Palo Alto Bridge / Bridge Baron

Bridge Baron is a computer program that allows users to play both random hands and prepared hands (version 18 or newer) against the computer.  Many of our games provide Bridge Baron compatible files of the hands played at each game. Frank Smoot’s classes and many of our free lectures also provide Bridge Baron compatible files which contain bidding and playing exercises.

Bridge Baron should accept both .ppl and .pbn files. Some versions – especially on Macs – have problems with .pbn files.  It is available for purchase here. Frank Smoot usually buys Bridge Baron in bulk and can sell it to students in his classes at a reduced rate)

The following describes how to dowload the files from our website and how to use them in Bridge Baron. Some versions of Bridge Baron on some versions of PC or Mac operating systems may vary from what is described. If so, do the best you can given the information below.

Download and Save the Deal File

Overview: The files on our website have been compressed (reduced in size and put in a special format for downloading). After downloading them you will uncompress them and then save them for use in Bridge Baron.

  • Create a folder on your computer to hold the deal files downloaded from our website. You may want to put it on your desktop for easy access.
  • Go to the page on our website where the deal files are provided.
  • Click on the link provided to download the deal file.
  • Go to the folder where the file has been downloaded. Most current operating systems will save it to a Download folder. On older operating systems you may need to find where the file has been downloaded.

If you downloaded a file that was not compressed (not .zip):

  • Move the file to the folder you created for the deal files.

If you downloaded a file that was compressed (.zip):

  • Macs:  Double click on the downloaded file. It will then be uncompressed and saved in the same location. The compressed file will have an extension of .zip and the un-compressed file will have an extension of .ppl or .pbn.  Move the .ppl or .pbn file to the folder you created for deal files. Warning: Bridge Baron may not be able to use aliases on all operating systems.
  • PCs: Right click on the dowloaded file and select Extract All. It will be uncompressed and open a window containing several files.  Move the .ppl or .pbn file which is not Mac related to the folder you created for the deal files.

Play Hands in Bridge Baron

Overview: You can not open a Bridge Baron file by double clicking on it. You must open Bridge Baron and then select the file from within Bridge Baron.

  • Start Bridge Baron.
  • Select the file to be played.
    • On Bridge Baron 24 for PC, only,
      • Select My Deals. Then select a deal file from the list of previously played files shown, or
      • Select Open File. Navigate to the folder where your deal files are stored and select the file you want to use. Then select Open.
    • On other versions of Bridge Baron
      • select Library, or on older versions select Tools and then Deal Library.
      • Select Open – Retrieve deal from library file.Navigate to the folder where your deal files are stored and select the file you want to use. Then select Open.
  • Select the deal you want to play and select Play.
  • When asked Do you want to bid and play the hands as entered? select Yes.
  • Bid and play the hand. Deals from our classes will include bidding and possibly play guidance.
  • When through playing the hand go the next deal.
    • PCs: You will be given the option of going to the next deal. If so, use that to play the next deal.
    • Macs: Newer versions of BB will allow you to return to the window where you can select another dealer to play.  Older versions do not have this option and you will have to go back to the start screen and navigate to the deal file and select the new deal each time you want to play a new deal.
      • If you use the Actions – Go to Next Deal option during play of a hand, Bridge Baron will go to a blank screen and you will have to go to the start screen to start using it again (on older versions you may have to quit and restart Bridge Baron).

Mac users: Bridge Baron for years has had major interface problems. New versions seem to fix some and introduce others.  Known problems with version 29 are:

  • At end of an auction (yours or computers), the drop-down menu obscures the auction so that it can not be viewed before play.
  • The Actions – Go to Next Deal and Next Deal icon do not work when playing a library file (10+ year old problem).  There is a Play Another option at the end of each library deal.
  • Can not edit custom profile names on the North/South Pair Profile window.  Note:  Names can be edited in User > Library > Application Support > Bridge Baron > Pair Profiles
  • Right Click Export does not work on the North/South Pair Profile window.
  • Import or Export functions do not work on the North/South Pair Profile window.

It may help if you report these and any other problems you find.