Rules for Wednesday Ladder Competition

1. Teams can enter as teams of 4, 5 or 6. Entrants must nominate a captain capable of setting up matches on BBO. The real names, email addresses and BBO nicknames of all team members must be given. Please also provide a team name (otherwise team names will be invented!).
2. Entries close on Tuesday the 22nd July 2008. Teams entering after this date can join in but they will start at the bottom of the ladder.
3. The competition goes for 9 weeks commencing 23rd July 2008.
4. Teams may play as many or as few rounds as they like however there are demotions under rule 12c for inactivity.
5. Each week the captain of teams wishing to play must enter by emailing the team line up to xxx prior to Wednesday 5.00 pm.
6. Teams may play with one outside substitute. The substitute may be a member of another team but should be of similar or weaker playing strength than the average strength of the team the substitute is playing for.
7. Each week a draw will be done according to the following ranked priorities where possible:
   a. Teams to play an equal number of matches against teams above them as against teams below them,
   b. Matches to be between teams within 3 places of each other, and
   c. Matches will not be between teams who have played within the previous three weeks.
8. The draw will be sent to all team members by 7.50 pm each Wednesday.
9. Teams will be designated home and away. The captain of the home team is responsible for setting up the match at 8.00 pm. The home team captain chooses which pairs play NS and which EW. The captain of the home team must obtain a substitute from the lobby for any player(s) not online by 8.00 pm. Matches are of 12 boards, undo’s and kibitzers allowed, barometer on.
10. During matches NZ Bridge alerting and pre-alerting rules apply.
11. The starting position of teams on the ladder will be determined by the average rating points of team members who have NZ Bridge ratings. If teams have less than two such members then an average rating for the team will be assigned (guessed at!). The team with the lowest average will start at the top of the ladder. Then the next lowest and so on down to the team with the highest average rating who will start at the bottom!
12. After each round the ladder positions will change as follows:
    a. When the lower ranked team wins it swaps places with its opponent,
    b. When the higher ranked team wins or the match is drawn there is no change, and
    c. Any team that has not entered for a second or subsequent consecutive week or any team that doesn’t enter for the final week will swap with the team immediately below it, except if it is already at the bottom or if all the teams below it are also subject to this sub-rule. This sub-rule shall be applied first to the lowest team that is subject to it then to the next lowest team and so on.
13. The new ladder position will be emailed to all participants after each week.
14. The team at the top of the ladder after the final round is the winner!