OKbridge FAQ's

Want to find out more about our free trial or membership options? What game features and options do we provide? Or our unlimited deals and ACBL tournaments awarding masterpoints? The answers to these and much more can be found below.

Free Trial

• How can I start playing?

  • Getting started is easy. Simply select Sign Up (no credit card required) or become a member now to start playing immediately!

• Do I need a credit card for the free trial?

  • No! Payment or credit card is NOT required for your free trial. At the conclusion of 14 days, your trial period will expire (See Membership Options below for details on becoming a member).

• Can I play in ACBL sanctioned tournaments during my free trial?

  • The free trial includes all of the benefits of our Standard membership, but does not include ACBL tournaments. In order to play in ACBL sanctioned tournaments you will need to become a Premium monthly or annual subscriber (Please see Membership Options below for details on how to become a Premium subscriber).

• Can I cancel after I join the free trial?

  • It is not required that you cancel during your free trial. Your account will automatically expire at the end of the trial period and since we did not collect your credit card or payment information, there will be no charges and no further action required on your part.

Membership Options

• How do I become a member?

  • You can become a member by clicking here or by selecting the Sign Up button at the top of this page. If you are currently on your free trial, you can become a member at any time or at the conclusion of your trial. If you are on your trial and wish to become a member, log onto OKbridge and your Edit My Account page in the Members Club. At membership stage, you will need to provide payment information and your credit card will be charged. As a member, you have the option of cancelling your membership anytime.

• How do I cancel once I am a member?

  • As a member, you have the option of cancelling your membership anytime. You can cancel immediately or turn off auto renewal by logging into your members home page and selecting Edit My Account. You can also send us an email at help@okbridge.com.

• How does the Money Back Guarantee work?

  • As an annual member, if you cancel your membership for any reason within 30 days after first subscribing, you will receive a full refund. See our Money Back Guarantee for details.

• What if I am on vaction or unavailable to play for an extended period of time?

  • As a member, you can suspend your membership for a minimum one month to a maximum 12-month period. Suspension requests must be made in advance (we cannot retroactively apply a suspension). Once your account returns to active status, your expiration date will be automatically extended by the same period of time. To suspend your account, send an email to help@okbridge.com and provide the start date and amount of time you wish to suspend your account (or end date).

• How much does membership cost after my free trial is over?

  • There are two kinds of memberships on OKbridge: Standard and Premium, each of which can be enrolled in monthly or annually. Standard membership costs only $9.99 paid monthly or $99 paid annually, and provides you access to all open games, OKbridge mini tournaments awarding pondpoints, player rating system, moderated site, and member resources. Premium membership costs only $29.99 paid monthly or $298 paid annually, and provides you access to everything in the Standard membership plus daily ACBL sanctioned tournaments which award masterpoints.

• Is it safe to give my credit card over the internet?

  • Yes. OKbridge uses encryption technology to protect your personal information and ensure that every credit card transaction that takes place on our web site is secure. If you would prefer to give us your credit card by phone, please send an email to register@okbridge.com with your contact information and best time to reach you and we will call you directly.

• Can I sign up for ACBL sanctioned tournaments after I become a member?

  • Yes. You can upgrade to a Premium membership (includes ACBL sanctioned tournaments awarding masterpoints) at any time by logging into OKbridge.com and going to the Edit My Account page in the Members Club. When you upgrade, you will only be charged with the prorated amount for the Premium portion of the membership fee based on your current expiration date. You can also send us an email to register@okbridge.com (please include your username and contact information).

• What kind of computer do I need to play on OKbridge?

  • OKbridge works with any browser or device (PC, laptop, tablet, etc.).

Game Features

• What is the difference between Competitive vs. Social tables?

  • Competitive tables are called rated tables, and the results are calculated into each player's Lehman Rating. Competitive tables on OKbridge are the only bridge tables online where the determination of player skill is statistically driven, and performance based. While players can provide a self-evaluation of skill for their player profile, the Lehman Rating is system generated and is based on player performance compared to other players over a period of time (more on Lehman Rating below).

    Social tables are called unrated tables, and results are not calculated into your Lehman Rating. This provides a more relaxed environment for playing the game without having any impact on a player's Lehman Rating.

• What are Lehman Ratings?

  • The Lehman Rating is each player's personal performance rating. OKbridge is the only provider of a pure performance-based rating system and with over 15 years and 100 million boards, it is extremely accurate. The system resembles a scratch-average system, but with handicap adjustments on each board.

    Each player's ratings are recalculated once per week, in the same cycle that generates the next week's set of duplicate boards. Every qualified board which a player has played yields rating points, which resemble matchpoints adjusted against the relative ratings of the four players at the table (i.e. factoring out the effects of partner and opponents). All these ratings per board are then averaged together with a player's backlog of boards from past weeks. The Lehman system further wights the results so that the current week's boards count slightly more heavily than all previous boards. This is done so that the rating will better reflect recent performance, not a player's mathematical reputation. IMPs are translated to a similar percentage scale, for a separate IMP Lehman rating.

    Only rated or competitive games are factored into a player's Lehman Rating. Unrated or social games are not included in or factored into a player's Lehman Rating to support more relaxed play.

• How does ProgressivePlay© make the game better?

  • ProgressivePlay© is an opponent matching system developed by OKbridge that compares players performance and speed relative to other players in the same tournament and matches them each round for the best competitive and rewarding play. It takes the superior Swiss movement and puts it on steroids.

• What game formats are available on OKb?

  • For open table play (both competitive and social) we provide Rubber, Chicago, Duplicate (Matchpoint and IMP) and team formats. We also provide practice bidding and teaching table mode.

    Rubber Bridge: The most widespread form of contract bridge is called Rubber Bridge. Rubber Bridge is the form of the game that is played socially and at private clubs by an estimated 10 million people in the US alone. In Rubber, each hand is a fresh deal which is different from Duplicate where hands are played by other tables in order to compare results (see below).

    Chicago: Chicago is a variation of Rubber (above) consisting of exactly four deals.

    Duplicate Bridge: Duplicate bridge is a variation of contract bridge where the same bridge deal is played multiple times by other tables and scoring is based on relative performance. In this way every hand, whether strong or weak, is played in competition with others playing identical cards, and the element of skill is heightened while that of chance is reduced.

    OKbridge uses a unique form of continuous duplicate: The duplicate event begins at midnight Saturday night and ends at midnight the following Saturday. During that time, players may sign on at any time and play bridge. The hands are duplicated at other tables. After a hand is played, the players immediately see the results that have been recorded so far at the other tables. The software keeps track of which hands each player has played or kibitzed, so a player is never allowed to play a hand that they have previously seen. A board must be played a minimum number of times to be valid and likewise, after a board has been played a statistically valid number of times, it is retired.

    Scoring - Matchpoints vs IMPs: In Matchpoints (MP), your board results are compared to everyone else's results. You get one matchpoint for each pair you beat, and one-half matchpoint for each pair you tie. The size of the difference in scores does not matter. In IMPs (International Matchpoints) pairs, your IMP score is dependent on the size of the score difference between you and the field.

    Team Games: In a team game, two teams of four players compete against each other. OKbridge provides two forms of team play. In the barometer mode, each table is shown the results at the other table after each hand has been completed. In the non-barometer mode, no results are shown during the play. Rather, all participants receive an email message containing the final results after the game.

• Can I watch other games?

  • Members are allowed to observe the play at any table including tournament tables. The only type of table that is not available for observation are hidden tables. A kibitzer may choose to view any (or all) four hands. This adds enjoyment and increases the learning potential of the game. Kibitzers are also allowed to view how a hand was played at other tables.

• Do I have access to stats and hand records?

  • OKbridge keeps records of every duplicate hand ever played on OKbridge. These records include complete transcripts of every bid and every card played by each player. Members are allowed to review the records for any of the hands that appeared in the preceding weeks. All tournaments results are recorded with detailed tournament results emailed to each player at the conclusion of the tournament and available in their member home page. in addition, members have tournament leaderboards and Lehman Rating player performance rating that provide detailed statistics on boards played.

• What happens if a game is interrupted and board not completed?

  • In the case of a pending board (game interrupted during card play), players have 72 hours to go to Pending Boards on their member home page and request a score. There is a process including an escalation to a certified director to review the pending board and score the board as if it had been played to completion.

• What happens if I disagree with the score on a completed board?

  • In the case of a completed board, players have 72 hours to go to Completed Boards on their member home page and request a score review. Similar to Pending Boards, there is a process including an escalation to a certified director to review the board as needed.

Tournaments

• How do the tournaments work?

  • Players compete in a structured setting which resembles a single session event at a bridge tournament or bridge club. We offer OKbridge tournaments awarding pondpoints as well as ACBL tournaments awarding masterpoints - both either Matchpoints or IMPs. The most common format is 6 rounds of 2 boards each using a Swiss movement and our ProgressivePlay© opponent matching system, but we do offer a variety of options. All of our tournaments are stratified - A, B, and C to offer maximum placement and award opportunities. Players receive emails at the end of each tournament with detaild hand records and results as well as access to the results online and leaderboards. The tournaments are a blast: 1) they provide a challenging level of competition, 2) the software provides you with opponents, and 3) the system matches you against other players of approximately equal skill and speed - each round.

• What tournament movement does OKbridge use?

  • While OKbridge supports a variety of different movements, for tournaments we use a Swiss movement that really enhances competitive play. During a tournament, pairs with approximately the same records are paired against each other for subsequent rounds. A pair playing N-S one round may E-W another round. This provides the most competitive, enjoyable, and consistent tournament experience for players.

• How many tournaments per day are there?

  • There are 10 daily ACBL sanctioned tournaments awarding masterpoints. There are also 10 daily OKbridge tournaments awarding pondpoints. They both follow the same format, both are stratified (A, B and C) and are both directed by ACBL certified tournament directors.

• Can I play in any tournament?

  • Standard members can play in any OKbridge tournament. A Premium member can play in any OKbridge tournament awarding pondpoints as well as any ACBL tournament awarding masterpoints. Players can play in any tournament included in their membership type and there is no limit on how many they can play for one low monthly or annual membership fee.

• How are masterpoint awards reported to the ACBL?

  • While an ACBL membership is not required to play in ACBL sanctioned tournaments on OKbridge, you have the ability to include your ACBL member number in your player profile and any awards will be updated to your ACBL member account. On the first of each month, our system prepares a report on all member accounts showing the masterpoints awarded for the previous month and that report is uploaded to the ACBL. The entire process is automated. You will generally see your points reflected on the ACBL web site between the 7th and 10th of each month. There are also tournament results, leaderboards and a detailed historical record of your masterpoints won available on your OKbridge member's homepage.

• How much does it cost to play in ACBL masterpoint tournaments?

  • OKbridge is a subscription model so when a player purchases a monthly or annual Premium membership, they can play in any of our 10 daily ACBL tournaments awarding masterpoints and they can play in as many tournaments as they wish for that one low monthly or annual fee. Monthly Premium membership is $29.99/month or $298/year. Cancel anytime. That's as low as $0.82 per day!

Software

• Do I need to download any software?

  • You can play our newest software (OKlive) using any web browser - no download required! However, we also offer two older software clients (downloads) that are a favorite for many of our long-time players (OKplus and OKwin).

• Can I play on an iPad?

  • Yes - you can play OKbridge on an iPad. Our newest software OKlive works on iPad and with any browser (Chrome, Safari, etc.). No download required!

• Can I play on any tablet?

  • Yes - you can play OKbridge on any tablet, laptop, or PC. Our newest software OKlive works on any tablet and with any browser (Chrome, Safari, etc.). No download required!

Thank you for playing OKbridge!