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>
So much going on this week! Three new bridge courses starting, NAP
Qualifier games, and a new seminar series from Lulu Minter.
Let's get right to it!
Three great free seminars
Monday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings this week, Lulu Minter will be
offering free pre-game talks at 10:00 before the 11:00 Open Pairs games.
These were a big hit last year!
Here are the topics:
* Monday, Aug. 25: "NT opening and beyond"
* Wednesday, Aug. 27: "Do's and Don't's"
* Thursday, Aug. 28: "More Do's and Don't's"
No reservations required! Just come and join the group in the classroom
at 10:00 AM.
NAP Qualifier week
This is the last week to qualify for this year's North American Pairs
district final game. The district final will be on Sunday October 26. To
play in the final, you need to qualify in an NAP Qualifier club game.
These games pay large masterpoint awards, 50% red masterpoints. The
extra $1 card fee goes to help support sending our District 23 finalists
to the national North American Pairs championships at the spring NABC in
St. Louis.
Classes Next Week
For all of our courses, you're welcome to join a single class for $25.
It's a great way to get a good bite of a subject without a six-week
commitment.
All three courses are having their first session this week.
* Wednesday, 3:00 PM, /Two Over One Game Force/ "Introduction"
* Wednesday, 7:00 PM, /Bridge Basics 2 - Competitive Bidding/
"Preemptive Opening Bids"
* Thursday, 7:00 PM, /Bridge Basics 4 - Play of the Deal/ "Play of the
Deal at Notrump"
Club Schedule for Sectional
There will be no regular club or unit games on Saturday or Sunday,
August 23-24. Instead, the club will be hosting the Pasadena Sectional
Tournament. They're holding two Pairs games on Saturday, and a full-day
Team swiss game on Sunday.
*In addition, so we can set up the club and the Community Room, Friday
afternoon social/supervised play is cancelled!*
Coming up ...
PCC Extension has published their fall catalog, including "Bridge
Introduction" on Wednesday afternoons at 3:00 PM starting October 8.
This is our first time to offer Bridge Introduction during daylight
hours! Get out the word for a big turnout.
Best regards,
Mojo, Jane, Zachary, Lisa
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>
We have three new courses starting up at the end of August, providing
some great opportunities to level-up your bridge game.
This newsletter goes to both our News and Classes lists. If you're only
on the classes list, but would like to get the weekly newsletter, drop
me a note!
Bridge Basics 2 - Competitive Bidding
Yes, this is the follow-up to Bridge Basics 1, but it's arguably the
most powerful course in the curriculum for anyone playing in tournament
or club games. Learn how to use the scoring table to your advantage and
get your best results, taking advantage of new bidding language
available when both sides are in the auction.
* Six Wednesday evenings, 7:00 - 9:00 PM, starting Aug 27
* $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>
Bridge Basics 4 - Play of the Deal
While the language of bidding changes quickly over time, the skills
involved in playing the deal are unchanged. The new textbook by Audrey
Grant won "Beginner Book of the Year" awarded by the American Bridge
Teachers Association this year!
* Six Thursday evenings, 7:00 - 9:00 PM, starting Aug 28
* $120 includes textbook by Audrey Grant
* Full lesson plan here
<https://pasadenabridgeclub.com/course/play-of-the-deal>
* Register for the course here
<https://pasadena.augusoft.net/index.cfm?method=ClassInfo.ClassInformation&i…>
Two Over One Game Force
Learn the patterns and idioms of the bidding system that's currently the
most popular and successful among tournament and club players at all
levels. With one tweak to Standard American bidding, you'll find
yourself better able to find the right game and better slam contracts.
/Take advantage of our daylight Wednesday class schedule!/
* Six Wednesday afternoons, 3:00 - 5:00 PM, starting Aug 27
* $130 includes textbook by Grant and 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>
Classes This Week
This week we have great opportunities to practice play at two levels.
Both sessions are practice hands for their topics! These are delightful
single-session opportunities.
* Wednesday, 7:00 PM, /Bridge Basics 1 - Introduction/
* Thursday, 7:00 PM, /Bridge Basics 3 - Popular Conventions/
For all of our courses, you're welcome to join a single class for $25.
It's a great way to get a good bite of a subject without a six-week
commitment.
Join us *every Saturday morning* for a free workshop at 9:30, whether
you stay for the game or not! We'll study a hand from Eddie Kantar's
/Thinking Bridge/ series. Each hand has interesting bidding, play, and
defense to learn from.
Coming up ...
The *Pasadena Sectional tournament* will take over the bridge club on
the weekend of August 23-24. That will affect the club's schedule in two
ways:
* Saturday games on the 23rd will be canceled
* Friday afternoon's social/supervised session will be canceled to set
up the tournament.
This month includes your last chance to qualify for this year's North
American Pairs District Final at the club level. All of our Open Pairs
games August 25-31 will be NAP Qualifier games.
Students are /already enrolling/ for the *next Bridge Basics 1 course*,
starting October 8, on Wednesday afternoons at 3:00 PM. This is our
first time to offer the course on a daylight schedule! Click here to
register
<https://pasadena.augusoft.net/index.cfm?method=ClassInfo.ClassInformation&i…>
for the course with PCC Extension.
Best regards,
Mojo, Jane, Zachary, Lisa
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>
Jane and I had a wonderful trip to Philadelphia. The ABTA convention
went well, and it's always fun to play in the Summer NABC. The second
week of the Summer nationals includes the Youth NABC, and many of the
junior players come early to spend the week playing in the open games.
Unfortunately I had to return Tuesday evening to spend my Wednesday at
Kaiser getting my first treatment for lung cancer.
I'll never know what caused it, and I was never a smoker. Since my
pneumonia last year, we've been watching for it to clear up and it never
did. A biopsy confirmed it, and we started on a plan.
It's a non-small cell adenocarcinoma, and they got all the genetic
markers they could for tailoring the chemo and immunotherapy. It's a
common variety, and the PET scan gave no signs that it's spread to any
lymph nodes so far.
I have three days of combined chemo/immuno therapy, each separated by
three weeks of down time. The only side effect I've experienced so far
is a bit of fatigue, and all the literature encourages me to get
exercise and stay active during this period.
(There is the fact that my white cell and platelets counts will be
depressed during this period. I'd very much like to urge you to stay
home from the bridge club if you are not feeling well! I will be wearing
a mask when I'm working, and I appreciate your understanding!)
After that, I get a lobotomy! By that I mean they'll take out the lowest
lobe of my right lung. 🙂 That will require a few weeks of recovery.
It's going to be an interesting adventure. The tech they have now is
amazing. The expectation is that the treatment and surgery will be
"curative."
In the meantime, I'm very lucky to have Zachary, Lisa, and Susan to help
cover games and classes. Lisa and I will be covering for Zachary over
the next couple of weeks while he visits his dad who's going through
something very similar.
Classes Next Week
For all of our courses, you're welcome to join a single class for $25.
It's a great way to get a good bite of a subject without a six-week
commitment.
We have two courses in progress: /Bridge Basics 1 - Introduction/ on
Wednesday evenings, and /Bridge Basics 3 - Popular Conventions/ on
Thursday evening. Here are the sessions for next week, August 6-7:
This week's classes:
* Wedesday 7:00 PM, "Practice Hands" /Bridge Basics 1 - Introduction/
* Thursday 7:00 PM, "Slam Bidding and Blackwood" /Bridge Basics 3 -
Popular Conventions/
Join us *every Saturday morning* for a free workshop at 9:30, whether
you stay for the game or not! We'll study a hand from Eddie Kantar's
/Thinking Bridge/ series. Each hand has interesting bidding, play, and
defense to learn from.
Coming up ...
Last chance to qualify for the North American Pairs District Final will
be all of our Open Pairs games Monday-Saturday, August 25-30.
PCC Extension has published their fall catalog, including "Bridge
Introduction" on Wednesday afternoons at 3:00 PM starting October 8.
This is our first time to offer Bridge Introduction during daylight
hours! Get out the word for a big turnout.
Best regards,
Mojo, Jane, Zachary, Lisa
