Pasadena Bridge Club Logo <https://pasadenabridgeclub.com>
News from North Fair Oaks
Mojo
ABTA Master Teacher
649 N Fair Oaks Ave #201
Pasadena CA 91103
(626) 247-4457
pasadenabridgeclub.com <https://pasadenabridgeclub.com>
We had a great couple of weeks of NAP Qualifiers and Club Championship
games at the club! There are still a couple of Club Championships to
take advantage of at the Friday and Saturday open games.
*How about the 4th of July?* We're planning to open the club for our
regular schedule. I'll host the morning 299er game with the workshop at
9:30. Zachary and I will be there for the afternoon game at 1:00 PM.
The Pasadena Unit Game hosted by our local bridge unit will be held as
usual on July 5.
Traditionally we find that games held on holidays tend to be pretty well
attended. For those who don't have holiday plans, a bridge game can be
its own kind of celebration!
*Play with joy, humility, and good humor.* That's the club motto, from
right there on the front page of our web site
<https://pasadenabridgeclub.com/>. In some ways, this is the gist of the
Zero Tolerance Policy which we announce before each game and event.
Once in a while we need to remind ourselves of just what this means. If
you've never read the actual text of the policy, please do so! It's
posted on the web site at this link
<https://pasadenabridgeclub.com/zero-tolerance>. The document is
structured for tournament play, but applicable to bridge clubs as well.
We expect all of our players to abide by this policy, including its
penalties, so it's worth giving it a read! While enforcing zero
tolerance is truly the most difficult part of our job, it's also cited
by players as one of the best features of the Pasadena Bridge Club.
Rosario Holdo game July 20
We all mourn the loss of Rosario "Charo" Holdo who passed away a few
weeks ago. Many of us will be at the memorial service this Saturday,
June 27, at 11:00. (Cabot & Sons Funeral Home, 27 Chestnut St, just a
few blocks from the bridge club.)
Rosario's son Erik has made an extraordinary offer in honor of his
mother. He will be paying the card fee for those who want to play in a
memorial game at the bridge club.
To honor the memory of Charo, we'll be hosting a game in her honor on
Monday, July 20. There will be no card fee, and we are limited to 16
tables. The game will be an "Upgraded Club Championship," with its big
masterpoint awards.
Make your reservations as soon as you can on RSVP. This game may very
well reach our capacity!
Classes This Week
Our classes are best in the context of a full course, but they also
stand alone very nicely. If you can't take a full course, you can always
drop in for a single class on any topic for $25.
This week we have three courses that are wrapping up with their final
sessions. For 2/1GF and Competitive Bidding, that means "practice
hands," which might be the best use for a single visit I can think of.
For Defense, it means "second hand play" which is also a dynamite
single-class topic.
Here are this coming week's individual classes:
* Wednesday 3:00 PM /Introduction to Defense /"Second Hand Play"
* Wednesday 7:00 PM /Two Over One Game Force /"Practice Hands"
* Thursday 7:00 PM /Bridge Basics 2 - Competitive Bidding /"Practice
Hands"
The Saturday morning 9:30 workshop is on as usual, with another great
hand from Eddie Kantar's /Thinking Bridge/ series. (Attend the workshop
for free, even if you don't play in that morning's game!)
Coming up ...
On July 15 we'll start up with three new courses. I'll tell you all
about them next week!
I'll be traveling to Minneapolis on July 5th to attend the American
Bridge Teachers Association convention. I have a nomination and
application for "Teacher of the Year." I'll let you know how it goes!
Then I'm looking forward to a few days of great bridge play at the North
American Bridge Championships with Dawn Lee. Back home on the 14th.
*Registration is open* for the /Bridge Basics 1 - Introduction/. It will
meet on Wednesday evenings starting July 15. Click here to register for
the session
<https://pasadena.augusoft.net/index.cfm?method=ClassInfo.ClassInformation&i…>
with PCC Extension.
Best regards
Mojo, Jane, Zachary, Lisa, Susan
Pasadena Bridge Club Logo <https://pasadenabridgeclub.com>
News from North Fair Oaks
Mojo
ABTA Master Teacher
649 N Fair Oaks Ave #201
Pasadena CA 91103
(626) 247-4457
pasadenabridgeclub.com <https://pasadenabridgeclub.com>
June kicks off the club-level qualifying for the annual North American
Pairs tournament.
This is one of two "grass roots" tournaments held each year that
culminate in champions in each of four different experience flights.
(The other is the Grand National Teams.)
The first round of the tournament begins at clubs. Clubs can designate
games during June July and August to be NAP Qualifier games. The
masterpoint awards for these games are really big, and are 50% black /
50% red masterpoints.
Players who finish in the top 50% of their strat will be "qualified" to
advance to the district final. (The district final date has not yet been
announced.) The top players in each flight of the district final will be
invited to represent District 23 at the Spring NABC in Dallas, and
receive some reimbursement for travel expenses!
At the Pasadena Bridge Club, we'll be holding three week-long
opportunities to qualify for the District Final — one week each in June,
July, and August.
Our first opportunity is this coming week. All Open Pairs games the week
of June 15-20 will be NAP Qualifier games. The strats for each game will
be Open/3000/750 based on the highest masterpoint holder of the pair.
Card fees for these games will be $13 (or a punch plus $1).
If you're interested in competing in the North American Pairs, it's
worth reading the "Conditions of Contest" at this link
<https://web2.acbl.org/documentlibrary/play/NAP/CoC.pdf>. Sarah
Deschenes and I represented District 23 in Flight A of the event earlier
this year in St. Louis. It was a great time!
Classes This Week
Our classes are best in the context of a full course, but they also
stand alone very nicely. If you can't take a full course, you can always
drop in for a single class on any topic for $25.
Here are this week's individual classes:
* Wednesday 3:00 PM /Introduction to Defense /"Signals against notrump"
* Wednesday 7:00 PM /Two Over One Game Force /"The choice between game
and slam"
* Thursday 7:00 PM /Bridge Basics 2 - Competitive Bidding /"The
competitive auction"
The Saturday morning 9:30 workshop is on as usual, with another great
hand from Eddie Kantar's /Thinking Bridge/ series. (Attend the workshop
for free, even if you don't play in that morning's game!)
Coming up ...
Registration is now open for the next /Bridge Basics 1 - Introduction/
session. It will meet on Wednesday evenings starting July 15. Click here
to register for the session
<https://pasadena.augusoft.net/index.cfm?method=ClassInfo.ClassInformation&i…>
with PCC Extension.
*Next week at the bridge club* all Open Pairs games will be Club
Championships. Lots of points, no extra charge!
Best regards
Mojo, Jane, Zachary, Lisa, Susan
