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>
Early Tuesday morning Jane and I will be flying to St. Louis for the
spring North American Bridge Championships.
On Wednesday (and maybe Thursday!), Sarah Deschenes and I will play in
the North American Pairs Flight A tournament representing District 23.
We're definitely underdogs in the event. Neither of us has much
experience at playing in tournaments at this level. It isn't a national
championship, since the event is capped at 6,000 masterpoints.
As Woody Allen famously said, "90% of life is showing up." We're showing
up for this one, and open to all possibilities.
After the NAP event, we'll pick up teammates and play in more events for
a few days of intense bridge.
I'll be back a week from Tuesday, and Zachary and Susan Kane will be
filling in for me at the bridge club.
Robert Todd seminar
On *Sunday March 15* we're proud to host Robert Todd for his third year
in Pasadena. Robert is one of my mentors as a teacher. His background as
a former math professor seems to enables him to explain bridge concepts
in a way that makes complex things easier to understand. He truly
improves your ability to think about bridge, rather than memorizing rules.
Mojo, Robert, Jane
These seminars are "multi-level." His talks are accessible to newer
players, and valuable to experienced players as well. They're also fun
and entertaining!
The morning session topic is *Responder's Rebids*. As he says,
"Responder's Rebid is where things often start to fall apart."
The afternoon session is on *Doubles of Many Kinds*. "We'll discuss
several different types of doubles and see when and how they are used."
Attend the full day for $90, starting at 9:00 AM, and finishing up by
3:30, with a 90-minute lunch break.
Grab a copy of the seminar flier at this link
<https://pasadenabridgeclub.com/sites/default/files/fliers/RobertTodd2026-PB…>.
Drop me a note to reserve your seat as soon as you can!
Club championship week
Let's play some club championships! All Open Pairs games this week,
Monday through Friday at 11:00, Saturday at 1:00 PM, will be club
championships.
That means beaucoup extra masterpoints, and "overall" awards as well as
N/S and E/W awards. Still $12 card fee!
STaC week coming in March
In the second week of March, let's compete against the other clubs in
District 23 (LA County) for silver points. This is our first "Sectional
Tournament at Clubs" for 2026.
All masterpoint awards at the club will be the coveted silver
masterpoints, required for the Life Master rank. In addition, the
various club results will be combined for overall results that could be
huge.
More details in the next newsletter. Plan to play in an Open Pairs game
March 9 through 14.
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.
The Wednesday afternoon class "Popular Conventions" will be dark this
week and resume next week when I return from St. Louis.
Here are this week's individual classes:
* Wednesday 7:00 PM /Introduction to Defense /"Opening leads against
trump contracts"
* Thursday 7:00 PM /Two Over One Game Force/ "The 1NT Forcing Response"
The Saturday morning workshop is on as usual, with another great hand
from Eddie Kantar's /Thinking Bridge/ series.
Coming up ...
The next session of /Bridge Basics 1 - Introduction/ is scheduled for
Thursday evenings starting April 2. Here is the link to register
<https://pasadena.augusoft.net/index.cfm?method=ClassInfo.ClassInformation&i…>
for the course through PCC Extension.
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>
The Pasadena Bridge Club is growing!
Among face-to-face bridge clubs (the best kind!) in North America, we
currently rank #30 out of about 1,500 clubs that have held games so far
in 2026.
Our southern half of California is covered by two ACBL districts: 22,
and 23 (LA County). In the combined districts, the #1 club is the Duncan
Bridge Center in Palm Desert. Our club is #7 out of 67 or so clubs in
our two districts.
In Los Angeles County, the biggest club is Long Beach with 540 tables
through Feb 11. We've moved into #2 with 436 tables.
Those "table counts" are only for ACBL-sanctioned games paying
masterpoints. If they were able to count our classes, workshops, and
casual bridge sessions, the number would be quite a bit higher, and I'm
almost certain that our intermediate/novice program is rare among bridge
clubs!
That said, let's keep it going! We have three new courses starting next
week, in our three class sessions.
Here is the lineup of courses starting next week. Check out *Two Over
One Game Force* on Thursdays!
Bridge Basics 3 - Popular Conventions
There are really only a handful of conventions that most players need to
be competitive in a bridge tournament. You learned about "takeout
doubles" in Bridge Basics 2. In this class we'll add the Stayman
Convention, Jacoby Transfer Bids, strong hand bidding, and slam bidding.
* Six Wednesday afternoons, 3:00 - 5:00 PM, starting Feb. 18
* $120 includes text by Audrey Grant
* Full lesson plan here
<https://pasadenabridgeclub.com/course/popular-conventions>
* Register for the course here
<https://pasadenabridgeclub.com/contact/course_enrollment>
Introduction to Defense
Working from a delightful and readable book by Eddie Kantar and Barbara
Seagram, join us to study the fundamentals of bridge defense. Learn how
to visualize a complete deal, and communicate with your partner to take
as many tricks as possible.
Defense this period is taught by Zachary Vedro, a true wizard!
* Six Wednesday evenings, 7:00 - 9:00 PM, starting Feb. 18
* $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
Take you bidding to the next level with this basic system that is by far
the most popular system played in tournaments and clubs. By making a
small tweak to Standard American, 2/1GF makes it easier to find the
right game contracts, and gives you more bidding room to find good slam
contracts (and stay out of bad ones!).
* Six Thursday evenings, 7:00 - 9:00 PM, starting Feb. 19
* $130 includes textbook by Audrey Grant
* Full lesson plan here
<https://pasadenabridgeclub.com/course/two_over_one_game_force>
* Register for the course here
<https://pasadenabridgeclub.com/contact/course_enrollment>
Robert Todd Seminar
Mojo, Robert, Jane
The bridge club will be hosting Robert Todd for a full day bridge
seminar on Sunday, March 15. This is our third year to host Robert, and
it's always an eye-opening and entertaining day!
We're currently taking reservations for the full day seminar. The cost
is $90 for the full day.
Specific topics will be announced soon. The morning session is usually a
bidding topic, and the afternoon is a play or defense topic.
Drop me a note and I'll save you a seat!
Looking for /Bridge Basics 1 - Introduction/?
Our next session of Bridge Basics 1 will start on Thursday evenings,
April 2, at 7:00 PM. The course is now open for registration at PCC
Extension (Pasadena City College). The class does meet at the bridge club.
Here's the link to register
<https://pasadena.augusoft.net/index.cfm?method=ClassInfo.ClassInformation&i…>
with PCC for the course.
Hope to see you soon at the bridge club!
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>
This past Saturday was our busiest Saturday ever for normal club games
at the Pasadena Bridge Club. Our novice/intermediate "workshop and game"
at 9:30 had nine full tables, and our afternoon Open Pairs had nine full
as well, for an 18-table day. So far in 2026 we're in the top 50 in f2f
bridge clubs in North America.
We have a *special guest visiting* on Monday. Brenda Egeland, the
creator of RSVPBridge, is visiting the club and playing in the game.
Drop in and say "hi," or better, join us in the game.
The ACBL you may not know ...
The American Contract Bridge League has a physical headquarters just
south of Memphis, TN.
But the bulk of the ACBL is found in their districts and units. North
America is divided into 25 districts, and each district is divided into
a number of units, sometimes containing a single sanctioned club.
Our unit (559) is the Pasadena San Gabriel Unit. We're bounded by the
Glendale Verdugo, Pomona Covina, Downey-Whittier, and Santa Clarita
Antelope Valley units. There are nine units in District 23.
District 23 is Los Angeles County, and we're surrounded by District 22,
which is everything else in Southern California (including, for
instance, Ventura and San Diego).
While the ACBL has a professional administrative staff (including CEO
Bronia Jenkins), and a field operation that includes tournament
directors, /everything else ACBL is managed by volunteers!/
From the national board of directors to the smallest unit board,
*everyone is a volunteer.* Sectional and regional tournaments are all
managed by volunteers. There are volunteer "boards of directors" at
every level.
This structure has its tradeoffs, but it speak volumes about how bridge
players are dedicated to the growth and preservation of our game.
The Pasadena San Gabriel Unit will be having its annual membership
meeting and board election at the unit game on March 1.
Our bridge club is within unit 559, but the club does not have a formal
business relationship with the unit. Most clubs, like ours, are
independent businesses. To hold unit games and sectional tournaments,
the unit rents space and hires directors.
Not an ACBL member yet? Join for free here
<https://my.acbl.org/membership/join?guest=X&club=277210&teacher=8202249>!
Opening lead recording off for now
A lot of players enjoyed being able to see the opening leads in the club
game results, About an equal number thought it was a hassle, and another
equal number (can you say "thirds?") didn't mind either way.
At this point I think we had fun with it. We may do it again for a
limited time, or for individual games (maybe the Saturday morning game?).
It's a good way to discover the effect of opening lead on results, and
was worth doing. I'm expecting an equal number of cheers and "awws."
Classes This Week
Our classes are at their 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 /Bridge Basics 2 - Competitive Bidding/ "The
Competitive Auction"
* Wednesday 7:00 PM /Bridge Basics 4 - Play of the Deal /"Handling the
opponents"
* Thursday 7:00 PM /Improving Your Judgment - Doubles/ "Balancing and
other doubles"
*Mojo's pick for this week*: Wednesday afternoon, "The Competitive
Auction." We add a few tools, like Negative Doubles (a.k.a. Responder's
Double), and look at the competitive auction as a whole.
Every Saturday morning at 9:30 we feature a short free workshop from
Eddie Kantar's /Thinking Bridge/ series. The workshop is free, and
you're welcome to join even if you're not planning to play in the game
that follows.
Coming up ...
The next session of /Bridge Basics 1 - Introduction/ is scheduled for
Thursday evenings starting April 2. Here is the link to register
<https://pasadena.augusoft.net/index.cfm?method=ClassInfo.ClassInformation&i…>
for the course through PCC Extension.
Sunday, March 15, a full day bridge seminar with Robert Todd. We'll
start taking signups for that in a week or two.
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>
One of the things that makes the Pasadena Bridge Club special is our
teaching schedule and course catalog.
We reserve three dedicated periods each week for formal bridge classes:
Wednesday afternoons, and Wednesday and Thursday evenings. Within those
three periods, the goal is to cycle through our available 6-week courses
on a staggered schedule. Every course should come around about three
times each year.
Every course benefits from being taken a second time! Bridge learning
never ends — it's one of the things that make this game so compelling!
Here is the lineup of courses starting next week:
Bridge Basics 2 - Competitive Bidding
In this course we start thinking like a bridge player — considering when
our best result may be to go down in a contract for a small negative
score rather than let the opponents make a contract for a /large/
negative score. You'll discover the /Law of Total Tricks/ that can help
you decide "to bid or not to bid."
* Six Wednesday afternoons, 3:00 - 5:00 PM, starting Jan. 7
* $120 includes text 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
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 course this period is taught by Zachary Vedro, one of the very best
not only at playing the deal, but at presenting the concepts involved.
The textbook won /Book of the Year/ in 2025 from the American Bridge
Teachers Association.
* Six Wednesday evenings, 7:00 - 9:00 PM, starting Jan. 7
* $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>
Improving Your Judgment - Doubles
Most newer bridge players overlook opportunities to use the /double/
call to compete in the auction. This course will improve your ability to
recognize opportunities for a takeout double, and provide some structure
to the bidding and decisions that come after.
* Six Thursday evenings, 7:00 - 9:00 PM, starting Jan. 8
* $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>
Looking for an introduction course?
We just completed a Bridge Introduction course in November, and our next
one is scheduled for Thursday evenings starting April 2.
Can't wait to get started? There's a course using the highly acclaimed
/Easybridge/ curriculum in Woodland Hills on Saturday mornings, starting
January 17. Here's more information on their course
<https://www.bridgewebs.com/cgi-bin/bwoq/bw.cgi?club=750&pid=display_page9>.
No matter where or how you learn to play bridge, check out our full
schedule of events for novice and intermediate bridge players:
https://pasadenabridgeclub.com/schedule#novice
Save the date ...
Mojo, Robert, JaneThe bridge club will be hosting Robert Todd for a full
day bridge seminar on Sunday, March 15. This is our third year to host
Robert, and it's always an eye-opening and entertaining day!
Watch for details in a future newsletter!
Hope to see you soon at the bridge club!
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>
Feeling better every day!
I really enjoyed conducting the Saturday morning workshop and the
following game. Seven full tables!
After the game, Lisa and I did a minor reorganization and cleanup of the
kitchen.
We moved the dealing workstation toward the back of the room, and left
more table space for snacks near the front. I need to replace a couple
of worn out tables, and I'm still hoping to do a full remodel when we
have the chance. Baby steps!
Baron Barclay finally took delivery of new ACBL all-plastic playing
cards, so we're having fun replacing nearly all of our decks. (Have you
noticed the ink flaking off of the old cards? They've started looking
like a little snow storm on the back!)
I have a big box of used card decks available! Ask for some at the club.
RSVP Group changes
When we first started setting up the club in RSVP Bridge, the model that
seemed to make sense was to have each weekly game belong to a "group" in
RSVP. Players would be added to groups as they played in a game, or
could add themselves to groups in their RSVP profile.
As we've gained experience with organizing the club model, we realized
that these restrictive groups were making things more difficult than
necessary for the club and our players.
Instead of one group per weekly game, we now have two main game groups:
"Open Games" and "Intermediate/Novice Events." Once you play in any
game, you'll be added to the corresponding group.
A big advantage is that all games in your group /will now appear on your
RSVP calendar/. No more "I can't see the Friday game."
Courses will always be in their own groups. They'll appear on your
calendar when you join the course.
It's been a great privilege to work with Brenda Egeland, the architect
and owner of RSVP Bridge, making the product better for us and the many
other clubs using the service.
New Year's Eve teams
Another change made in RSVP Bridge is that the New Year's Eve game was
given its own "group," and (nearly) all existing club players were added
to the group.
You can now see the teams that have formed, and partnerships that are
available to team with!
We'll be serving party trays of Mexican food from Vallarta. We'll also
be serving our regular beverages and have red and white wine on hand.
If you're compelled to bring something, desserts and sweets would be the
way to go. Anything left behind at the club (food or non-food items)
*will be discarded at the end of the event*! Be prepared to take home
your leftovers!
Remember, teams are intended to be a mix of experienced players with
inexperienced players. No team can exceed a total of 8 "points" as follows:
* Players with 0-200 masterpoints: 1 point
* Players with 200-1000 masterpoints: 2 points
* Players over 1000 masterpoints: 3 points
There are currently 11 teams signed up, with a limit of 16. We have four
"two point" partnerships looking for teammates. *Take a look and draft
one of these pairs for your team!* Do it soon!
We'll start the game at 11:00 and be done by 4:00 PM, taking a leisurely
party pace.
ACBL membership dues increase
On January 1 the ACBL's annual membership rates are going up.
If you have a free "guest membership" now would be a great time to take
advantage of your discount on the first year of full membership, before
the increase.
If you're not currently a member, start by getting yourself a free guest
membership and player number. Use this link for your guest membership
<http://my.acbl.org/membership/join?guest=X&club=277210&teacher=8202249>.
Once you have that in place, you can convert to full membership before
Jan. 1 and take advantage of the big discount.
Coming up ...
*5-game punch cards* will continue on sale for $55 through December 31.
The January schedule of classes is posted! We'll be offering /Bridge
Basics 2 - Competitive Bidding/ on Wednesday afternoons, /Bridge Basics
4 - Play of the Deal/ on Wednesday evenings, and /Improving Your
Judgment - Doubles/ on Thursday evenings. This link goes to our current
course schedule and descriptions:
https://pasadenabridgeclub.com/available_courses
The next session of /Bridge Basics 1 - Introduction/ is scheduled for
Thursday evenings starting April 2. If you know folks looking for new
player bridge classes before then, the 750 Club in Woodland Hills will
be starting an Easybridge series on Saturday, January 17th at
9:30.Here's some information about their classes
<https://www.bridgewebs.com/cgi-bin/bwoq/bw.cgi?club=750&pid=display_page9>.
Best regards
Mojo, Jane, Zachary, Lisa, Susan
Just a brief reminder that the bridge club will be closed tomorrow
(Saturday) while I'm still at home recovering.
We fully expect to be back at our regular schedule for games and social
bridge next week. We have three new courses starting up in January.
Monday is our open pairs at 11:00, and the Workshop with Zachary at 3:00.
I'm doing well, but still exhausted pretty quickly! Also, there's no
more treatment in my future, just a CT scan every few months to be sure
it stays that way. :)
Mojo
--
build message
Morris "Mojo" Jones
mojo(a)PasadenaBridgeClub.com
https://PasadenaBridgeClub.com <https://pasadenabridgeclub.com>
Pasadena Bridge Club <https://pasadenabridgeclub.com>
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 doing well, thank you! This week I got a really good pathology
report, and that may be the end of this ordeal. We'll see what the
future holds when I meet with my oncologist next week.
Meanwhile Jane has been taking great care of me, and I'm feeling better
every day. We've been doing puzzles and watching classic movies.
Club closed Thursday-Saturday this week
Zachary is taking care of family this week and playing in Palm Springs,
Lisa is playing in Palm Springs, and Susan is traveling on vacation. I'm
still recovering from my surgery.
Paula Olivares is generously covering the bridge games on Monday,
Tuesday, and Wednesday.
We won't have games on *Thursday, Friday, or Saturday of this week,*
that's December 11, 12, and 13. The Tuesday evening game on Dec. 9 will
not meet, and the 3:00 PM workshops are cancelled for Monday and Tuesday.
On either Thursday or Friday, the property management company will be
replacing our lobby door that's been broken for a few weeks. They need
to block the door for a full day, so this is a lucky closure date for them.
Practice Class Hands
Jane Winer wants to claim the empty space on Monday through Wednesday
3:00-5:00 next week if there is interest, specifically to practice hands
from the various courses we offer.
She's definitely going to make hands from the 2/1GF class on one of
those days, but also has hands available from the first four Bridge
Basics and Defense classes.
She has three days, and several classes to choose from, so what she'd
really like to know is what day you would like to attend and which class
you want to practice the most.
Please drop Jane a note at jane.b.winer(a)gmail.com with "I'd like to come
on [Mon Tue Wed] and would really love to practice {Defense, BB2, 2/1,
etc.]"
Club Championships next week
Let's play Club Championship games during the week of Dec. 15-20. No
extra charge, lots of extra masterpoints with overall awards for each game.
Teams for New Year's Eve
We have a bit of a tradition to hold a special team game on New Year's
Eve during the day. Let's do it again this year to wind up our third
year of operation.
The format will be teams of four, in a swiss team format, with a limit
of 16 teams. Each team is constrained in its membership to the "Eight is
Enough" format, in which the total for the team members must not exceed
eight points, as follows:
* Players with 0-200 masterpoints: 1 point
* Players with 200-1000 masterpoints: 2 points
* Players over 1000 masterpoints: 3 points
(Of course any team is welcome to have fewer "points!")
The objective is to attempt to level the playing field so all teams have
a good chance of winning some matches during the event.
We'll start the game at 11:00 AM, include plenty of party fare, food and
drink, and finish probably around 3:00 or 3:30 PM -- in plenty of time
to have your own real New Year's Eve dinner out or entertainment event.
Coming up ...
*5-game punch cards* will continue on sale for $55 through December 31,
and you can purchase as many as you wish. You can buy as many as you
like, but be careful not to lose them! We certainly don't want to
benefit from unused punches.
The January schedule of classes is posted! We'll be offering /Bridge
Basics 2 - Competitive Bidding/ on Wednesday afternoons, /Bridge Basics
4 - Play of the Deal/ on Wednesday evenings, and /Improving Your
Judgment - Doubles/ on Thursday evenings. This link goes to our current
course schedule and descriptions:
https://pasadenabridgeclub.com/available_courses
The next session of /Bridge Basics 1 - Introduction/ is scheduled for
Thursday evenings starting April 2. If you know folks looking for new
player bridge classes before then, the 750 Club in Woodland Hills will
be starting an Easybridge series on Saturday, January 17th at
9:30.Here's some information about their classes
<https://www.bridgewebs.com/cgi-bin/bwoq/bw.cgi?club=750&pid=display_page9>.
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>
*How do you feel about recording the opening leads of each hand during
the games?*
Let me know with a one-question anonymous survey. Here is the link to
send your response
<https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeh59LNIqgusIidW3rDnUrp1GgxghnezS2…>.
*I'm doing well, thank you for asking!* This is a coasting week for me.
My surgery happens next Thursday on November 20th, and we're planning
for me to be away from the club for at least four weeks.
It's going to be a little tight at the bridge club, and we may not have
someone to run a game or workshop on some days. We'll do our best to let
you know ahead of time. December won't have any classes on the calendar,
though I would like to schedule two sessions on "Opening the Bidding"
between Christmas and New Year's.
My pulmonologist suggests that in six months I won't be able to tell I
had the surgery. That works for me.
The club is doing well. I think we need to expand a bit, using some of
the vacant next door space. We're growing enough to make use of that.
We're also planning to remodel the break room into something more like
hospitality and less like a messy back-room afterthought. We can make
something truly attractive and give ourselves tons more storage and
useful space in the process. (It's about making an overwhelmingly good
impression on new visitors.)
We're geared up for all of these things, but they will happen slowly and
with lots of planning and procrastinating.
Join the ACBL
If you've never been a member of the American Contract Bridge League,
you can *join for free*.
As a new guest member, you'll receive an ACBL Player Number that
identifies you to the scoring system, and keeps track of your first 20
masterpoints as you start qualifying in games. You'll also receive the
electronic edition of the /ACBL Bulletin/, and be ready to enter
tournaments all over North America.
There's really no reason to wait. The player number is yours for life.
But you will want to become a full member eventually!
Here's the link to get your free ACBL guest membership
<http://my.acbl.org/membership/join?guest=X&club=277210&teacher=8202249>.
And if you're ready for a full membership, /you should start with the
guest membership anyway/! It comes with a huge discount on your first
year of full membership. You can convert at any time.
Thanksgiving Week
At the moment we're planning to host our regular games on Friday and
Saturday following Thanksgiving, as well as the Wednesday before
Thanksgiving. The club will be closed, of course, for Thanksgiving day.
Please be aware that the parking lot is likely to be very crowded on the
Wednesday before Thanksgiving, filled with shoppers for Vallarta. Plan
to arrive a bit earlier than usual that day.
Classes This 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.
* Wednesday, 3:00 PM, /Bridge Basics 1 - Introduction/ "Practice Hands"
* Wednesday, 7:00 PM /Bridge Basics 3 - Popular Conventions/ "Practice
Hands"
* Thursday, 7:00 PM /Intro to Defense/ "Signals against Trump Contracts"
Saturday morning is our *workshop and game* for novice/intermediate
players. We start with a free workshop at 9:30 featuring an entertaining
hand from Eddie Kantar's "Thinking Bridge" series. You're welcome to
come for the workshop even if you're not planning to play in the game.
Coming up ...
We're going to have an end-of-year sale on the *5-game punch cards*.
From December 1st through 24th we'll sell you a five-game punch card
for $55 instead of $60. Each punch is good for a regular game at the
club, or use two punches and visit a single class session.
You can buy as many as you like, but be careful not to lose them! We
certainly don't want to benefit from unused punches.
The January schedule of classes is posted! We'll be offering /Bridge
Basics 2 - Competitive Bidding/ on Wednesday afternoons, /Bridge Basics
4 - Play of the Deal/ on Wednesday evenings, and /Improving Your
Judgment - Doubles/ on Thursday evenings. This link goes to our current
course schedule and descriptions:
https://pasadenabridgeclub.com/available_courses
The next session of /Bridge Basics 1 - Introduction/ is scheduled for
Thursday evenings starting April 2. If you know folks looking for new
player bridge classes before then, the 750 Club in Woodland Hills will
be starting an Easybridge series on Saturday, January 17th at
9:30.Here's some information about their classes
<https://www.bridgewebs.com/cgi-bin/bwoq/bw.cgi?club=750&pid=display_page9>.
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>
Our club was one of 117 in North America participating in last week's
ACBL-wide Instant Matchpoint Game on Wednesday.
Most notably, we were the only club in District 23 (Los Angeles County)
offering a game!
As a result, the top five finishers at our club were also the top five
in District 23. That means our folks had their masterpoint awards
increased by quite a lot.
The full list of winners in North America are listed at this link
<https://club-results.s3.amazonaws.com/production/SpecialGameResults/AIM/202…>.
Here's a screen shot of the winners from the district (all from our game!):
Big congratulations! And remember what (Woody Allen and) I said last
week, 80% of life is showing up! The other D23 clubs missed out on this one.
As a bonus, the social/supervised group on Friday was able to enjoy
playing the same hands, consulting the booklet, and seeing the table
results from the special travelers. Thank you all for playing! Let's do
it again next year.
Classes This 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.
* Wednesday, 3:00 PM, /Bridge Basics 1 - Introduction/ "Practice Hands"
* Wednesday, 7:00 PM /Bridge Basics 3 - Popular Conventions/ "Slam
Bidding"
* Thursday, 7:00 PM /Intro to Defense/ "Signals against Notrump Contracts"
Saturday morning is our *workshop and game* for novice/intermediate
players. We start with a free workshop at 9:30 featuring an entertaining
hand from Eddie Kantar's "Thinking Bridge" series. You're welcome to
come for the workshop even if you're not planning to play in the game.
There are no regular courses scheduled for December; we'll resume the
rotation during the first week of January. You can see the next
scheduled courses on the web site here
<https://pasadenabridgeclub.com/available_courses>.
That said, I'm looking for an opportunity to do a shorty course of two
meetings on "Opening the Bidding." We'll talk about how your seating
position changes your considerations for making an opening bid. I'll
pick two dates for the mini-class when I see how my surgery recovery is
progressing.
Coming up ...
Do you love the five-game punch cards? We're going to have an
end-of-year sale on them. From December 1st through 24th we'll sell you
a five-game punch card for $55 instead of $60.
I mention it now so you don't buy too many before they go on sale. Each
punch is good for a regular $12 game.
You can buy as many as you like, but be careful not to lose them! We
certainly don't want to benefit from unused punches.
Lisa Walker is traveling in Egypt for a couple of weeks. Zachary, Susan,
Liza and I will be doing our best to cover all the games for a couple of
weeks. I'm really grateful to have all the help while I deal with
pre-surgery appointments. The big day for me is November 20. Everything
is going well so far.
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>
This past Sunday the club hosted the North American Pairs District
Final. This game determines who will be invited to the Spring NABC in
St. Louis to represent District 23 (Los Angeles County).
In Flight C, two of our regular club partnerships placed in the overalls
and will get their invitation: *Peter Kavounas* with *Richard Parker
*from Upland and Claremont won the event, and *Hsing (Cindy) Fang* and
*Chris Sun* from San Gabriel and Pasadena took third.
*Peter Jager* and *Kim Ebner* placed fifth and become "first alternate"
to make the trip to St. Louis in Flight B.
Flight A was a special case, with only two pairs entered. Both pairs
will have a chance to play in St. Louis. *Gary Moore* and *Thompson Jin*
, along with *Sarah Deschenes* and *myself*. It just confirms what Woody
Allen said that "80% of life is just showing up." :)
Instant Matchpoint Game Wednesday
Wednesday October 29 our Open Pairs game will be the ACBL-wide Instant
Matchpoint Game. This is our third year to host this special game (and
it's good to have the practice!).
The game is played like any of our other Open Pairs games, but instead
of waiting to get your matchpoint score at the end of the game, you will
find your score on a traveling score slip immediately after playing it.
(The scores have already been determined, and I don't know how they do
that! Probably best that I don't!)
More special features: 1st place in each direction earns *one full gold
masterpoint*. The remaining awards will be a "royal" scattering of
black, red, silver, and gold. The top five pairs in each district will
be awarded additional points (first place gets 10.0 masterpoints!).
At the end of the game, everyone receives a printed booklet with expert
analysis of all 36 hands available for play. (We'll only play 24 of them.)
The game takes a little extra time, so plan to be finished closer to
2:30. We do have to clean and set up the room for the Bridge Basics 1
class that starts at 3:00! Card fees are $14 for this game.
Classes This 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.
* Wednesday, 3:00 PM, /Bridge Basics 1 - Introduction/ "Minor Suit
Openings and Responses"
* Wednesday, 7:00 PM /Bridge Basics 3 - Popular Conventions/ "Strong
Opening Hands"
* Thursday, 7:00 PM /Intro to Defense/ "Third Hand Play"
Saturday morning is our *workshop and game* for novice/intermediate
players. We start with a free workshop at 9:30 featuring an entertaining
hand from Eddie Kantar's "Thinking Bridge" series. You're welcome to
come for the workshop even if you're not planning to play in the game.
Coming up ...
Our great friend of the club Jane Winer has been doing so much to help
students, new and continuing, to get opportunities to practice between
classes. She has been opening the bridge club on Sunday mornings at
10:00 or so and inviting folks to come practice hands from that week's
classes.
Jane is also taking on a great organizational duty by helping to arrange
for "seat filling" teaching assistants for each class. These are past
students from classes who volunteer to fill a three-player table to make
a fourth. They come attend a class with the possibility of not being needed!
It's a great luxury for the students (and the teacher!) for the quality
of the presentation — to have the maximum involvement in each of the
classes, with rarely a need for "5-player" tables.
If you are a current student or potential TA volunteer who would like to
join in, drop me a note (reply to this message) and I'll put you in
touch with Jane.
Best regards,
Mojo, Jane, Zachary, Lisa, Susan
