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 writing this week from the Venetian Las Vegas resort. Jane and I
enjoy our occasional three-day weekends with a little getaway.
My mailbag letter to the "Sorry, Partner" podcast was read in this
week's episode. The hosts had some fun with it. (I'm always a little
surprised when I'm named as just "Mojo" with no explanation of the
origin!) It's the episode that features bridge champion Agustin Madala.
https://sorrypartner.com/ (It's in the first 10 minutes of the episode.)
What is the bridge "Unit?"
The ACBL mission is to "promote, grow, and sustain the game of bridge
and serve bridge-related interests of our Members."
Serving this mission /at a local level/ involves dividing the ACBL into
districts. There are twenty-five ACBL districts covering North America.
Our district is number 23, including only Los Angeles county, and is one
of the smallest in both area and membership. Districts are charged with
running regional tournaments, and the two annual grass-roots events: the
North American Pairs and Grand National Teams.
Districts are divided into smaller organizations called Units. ACBL
bridge units are charged with running sectional tournaments and local
events called "unit games" or "unit championships."
Units and districts for the most part are completely volunteer,
non-profit, charitable organizations. Their boards are elected
volunteers -- mostly people who are willing to give their time to make
bridge tournaments happen by arranging for locations, directors (who are
paid), bringing food, serving as partnership chairs, or writing newsletters.
Our unit is #559 in the ACBL, and its official name is the "Pasadena San
Gabriel Unit." It includes two full-time bridge clubs, and invitational
games at some of the country clubs in the area. We're neighbors with
Glendale Verdugo, Pomona Covina, Downey Whittier, and Santa Clarita
Antelope Valley. There are nine units total in District 23. Ours is one
of the largest.
On March 3 at the unit game our unit will be having its annual
membership meeting, electing its volunteer board, hosting a party, and
giving out achievement awards for players who did well in their peer
groups with the Ace of Clubs and Mini-McKinney awards.
(Curious about the relationship between clubs and units? There really
isn't one! There are some units that also operate clubs. Ours is not one
of them. The Unit rents space from the clubs to hold Unit games.)
Classes this week
Individual classes are available to join for $25. No need to sign up for
a full course.
Here are the topics this week:
* Wednesday, 7:00 PM, /Bridge Basics 1 - Introduction/ "MInor suit
openings and responses"
* Thursday, 7:00 PM, /Introduction to Declarer Play/ "The trump suit,
and counting losers"
* Saturday, 9:30 AM, /Introduction to Defense/, "Defensive signals in
trump contracts"
* Saturday, 1:00 PM, /Workshop and game/, "Opening lead basics:
Leading partner's suit"
Coming up ...
Next week in honor of the Lunar New Year all games are Club
Championships, which pay more than three times as many masterpoints as
regular club games!
Wednesday's game will be a full Chinese New Year party with lunch,
treats and decorations! That's the Feb. 7 game.
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>
Have you been missing a travel beverage mug or something else that might
have been left at the bridge club?
I have a little bit of a "lost and found" on some tables next to the
coat rack. Next time you're at the club, take a look there and see if
there's something to claim.
We're due for a bit of a purge at the club, and I'm going to clear out
some clutter soon. It's not yet spring, but it's still a good time for
cleaning up! The "lost and found" will become empty soon.
Bridge the Mindsport
My friend Samantha Punch is a sociology researcher on the faculty at the
University of Stirling in Scotland. She's also a world-class bridge
competitor.
She founded an organization to promote "bridge as a mindsport for all"
(BAMSA), and just shared with me this article from Research Outreach:
Green baize gladiators: Bridge as a mindsport for all
<https://researchoutreach.org/articles/green-baize-gladiators-bridge-mindspo…>.
It's fascinating to see them touch on the physicality of mind sports,
and I loved what they had to say in the last paragraph about enjoying
the game at all levels of play.
Online Lesson
The ACBL has been offering "community games" on Bridge Base Online for
players under 50 masterpoints for a while now. It's difficult for new
bridge players around the country to find clubs offering duplicate
bridge games limited to newer players! (At our club, of course, we have
the Tuesday evening novice game and Saturday afternoon workshop and game.)
Each of the community games features a lesson on Zoom after the game
that covers a few of the hands from the game.
I filled in as teacher for a game on January 2, and it featured some
interesting declarer play problems.
If you're curious and in the mood for some bridge puzzles, you can see
my lesson here: https://youtu.be/81K3H4A9qqw?si=rUXkXrJyVhkgHkaY
If you'd like to join the ACBL Community Games, all the information is
at the ACBL web site here: https://www.acbl.org/portfolio/community-games/
Classes this week
Individual classes are available to join for $25. No need to sign up for
a full course.
Here are the topics this week:
* Wednesday, 7:00 PM, /Bridge Basics 1 - Introduction/ "Major Suit
Openings and Responses"
* Thursday, 7:00 PM, /Introduction to Declarer Play/ "Notrump: the
hold up play, and danger hand"
* Saturday, 9:30 AM, /Introduction to Defense/, "Defensive signals
against notrump"
* Saturday, 1:00 PM, /Workshop and game/, "Opening lead basics: The
rule of eleven"
*New on the YouTube channel*: Bridge Mini Lesson 19 "Teams of four," how
to score team games, and a little bit of strategy:
https://youtu.be/taOlq15clkE
Coming up ...
This Friday I'll be a guest director at Annandale Golf Club. Their
bridge players want to learn about duplicate bridge, so I'll be hosting
a game with a postmortem of the hands.
Lunar New Year celebration! Club Championships all week, Feb. 6 - 10.
Extra masterpoints, no extra charge.
And Wednesday's game, Feb. 7, will be a big celebration, with party
favors and a lunch, hosted by Margie Lee and friends!
I just heard that a letter from me will be in the "listener mail"
segment of Sorry, Partner <https://sorrypartner.com/> next week. :)
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 great time Wednesday evening! We had seven tables of curious
folks wanting to learn how to play bridge! It's always only some small
percentage who seriously take up the game as a hobby, but this is how it
starts.
Having the PA system made the class go more smoothly than I expected.
It's much easier to get the attention of the room and move things along.
If you're interested in auditing or assisting, I'm accepting three
volunteers for each class. You'll be there to fill a seat at a table and
participate as a student. We may not have a seat for all three
volunteers, but it's important to have you!
Turning around the bridge club
Which way is north? Geographical north is toward the antennas and
observatories on Mt. Wilson. Bridge north is arbitrary, and
traditionally the "head of the room."
At tournaments you'll find N/S oriented in the direction aligned with a
long row of tables. Generally if you're standing at table 1 North,
you're facing table 2, and 3 is the next distant, and so on.
When I first opened the club, I thought north would be in the direction
of the director's desk and the entry way. Then we hosted a North
American Pairs final, and ACBL tournament director Lynn Yokel walked
into the room to lay out the tables and instinctively laid out the room
with north toward the bulletin board and timing clock. It made sense to
me, and I kept it that way ever since -- over the objections of
geographical purists who feel that bridge club north should at least
approximate geographical north (especially when it's so obvious out the
window!).
We heard enough to decide that we would turn bridge north toward the
entry way and director's desk.
I've tried it for a few games, and it's /fine/, except ...
I underestimated how many little habits have to change with changing
north in a bridge club! The Bridgemates go to the other side of the
table. The Kleenex boxes move to the other corner. My class boards
switch sides. Players accustomed to walking in and sitting south have to
switch their familiar seat. Table 1 moves to the opposite side of the room.
Turning a bridge club north to a different direction becomes a little
like steering a giant cruise ship. We'll get there, but it will take a
while to change all our habits!
Next courses
The web site has been updated for the next round of courses. Here are
the next ones on the calendar:
* *Two Over One Game Force*, Saturday mornings, Feb. 17
* *Bridge Basics 2 - Competitive Bidding*, Wednesday evenings, Feb. 21
* *Improving Your Judgment - Opening the Bidding*, Thursday evenings,
Feb. 22
Our next /Bridge Basics 1 - Introduction/ will start on Saturday, April
6, for six Saturday mornings. (Bridge Basics 1 is always followed by
BB2, BB3, in succession.)
Classes this week
Individual classes are available to join for $25. No need to sign up for
a full course.
My next several Saturday afternoon workshops will focus on opening
leads, starting with basic card combinations. It should be a great series!
Here are the topics this week:
* Wednesday, 7:00 PM, /Bridge Basics 1 - Introduction/ "1NT Openings
and Responses"
* Thursday, 7:00 PM, /Introduction to Declarer Play/ "Winning tricks
with spot cards, and finesses"
* Saturday, 9:30 AM, /Introduction to Defense/, "Third hand play"
* Saturday, 1:00 PM, /Workshop and game/, "Opening lead basics: card
combinations"
*New on the YouTube channel*: Bridge Mini Lesson 18, leading from a
sequence against notrump: https://youtu.be/WD0e9wI8kB4
Coming up ...
Our club has many players who enjoy celebrating Chinese New Year, and
they're putting together a celebration for the Wednesday game on
February 7. We'll make it a Club Championship so it will be worth extra
masterpoints as well!
Best regards,
Mojo, Jane, Zachary
Tonight I'm expecting about 7 tables of students for Bridge Basics 1.
I'm looking for one or two people who'd be willing to fill in a table of
3 when it's necessary.
It's a fun opportunity to get to hear how Bridge Basics 1 is taught, and
to offer your own enthusiasm for bridge. You won't be teaching -- just
participating as a student. And if there aren't seats available, you'll
be on standby.
Let me know if you're interested! I'll be asking the same for all six
Wednesdays of this class.
Best regards,
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>
Our new window light box sign facing the parking lot is in place, and
the sign maker just installed power for it. It should be visible easily
at night! During the day it may show up when it's not too bright.
I also have a portable PA system that I installed today. I'm going to be
trying it out for the Bridge Basics 1 course starting Wednesday evening.
(We had a quote for a full-featured installed PA system that was just a
little above our willingness to spend!)
Declarer play course
This Thursday is the first meeting of /Introduction to Declarer Play/,
six weeks focused on making your contracts as the declarer!
The course comes with an updated classes Introduction to Declarer Play
by Eddie Kantar. As an added bonus, after each class you'll be able to
practice the class hands from the Pasadena Bridge Club web site!
Part of what makes this course fun is that there's no bidding involved,
just card play!
* Introduction to Defense
* Six Thursday evenings, starting January 11, 7:00-9:00 PM
* $115 includes textbook
* See the full lesson plan here
<https://pasadenabridgeclub.com/course/intro-to-declarer-play>
* Click here to enroll and join the class
<https://pasadenabridgeclub.com/contact/course_enrollment>
Correcting partner
Some players feel that it's their right, or even obligation, to point
out their partner's errors at the bridge table. (Some even extend that
to their opponent's errors.)
The zero tolerance policy
<https://pasadenabridgeclub.com/zero-tolerance> includes as an "example
of behavior which will not be tolerated":
Negative comments concerning opponents' or partner's play or bidding.
Far from improving your bridge results (it actually has the opposite
effect), it's uncomfortable for others at or near your table. Indeed
what may seem to you like a normal "bridge conversation" can seem harsh
and abusive to those who can't help but overhear it.
Before you give in to the urge to make a comment, or even answer a
question, consider how such comments are going to affect your partner's
focus on the next two or three boards. You might be giving up two or
three times more matchpoints than you thought you had. (Not counting a
potential ZT penalty!)
Classes this week
Individual classes are available to join for $25. No need to sign up for
a full course.
Here are the topics this week:
* Wednesday, 7:00 PM, /Bridge Basics 1 - Introduction/ "Introduction"
* Thursday, 7:00 PM, /Introduction to Declarer Play/ "Sure tricks,
establishing tricks"
* Saturday, 9:30 PM, /Introduction to Defense/, "Opening leads against
trump contracts"
* Saturday, 1:00 PM, /Workshop and game/, "Balancing and reopening
doubles"
*New on the YouTube channel*: Low-card leads against notrump (but it
starts with a discussion about alerts and explanations when playing on
BBO and Zoom silliness, fast forward about 9 minutes in to get to the
lesson!). https://youtu.be/H3bRrE-dPeQ
In other news ...
This past Sunday's unit game at the club marked the *first anniversary*
of our opening day game on January 7, 2023.
/Bridge Basics 1 - Introduction/, starts on Wednesday, and with a limit
of 28 students, I have 26 enrolled with PCC already! Are you interested
in assisting and helping to fill seats at a table? Let me know!
We have lots of offerings each week for the social bridge players, and
not many have been wanting to get up early on Saturday morning, so we're
going to put the *Saturday morning social/supervised play on hiatus* for
the time being.
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>
New Year's Eve was a wonderful party! Of the eight teams we put together
for the game, five had no players over 100 masterpoints!
The second place team included four players who have not yet achieved
Junior Master status. Congratulations to Fred Register, Leslie Klein,
William Snyder, and Yuriko Bonds.
As often happens in a team tournament in the "swiss" format, it's
possible for every team to earn some masterpoints, since a win or a tie
will be awarded. Indeed, in Sunday's event no one went home empty-handed.
Working RSVPBridge
You can make reservations for future games, add yourself to a game with
or without a partner, and even pay card fees ahead of the game using
R-bucks. RSVP Bridge is really cool!
Once you're logged in, there's an important step to take: *Join the
groups* that match games and events you want to hear about! (If you have
trouble logging in, read a little further....)
* Log in to https://www.rsvpbridge.com/
* Click on *"My Clubs"* in the top menu
* You'll see groups that are available to join:
o Select games or courses that you want to hear about
o Click the "Join" button
Once you have joined a group, the events for that group will show up on
your RSVP home page and calendar. From there you can join a game or a class!
If you have a correct email address associated with RSVP, here is how to
*recover your username* and reset your password to your personal preference:
* Visit https://www.rsvpbridge.com/ and click "Login"
* Click *"Forgot username?"* and enter your email address
o You'll get an email with all usernames associated with this
email address. (In the username email there's also a link to
reset your password.)
* Click *"Need a new password?"* and give it your username (see above)
o You'll get an email with a link for resetting your password to a
new one.
/Sorry, Partner/ Club Kvell
If you haven't yet picked up on the entertaining bridge podcast Sorry,
Partner <https://sorrypartner.com/home>, it's a delightful way to pass
time on a drive or treadmill session, or whatever!
One of the new features of the show is "Club Kvell," in which players
dish about their local bridge club. https://sorrypartner.com/club-kvell
I could make a submission for my favorite club, of course, but then I'd
just be boastful. I bet you could make a great submission for the
feature and let them know about /your /favorite bridge club (whichever
one that might be!).
Classes this week
Individual classes are available to join for $25. No need to sign up for
a full course. Drop me a note and let me know you're coming!
*New course *starting Saturday morning: *Intro to Defense*, 9:30AM -
11:30AM. Spend six Saturday mornings learning how to work with your
partner to defeat more contracts, or at least take as many tricks as you
can! The course will be based on Eddie Kantar's /Introduction to
Defender Play/.
Register for Introduction to Defense at this link
<https://pasadenabridgeclub.com/contact/course_enrollment> if you'd like
to join the course.
Here are the topics this week:
* Thursday, 7:00 PM, /Bridge Basics 3 - Popular Conventions/ "Practice
hands"
* Saturday, 9:30 AM /Introduction to Defense/, "The Opening Lead
against Notrump"
* Saturday, 1:00 PM, /Workshop and Game/ "Support Doubles"
In other news ...
I currently have 18 students enrolled in /Bridge Basics 1 -
Introduction/ starting on January 10. I'm only planning to take 28
students total, so be sure to have your friends enroll soon!
Our new window sign is coming tomorrow! I'm shopping for a PA system for
the main room, and a small one for the class room.
I have an almost-new fast *HP LaserJet printer*, black and white, that
needs a new home. Would you like a great B&W printer? $100 takes it away.
Best regards,
Mojo, Jane, Zachary
