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>
I had a great time in Las Vegas playing in the North American Bridge
Championships. I had two great days of bridge, and didn't come home with
any big finishes. It was great hearing about the impact the Pasadena
Bridge Club has had from friends near and far.
Audrey Grant was dining next to us at one of the restaurants. She told
me how excited she was about what we're doing, and I was able to
introduce her to several of our folks who were also dining nearby.
Group with Audrey Grant
Lisa Walker, Audrey Grant, Karmen Armoudjian, Mojo and Jane
I might have a new slogan for the bridge club, "The little club that
thinks it's a big club." 🙂
December has several special events to tell you about.
Kantar on Declarer Play
On Wednesday and Thursday evenings, Dec, 11, 12, 18, and 19, I'll be
offering individual classes that each focus on a different aspect of
declarer play.
The source material comes from a treasure trove of lessons and hands by
the inimitable Eddie Kantar. Each class is $25 to attend, or you can
sign up for all four for $85. There is no textbook.
Here are the topics for each session, each starting at 7:00 PM:
* *Entries* Wed Dec. 11
* *Loser on Loser Plays* Thu Dec. 12
* *The Avoidance Play* Wed Dec. 18
* *Ducking Plays at Suit Contracts* Thu Dec. 19
Drop me an email to sign up, and I'll add you to the courses on RSVP Bridge.
Dec. 15 Holiday Party
The unit is putting on a great holiday party on Sunday Dec. 15. The meal
is a tri-tip barbeque from Stonefire Grill.
For bridge we're going to have two sections: Open Pairs like our weekday
11:00 AM games, and 299er Pairs limited to players with fewer than 300
masterpoints, like our Saturday morning games.
Reservations must be made by Thursday, December 5, so drop me a note if
you are coming. You can pay in advance using cash or a credit card at
the Pasadena Bridge Club.
New Year's Eve Party
Last year we had a great time playing a team game on December 31 in the
afternoon. We're going to do it again this year, with plenty of wine and
cheese, and an early start time that will let you get home or to your
own NYE celebration plans. (Probably 12:00 noon.)
I'll have more about that next week.
New Courses in January
January 8 and 9 we'll start with new courses in the Bridge Basics
series, including the *first offering* of Audrey Grant's brand new
/Bridge Basics 4 - Play of the Deal/.
Wednesdays will feature /Bridge Basics 2 - Competitive Bidding/, and
Thursdays /Bridge Basics 4 - Play of the Deal/.
Drop in on the Upcoming Courses
<https://pasadenabridgeclub.com/available_courses> page for all of the
information.
The next /Bridge Basics 1 - Introduction/ will be on *Thursday evenings
starting April 3*, offered through Pasadena City College Extension, as
usual!
Our own "Black Friday" sale!
For December we're selling "5-game" punch cards for $55, a savings of $1
each over the regular $12 game fee. You can buy up to three if you like.
(That's three total, not three at a time!)
I'll print as many as we need. Come January they'll be $60 again, which
isn't a discount, but it's certainly convenient.
More next week!
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>
It's probably not obvious, and there's no signage, but we do have
something of a *"lost and found"* table right next to the coat rack.
It's getting a little rich with lost mugs, books, sunglasses, reading
glasses, and even a watch. If you're missing something and visit the
bridge club, it might be there.
I'm planning to reset it to zero at the start of the year. Have a look
at this photo and see if you recognize something.
lost and found
Gold for good
You may already have heard about this special charity project by the
ACBL. If not, let me direct your attention!
During the weeks of Dec 9-14 and 16-21 the ACBL is offering the
opportunity to qualify for gold masterpoints by playing at the club
multiple times in the week (or weeks) of your choice.
It works much like the "side game" events at a regional. Each week you
can play as many as six times (Monday through Saturday) in any of the
Open Pairs events at the club. The ACBL will comb through those results
and take your top two best finishes. /You have to play at least twice
during the week/ to qualify.
Your two best finishes will be combined and merged into all other GfG
participants during the week, and the top 25% will earn some gold points.
To join the fun you have to register in advance with the ACBL at this
web page: https://www.acbl.org/portfolio/goldforgood/
100% of the $30 (per week) registration fee will go to disaster relief
for areas affected by the hurricanes from this past summer. There's
nothing to do at the club other than play. There's no extra card fee or
extra reporting.
It's an ingenious event, and if you're planning to play at least two
games during those weeks, it seems well worth doing!
Single-topic classes in December
I've scheduled four single-topic classes on Wednesday and Thursday
evenings. These classes are great for players at all levels! New and
intermediate players will all find nuggets of wisdom.
These will all be focused on "play of the hand" topics, taken from an
enormous library of lessons from the late great Eddie Kantar. Here is
the schedule:
* Wed Dec 11: Entries
* Thu Dec 12: Loser on loser plays
* Wed Dec 18: The avoidance play
* Thu Dec 19: Ducking plays at suit contracts
All classes will start at 7:00 PM. They're $25 each, or $85 for all four.
Coming up ...
The Unit Game this Sunday on December 1st will feature a chinese lunch
before the game. Make your reservations and plan to come early for the
free lunch!
There are no classes on Wednesday or Thursday evenings this week, for
obvious reasons! Next week we'll finish the two courses in progress:
Bridge Basics 1 and Popular Conventions.
Best regards,
Mojo, Jane, Zachary
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>
Bridge game attendance is measured in "tables," with the smallest unit
being 1/2 table. All of our sanction fees and such are paid "per table."
The ACBL keeps a count of tables played in every sanctioned game, and
they publish those counts on their web site. To find it, visit
https://www.acbl.org, click Menu, Club Corner, "Visit Club Corner," and
you'll see a button labeled "Club table counts." The numbers are updated
on the 6th of each month.
As of November 6, our club is #108 in the US. In LA County our club is
#3, behind Long Beach and the Agile club, though if the bi-monthly unit
games were added to the total, we would pass Agile to be #2. (Sorry
Jeff!) :)
And these are only sanctioned game tables — so classes and Office Hours
bridge aren't included in the totals. We're doing pretty well, I'd say!
Join groups on RSVPBridge
You know the bridge club schedule, but when you log in to RSVPBridge
<https://rsvpbridge.com/> some games seem to be missing. I've organized
the club so that each weekly game has its own "group" that gets
reminders and can make reservations.
The first time you ask to play in a game, I add you to the "group" for
that game, so you always get the reminders.
You can also add yourself to other groups. Here's what to do:
* Log in to https://rsvpbridge.com
* At the top of the window, just below the title bar, there's a button
labeled "My Clubs"
* Under Pasadena Bridge Club, look for "Would you like to join any of
these groups?" in script
* Tap on groups you'd like to join and you'll see information and a
"Join" button. (You can even join courses this way.)
Unfortunately you can't "unjoin" a group, but I can remove you from any
you didn't intend to join! Drop me a note.
Royal STaC in progress
The Open Pairs games this week are all part of the Western Conference
Sectional Tournament at Clubs (STaC). Clubs in Washington, most of
California, and the Reno area are all participating by playing the same
hands and pooling their results.
With the large table counts for each session, it's possible for a big
game to score a bushel of masterpoints!
At the end of the week, your earnings from the STaC will be converted
into 25% black, red, silver, and gold masterpoints, giving everyone a
little piece of the requirements to make Life Master and other ACBL ranks.
Overall results are usually available about 24-36 hours after each game
finishes. You'll be able to find the overall results at this link:
https://tournaments.acbl.org/schedule.php?sanction=2411509
Single-topic classes in December
I've scheduled four single-topic classes on Wednesday and Thursday
evenings. These classes are great for players at all levels! New and
intermediate players will all find nuggets of wisdom.
These will all be focused on "play of the hand" topics, taken from an
enormous library of lessons from the late great Eddie Kantar. Here is
the schedule:
* Wed Dec 11: Entries
* Thu Dec 12: Loser on loser plays
* Wed Dec 18: The avoidance play
* Thu Dec 19: Ducking plays at suit contracts
All classes will start at 7:00 PM. They're $25 each, or $85 for all four.
Classes this week
Individual classes are available to join for $25. No need to sign up for
a full course!
This week's Wednesday and Thursday classes are both practice hands.
These are great opportunities to drop in and practice! Wednesday will be
basic bidding and play. Thursday will focus on Stayman, Jacoby Transfer
Bids, strong hand openings, and some slam bidding.
* Wednesday, 7:00 PM, /Bridge Basics 1 - Introduction/, class 5 of 6
"Practice Hands"
* Thursday, 7:00 PM, /Bridge Basics 3 - Popular Conventions/, class 5
of 6 "Practice Hands"
Coming up ...
Sunday December 1 is the next unit game. The Pasadena San Gabriel Unit
hosts the game and provides a pizza lunch at 12:00 noon, followed by
great bridge competition at 12:30. Still $10 cash! Make your
reservations for the game.
Yes, we're holding a game on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, as well
as the Friday after! The parking lot will be busy — consider arriving
earlier than usual!
Best regards,
Mojo, Jane, Zachary
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>
Some of you know that my other hobby is astronomy, and I'm always gazing
out our club windows at the Mt. Wilson observatory.
Months ago I noticed a bright glint of sunlight from the 150-ft solar
telescope tower that's always visible (the tower, not the glint!). I
thought it was a reflection from the observatory itself, but it turns
out to be an art project called Sunstar <https://www.mtwilson.edu/sunstar/>.
Whenever you're in the club, take a glance out to the ridge of Mt.
Wilson. Look for the white solar tower to the right of the TV antennas,
and see if it's glowing brightly in different colors!
https://www.mtwilson.edu/sunstar/
Extend your Bridgemate App
This past week I opened the Bridgemate App on my phone to check on a
game's progress, and discovered that it was time to extend the app with
a subscription. That means it's been one year since I first put it into
service!
Those of you who also signed up for it at about the same time will find
that it will soon be time to send Bridgemate a little money. I added two
years to my subscription for about $7. That's not a typo! It's pretty
inexpensive, and well worth supporting their work.
For those who haven't discovered it yet, this is an app for your phone
that will show you scores and results from games played at the Pasadena
Bridge Club. You can actually see how you're doing in the midst of a
game — it updates your scores between each round. But it's much more
useful after the game, for seeing how you did as a partnership.
(Whenever I've glanced at it during a game, I always wish I hadn't!)
Search for Bridgemate in the app store of your phone, make an account
with your ACBL player number, and join "Pasadena Bridge Club." It's free
for the first year. There's a little more information here
<https://pasadenabridgeclub.com/bridgemate-app>.
Royal STaC Nov 18-23
All of the Open Pairs games next week will be Royal STaC games. Clubs in
several western states are participating in the Sectional Tournament at
Clubs (STaC) for the possibility of some big masterpoint awards if you
have a good game.
During the week, your masterpoint wins show up as silver, but at the end
of the week they'll be converted to 25% black, red, silver, and gold.
Get a little of all the "pigmented" masterpoints this week! Card fees
for these games will be $13 to cover some of the extra sanction fee.
Single-topic classes in December
December is always a little awkward for class scheduling with the
holidays. It always seems best to start new courses in January.
So with two weeks between the end of the most recent courses and the
Christmas holiday, I've scheduled four single-topic classes on Wednesday
and Thursday evenings.
These will all be focused on "play of the hand" topics, taken from an
enormous library of lessons from the late great Eddie Kantar. Here is
the schedule:
* Wed Dec 11: Entries
* Thu Dec 12: Loser on loser plays
* Wed Dec 18: The avoidance play
* Thu Dec 19: Ducking plays at suit contracts
All classes will start at 7:00 PM. They're $25 each, or $85 for all four.
Classes this coming week
Individual classes are available to join for $25. No need to sign up for
a full course!
* Wednesday, 7:00 PM, /Bridge Basics 1 - Introduction/, class 4 of 6
"Minor suit openings and responses"
* Thursday, 7:00 PM, /Bridge Basics 3 - Popular Conventions/ "Slam
bidding"
Jane Winer will be hosting practice at the club for Bridge Basics 3 on
Sunday morning at 9:00 AM. It's really great to get together and review
the material with other classmates, and anyone else who'd like to practice!
Coming up ...
Sunday November 17 is the next unit game. The Pasadena San Gabriel Unit
hosts the game and provides a pizza lunch at 12:00 noon, followed by
great bridge competition at 12:30. Still $10 cash! Make your
reservations for the game.
Yes, we're holding a game on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, as well
as the Friday after! The parking lot will be busy — consider arriving
earlier than usual!
Best regards,
Mojo, Jane, Zachary
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>
Congratulations to John Barrow and Sherry Hansen! In last week's
ACBL-wide Instant Matchpoint Game, their 63.71% score was good enough to
finish second in District 23.
Joan Mesias and Jeanette Deverian were close behind, finishing third in
the district with 63.51%. The full awards nationally and for each
district can be found here
<https://club-results.s3.amazonaws.com/production/SpecialGameResults/AIM/202…>.
Why are the masterpoints different?
At the end of each game, we display game results using ACBLScore, the
game scoring program that's survived several decades of increasingly
difficult maintenance (and hasn't been replaced!).
These days, the final awards are calculated by a program called the
"masterpoint engine." This happens when the game file is uploaded to
ACBL's "Live for Clubs." When you see the results online, the awards
will usually be higher than what was displayed at the club.
There's a calculation performed by the masterpoint engine that isn't
included in ACBLScore locally. In an effort to reward playing games of
more than 18 boards, the board decided to apply a factor to the final
masterpoint award based on the actual number of boards played in the
game divided by 18.
Since the open games at our club are usually 24 boards, that gives our
results a factor of 24/18, or 1.33. (Sitouts don't change the factor! If
you only played 21 boards as a result, it's still treated a 24-board game.)
I believe special games generally don't have the N/18 factor applied,
but regular club games will show about 33% higher awards when you see
the results on ACBL Live for Clubs.
Is it time to make a convention card?
It's not just a good idea!
ACBL's "General Conditions of Contest
<https://web2.acbl.org/coc/AllGeneral.pdf>" require that "Each member of
a partnership must have a completed convention card available" and that
"Both cards of a partnership must be identical." These should be on the
table and available to the opponents.
This document governs ACBL events, such as tournaments or games
sponsored by ACBL units and districts. Individual clubs may amend the
conditions of contest, but we have not posted an amended conditions of
contest.
At our club, I feel that if a partnership is using any agreements that
are not part of the ACBL Standard Yellow Card, they should have
convention cards on hand for the benefit of the opponents. In the event
of a memory lapse or disagreement between partners, the convention card
becomes the document that should resolve the disagreement.
Besides the documentation for the opponents, completing a convention
card is a valuable exercise for a regular partnership! You may find that
it improves your bidding understandings.
Clearly, late substitutions and fill-ins will not have an opportunity
for a lengthy system discussion, but it's still something we can do better.
Note to newer players: Once you start adding conventions that are not on
the Yellow Card, it's not a bad idea to start and keep a convention card
with your partners!
Classes this coming week
Individual classes are available to join for $25. No need to sign up for
a full course!
* Wednesday, 7:00 PM, /Bridge Basics 1 - Introduction/, class 3 of 6
"Major suit openings and responses"
* Thursday, 7:00 PM, /Bridge Basics 3 - Popular Conventions/ "Strong
hand opening bids"
Coming up ...
Sunday November 17 is the next unit game. The Pasadena San Gabriel Unit
hosts the game and provides a pizza lunch at 12:00 noon, followed by
great bridge competition at 12:30. Still $10 cash! Make your
reservations for the game.
November 18-23 will be a "Royal" Sectional Tournament at Clubs (STaC)
week. Points awarded are sectional rated, with 25% each black, red,
silver, and gold points.
Yes, we're holding a game on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, as well
as the Friday after! The parking lot will be busy — consider arriving
earlier than usual!
Best regards,
Mojo, Jane, Zachary
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>
It was a big day on Sunday! Our club hosted the district final for the
North American Pairs. It was a long day for me! I worked the bridge club
from 8:30 AM 'til about 7:00 PM. We used the Community Room down the
hall to add an extra nine tables in capacity to the club.
Our own players had a great showing. In Flight B Thompson Jin and Dan
Lubesnik earned seats in the final, and Joerg and Andrew Rottenbacher
may get an invitation as the first alternate.
In Flight C, Kim Gundlach and Toban placed 4th to qualify for the
national event. Fred Register and Leslie Klein placed 5th to become the
first alternate if one of the top four decline to play.
Instant Matchpoint Game
Here's one last reminder that the Instant Matchpoint Game will be played
Wednesday (tomorrow). It's a unique event and pays big awards, including
a bit of precious gold masterpoints for the winners. Card fee for this
game is $15.
The parking lot at the club is being resealed and striped this week, so
the number of spaces available may be quite a bit lower. It's worth
coming early to find your spot, and consider taking a parking spot on
the streets nearby if you find one.
Classes this coming week
Individual classes are available to join for $25. No need to sign up for
a full course!
* Wednesday, 7:00 PM, /Bridge Basics 1 - Introduction/, class 2 of 6
"One notrump opening bids and responses"
* Thursday, 7:00 PM, /Bridge Basics 3 - Popular Conventions/ "Jacoby
Transfer Bids"
Coming up ...
Sunday November 3 is the next unit game. The Pasadena San Gabriel Unit
hosts the game and provides a pizza lunch at 12:00 noon, followed by
great bridge competition at 12:30. Still $10 cash! Make your
reservations for the game.
November 18-23 will be a "Royal" Sectional Tournament at Clubs (STaC)
week. Points awarded are sectional rated, with 25% each black, red,
silver, and gold points.
We're in the midst of planning games around the Thanksgiving holiday. Do
we want to have a game on Wednesday before Thanksgiving? I think we will
- though the parking lot might be full of grocery shoppers!
Best regards,
Mojo, Jane, Zachary
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 Southern California Bridge News is published monthly and only
distributed as a PDF on the district web site. It's usually out around
the 17th of each month or so. It includes columns from the district
president, our regional director on the ACBL board, and columns
submitted from each of the units.
You can find all of the issues from the past year and a half or so here:
https://d23acbl.org/2023/12/02/southern-california-bridge-news/
I call attention to this month's issue because I tried to offer advice
to clubs and groups who also might like to offer "over/under" or
"pro/am" games. If it's something you're interested in, have a look at
my column from the Pasadena unit.
Club Appreciation Week
All of our open games pay lots of extra masterpoints this week. It's our
second week of Club Appreciation games, gifted to clubs as part of Jane
Johnson Club Appreciation Month. This comes around every October.
Instant Matchpoint Game Wed. Oct. 30
This is another special event we'll be offering next week. The Instant
Matchpoint Game is a one-of-a-kind event! Instead of waiting until the
end of the game to find out your matchpoint score, the matchpoints for
every score have been determined ahead of time. After playing each
board, NS and EW split 100 matchpoints, and you can see how you're doing
in real time.
In a way, you're not competing against the other N/S or E/W pairs, but
against the score chart that was painstakingly developed for the game.
(I don't know how it comes to be!)
At the end of the game, everyone receives a booklet with expert analysis
of every hand. The awards for doing well are very good, including one
full *gold point *for the winning pair in each direction!
As a special game with lots of printed material, the card fee for this
game is $15. Last year the game took a bit of extra time to play as
well, so plan for a slightly late departure on Wednesday, October 30.
Make reservations early! It was very popular last year.
NAP District Final
The club is hosting the district's North American Pairs final game this
Sunday, October 27. If you qualified in an NAP game in June, July, or
August, you're invited to compete in this game for a chance to represent
District 23 at the Nationals in Memphis next March.
Here's an information page with everything you need to know, including
how to make a reservation for the game: https://nap.bridgemojo.com/
Classes this week
Individual classes are available to join for $25. No need to sign up for
a full course! This week starts two new courses. We have great groups
signed up for both!
For Bridge Basics 1, I'm always looking for "teaching assistants" who
are willing to come help fill a table, so everyone gets to play. If your
Wednesday evenings are free and this interests you, let me know! I'll
only ever need three at most for a given class.
* Wednesday, 7:00 PM, /Bridge Basics 1 - Introduction/, class 1 of 6
"Introduction"
* Thursday, 7:00 PM, /Bridge Basics 3 - Popular Conventions/ class 1
of 6 "The Stayman Convention"
Coming up ...
The week before Thanksgiving we're going to have a Royal STaC week. The
games will pay like a sectional, but the awards will be 25% each black,
silver, red, and gold masterpoints.
Unit games next month are on Sundays, November 3 and 17.
Best regards,
Mojo, Jane, Zachary
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 two great courses starting next week on Wednesday and Thursday
evenings! Invite your friends to discover our game on Wednesday
evenings, and join us on Thursdays to learn (or fine tune) the most
common bidding conventions.
We also have great games and workshops for new players, and some special
events coming later this month.
Bridge Basics 3 - Popular Conventions
A convention is a bid that has special meaning to a partnership to help
you reach the best contract on a hand. While there are literally
thousands of bridge conventions, there are three or four that you'll
find the most frequently used and valuable to know.
In this course we'll learn about Stayman, Jacoby Transfer Bids, strong
opening bids, and some tools for bidding slams.
* Six Thursday evenings, starting Oct. 24, 7:00 - 9:00 PM
* Full course description
<https://pasadenabridgeclub.com/course/popular-conventions>
* $120 includes textbook by Audrey Grant
* Click here to enroll
<https://pasadenabridgeclub.com/contact/course_enrollment>
Bridge Basics 1 - Introduction
This is the launch pad course for your bridge experience! Even if you've
taken the course before, seeing it again always reveals new details that
you missed the first time.
In the first class you'll learn the mechanics of the game and much of
the vocabulary, such as /tricks, notrump, trump, declarer, dummy,
opening lead, contract/. For the rest of the class, we'll learn
techniques for winning extra tricks, and much of the language of
bidding. The last two classes will be practice in using your new skills!
* Six Wednesday evenings, starting Oct. 23, 7:00 - 9:00 PM
* Full course description
<https://pasadenabridgeclub.com/course/bridge-basics-introduction>
* $100 includes textbook by Audrey Grant
* Click here to enroll
<https://pasadena.augusoft.net/index.cfm?method=ClassInfo.ClassInformation&i…>
Office Hours!
Join us for casual bridge Monday through Thursday from 3:00 - 5:00.
Plenty of nice partners available.
We'll have an experienced bridge player on hand to help you with sticky
problems. Try playing the same hands as we play in the 11:00 Open game
and compare your results to theirs!
Office Hours are available for a $5 donation, and a great way for newer
players to develop their bridge muscles!
Novice/Intermediate Games
Every *Tuesday evening* from 7:00-9:15 we have a real bridge game that's
specifically for newer players. No sharks in the game! Lisa Walker hosts
a room of friendly newer bridge players ready to welcome you to the
table. If you're looking for a partner, we almost always have one
available for you.
Come earn your first masterpoints in this game!
*Saturday mornings* are dedicated to our novice/intermediate players. We
start the morning at 9:30 with a fascinating bridge hand from Eddie
Kantar's "Thinking Bridge" series. Every hand teaches /how to think/
about a bridge hand, from the perspectives of bidding, declarer play,
and defense.
The workshop is followed at 10:00 by a 14-15 board bridge game, finished
by 12:15.
Coming up at the bridge club
We have another week of Club Appreciation games with lots of extra
masterpoints awarded, October 21-26.
Wednesday October 30 is a very special game, the ACBL-wide *Instant
Matchpoint game*. At the end of the game, players get a printed booklet
with expert analysis of all the hands. Matchpoint awards are
pre-determined on the spot. And the winning pair in each direction can
earn a *full Gold masterpoint*! (Card fee for this very special game
will be $15.)
Mojo, Jane and Zachary
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>
When I first started attending tournaments, I was always fascinated by
the planning and organization of the games, despite never really knowing
who would show up to play. Would it be not enough, or would it be too many?
I share this "director's dilemma" with Brenda Egeland from D.C. Like me,
she was also fascinated by directing and organizing bridge games as a
very new player. She told me she earned her club director certification
when she had about 50 masterpoints.
Brenda is also a talented software engineer. She addressed that
perpetual anxiety by building RSVPBridge. I saw its value as a planning
tool early on, and many other major clubs (Honors Bridge in Manhattan
among others) have adopted it as well.
The real value in having reservations for a game is that /I know you are
coming/. If you're a couple of minutes late, I can still establish a
movement and start the game, while keeping your seat available.
If someone has an unintentional or forgotten reservation, it's not
really a disaster. We might end up with a half table that wasn't
expected, but that's not so bad.
Sadly, last week I had a pair arrive about five minutes late who was not
in the reservation list. With everyone present, the game had started
right at 11:00, and the players were well into their first boards. The
new pair thought they had a reservation, but for some unknown reason it
didn't make it into RSVPBridge for the game.
A more experienced director might have found a way to add a table to the
movement, but it wasn't something that was part of my repertoire.
Because of the reservation system, I haven't had to deal with that
situation! (Studying up for next time!)
The reservation system relies on email to remind players that they are
(or are not) on the list for a game. The reminders are not sent
automatically; I try to remember to send one the night before or at
least several hours before a game.
Email is notoriously unreliable. Often such generated emails are routed
to junk or spam folders instead of the inbox, and many people just don't
use email (I completely understand!).
So I ask a couple of things: Watch out for those emails if you can. When
the reminder email for each game arrives from RSVPBridge, look for "You
are (or are not) signed up to play" in the email. If it's wrong, let me
know!
Secondly, if you're making a last minute reservation, or want to play on
the spur of the moment, please try to make it to the bridge club at
least 10 minutes before game time, or call (626) 247-4457 and leave a
message. We can get you into the game and change the movement if we know
you're coming!
Club championships all week
Each quarter the ACBL invites clubs to hold "Club Championships" for
each of the club's weekly games. There's no extra sanction fee and no
extra card fee.
The point awards are significant! In addition, each game will have
"overall" winners -- not just N/S and E/W winners.
(This might be the week when you choose to play E/W instead of N/S if
you can! If you're wondering why, ask me sometime.)
Classes this coming week
Individual classes are available to join for $25. No need to sign up for
a full course!
*Mojo's pick*: /Improving Your Judgement - Doubles/ on Wednesday
evening. Add some precision to your bids after partner doubles.
* Wednesday, 7:00 PM, /Improving Your Judgment - Doubles/, "Doubler's
rebid and the subsequent auction"
* Thursday, 7:00 PM, /Bridge Basics 2 - Competitive Bidding/ "The
takeout double"
In December, I'm going to hold four individual classes from the Eddie
Kantar lesson series. I've picked four excellent topics on declarer
play. More about that in a couple weeks.
Coming up ...
I was mistaken when I listed October 7-12 as a STaC silver point week,
but we will get to have two weeks of double point games during October
-- the Jane Johnson Club Appreciation games. I'll add them to the
schedule soon.
*Bridge Basics 1 - Introduction* will begin again on Wednesday evenings
starting October 23. Enrollment is open now at PCC Extension
<https://pasadena.augusoft.net/index.cfm?method=ClassInfo.ClassInformation&i…>!
**
Best regards,
Mojo, Jane, Zachary
