To say that ponds should only be about the numbers only is like saying Battleboats should be just about randomly shooting.

Yet in Battleboats, to use extra strategy can help you a lot - for example knowing if a person likes to place boats along the outside walls can eliminate a lot of searching. Knowing that a person never puts boats next to each other will also elimitante a lot of searching.

So to use extra strategy in ponds can also be helpful - for example, knowing who may try to bid high to get the 500 bonus - or know that a person almost always bids the same amount in the first round or so - or to know how much higher another person usually bids over the person who just fell into the pond are all extra strategys that a person can take (AND WILL BE VERY HELPFULL once we can see past moves in all ponds.) So to also see if a person has even been around to make a bid is also another strategy that can be used.

I like the auto-bid, and may allow a player to continue if they are unable to make it in every day. To hide the players or something like that would basicly take much of the strategy involved with the game away.