alexlee: No way for us "users" to know - Fencer I'm sure has a way to check, but probable easier to just watch the next round and see what happens.

I know it's been suggested to let pawns continue to play once they join as members, but as far as I know - no change has been made.

I really like 3 day, 12 hour ponds - and I was ready to sign up for a couple more ponds... but did not see any I liked, so I created a new batch of 3 ponds for 16-20 people:

►► coan.net - First 16 to sign - Pond #93 ◄◄
►► coan.net - First 16 to sign - Dark Pond#35
►► coan.net - First 16 to sign - Rain Pond#17

Good Luck to all!

rabbitoid: I would say the first pond with 51 falling in the first round will always hold the record....... since most did not understand how to play yet.

The very first run

LionsLair: I wish profiles would say when the persons membership ran out - but the only way I know of it possible happening is the the round started, he made his move and his membership ran out after he made the move.

Usually when others bring it up - we will continue to watch it and the pawn will time out the next time - but I've seen if a few times before when people bid just above a pawns last bid - but it was a "new" pawn who had time to make a last bid and mess up that strategy.

LionsLair: They should not be able to - which pond?

Maybe the user just recently dropped to pawn status (made move as rook - and dropped to pawn after bid was made)

tonyh: you ask.... and you receive.

Vikings: no special testing ability - just some interesting URL hacks and such which Fencer did not put safe guards in.

There use to be other similar bugs awhile back that allowed people to read private fellowships, pawn to get more then their allowed games, allowing tournaments created in other fellowships, plus other things which I helped track down a long time ago for Fencer to put a block on.... but I never spent much time to see what game hacks I could do - since most are obvious when done - except for possible a few new ones they found, which hopefully they sent the details to Fencer so they can block those.

Kunoichi: It happens.

My personal opinion - for the first few rounds, to possible save 10-20 points - there is no point in bidding too low. That is if I think the low bids will be between 70-80, I will bid probable closer to 100. Again, 10-20 points in my opinion is not that important. Much more important to be around at the end. (That is in later rounds, there will be bids with over 1,000 between them - so what is 10-20 points? not much)

For new users, some general tips (everyone plays different so feel free to follow or ignore):

Check recent ponds - see what bids fell in the first few rounds - make sure you are higher then that.

Keep an eye out for players whose membership drops to pawn status. After they chance to a pawn, they can no longer bid - so their last bid will continue until they fall.

Keep an eye out for the lowest player. If they only have 1 point left, it is funny to still see people bid 1,000+, since they would just need to bid 2 to stay in.

The 500 point bonus can be good - BUT if you have to bid more then 500 points higher then what you normally bid - they it is not really very good. (Except for the times when your goal is to keep others from getting it.)

BadBoy7: The higher you end up, the most ratings you will win. So if someone signs up, and then falls in by either not playing or something, the higher you end up and the better you do. Sometimes there is a tie and there is no winner - happens a lot with Rain Ponds, but rarely in the others.

Thad: I believe so. I've seen a few bishops who are currently playing and making active bids in ponds.

WellyWales: nope, they will not be able to play.

What will happen if they do not remove themselves from the pond, and starts as they are a pawn - they will just not bid in the first turn and fall out of the game.

If they are already playing a pond then turn into a pawn, then their last bid will just be repeated until they fall out (or win - which I think has happened once)

Thad: Fencer seemed to like that idea while back, but never did turn into anything.

POST: Run around the Pond (Fencer, 2005-01-12 09:09:26)

The other suggestions I would like to add is to lower the limit from 16 player minimum to like 10 players minimum to play.

BerniceC: One of the extra benifits to Knights are more games. Extra benifits to rooks are yet more games & ability to start fellowship, tournaments, ponds, etc.....

But an easy way around it is if you really want a tournament or pond started, just ask a current rook to set it up for you. They can easly add the line "This pond is set up for BerniceC" or something like that.

Czuch Czuckers: yea, it was a rain pond - seen some 3-4-5 way ties, but wondering if anyone else seen such a big tie for first - 9 way.

Anyone have any other ponds with so many that have tied for 1st place.

http://brainking.com/en/Pond?g=1834 - 9 way tie for first!

Then we can watch the first person who sees a pawn, thinks they will auto-bid, and lose because of it....

Oh, I like that idea also - maybe a limit of 1 of each type at a time.

Vikings: It was a good fellowship, but he kicked a few out awhile back.

Czuch Chuckers: Having a 5 minute per turn pond would be cool. Sorry that I can't help you fill up the fellowship ponds anymore.

POND SUGGESTIONS:

Lower time limits - like 5 minutes. This may be hard since I think a process runs every hour that processes the ponds. So this might not be possible.

Lower minimum amount of players: A low limit of 10? Would that work? Too much lower then that might not work too well.

Different starting amounts: 100, 1000, 5000, 10000, 20000

Different bonuses: none, 25, 100, 250, 500, 750, 1000

Any other ideas?

Thad: The "Box" brings up a reply box right under the message. It may not work for people on WebTV, not sure.

Rambo37: Plus take a look at this board from the start. Many tips here & there have been posted here which might help you get started.

Sundae: nope. Only Knights and above can join ponds.

BerniceC: Yea, with the holidays and such - anything less then that is too short for me.

I have created 3 new "elite" tournaments. Around the top 40 players are allowed to play.

Ponds removed. Some were offended that I was trying to offer special and different ponds then all the rest, so instead of worry about it - I just removed them. Thank you for you interest.

Before the ponds start, I will go through and remove players who do not belong. I will also remove any players that are known to play as teams since this is unfair to everyone else. Please feel free to PM me privatly if you see someone who fits in that I may not know about.

Thanks, and as always - have fun!

SueQ: yup. The last player will automaticly have a bid of "0" next round, so anyone who bids higher then that (1 or higher) will be safe.

Some other pond suggestions:

Invite only ponds

Ratings limit on ponds

Fellowship only ponds

Vikings: I removed everyone I could find, about 3-4 players I found was below the limit that I removed. But some unrated players might have snuck by.

.... but of course I just fell in that pond, so I don't care anymore!

As was guessed, the ratings fix lowered everyones ratings - so I revamped the requirements for the "elite" ponds to a level which should still allow about the same amount to play as before.

BBW's Elite Pond I (over 2100 ONLY)

BBW's Elite Dark Pond I (over 1600 ONLY)

BBW's Elite Rain Pond I (over 1500 ONLY)

Vikings: I'm going to try to keep active ponds - probable nothing under 4 day moves since there is still a good chance that I will take some time away from the computer upcomming... plus not going to get the 50+ ponds at a time like I did before.

Recently created 3 that I will be playing is:

BBW's Elite Pond I (over 2400 ONLY)

BBW's Elite Dark Pond I (over 1700 ONLY)

BBW's Elite Rain Pond I (over 1700 ONLY)

= = = = =

I agree that if you could make ponds for fellowships, or limits that are enforced - and maybe a "blacklist" of known cheaters & unwanted players would be nice ----- But to show who is signed up is a simple solution. (Since again it is not really hidden - I can search through a lot of profiles and find basicly all who are signed up for a dark pond now.... if I wanted to waste the time to do it.... so it is not really hidden now, just not convenent.

Right now, dark ponds are set up so you do not easly see who signs up.... BUT that is not really true because if a person has the time, you can easly look in a persons profile and see if they are playing in a dark pond or not.

What I would like to propose to Fencer is that for dark ponds that we can see who is signing up. (But of course once the dark pond starts, players names and such are hidden to keep it as a dark pond.)

Advantages:

people who want to set up ponds with certain BKR limits will be able to kick out players who do not meet it.

people who want to set up ponds for certain fellowship members will be able to kick out players who are not members.

people can kick out known cheaters (or for those who do not consider it cheating - people who play unfairly)

people can avoid playing in dark ponds with people they do not like

Disadvantage:

I can not really think of once - SINCE right now you can find out who is playing in a dark pond by searching players profiles to see if they are in the pond.

= = = = =

So what do others think? Do you think we should see who is signing up? If not, reasons why not?

VOTE NOW!

I've created 3 new ponds to start in about 10 days. They are "elite" ponds which are for about the top 40 of each type. (give or take a few people.)

BBW's Elite Pond I (over 2400 ONLY)

BBW's Elite Dark Pond I (over 1700 ONLY)

BBW's Elite Rain Pond I (over 1700 ONLY)

Czuch Chuckers: Actually I did not play since I was (and still will) be taking some real vacations, and ponds don't have vacations - so I stoped signing up for new ponds. (I'm still playing 3 with longer time limits - and I will probable sign up for a couple more once those are over so I will never be without ponds - but I'm going to try hard to not have 50+ ponds going at the same time like I have in the past.... plus with ponds that probable have at least 3-4 days per turn.) I don't mind losing, but I hate to lose on a time-out.

wellywales: You don't get 500 points for winning, you get 500 points for having the highest bid. (Which of course does no good on the last round - but the system still gives you that reward!)

Pbarb2: Yea, like Czuch said - if you know you are going to be gone for a few turns in a pond, you can bid a higher amount of points (which will be auto-bid for you any rounds that you don't enter anything for) - which may keep you in the ponds until you get back - but the down side is you lose a lot of points so. (So if you think a good bid for the current round will be 100, but the next round after that may be 200 but you will not be around - you can bid 250-300 that way you hope your auto-bids will keep you in the game for a little bit.)

Maxxina: Yea, I'm sure there are a few that are a little off.

Like Vikings - if you look at his BKR for the past 2 days, you will find out that he most likely gained 92 BKR from the first pond, not actually lose BKR.

http://brainking.com/en/BKRGraph?df=1&mf=8&yf=2005&dt=3&mt=8&yt=2005&submit=Submit&u=264&tp=1000

5 biggest gainers:

24 blizz . . . 393
49 Liquid . . . 417
14 volant . . . 431
25 evajitka . . . 441
9 Antje . . . 508

And the 5 biggest losers:

199 Jigsaw . . . -729
199 Scooter . . . -582
199 cardinal . . . -524
199 oldhamgirl . . . -509
199 tonyh . . . -508

Pedro Martínez: I would suspect that Vikings probable went down in a different pond, then actually gained back on this pond to end up with a net -3.

(Since I actually took the "Old BKR" about 24 hours ago.)

At least you were not the one that lost over 700 BKR!

Full List of ratings change: (NOTE: other ponds which were completed in the last day may "mess" up this chart a little.)

PLACE USER OLD BKR NEW BKR CHANGE
1 WhisperzQ 2127 . . . 2318 . . . 191
2 Walter Montego 1945 . . . 2212 . . . 267
3 Vikings 2518 . . . 2515 . . . -3
4 aissi 2605 . . . 2659 . . . 54
5 fra 2220 . . . 2350 . . . 130
6 BIG BAD WOLF 2543 . . . 2600 . . . 57
7 arpa 2603 . . . 2663 . . . 60
8 pawnme 2112 . . . 2276 . . . 164
9 Antje 1556 . . . 2064 . . . 508
10 PrettyBlueEyes unrated . . . unrated . . . x
11 Mely 2544 . . . 2588 . . . 44
12 andreas unrated . . . 2057 . . . x
13 Bry 2441 . . . 2499 . . . 58
14 volant 1555 . . . 1986 . . . 431
15 Londo 2400 . . . 2463 . . . 63
16 529 2026 . . . 2218 . . . 192
17 Flake 2303 . . . 2378 . . . 75
18 Mike UK 2424 . . . 2480 . . . 56
19 Windy 2113 . . . 2040 . . . -73
20 zockerdotcom 2336 . . . 2397 . . . 61
21 Hrqls 2481 . . . 2513 . . . 32
22 kitti 2050 . . . 2204 . . . 154
23 Daniel Snyder 2061 . . . 2205 . . . 144
24 blizz 1613 . . . 2006 . . . 393
25 evajitka 1399 . . . 1840 . . . 441
26 Venuse 1841 . . . 2072 . . . 231
27 lovelysharon unrated . . . 2009 . . . x
28 Brian1971 2207 . . . 2287 . . . 80
29 Molly 1873 . . . 2174 . . . 301
30 Blackadder Mr K unrated . . . unrated . . . x
31 ruby2shoes 1743 . . . 1986 . . . 243
32 Shaun unrated . . . 1992 . . . x
32 Jofaserimon 1789 . . . 2016 . . . 227
34 KATIKA 1539 . . . 1911 . . . 372
35 Erinity 2225 . . . 2273 . . . 48
36 Tuesday 1736 . . . 1964 . . . 228
37 Maxxina 2600 . . . 2541 . . . -59
38 CindySki unrated . . . unrated . . . x
39 txaggie 1468 . . . 1843 . . . 375
40 Pawnchucker unrated . . . unrated . . . x
40 Arctic Warrior 2315 . . . 2373 . . . 58
42 bwildman 1988 . . . 2115 . . . 127
43 zetes 1712 . . . 1933 . . . 221
44 Stardust unrated . . . 1953 . . . x
44 beaupol 2087 . . . 2164 . . . 77
46 SueQ 1812 . . . 1945 . . . 133
46 Hasurami unrated . . . unrated . . . x
48 eleonora 1508 . . . 1846 . . . 338
49 Liquid 1519 . . . 1936 . . . 417
50 Bluefin 2117 . . . 2256 . . . 139
50 Watson 1608 . . . 1931 . . . 323
52 xenia unrated . . . unrated . . . x
53 TaureanTracker unrated . . . unrated . . . x
54 Tina Maurencova 1926 . . . 2093 . . . 167
55 beach 1834 . . . 1977 . . . 143
56 Stevie 1932 . . . 2040 . . . 108
57 pgt 1920 . . . 2028 . . . 108
58 red kite unrated . . . unrated . . . x
59 Fencer 2139 . . . 2226 . . . 87
59 Jason 2503 . . . 2423 . . . -80
59 NOT a floosie 1793 . . . 1936 . . . 143
62 mumbles unrated . . . unrated . . . x
63 panda unrated . . . unrated . . . x
63 Nirvana 1304 . . . 1650 . . . 346
65 dexter 2538 . . . 2466 . . . -72
65 jryden unrated . . . unrated . . . x
67 Taliesin 1665 . . . 1881 . . . 216
68 angeliki unrated . . . unrated . . . x
69 rod03801 1774 . . . 1848 . . . 74
70 rabbitoid 2534 . . . 2413 . . . -121
70 MidnightMcMedic 1126 . . . 1496 . . . 370
70 Czuch Chuckers 2381 . . . 2295 . . . -86
70 Universal Eyes 1445 . . . 1782 . . . 337
70 agentura office unrated . . . unrated . . . x
70 Monica 2486 . . . 2342 . . . -144
76 Goonerg 2344 . . . 2229 . . . -115
76 BerniceC 2518 . . . 2408 . . . -110
76 Doris unrated . . . unrated . . . x
76 rebelyell 1588 . . . 1813 . . . 225
76 Jannssen 2687 . . . 2521 . . . -166
76 Nothingness 2267 . . . 2185 . . . -82
76 Gus unrated . . . unrated . . . x
83 munwest 1562 . . . 1774 . . . 212
83 Czechgirl 1316 . . . 1594 . . . 278
83 Bobes 1996 . . . 1994 . . . -2
86 Mach Machovic 2132 . . . 2073 . . . -59
87 lindaw4 1622 . . . 1785 . . . 163
88 Thad 2061 . . . 2014 . . . -47
88 fxdirect 1935 . . . 1811 . . . -124
88 RamblinMan unrated . . . unrated . . . x
88 Pedro Martínez 2545 . . . 2395 . . . -150
88 sarok 1558 . . . 1666 . . . 108
88 Gabby 2115 . . . 2089 . . . -26
94 bumble 1600 . . . 1772 . . . 172
94 Eriisa 1312 . . . 1557 . . . 245
94 Milioi 1339 . . . 1577 . . . 238
97 stromovous 1292 . . . 1533 . . . 241
98 Rose 2043 . . . 2042 . . . -1
98 Luisifer 2031 . . . 1971 . . . -60
98 furbster 2446 . . . 2271 . . . -175
98 Labbeda 1888 . . . 1878 . . . -10
102 RamblinMaam unrated . . . unrated . . . x
102 NAZARETSKY unrated . . . unrated . . . x
104 stod unrated . . . unrated . . . x
104 Borek unrated . . . 1759 . . . x
106 grenv 2343 . . . 2169 . . . -174
106 Jirik 1842 . . . 1758 . . . -84
108 Mishaq 1317 . . . 1511 . . . 194
108 Jules 1909 . . . 1859 . . . -50
108 Chessmaster1000 unrated . . . unrated . . . x
108 Sinay 1836 . . . 1809 . . . -27
108 PhatPlaya 1849 . . . 1819 . . . -30
108 MariaAnna 1995 . . . 1912 . . . -83
114 harley 2090 . . . 2015 . . . -75
114 Krecik 2127 . . . 1982 . . . -145
116 drgnrdr 2195 . . . 2025 . . . -170
116 cariad unrated . . . 1714 . . . x
116 Partica 1476 . . . 1710 . . . 234
116 myfanwy unrated . . . unrated . . . x
116 Cat 62 unrated . . . unrated . . . x
116 smelly socks unrated . . . unrated . . . x
116 paco unrated . . . unrated . . . x
123 Foxy Lady 1992 . . . 1894 . . . -98
123 OldDear unrated . . . unrated . . . x
125 Lawless unrated . . . unrated . . . x
126 Bad Bishop 1856 . . . 1698 . . . -158
127 nickchanger unrated . . . unrated . . . x
128 Goldarrows 1889 . . . 1794 . . . -95
129 slunecko unrated . . . unrated . . . x
130 goose15 unrated . . . unrated . . . x
131 Niki unrated . . . unrated . . . x
132 mafea unrated . . . unrated . . . x
133 piercedlbc unrated . . . unrated . . . x
134 KevSpa unrated . . . unrated . . . x
134 fanciann unrated . . . unrated . . . x
136 whatdidyousay unrated . . . unrated . . . x
137 gekrompen hoofd unrated . . . unrated . . . x
138 alesh unrated . . . unrated . . . x
139 Bratr 1892 . . . 1759 . . . -133
139 reza unrated . . . unrated . . . x
139 Cerise 1633 . . . 1650 . . . 17
142 Kevin unrated . . . unrated . . . x
142 MadMonkey 1741 . . . 1631 . . . -110
142 trepil unrated . . . unrated . . . x
142 WizardII 1775 . . . 1634 . . . -141
142 scousegit unrated . . . unrated . . . x
142 MagicDragon 1513 . . . 1546 . . . 33
142 Ebru 1781 . . . 1665 . . . -116
149 white unrated . . . unrated . . . x
149 angelmouse unrated . . . unrated . . . x
149 CaoZ unrated . . . unrated . . . x
149 RAHVIN666 unrated . . . unrated . . . x
149 TheViper unrated . . . unrated . . . x
149 neznalek unrated . . . unrated . . . x
149 plaintiger 1781 . . . 1632 . . . -149
149 ocnibulva unrated . . . unrated . . . x
149 pattypoo 1825 . . . 1603 . . . -222
149 CindyInTN 1936 . . . 1747 . . . -189
149 Gror 1398 . . . 1430 . . . 32
149 SG1fan 1750 . . . 1485 . . . -265
149 NikNack 1700 . . . 1576 . . . -124
162 bene unrated . . . unrated . . . x
163 ScarletRose 2059 . . . 1810 . . . -249
164 Matarilevich 2700 . . . 2287 . . . -413
165 Alex unrated . . . unrated . . . x
166 Feathersword unrated . . . unrated . . . x
167 chessmec unrated . . . unrated . . . x
168 whikki 1473 . . . 1440 . . . -33
168 Nightstorm 1856 . . . 1647 . . . -209
168 Rex Nihilo unrated . . . unrated . . . x
171 SolidGold unrated . . . unrated . . . x
172 Caissus unrated . . . unrated . . . x
173 loggerhead unrated . . . unrated . . . x
174 frolind unrated . . . unrated . . . x
174 Peeky 1541 . . . 1538 . . . -3
176 Anatole unrated . . . unrated . . . x
177 mrbugs001 unrated . . . unrated . . . x
177 temo unrated . . . unrated . . . x
179 num1fire unrated . . . unrated . . . x
180 Summertop unrated . . . unrated . . . x
181 Cookie 1398 . . . 1345 . . . -53
181 maria unrated . . . unrated . . . x
181 rozi 1660 . . . 1539 . . . -121
184 Serendipity 1384 . . . 1504 . . . 120
185 Dolittle unrated . . . unrated . . . x
185 Egzot unrated . . . unrated . . . x
185 Andersp unrated . . . unrated . . . x
185 redsales 2255 . . . 1884 . . . -371
185 Oliveira 1300 . . . 1495 . . . 195
190 clean4today unrated . . . unrated . . . x
190 TexasToest 1814 . . . 1542 . . . -272
190 Dakota Spring unrated . . . unrated . . . x
190 HEATHER unrated . . . unrated . . . x
194 SunFire unrated . . . unrated . . . x
194 glena unrated . . . 1478 . . . x
196 CurrentRiver 2083 . . . 1698 . . . -385
196 Skyking 1835 . . . 1543 . . . -292
196 B Crow 1240 . . . 1179 . . . -61
199 faith 1425 . . . 1234 . . . -191
199 tonyh 2431 . . . 1923 . . . -508
199 MsDelete unrated . . . unrated . . . x
199 TheBig O 2055 . . . 1616 . . . -439
199 JAGR 1664 . . . 1385 . . . -279
199 Martyc41265 unrated . . . unrated . . . x
199 cardinal 2336 . . . 1812 . . . -524
199 wekke unrated . . . unrated . . . x
199 Scooter 2416 . . . 1834 . . . -582
199 HoneyLo 1231 . . . 1088 . . . -143
199 goodfoods 1839 . . . 1377 . . . -462
199 youbet 1278 . . . 1120 . . . -158
199 diogenes 1546 . . . 1321 . . . -225
199 zdezve unrated . . . 1380 . . . x
199 spocko 1882 . . . 1494 . . . -388
199 lindaiscool unrated . . . unrated . . . x
199 akes unrated . . . unrated . . . x
199 Cannibal unrated . . . unrated . . . x
199 Hannelore 1932 . . . 1534 . . . -398
199 Fiona 1738 . . . 1385 . . . -353
199 Crazy Judd 1029 . . . 946 . . . -83
199 The Leprachaun unrated . . . unrated . . . x
199 Mary Jo unrated . . . unrated . . . x
199 American Girl unrated . . . unrated . . . x
199 Rimon unrated . . . unrated . . . x
199 wiktor256 unrated . . . unrated . . . x
199 DesertStarr unrated . . . unrated . . . x
199 Cole unrated . . . unrated . . . x
199 NOMOEO unrated . . . unrated . . . x
199 gasper unrated . . . unrated . . . x
199 Ripley 1457 . . . 1253 . . . -204
199 teenangel unrated . . . unrated . . . x
199 amber spyglass unrated . . . unrated . . . x
199 Miro007 unrated . . . 1381 . . . x
199 SMART ALX 1772 . . . 1414 . . . -358
199 cctiger2000 1949 . . . 1545 . . . -404
199 oldhamgirl 2188 . . . 1679 . . . -509
199 Gester unrated . . . unrated . . . x
199 rshenderovsky unrated . . . unrated . . . x
199 Basic01 2073 . . . 1573 . . . -500
199 MASTERMIND 1759 . . . 1416 . . . -343
199 Amandakmg365 1818 . . . 1389 . . . -429
199 mcpeak1969 2171 . . . 1730 . . . -441
199 Jigsaw 2129 . . . 1400 . . . -729
199 Priscilla 1599 . . . 1368 . . . -231
199 Key McKinnis 1290 . . . 1131 . . . -159
199 Konrad 1555 . . . 1381 . . . -174
199 THE HIT MAN unrated . . . unrated . . . x
199 jelly unrated . . . unrated . . . x
199 tycho unrated . . . unrated . . . x
199 berusik unrated . . . unrated . . . x

Nothingness: Should be able to just click on the English flag up in the upper right of the page.

Link: http://brainking.com/en/Pond?p=0&g=1

Well I've made a copy of everyone who was in the first run BKR rating - so it will be interesting to compare them in 24 hours when the pond is at last - complete!

And congrats WhisperzQ - I held on for 6th place but started to play too carefully with about 20 to go which just left me too far behind....

Czuch Chuckers: Yup! Like many games on BrainKing, some hard work like that can sometimes give you an edge.

BerniceC: Yea, it looks like the pond was still a 50/50 chance for either player.

If Tony bet 1 more then pedro, then he took the chance that pedro would have just bet the min. amount of 99 and would have won that way.

With it still close like that at the end - it was still a good chance for either of them to win.

Vikings: I can't believe you came home and got on the computer to get on-line while your wife is at the hospital after having a baby!

Next time get a laptop which can get on-line from the hospital - that way you can be on-line longer since you don't have to spend time driving and such!

Just looked at my most recent Dark Pond - First bid to fall was 39, with a couple of 43's right behind that. Yea, 50's would be my bet - maybe even the high 50's now that I think about it more - would rather play safe - and 10-20-30 points extra you bid now will make almost no difference in the game at a later point.

http://brainking.com/en/Pond?g=979&trnst=10&tp=1001

Maxxina: Wow. I guess if I was making an opening bid, I would now start off in the 50's to be safe. (53-55)

*sits back and waits a couple of weeks until this no longer works*

jryden:

1) Well I have noticed that the opening bid has slowly been growing as time goes on. For a 16-25 player pond, an opening bid in the 40's is usually OK. With more players, you *MAY* be able to go a little lower - but with the first few bids - 10-20-50 points is NOT going to make a diffrence in the game - so I normally don't take the chance.

You can also take a look at past bids in current ponds - so take a look at a few - study the first few moves by players. That will also help.

2) The beter you do, the higher your BKR! (Other then that, I'm not sure - it's supposable similar to how the regular game BKR's are calculated, but not sure how.)

3) When a player becomes a pawn, they can no longer move - so their last move will become they move for all the next rounds. So if you are watching, you will know you can bid 1 point above the pawn's auto-move and still stay in the game

HA HA HA - 13 people and no one went for the 500 point bonus!

.... why couldn't I have bid at least 1 more point.... :-(

http://brainking.com/en/Pond?g=335

Vikings: Yea, i think I will start to mix-up the times on my ponds between 1-3 days. I use to make them all 1 day ponds since that is what I like, but since I'm not signing up for any new ponds - I guess it does not matter what I like.

Vikings: Well the ponds before the ones that are up now are 2 days, and when i got ready to start them - I just thought I messed up and put them as 2 days instead of 1 days.

So for these, I made sure they were 1 days. But I went back in to edit the start date and they changed to 2 days. Thought I as going crazy!

So the ones that are up now I guess I will keep them as 2 day moves.

Vikings: It's a bug - already reported it

http://brainking.com/en/ReadBug?bgi=437

Czuch Chuckers: Haveing a 5 minute limit for each move might work good - will complete a 16-20 player pond in about 1 1/2 hours or so.