- News - Pasadena Bridge Club

Lulu Minter seminar Monday
by Morris Jones 18 Oct '26

18 Oct '26

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> As of this morning, for 2026, the Pasadena Bridge Club is #22 in North America for face-to-face bridge clubs, with 3,198 tables. We just passed the Mathewson Bridge Center in Reno where my friend and current ABTA president Jill Wallace does her thing. (Hi Jill!) Ahead of us locally are the Long Beach Bridge Center at #15, and three clubs in neighboring District 22: San Juan Capistrano at #11, Laguna Woods at #7, and the Duncan Bridge Center in Palm Desert at #4. California is really a hotbed of bridge. But (of course) the top three clubs in the list are all in Florida! (#5 is Honors in Manhattan.) How many clubs are in this list? 1,800 clubs have reported tables played in 2026. The ACBL table counts include tables in sanctioned masterpoint games, so it doesn't include our classes, casual, or workshop games and activities. Lulu Minter seminar on Monday To kick off STaC week Monday, Lulu will give one of his popular talks on the theme "Rules of Numbers." This is Monday, October 19! The talk will be at 10:00 *in the Community Room* down the hall from the bridge club. Sectional Tournament at Clubs (STaC) This week, October 19-25, all Open Pairs games at the club will be silver point STaC games. Those are the Monday-Friday 11:00 AM games and the Saturday 1:00 PM game. Each of those games will have their results grouped with other clubs in District 23 playing at the same time to create overall awards within the district. Card fees will be $13 for these games (or a punch and $1). We have a normal table limit in the club of 16 tables, and it's not unreasonable to expect that we might reach that point on some popular days for the STaC. If you can book your games early it's a good idea! Classes this week This is a good week to drop in for single classes ($25). All of our courses are doing "practice hands" this week. These are great opportunities to practice on a particular topic! This week's classes (all "practice hands"): * Wednesday 3:00 PM: *Two Over One Game Force* * Wednesday 7:00 PM: *Bridge Basics 2 - Competitive Bidding* * Thursday 7:00 PM: *Bridge Basics 4 - Play of the Deal* 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 ... New classes start soon! I'll be sending a "new class" email shortly. Courses starting next week: * Wednesday Oct 28 7:00 PM *Bridge Basics 3 - Popular Conventions* * Thursday Oct 29 7:00 PM *Introduction to Defense* Register for either of these classes at this link <https://pasadenabridgeclub.com/contact/course_enrollment>. The session of /Bridge Basics 1 - Introduction/ starting October 28 is sold out with 32 students! The courses this session will each have a two-week break from meetings for Thanksgiving and the week after, to let us all play in the NABC, to wit: The *North American Bridge Championships* are coming to San Diego the week after Thanksgiving, and all of the bridge club staff want to go play! We're planning to close the bridge club from Monday, November 30, through Wednesday, December 2. We'll take advantage of the down time to do some carpet cleaning as well. (I'm also going to empty the Lost and Found and clutter that can go away.) We won't have games on Thanksgiving, but we will on Friday and Saturday after. Best regards Mojo, Jane, Zachary, Lisa, Susan

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STaC games next week
by Morris Jones 11 Oct '26

11 Oct '26

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> The scary news for me this Halloween season involves my new session of /Bridge Basics 1 /—/ Introduction/ starting on Wednesday afternoons, October 28. Normally I set the class limit with PCC Extension at 24 students (six tables). I'm willing to bump it higher, and I did so by necessity — first to 28, then to 32 (eight tables). That's going to be my limit. Every seat is spoken for. Normally about a quarter of my students wait until the week before class to sign up. This time around they're going to be turned away. This marks the first time I will have had to turn away students for any of our courses! Sectional Tournament at Clubs (STaC) Next week, October 19-25, all Open Pairs games at the club will be silver point STaC games. Those are the Monday-Friday 11:00 AM games and the Saturday 1:00 PM game. Each of those games will have their results grouped with other clubs in District 23 playing at the same time to create overall awards within the district. Card fees will be $13 for these games (or a punch and $1). Please keep in mind that we have a normal table limit in the club of 16 tables, and it's not unreasonable to expect that we might reach that point on some popular days for the STaC. If you can book your games now it's a good idea! Lulu Minter Seminar Oct 19 Lulu is going to host one of his popular bridge seminars before the Monday STaC game on October 19. We've reserved the Community Room for the seminar. No reservation required! His topic this time is "Rules of Numbers." His seminar is free, and you don't have to be playing in the Monday Open Pairs game to attend. Just drop in! Classes this week This week and next are *especially good times* to drop in for single classes ($25). All of our courses are doing "practice hands" this week. These sessions become great opportunities to focus on a particular topic! This week's classes (all "practice hands"): * Wednesday 3:00 PM: *Two Over One Game Force* * Wednesday 7:00 PM: *Bridge Basics 2 - Competitive Bidding* * Thursday 7:00 PM: *Bridge Basics 4 - Play of the Deal* 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. Rank changes for October Congratulations to the following Pasadena Bridge Club players achieving new ranks in the ACBL! *Junior Master* Angie Shapira Ching Patterson De Le Abel Eli Sorkin Jeffrey Chang Sunita Batra Tyler Slamkowski Wenwei (Vincent) Che *Club Master* Lina Sanossian Paul Chang Wenwei (Vincent) Che *Bronze Life Master* Richard Halverstadt Robert Jennings (I'm going to start adding these to the newsletter, and eventually back to the bulletin board, with a catch up for the past six months!) Other tidbits ... If you've already taken a particular course and would enjoy being of service to future classes, we're always looking for volunteers who are willing to be "seat fillers." Each class session needs a maximum of three seat fillers, to fill a seat left empty when (#students mod 4) != 0. Jane Winer <jane.b.winer(a)gmail.com> has been coordinating seat fillers for all of the classes. Seat filling is particularly important for my *upcoming Bridge Basics 1 course*. Note that as a seat filler you're only expected to participate in the class activities as a warm body (which is why you're not really a "T.A."). The *North American Bridge Championships* are coming to San Diego the week after Thanksgiving, and all of the bridge club staff want to go play! As a result we're planning to close the bridge club from Monday, November 30, through Wednesday, December 2. We'll take advantage of the down time to do some carpet cleaning as well. (I'm also going to empty the Lost and Found and lots of books and clutter that can rightfully go away.) Best regards Mojo, Jane, Zachary, Lisa, Susan

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So much news
by Morris Jones 22 Sep '26

22 Sep '26

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

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Bridge classes starting this week!
by Morris Jones 15 Sep '26

15 Sep '26

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

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STaC week, come get silver!
by Morris Jones 18 Jul '26

18 Jul '26

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're planning for a busy week at the bridge club! A Sectional Tournament at Clubs kind of snuck up on me. Our novice/intermediate program is bulging at the seams. A new /Bridge Basics 1 - Introduction/ course started Wednesday evening with 24 students enrolled. And then there are the other events coming this week! Here's the rundown: Lulu Minter seminar Monday At *10:00 AM* before the memorial game, Lulu Minter will present a seminar on defense topics. We'll be using the "community room" down the hall from the bridge club, so there's plenty of room for everyone who wants to attend. No charge! Monday Memorial game FULL Monday is our special memorial game for Rosario "Charo" Holdo, and the bridge club is completely full with 19 tables expected. At the moment I have a short waiting list for seats, so it's very important to let us know if you have a reservation but will not be playing. The bridge unit is sponsoring a Mexican lunch from Vallarta for the occasion. We'll take a lunch break about 12:00. With a little time for lunch, we're expecting this game to run until almost 3:00 PM. Please allow for some extra time to play! Rosario's son Erik is graciously sponsoring card fees for all players on Monday, and the bridge club is picking up the extra sanction fee for the silver points. Silver point games all week This week is a Sectional Tournament at Clubs (STaC) for District 23. Ten bridge clubs in LA County will be playing the same boards and combining their results for high overall awards. All six Open Pairs games this week, Monday through Friday at 11:00, Saturday at 1:00, will be included in the STaC. Stratification will be Open/2500/750. Card fees are $13 to cover the extra sanction fee (except for the memorial game on Monday). 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: *Improving Your Judgement - Doubles* "Responding to (advancing) partner's takeout double" * Wednesday 7:00 PM: *Bridge Basics 1 - Introduction* "One notrump opening bids and responses" * Thursday 7:00 PM: *Bridge Basics 3 - Popular Conventions* "Jacoby Transfer Bids" 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. Monday afternoon workshop cancelled We're going to have a big mess of a bridge club after Monday's game! Let's all join Zachary next Monday for the workshop. Best regards Mojo, Jane, Zachary, Lisa, Susan

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Bridge courses for July/August
by Morris Jones 08 Jul '26

08 Jul '26

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> Greetings all from the American Bridge Teachers Association annual convention in Minneapolis this year. I'm here with 50 bridge teachers from all over North America (and even Portugal). We're hearing talks from notable bridge pros on materials and techniques for teaching bridge. The ABTA also gives out annual awards for "Bridge Book of the Year" in different categories, and certifies Master Teachers. (You can see my own badge right there under my picture!) ABTA also designates a Teacher of the Year. The winner this year was Lorraine Eaglesham from Ontario, and the runner-up was Jan Weber from Vero Beach, Fl. I felt like I had a strong application, but I'm really delighted that we have great bridge teachers like Lorraine and Jan in their parts of the world. Here are the three courses that are starting up the coming week: Bridge Basics 1 - Introduction Here we go on a new adventure! This is the course for /non-bridge players/ to learn the basics of the game. By the end of the first class, the mechanics of bridge and much of the vocabulary. During the six sessions, we'll practice analyzing bridge hands, finding extra tricks, and introduce the the language of Standard American bidding. * Six Wednesday evenings, 7:00-9:00 PM, starting July 15 * Enroll for $85 to PCC Extension, plus $15 materials fee for book * Full lesson plan here <https://pasadenabridgeclub.com/course/bridge-basics-introduction> * Register for the course here <https://pasadena.augusoft.net/connect/ClassInfo/ClassInformation?int_class_…> Improving Your Judgment - Doubles In /Bridge Basics 2 - Competitive Bidding/, we introduce the concept of the takeout double. Most newer players miss opportunities to use the double call to their benefit, and this class gives you lots of practice in doubling in different contexts. We also learn guidelines for advancing partner's double, and potential rebids by doubler. As always there are great "play of the deal" puzzles and defense tips as well! * Six Wednesday afternoons, 3:00 - 5:00 PM, starting July 15 * $120 includes textbook by Audrey Grant * Full lesson plan here <https://pasadenabridgeclub.com/course/iyj_doubles> * Register for the course here <https://pasadenabridgeclub.com/contact/course_enrollment> Bridge Basics 3 - Popular Conventions There are a handful of bidding conventions that are the most useful and ubiquitous for helping partnerships discover HOW HIGH and WHERE. We'll study Stayman, Jacoby Transfer Bids, strong hand openings, and slam bidding. Pasadena Bridge Club's resident wizard Zachary Vedro is instructor for this course. * Six Thursday evenings, 7:00 - 9:00 PM, starting July 16 * $120 includes textbook by Audrey Grant * Full lesson plan here <https://pasadenabridgeclub.com/course/popular-conventions> * Register for the course here <https://pasadenabridgeclub.com/contact/course_enrollment> More tidbits ... If you're waiting for a daylight (or semi-daylight) session of Bridge Basics 1, we have one in the fall catalog for PCC Extension. It'll be on Wednesday afternoons starting October 28. 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

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Lulu Minter, Charo Game
by Morris Jones 07 Jul '26

07 Jul '26

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> Greetings from Minneapolis! Jane and I arrived Sunday night, and we'll be attending the American Bridge Teachers Association annual conference Monday through Wednesday. Yesterday at the conference I introduced Robert Todd for his presentation. This morning at 11:00 I did a presentation of my own. I showed the teachers how I do the Saturday morning workshops using the hands from Eddie Kantar's "Thinking Bridge" collection. It seemed to go really well. One of the players last Saturday morning suggested, "Maybe you should just keep that to yourself and have it be our own special thing." Naaah, but duly noted! On Wednesday morning they'll announce the winner of the Teacher of the Year award. I'll have my fingers crossed, and let you know! Lulu Minter seminar July 20 Monday, July 20, we're holding a special game in memory of Rosario "Charo" Holdo. The game will be free of charge, and scored as an "Upgraded Club Championship." The unit is graciously providing a Mexican lunch from Vallarta. It's going to be a bit longer game than usual, so plan to stay later! (We may postpone the "Workshop with Zachary.") Lulu Minter will be offering a seminar on "Defense Topics" at 10:00 before the game! I've reserved the Community Room down the hall, so there will be plenty of room for people to attend before our game starts. Lulu says that Charo was one of his favorite students. For all of these reasons, we expect the bridge club to be completely full that day. As of right now, there are 11 tables reserved. We will probably reconfigure the club to hold 19 tables, so it will be a little crowded. No classes this week We have a great new lineup of courses starting next week, July 15. I'll be sending an email with all the details in the next couple of days. /Bridge Basics 1 - Introduction/ is starting up on Wednesday evening, July 15. If you know someone who would like to attend, have them register with PCC Extension at this link <https://pasadena.augusoft.net/connect/ClassInfo/ClassInformation?int_class_…>. Coming up ... The week of July 21-25 will be NAP Qualifiers. (The Monday game will /not/ be an NAP game, but an upgraded club championship instead.) Win 50% red points, and earn your "Q" for the the District Final game on October 4. Best regards Mojo, Jane, Zachary, Lisa, Susan

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Special game for Charo Holdo
by Morris Jones 26 Jun '26

26 Jun '26

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

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North American Pairs
by Morris Jones 14 Jun '26

14 Jun '26

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

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Bridge Courses for starting your summer!
by Morris Jones 20 May '26

20 May '26

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> At the Pasadena Bridge Club our course catalog has seven courses, from /Bridge Basics 1/ to /Two Over One Game Force/. We have three sessions at the club that are dedicated to class work: Wednesday afternoon at 3:00, Wednesday evening at 7:00, and Thursday evening at 7:00. In each of those three sessions, we usually cycle through the seven courses in order, so there's usually something for every level of player, and every course should come up three or four times a year. The courses make up a sequence of learning, and always work best having had the experience of playing games of bridge at the club. Once you have some playing experience, you can really take any course in any order you like. Revisiting any of our courses is an amazing experience. There's so much detail in all of our topics, seeing the material a second time is like peeling away another layer of the onion. Here are the three courses that are starting up the coming week: Introduction to Defense This is the fifth course in the catalog, following Bridge Basics 4 - Play of the Deal. In this course you will learn how to work with your partner to take as many tricks as possible on defense. It's a great class for helping to visualize where the missing high cards are when you can't see them! * Six Wednesday afternoons, 3:00-5:00 PM, starting May 27 * Course fee $120 includes textbook by Eddie Kantar * Full lesson plan here <https://pasadenabridgeclub.com/course/intro-to-defense> * 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 often simplifies finding the right game contract or explore for slam. In this course you'll learn some of the patterns and idioms that come with 2/1GF, and be ready to play. This course includes some of the best play-of-the-hand lessons in the catalog as well! Your instructor for 2/1GF will be our own wizard Zachary Vedro. * Six Wednesday evenings, 7:00 - 9:00 PM, starting May 27 * $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 2 - Competitive Bidding This may be the second course in the catalog, but it's also a course that's effective for players with quite a bit of game experience. Here is where you will learn to think like a bridge player, and see what kinds of decisions will affect your score on every hand. /This is a great course to revisit!/ * Six Thursday evenings, 7:00 - 9:00 PM, starting May 28 * $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> More tidbits ... /Our next session of /*Bridge Basics 1 - Introduction*/will be held on Wednesday evenings at 7:00 PM starting July 15./ You can always drop in for a single session of any course for $25 The novice/intermediate program at the Pasadena Bridge Club is going strong! The reason we're learning this game is so we can enjoy playing it! If you're new to games at the bridge center, your *best first game *is held on Thursday afternoons at 3:00 PM. We play about 12 hands for about two hours, hosted by Susan Kane. We have a great Tuesday evening game hosted by Lisa Walker, starting at 7:00 and finishing by 9:15. Our Saturday morning novice/intermediate game is a special event including a free 20-minute workshop at 9:30 followed by a game that finishes by 12:15, hosted by Mojo. Hope to see you soon at the bridge club! Best regards, Mojo, Jane, Zachary, Lisa, Susan

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