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>
I'm way behind on newsletters and a few other things. My old email
server suffered a malware attack. It was overdue for a complete rebuild,
and that took me about ten days to recover from. It's in much better shape.
I used some more time to update and harden the IT infrastructure for
pasadenabridgeclub.com and a few other personal web sites that I host.
The club web site you see today looks the same, but it's a brand new
deployment.
Jane and I have been rediscovering a treasure trove of old online photo
albums, and revisiting feature articles from the old BridgeMojo.com web
site. I'll pass some gems along in a future newsletter.
Congrats Charo!
Our dear departed friend Rosario "Charo" Holdo was half a masterpoint
away from retiring as a Sapphire Life Master. That officially changed
when the ACBL was able to discover .7 points earned at a club game in
2012 that was never credited to her account. She did cross the finish
line. :)
Congrats to Nina Huang
Our frequent player and patron of the Pasadena Bridge Club, Nina Huang
(second from left above), hot on the heels of an 11th place finish in
the Waqar Women's Pairs this past summer, won a bronze medal at the
World Bridge Championship in Katowice, Poland!
Volunteer for Rotary Club Joining Fair
Pasadena Rotary is having a fair "Join or Die" on October 8 at Pasarroyo
on Lake from 7:00-8:30. We're looking for a volunteer who's willing to
represent the Pasadena Bridge Club at the event. I'll have card decks to
give away, and we might even be able to set up a table and play Bridge
Battle at the event. I'll be teaching a class that evening, so I'm
looking for someone willing to represent.
Classes this week
Our classes are always best in the context of a full course, but they
stand alone quite nicely. If you'd like to drop in for a single topic,
you're welcome to join for $25. We'll usually have the topics for each
session on the front of the web site.
This week's classes:
* Wednesday 3:00 PM: *Two Over One Game Force* "The 1NT Forcing Bid"
* Wednesday 7:00 PM: *Bridge Basics 2 - Competitive Bidding* "Simple
Overcalls and Responses"
* Thursday 7:00 PM: *Bridge Basics 4 - Play of the Deal* "Play in
Trump Contracts"
Saturday mornings start with a free 20-minute workshop with an
interesting hand from Eddie Kantar's Thinking Bridge series. Every hand
has interesting bidding, play, and defense problems to work out. Come
for the workshop, stay for the 14-board game, finish by 12:15.
Other tidbits ...
The next session of *Bridge Basics 1 - Introduction* will be held on
Wednesday afternoons from 3:00-5:00 starting October 28. The course
*already has 19 students enrolled!* If you know someone who's
interested, it might be a good idea to have them register online right
away. If you visit https://pasadenabridgeclub.com you'll see the link to
register in the green box in the top right corner. Here is the link as
well
<https://pasadena.augusoft.net/connect/ClassInfo/ClassInformation?int_class_…>.
I'd love to find a volunteer who would exchange a couple of free plays
to help me maintain the bulletin board at the club. That's another chore
I'm woefully behind on!
After a fairly gross incident involving eating pizza at the bridge table
a few weeks ago, we came close to canceling the daily pizza during the
week. We're holding onto it for now, but let's remember to keep things
sanitary at the table. Please wash or sanitize your hands before
handling cards!
And finally, the new water machine in the kitchen hopefully won't get
stuck "on" requiring a major cleanup as often as the old one did. It
seems a little simpler to use, and doesn't require water bottles.
There's no "chilled" water, but we do have a great ice machine. :)
Best regards
Mojo, Jane, Zachary, Lisa, Susan
Pasadena Bridge Club Logo <https://pasadenabridgeclub.com>
Learn and play bridge!
Mojo
ABTA Master Teacher
649 N Fair Oaks Ave #201
Pasadena CA 91103
(626) 247-4457
pasadenabridgeclub.com <https://pasadenabridgeclub.com>
Fall is almost here! Can you feel the chill in the air? No? Me neither.
That's okay! It's always great weather for playing bridge and making new
friends in bridge classes.
I'm way behind on newsletters, but I promise I'll have one soon. (My
email server is back from needing a rebuild after a malware attack.)
Welcome to everyone from our last Bridge Basics 1 class! If you're on
the list by mistake, please drop me a note and I'll take care of it.
Here are the courses that are starting up this week:
Bridge Basics 2 - Competitive Bidding
We've learned the basics of bidding when only one side is involved in
the auction, but there are four players at the table! Everyone may want
to get in on the auction to find a productive contract for their side,
or make it difficult for the opponents to find their best contract. In
this course you learn to start thinking like a bridge player, looking
for ways to get the best score on each hand.
This session you're in for a treat! Your instructor will be our own
bridge wizard Zachary Vedro.
* Six Wednesday evenings, 7:00 - 9:00 PM, starting Sept. 16
* $120 includes textbook by Audrey Grant
* Full lesson plan here
<https://pasadenabridgeclub.com/course/competitive-bidding>
* Register for the course here
<https://pasadenabridgeclub.com/contact/course_enrollment>
Two Over One Game Force
This course introduces probably the most successful bidding system in
the world for club and tournament play. By making a small tweak to
Standard American bidding, it can be easier to find the right game
contract or explore for slam. In this course you'll learn the patterns
and idioms of 2/1GF, and be ready to play. This course includes some of
the best play-of-the-hand lessons in the catalog as well!
* Six Wednesday afternoons, 3:00 - 5:00 PM, starting Sept. 16
* $130 includes textbook by Audrey Grant and Eric Rodwell
* Full lesson plan here
<https://pasadenabridgeclub.com/course/two_over_one_game_force>
* Register for the course here
<https://pasadenabridgeclub.com/contact/course_enrollment>
Bridge Basics 4 - Play of the Deal
Improve your ability to win all the tricks you can as the declarer in a
contract. It's all about planning! Learn to identify many of the
patterns that enable developing extra winners or eliminating losers.
The textbook won /Book of the Year/ in 2025 from the American Bridge
Teachers Association.
* Six Thursday evenings, 7:00 - 9:00 PM, starting Sept. 17
* $120 includes textbook by Audrey Grant
* Full lesson plan here
<https://pasadenabridgeclub.com/course/play-of-the-deal>
* Register for the course here
<https://pasadenabridgeclub.com/contact/course_enrollment>
More tidbits ...
Our next session of /Bridge Basics 1 - Introduction/ will be held on
Wednesday afternoons at 3:00 PM starting October 28. The course is open
for registration now at PCC Extension at this link
<https://pasadena.augusoft.net/connect/ClassInfo/ClassInformation?int_class_…>.
Don't forget you can always drop in for a single session of any course
for $25. Each class usually stands along fairly well, and I try to keep
the topics visible on the front of the web site
<https://pasadenabridgeclub.com>.
For the full novice/intermediate program at the club, including
workshops, games, and casual bridge, see the schedule here
<https://pasadenabridgeclub.com/schedule#novice>!
Hope to see you soon at the bridge club!
Best regards,
Mojo, Jane, Zachary, Lisa, Susan
