished a 3 day Sectional here using new Saturday start times of 10:30 and 3:30
Saturday attendance was highest table count to date.

We have run the NLM Sectionals at 10 & 3 for a while now, with significantly improved attendance.

[rmnka447]

Since the bridge playing population is getting older, morning and afternoon game times are preferable as most older people don't like to drive after dark. Years ago, when most bridge players were working, you'd definitely want to have evening games to allow those working to play.

Another consideration is exactly where you are going to draw players from for the tournament. If you are in a big city, densely populated area where lots of player are nearby, you may have a little more flexibility in scheduling the sessions. OTOH, if you're in a more sparsely settled area, a little later start for the 1st session in the morning may allow folks from a little further away to attend. It's particularly important in scheduling Saturday game times because you may get people to travel to your tournament from a little further away, stay overnight, and play in the Swiss on Sunday.

Start times like 10:30 and 3:30 on Saturday certainly cater to the travel scenario. The play starts late enough that folks as far as a couple hours away can travel, play, and stay over without being overly worn out. Then they can relax in the evening and be refreshed for the Sunday Swiss.

[cyrenman]

My unit has a nice compromise. On Friday and Sunday, the schedule is the same as for your sectional, and on Saturday there are three-session bracketed knockouts starting at 9 and single-session pairs games at 1 and 7:30. This caters to the preferences of both the morning and evening fans and is an easy way to run brackets without players being left without a session if they are knocked out.

[mycroft]

Were I to have imperious power and enough players to pull it off, my Saturday would be:

0900: 3-session Bracketed KO
1300: Open Pairs (Qualifying session) - One Session Entries welcome
1900: Open Pairs - Final Session
Consolation Pairs - new entries welcome.

But I miss the open Q-and final; this looks like a good way to bring it back (and keeping the two-session pair game) without actively killing the BKO players.

Three session Saturdays are hard on the TDs though.

[billw55]

mycroft, on 2016-September-06, 17:33, said:

Were I to have imperious power and enough players to pull it off, my Saturday would be:

0900: 3-session Bracketed KO
1300: Open Pairs (Qualifying session) - One Session Entries welcome
1900: Open Pairs - Final Session
Consolation Pairs - new entries welcome.

But I miss the open Q-and final; this looks like a good way to bring it back (and keeping the two-session pair game) without actively killing the BKO players.

Three session Saturdays are hard on the TDs though.

Maybe good idea, but as you mentioned above, that 9:00-1:00 turnaround would be tough on the director.