BridgeDealer is an app for manual dealing of pre-set hands or reading of hand-shuffled hands.
Install BridgeDealer app from google play store or from BridgePal website. It runs on Android 4.4 or later. You can run BridgeDealer on Amazon Fire tablets but the app is not on the Amazon app store. You can download it from the BridgePal website (see section on
Scoring Unit Setup) on the BridgePal website.
The app is fully integrated with BridgePal. It can either be used from within BridgePal to
deal a preset hand before it is played or to
read a hand shuffled deal into a PBN file.
BridgeDealer does not generate the hands itself. You need to generate a PBN file using a random deal generator. For example, download the Dealer4 PC software from
www.dealer4.com. This software is for the Dealer4 dealing machine, but you can use it for creating a PBN file of random deals even if you don't have the dealing machine. The software is free of charge.
In BridgeScore you can load the PBN file for an event via the Hand Records menu item in the Wireless Options menu. In other scoring programs there is another way perhaps ('Import Deal' in EBUScore for example). However, the easiest way is probably to load the PBN file via BridgePal Server Settings page.
If you want to
deal the boards from BridgePal you need to tick the "Deal Preset Hands" checkbox on the BridgePal Server settings page, after starting the event from the scoring program. Providing that you have the BridgeDealer app installed on BridgePals you will then see a "Deal" button on the contract entry screen for a board. If you click on this button it will transfer control directly to the BridgeDealer app to deal that particular board. After the board has been dealt use the Back key on the scoring unit (if there is one) to exit BridgeDealer and return to the contract entry screen of the BridgePal app. If the scoring unit does not have a back key then a right to left swipe gesture should have the same effect.
You can also
deal any board at any time after wireless scoring has been started via the Player Functions menu on the BridgePal device, select "Deal Board" followed by the board number. It is envisaged that this can be used by somebody at the sitout table.
Because the BridgeDealer app uses the front camera of the tablet and reads the pack from underneath the players can't see the cards while the board is being dealt.
To
read a previously shuffled hand into a PBN file, the process is very similar to dealing.
In BridgeScore tick Enter Hand Records in the Hand Records menu item of the Wireless Options menu. The hands will be read into hands_entered folder, file name is automatically allocated. You can instead tick Enter Hand Records on the BridgePal Server Settings page. Again the folder and file name is automatically allocated (different to BridgeScore) - you can see it on the Settings page.
On BridgePal, shuffle and play a hand and then on the traveller page click on Hand and then Edit. You will be given a choice to Read Cards (via BridgeDealer) and Manual Entry (where you don't use BridgeDealer but enter hand manually, card by card).
Similar to deal you can
read any board via Player Functions menu on the BridgePal device, select "Read Board" followed by the board number. Again this can be used by somebody at the sitout table.
There is a help page in the BridgeDealer app, but to see it you need to start the BridgeDealer app manually (i.e. not from the BridgePal app) and tap on the Demo button. It takes a bit of practice to develop fluency in dealing the cards using the app and some people may find it more difficult than others. In principle you could deal all the boards yourself before the start of the session, but obviously it's quicker if you can get several people doing this in parallel. One other point to make is that I can't guarantee it will work with all brands of cards, but I did test several common brands when it was developed.
John
