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This article dispels some of the myths of computer dealing and explains the reasons for using it. Because the equipment is readily available everywhere, computer dealing is now the standard dealing method for bridge tournaments worldwide.
Bridge is played with hands dealt at random. Random dealing is important to ensure that over a period of time (a number of sessions) each player has their share of 'good' hands and that the distributions comply with the statistics we expect. Computers can be programmed to provide any sort of deals: goulashes (wild distributions), equality of points between players over a session, best hand for South, etc.
The software used by the Carlton is programmed to provide a completely random deal, to mimic dealing at the table when the cards have been thoroughly shuffled. In all cases, the computer deals each board only once: there is no 'selection' of particular types of deal. For each board, the operator loads the Dealer4 machine with a numbered board and a pack of cards. The machine optically reads each card as it passes through, compares it to the computer-generated deal for that board, and drops the card into the correct hand 'pocket.' The operator then removes the board from the machine, closes it, and prepares the next board.
It is likely that hands dealt at the table will be 'flatter' than computer-dealt hands. This is particularly likely if the cards are not 'properly' shuffled. Mathematical research has shown that it requires seven interweaved ('riffle' or, properly, faro) shuffles to fully randomise a pack of cards. This rarely happens at the table, hence dealing at the table rarely produces truly randomised hands.
This makes going through the results on the web (particularly the travellers) much more interesting—nobody can remember all the hands in a session.
If you want to improve your play, it is important to review what happened at the table. Having a record of the hands is the best way to do this. You can see what partner held and go through the bidding and play. I hear conversations from all levels of players which start like this: 'Well, in that hand I had four spades to the king-jack and five hearts to the jack-ten… which suit should I have bid first?' How much easier these discussions are when you both have a full record of the hand!
You and your partner can check that your bidding conforms to your agreed system, and you can identify your weaknesses; for example, hands when you have missed a game you should have bid, or bid a game you should not have. Even if you are not interested in these kinds of post-mortems, you have lost nothing, but those who do want to improve find them essential.
With hand records, it's a simple matter for the TD to sort out issues like wrong numbers of cards in hands, hands dropped on the floor or mixed up, put back wrongly in the board, and so on.
Computer-dealt hands avoid the chore of dealing at the table and let you concentrate solely on your bidding and play.
I hope this article has dispelled some of the myths and micsonceptions some players have about computer dealing. As always, I welcome any comments you may have.
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