Saitek PRO BRIDGE PROFESSOR User Manual

CONTENTS

Welcome

Table of Contents 1

1.0 Introduction 2

2.0 Operating Reference 2

2.1 Installing the Batteries 2

2.2 Display 3

2.3 Keys 4

2.4 Starting Up 8

3.0 The Professor as Tutor 8

3.1 Dealing 8

3.2 Bidding 8

3.3 Playing the Hand 9

3.4 Hints 10

4.0 Additional Features 11

4.1 Changing the Position 11

4.2 Status of the Hand – View Info 11

4.3 Review Bids, Review Play – History 12

4.4 Seeing the Other Hands – View Hands 12

4.5 Redealing 13

4.6 Replaying a Hand – Fast Forward 13

4.7 Sound 13

4.8 Changing the Bidding System 14

5.0 Technical Information 14

5.1 Care and Maintenance 14

5.2 Troubleshooting Guide 15

5.3 Technical Specifications 17

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1.0 INTRODUCTION

The Pro Bridge Professor has been developed
with the specific purpose of helping you to improve
your bridge game. The computer program has been
written in a way that allows you to concentrate on
your bidding, or on playing out the contract, or you
can play complete hands and cover both. You can
begin from any one of 600 illustrative hands that you
can specify, or you can let the computer choose one
of the hands at random from its library. These have
been specially designed to demonstrate particular
points of skill and are divided into three groups for
your convenience: 1-112 beginners, 113-512
intermediate, and 513 to 600 advanced. Please see
the accompanying book “Pro Bridge Professor - A
Guide”, which is an important partner with the
Professor. It explains all about these hands and how
you can extract the most benefit from them. It also
explains the basics of Bridge, so you can refer to it if
you are not familiar with the game.

The Pro Bridge Professor includes the following
features:

• A library of 600 hands with studied bidding/
playing sequences and categorized into three
levels of difficulty.

• Choice of hands at random for the element of
surprise.

• Repeat selection of the same hands for
practice.

• Sight of other hands on request to improve
understanding.

• Correct solution available on request.

• Recall of current contract and number of tricks
won.

• Recall sequence of bids or playing for study.

• Choice of positions at the “table”.

• Purpose-designed computer, with large clear
display, and easy-use key set.

• Pleasant audio tones to support actions.

In addition the computer can be easily modified
to offer a choice of popular AcoL, American, or
French bidding systems.

2.0 OPERATING REFERENCE

2.1 Installing the Batteries

Remove the cover of the battery compartment
on the back of the computer. Insert four AAA, AM4,

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or R03 batteries as shown in Figure 2-1. (Note: Only
use alkaline batteries in your computer.) Replace
the battery compartment cover, and press GO/STOP
to turn your computer on. Occasionally a spurious
signal, created by putting in the batteries, can cause
the computer to lock up, so if your computer does
not respond, press GO/STOP again to turn off the
computer, and press the ACL on the back of the
computer. You will need a sharp instrument, such as
a paper clip, to reach in to the button. Press the

Insertin

g

Batterie

s

(Note: Under normal conditions of switching the
computer Off and then On, the computer will activate
with the game situation as it was at the moment of
switching Off. However, replacing the batteries will

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cause this information to be lost from memory.)

ACL for at least 2 seconds to clear and reset the
computer memories. You are now ready for play.

2.2 Display

The elements of the display of the Pro Bridge
Professor are explained below.

Refer to Figure 2-2.
Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) – Displays all the

necessary information. Contrast is adjustable for
different light conditions.

Dummy’s Hand – In Figure 2-2, your partner is
dummy and has ace, king, jack, eight, four, and three

Four AAA, AM4, or R03

alkaline batteries

Figure
2-

1

of spades, ace, queen, eight of hearts, and so on.
The top four horizontal rows of information on the
screen show the contents of the dummy’s hand, or if
your partner is declarer, the Declarer's hand. The
line under the spade indicates that spades are

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trumps. For no trumps, no symbol would be

A

WEST NORTH EAST SOUTH

DUMMY

K J 8 4 3

♥
♦
♣

♠

A

Q

8

J
J 6

♥
♦
♣

♠

10

7 5 2
7 2

9

J

A

Q

6

3

4

♣

3

♣♣

Dummy's
Hand

Centre
Selection–
Information,
Bids, Cards
Played

Your
Hand

underlined.
Your Hand – The bottom four horizontal rows of

information always show the contents of your hand,
which may be declarer or some other hand,
depending on which one you selected to bid. In
Figure 2-2 you are South, and SOUTH would be
flashing to indicate that it is your turn to play. The
line under the spade indicates that spades are
trumps. For no trumps, no symbol would be
underlined.

Figure 2-2 Sample Screen During Play

Center Section – The center section is used to
display the bids or the cards played out as each
round progresses. Figure 2-2 illustrates queen of
clubs having been played by West, king of clubs by
North, three of clubs by East, and South would be
flashing to indicate South to play. North is indicated
as dummy. The center section is also used when
you request it, to display other information about the

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game or for the tutorial process.

2.3 Keys

The keys are illustrated in Figure 2-3
1 Value Keys and Suit Keys – 2 to 10 and A, K,

Q, and J are used in conjunction with a Suit Key
(♥, ♠, ♦, ♣) to play a card. Bidding is done in
virtually the same way. However, note that A is
used for playing the ace, but 1 is used for a bid
of one. The suit key, NO TR UMPS, is used only
for bidding. The 1 key is shaped and colored
differently from the other Value Keys to remind
you not to use it to play a card.

Value keys (1-10) are also used to input a
number to select a deal.

When selecting a deal number, the 10 is used
like a Zero. So deal number 410 would be
selected by 4, 1, 10, or deal number 300 would
be 3, 10, 10.

2 ENTER – Enter is used for the following

purposes:
To initiate a random deal or to confirm the deal

number you have entered at the beginning of a
hand.

To confirm the selected bidding position.
To use an offered hint.
To initiate playing out a round. (The display

gives you a cue with the words PRESS ENTER.)

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To start the next round at the end of a trick.
(Again, you are cued by the words PRESS
ENTER.)

To see the results at the end of a hand. (You are
cued by the words PRESS ENTER.)

To return to the starting conditions after viewing
the results of the hand. (The PRESS ENTER
cue shows.)

3 DOUBLE – Press this button during bidding to

“Double” the opponent's bid; a “d” will show on
the display for your bid. You can also press
DOUBLE to redouble an opponent’s double. A
bid of Redouble will be indicated by “R”.

4 PASS – Press this button during bidding to

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Contrast

Control

LCD

Display

Value

Keys

Enter

Suit

Keys

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indicate that you do not wish to bid.
When a bid of “Pass” is made, - will
show under the position making the bid.

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16

History
View Hands

13

View Info

12

Scroll

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5 ESCAPE – Press to end viewing score,

viewing other hands, viewing information,
or viewing a hint. When pressed at any
other time, Escape will return the
program and display to the starting
conditions of waiting for a deal to be

ACL

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Sound

10

1

2

1

9
7
6
8
3
4

5

Hint
System
Go/Stop
Position
Double
Pass

Escape

selected.

6 GO/STOP – Press the Go/Stop key to

switch the computer On or Off. When
switched Off, the computer retains the
game situation in memory, and repro­duces it when the computer is next
switched On.

7 SYSTEM – See Section 4.8. This key is

inactive unless the computer has been
modified to make other bidding systems

Figure 2-3 Computer Keys

available.

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8 POSITION – Press after the deal to

select the position you would like to bid and play.
Each successive press of the button will cause
the computer to progress through the cycle
West, North, East, and South. The computer will
flash each position in turn.

9 HINT – If you don’t know what move to make

next, pressing the Hint button during bidding or
playing will give you the correct answer. Press
ENTER if you wish to use the hint. Holding the
Hint button down for 3 seconds or more will
cause the sequence of correct play to “fast
forward” until you press any other key, except
GO/STOP, or until it reaches the end of the
bidding or playing for that hand. You must return
to normal play before you can press GO/STOP
to switch the computer Off.

10 SOUND – Use this button to switch sound On or

Off, or to change the notes of the error tones.
The Sound key is active at any time when the
computer is waiting for an input.

11 SCROLL – When you have selected History,

View Hands, or View Info, press SCROLL to
cycle through the different frames of information.

12 VIEW INFO – Press this button while playing the

hands, to check how many tricks have been won
so far, the current contract, the current bidding
system, and the current deal number. Press

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SCROLL to see each frame of information. If

used before the contract is agreed, only the deal
number and the current bidding system are
displayed. Press ESCAPE to leave this mode.

13 VIEW HANDS – This button when pressed will

allow you to see the other hands. It is available
after the deal and during bidding or playing.
They will remain on view until you press
ESCAPE. Use SCOLL to switch between the
two teams. North appears on the top half of the
screen, with South on the lower half. In the next
frame East is at the top and West is shown on
the bottom.

14 HISTOR Y – During bidding, playing, or at the

end of the round which has just been played,

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press HISTORY to see the previous bidding or
playing. The Scroll key is used to progress
through each successive round.

15 ACL – The ACL is not used during normal play.

It is located on the back of the unit and is
needed only in the rare event that the computer
“locks up”, which can occasionally happen if a
spurious signal is generated. Pressing this
button with a sharp implement will reset all the
memories and allow the computer to be used
again.

16 LCD – On the top of the computer behind the

display is a rotary control which may be used to
adjust contrast of the display. Rotation to the
right increases contrast. Increasing the contrast
will cause a very slight increase in the consump­tion of battery power. However, in certain light
conditions it will make the screen much easier to
read.

2.4 Starting up

Having put the batteries in, starting the

computer is just a matter of pressing GO/STOP .
Except when the batteries have just been inserted,
the computer will reproduce the bridge hand in the
same situation that existed when it was switched Off.
If you were part way through a hand, when you
selected Stop, then when you switch On again, the
computer will be ready for you to continue that hand.

If you do not touch a key for about nine minutes,
the computer will "beep" once and switch itself Off.
This will preserve the batteries if you should
accidentally leave the computer On. Once again, the
computer will remember the situation, so to continue
the hand, just press GO/STOP and continue from
where you left off.

3.0 THE PROFESSOR AS TUTOR

3.1 Dealing

Initiate the deal when the display is alternately
flashing “dEAL” and the abbreviated name of the
bidding system. The computer memory contains a
library of 600 hands and you may either select a
specific hand that you know you want to practice, or
you may let the computer choose one of the hands
at random. To call for a specific hand enter the
number of the hand (1 to 600), followed by ENTER.

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If you simply use the Enter key without first entering
a number, the computer will choose a hand for you
at random from the library, and display the chosen
number in the center of the screen. At that moment
it will also show which sides, if any, are vulnerable by
displaying VULNER and the team name NS, or EW,
or both in the center of the screen, just above North.
South will be flashing to show your presently
selected position, and this is your opportunity to
change positions if you should wish to do so by
pressing POSITION. Once you are ready to start
bidding, press ENTER.

3.2 Bidding

As soon as Enter has been pressed, the
computer will display your hand and bids for any
positions which precede you in the bidding round.
When it is your turn, your position will flash until you
make your bid. Press the appropriate value key and
suit key, for your bid, and the computer will then
make bids for the other three players. For example,
press 3 and then ♥ or vice versa to bid 3 ♥. If you
do not enter the correct bid, the computer will sound
the error tones, and wait for you to supply the correct
response.

If you wish not to bid, then press PASS. Y our
response will be registered as a “ - ” on the display.
To double the opponent’s bid, press DOUBLE, and
“d” will appear on the display under your position.
Similarly, if you wish to re-double the opponent’s bid,
then again you press the Double key. The computer
will recognize that this is a re-double situation, and
indicate “R” under your position on the display.

with the computer making the bids for the other three
hands. The advanced bidding techniques described
in the book which accompanies the computer can be
used, and so, for example, you will be expected to
ask for aces or recognize that you are being asked
for aces, when the appropriate situation arises.

three players in succession bid “Pass”.

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The bidding proceeds as in a normal game,

As always, bidding the hand is complete when

3.3 Playing the Hand

At the end of bidding, PRESS ENTER will be
displayed in the center section of the display. Press
ENTER to begin play. Trumps will be indicated on
the displayed hands by lines under the contracted
suit, or if it is a No Trumps contract, no underline will
show. If you are on the contracted team, the

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computer will play the first card and then display
Dummy’s hand, and if you are the player who will be
dummy, the computer will also show your partner’s
hand (declarer's hand) in the top part of the display,
so that you can play both hands. If your team is
defending, the computer will play the card for the
position before Dummy, or flash your position if that
is you, asking you to play the first card. Dummy’s
hand will then be revealed. Play progresses round
the table in the normal way. If you are the defending
team, you will play just your own hand, with the
computer playing the hands of the other three
positions. If you are on the contracted side, the
computer will play only for the defenders, and you
will play both Dummy’s hand and the declarer's
hand.

Playing a card is very similar to bidding. Press
the appropriate value key, followed by the suit key, or
vice versa. If your card is correct, the computer will
play the “correct” tune, and the round will progress.
However, if you attempt to play the incorrect card,
because, for example, you press the wrong key or
because it is not the most reliable way or common
way to win the contract, the computer will sound the
error tones and wait for you to play the correct card.

The four played cards will remain visible for you

to study until you press ENTER to initiate the next
round. The rounds proceed in this manner until all
the cards have been played. The last round too will
remain displayed until you press ENTER, at which
point the tricks made, and the contract, will show
alternately until the Enter key is pressed. See Figure

3. A hand played without errors will result in the
Victory tune being played and cards flashing around
the LCD.

PRESSRECALL CONTRACT
ENTER

VULNER

EW

SOUTH

NT

South as dealer, the contract is 3 NT

VULNER

PRESS
ENTER

RECALLEWTRICKS

WEST SOUTH

NORTH/SOUTH pair takes 9 tricks

EAST/WEST pair takes 4 tricks

Figure 3

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Normally, if you have consecutive cards in a
suit, it does not matter which card you play, because
the computer utilizes an element of its program
called the tranposition manager (for positions North
and South only) to accept any of them as being the
correct card. However, if you are playing a hand
where the card you choose to play is a part of a
signalling technique, this freedom is denied, and you
must play the correct card in the pre-programmed
sequence. If you play an incorrect card you will hear
an error tone – keep trying different cards until you
choose the correct card.

3.4 Hints

If a bidding or playing situation has you baffled
or unsure, you can always summon help from the
Professor. Just press HINT and the screen will tell
you the recommended solution. To use the proffered
card, press ENTER and it will be played for you.

another. You will see the game develop from a
different point of view. In some cases, the book “Pro
Bridge Professor - A Guide”, also recommends that
you move positions for certain learning advantages.
When the deal has been completed and the display
is flashing South, before pressing ENTER to start
the bidding, press POSITION, (see Figure 4-1) and
the computer will change your side to the next one,
and make the name flash to identify where you are .
Keep pressing the key to cycle through the positions
in the order West, North, East, and back to South,
until you reach the position you wish to play. Press
ENTER when you are ready to continue with the
bidding.

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VULNER EW

WEST NORTH EAST SOUTH

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4.0 ADDITIONAL FEATURES

4.1 Changing the Position

It is often illuminating, having played a particular
deal from one position, to bid and play it from

Figure 4-1

4.2 Status of the Hand – View Info

If the interest of the game should be such that

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you forget what contract you are in, or how many
tricks you have made so f ar, press VIEW INFO.
RECALL TRICKS will show in the center of the
section of the screen so that you do not confuse it
with the current situation. It will also show the
number of tricks which have won so far, and which
side has won them. If you press SCROLL, it will
then change and show RECALL CONTRACT in the
middle, and what contract you are in. Another press
of SCROLL, and the display will remind you of the
bidding system, (see Figure 4-2) and finally it will
show what deal number you are playing (see Figure
4-3). Of course, if you use this key before the
contract has been agreed, only the system reminder
and the deal number will be available. When you
have finished with this display, press ESCAPE to
return to the game.

RECALL

= F5c for French 5 card major

Where XXXX = A5c for American 5 card major

= AcoL for AcoL

Figure 4-2

RECALL

Deal number = 395

Figure 4-3

4.3 Review Bids, Review Play – History

To check back over the development of the bids,
press HISTORY at any time before the contract is
finalized. RECALL will show in the center of the
section of the screen so that you do not confuse it
with the current situation. You will be shown the first
round of bids. Press SCROLL and the display will
progress to the next round of bids, and so on until
you come to the current situation in the bidding.
When you have finished looking at the history, press

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ESCAPE to return to the game. The same use of
keys during and after the playing phase will allow
you to look back over the successive rounds of
playing out the hands. As you display each round,
the winning card will flash to make it readily
identifiable. Again, when you want to get back to
playing the game, press ESCAPE. Bidding history is
not available once you have entered the playing
phase.

4.4 Seeing the Other Hands – View Hands

Another facility that is available to you to study
the development of the game is View Hands. You
may wish to see the other hands to gain a better
understanding why a particular bid or play is the
correct thing to do. Press VIEW HANDS, and you
will be shown the current cards held in each of the
other hands. You will first be shown North and
South’s hands with North on the top section of the
display (although these hands might already be
visible to you), and if you press SCROLL, the view
will change to East and West, with East at the top.
You may use Scroll to flip flop between the views,
and when you have finished, press ESCAPE to get
back to the game.

4.5 Redealing

If you receive a deal which does not suit your
study purposes, or perhaps you want to practice just
bidding, you can abort the action by just pressing
ESCAPE. Indeed, you can do this at any time while
you are in the main activities of bidding and playing.
Pressing ESCAPE will take you back to the begin­ning, and the display will flash, alternately offering a
new deal and stating the selected system.

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4.6 Replaying a Hand – Fast Forward

At any time during bidding or playing you have
the opportunity to “fast forward” the action. Press
HINT for at least 3 seconds, and the computer will
progress rapidly to the end of the current phase,
stopping at the end of bidding or the end of play, or
when you press any key other than GO/STOP,
whichever comes first. If you wish to just practice
playing out the cards, this is the way to skip the
bidding process.

4.7 Sound

Sound is used as a part of the learning
interaction and to help accurate use of the k eys.

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Whenever a key is pressed, there will be an audible
response. For a valid key, the computer will
acknowledge with a brief “beep”. Where the key
selection concludes a bid or a card play, if your
choice is correct, you will hear a short high-pitched
tune. However, if a wrong key is pressed, or a wrong
bid or card is used, a short deep-pitched tune will be
played. There is an introductory tune played when
you first switch on the computer, which is similar to
the one used to signify successful completion of a
hand with no mistakes.

The error tune can be varied between three
choices (in case you’re having a bad day!) or the
sound feature can be switched off entirely if you
prefer. At any time when the computer is waiting for
you to press a key, simply keep pressing the sound
key to cycle through the choice of three error and the
Off position. Each press will cause a sample of the
tune to be played, except for Off, when a “beep” is
sounded.

4.8 Changing the Bidding System

When you turn on the computer for the first
time, the display will alternatively flash “dEAL”, and
the shorthand title for the bidding system which is

most popular in the country where you bought the
computer. This could be the AcoL system, american
five card major, or french five card major, and you
will find that your copy of “Pro Bridge Professor - A
Guide”, has been written to match this system.
However, Saitek recognizes that enthusiasts may
wish to obtain the books for the other bidding
systems, and to practice those too. If you wish to
obtain them, they can be purchased from your local
distributor. At the same time you will be given
information how to unlock the 600 deals which are
associated with the other books. (Note that the AcoL
and American five card major books are written in
English, while the French five card major book is
written in French.) If you have not expanded the
computer’s bidding systems, the System key has no
effect.

5.0 TECHNICAL INFORMATION

5.1 Care and Maintenance

Your Pro Bridge Computer is a precision-made
device containing electronic components made by
the latest design and production methods. Reliability
is extremely high, and there really is no active
maintenance to be undertaken, other than to ensure

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that good batteries are fitted. Problems, if they
occur, usually have their roots in misuse. Therefore
the only maintenance you need to know, is what
constitutes misuse.

a. Electronics dislike liquids or moisture, so do not

allow the computer to get wet, and avoid
situations where food or drink might be spilt on
it.

b. The computer casing provides good protection

against dust. Nevertheless, avoid leaving it in
dirty environments.

c. Do not subject the computer to knocks or

persistent vibration.

d. Do not try to clean the case with chemical

agents, as they may react with the plastic.

e. Avoid subjecting the computer to extreme hot or

cold temperatures.

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5.2 Tr oubleshooting Guide

SYMPTOMS

Computer will not turn
On.

Dim or nonsense
display on LCD.

No response, or
improper response.

POSSIBLE CAUSE

Batteries weak or dead.

Batteries not installed properly.
Battery contacts poor.

Batteries weak.

Electrostatic discharge.

Batteries weak.

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ACTION T O T AKE

Replace batteries. If problem persists,
turn Off computer and press ACL. See
Section 2.1.

Refer to Section 2.1.

Check the contacts on the battery and
the computer that they are clean.
Ensure the computer contacts have not
been bent out of position.

Replace batteries. If problem persists,
turn Off computer and press ACL.
See Section 2.1.

Turn Off computer and press ACL. See
Section 2.1.

Replace batteries. If problem persists,
turn Off computer and press ACL.
See Section 2.1.

5.2 Tr oubleshooting Guide

SYMPTOMS

Will not accept your
input.

Computer doesn’t
accept any card of a
hand.

POSSIBLE CAUSE

You do not have the card, or your input
contravenes bridge rules.

Your input is not the best
solution.

You are trying to play a card from
another hand.

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ACTION T O T AKE

Check you have keyed your response
correctly. Use Hint or check companion
book.

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Use Hint or check companion book.

Press VIEW HANDS to check which
position is your hand and which
position is at the top of the LCD.

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5.3 Technical Specifications

Processor Speed: 4 MHz.
Screen: Liquid Crystal Display (LCD), 75 x 61.4 mm.
Keys: 32 conductive rubber keys.
Batteries: Four 1.5V alkaline mini- penlight, type AAA, AM4, or R03.
Power Consumption: 90mW maximum.
Battery Life: In operation - up to 170 hours.

In Stop mode - up to 1 year.
Dimensions: 198 x 108 x 31.5 mm.
Weight excluding batteries: 0.25 Kg (.5 lb).

Use alkaline or zinc-carbon batteries only.

Saitek reserves the right to make technical changes without notice in the interest of progress.

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