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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>
A lot of folks won a little gold, and supported ACBL Charities this past
week!
For the ACBL-wide Charity Pairs on Wednesday, each district awarded five
overall places. Our own *John Barrow* and *Sherry Hansen* placed 3rd in
District 23 for a nice chunk of points!
Friday and Saturday Open Pairs
This week marks the inaugural games on Friday and Saturday:
* Friday Open Pairs 11:00 AM
* Saturday Open Pairs 1:00 PM
Note that the Saturday game will be two sections -- two games playing
simultaneously. The Open Pairs game will be held along with a 299er game
(limited to players under 300 masterpoints).
The bridge club could possibly be very full on a Saturday afternoon!
Reservations will be important.
These new games /will not appear in your calendar/ on RSVPBridge until
you *add yourself to the "group"* for each of the games. To do that:
* Log in to https://rsvpbridge.com/
* Click on "My Clubs" in the top ribbon
* You'll see a list of the groups you belong to, and "Would you like
to join any of these groups?"
* Click on the groups you'd like to join, such as Open Fri AM, or Open
Sat PM, and click the "Join" button
When you're a member of a group, you'll get an email with reminders of
the game. Each game will appear in your top calendar, and you can see
who has already signed up to play.
Is that the right score?
Last week we had a little rash of score corrections discovered only
after the game was long over!
It's good to know that each game has a 24-hour period when score
mistakes can be corrected and the game results adjusted, but no one
really wants to see that happen very often!
There are two important things you can do to help prevent scoring mistakes:
1. Keep a private written copy of your results. Use the back of a
convention card to make note of the contract, declarer, and results
for each board.
2. Carefully check the board results entered into the Bridgemate! When
North passes you the Bridgemate to verify a result, check to see
that it has:
1. The right board number
2. The right contract
3. The right declarer
4. The right result
If the wrong information is there, the "Cancel" button on the Bridgemate
acts as a "backspace" to back up and fix the result.
Classes this coming week
Classes are available to join for $25. No need to sign up for a full course.
This week and next, all of our classes are playing *practice hands* that
are relevant to the course topic. This is a great way to brush up on
relevant skills, and have fun playing hands in a class context!
Here are the topics this week:
* Wednesday (4/24), 7:00 PM, /Bridge Basics 3 - Popular Conventions/
* Thursday (4/25), 7:00 PM, /Improving Your Judgment - Doubles/
* Saturday (4/26), 9:30 AM, /Bridge Basics 1 - Introduction/
Coming up ...
Royal STaC week! May 6-12. All games will award Sectional rated
masterpoints. The awards will be 25% black, 25% silver, 25% black, and
25% gold.
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>
We've been having to make a lot of adjustments!
We're ready to start having a two-section game on Saturday afternoons
starting *May 4*. That means we'll actually be running two games at 1:00
PM, one for players with fewer than 300 masterpoints, and another open
to everyone.
With the two games in session, the club will be pretty full. It becomes
impossible to have the workshops in the format I've been having them.
Those workshops are one of my favorite features at the club, so I'm
determined to find another way to offer fun, short single-topic learning
sessions.
Several years ago there was a very big novice game on Saturdays at 10:00
AM at the Arcadia Bridge Center, preceded by a chalk talk. That might
still be an attractive time for our students and new players to come play.
I just started a new Bridge Basics series on Saturday mornings. At the
conclusion of this series, in a few months, it's worth asking if maybe a
Saturday morning "workshop and game" would have interest.
Let me know what you think!
Also starting *May 3*, we're going to add Fridays at 11:00 AM, for a
full week of Open Pairs games. More about that next week!
ACBL-wide Charity Pairs Wednesday
The ACBL-wide Charity Pairs is a very special game! We'll be playing the
same hands as clubs all over North America, and results will be pooled
for some potentially huge masterpoint awards.
The game includes a handout with analysis of every hand. I'll have the
analysis available on the web site after the results are posted late
Wednesday afternoon.
This is a fund-raising event for ACBL Charities, and we'll be paying an
extra $7.50/table sanction fee. So the card fee for this game will be $12.
Stardust games Monday, Tuesday, Thursday
These special games have bigger awards, and 25% of the award will be
coveted *gold masterpoints* that are normally only available at regional
or national tournaments. To achieve the rank of Life Master, you have to
win at least 50 gold points.
The sanction fee for this game is $2/player, so we'll kick in $1, and
the card fee will be $11.
Classes this coming 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 (4/24), 7:00 PM, /Bridge Basics 3 - Competitive Bidding/
"Slam bidding and Blackwood" (practice session on Saturday morning
with Jane and Michael too!)
* Thursday (4/25), 7:00 PM, /Improving Your Judgment - Doubles/
"Balancing and other doubles"
* Saturday (4/26), 9:30 AM, /Bridge Basics 1 - Introduction/ "Minor
Suit Openings and Responses"
Tomorrow will be our next to last Saturday afternoon workshop, at least
in its current format!
This week on Saturday (tomorrow), let's talk about *what can go wrong at
the table* while playing, how the Laws of Bridge apply, and how the
tournament director applies the Laws.
This should be a special workshop! Bring your questions, and let me help
eliminate any fear of calling the director when something goes wrong.
Coming up ...
Coming up the week of May 6 through May 12, we'll be hosting "Royal
STaC" games, where players can earn a bit piece of all the colors. :)
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's been an amazing first week of nearly full-time operation of the
bridge club. Zachary and I are getting into a new rhythm, and things are
working out nicely.
For yesterday's game, Jane brought a few eclipse glasses, and everyone
had a view of the 50% eclipse even from inside the club.
Online Community Games
The ACBL is hosting online bridge games that include some themed hands
and a lesson after. The games are limited to players with fewer than 20
masterpoints, and are held Tuesdays and Thursdays at 3:00 PM Pacific
time. (They have other games, but Tuesday and Thursday features the free
lesson.)
The games are 12 boards, about an hour and a half, and the lesson after
is on Zoom.
If you join the game today or Thursday, I'll be the guest instructor,
filling in for Linda Green.
Here's where you can learn more:
https://www.acbl.org/portfolio/community-games/
Robert Todd Seminar
Robert ToddSunday, April 14, join us for a full day with entertaining
teacher and player Robert Todd. Robert's seminars are dynamite for
experienced and newer players alike. He teaches how to think about
bridge, not just rules to memorize.
* 9:00 AM Modern Preempts
* 1:00 PM Defensive Tools
Spend the day with us for $85. Save your seat at this link
<https://pasadenabridgeclub.com/contact/course_enrollment>.
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 3 - Competitive Bidding/ "Jacoby
Transfer Bids" (practice session on Saturday morning with Jane and
Michael too!)
* Thursday, 7:00 PM, /Improving Your Judgment - Doubles/ "Advancing
Partner's Double"
* Saturday, 9:30 AM, /Bridge Basics 1 - Introduction/ "Opening 1NT
Bids and Responses"
For the Saturday morning workshop, let's spend some time studying
matchpoint scoring. Come practice and understand the scores on the
results better.
Coming up ...
We're planning to add Friday Open Pairs at 11:00 starting in May, and a
Saturday Open Pairs section at 1:00 alongside the Saturday
novice/intermediate game. We probably have to drop the workshop part of
that session, and find another way to offer that. It's a work in progress!
Coming up the week of May 6 through May 12, we'll be hosting "Royal
STaC" games, where players can earn a tiny piece of all the colors. :)
And the Sunday Unit Games are at the Pasadena Bridge Club, both Sundays.
The next one is April 21.
Best regards,
Mojo, Jane, Zachary
This Saturday morning at 9:30 I'm expecting 26 students for my next
series of /Bridge Basics 1 - Introduction/.
If you have taken the class recently, and would like to see the material
again, I'd love to have two or three volunteers to be "TAs." The main
job is to be a 4th at a table, and I may not need everyone who comes to
help, so you might be just hanging out. :)
The class runs for six Saturday mornings.
Interested? Drop me a note!
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>
With the imminent closing of the Arcadia Bridge Center, a lot of players
who live to the east of Arcadia have a difficult time in the I-210
traffic to Pasadena.
Besides the possibility of someone opening a club or at least a weekly
game in that part of the town, you should know that Tom Lill has a
splendid pair of games at La Fetra in Glendora: Tuesday and Friday
mornings at 8:45 AM.
It's a lovely location and I've enjoyed playing in his games. Give it a
spin! Drop Tom a note at thomasmlill8(a)gmail.com.
Robert Todd Seminar
Robert ToddSunday, April 14, join us for a full day with entertaining
bridge player and teacher Robert Todd. Robert's seminars are dynamite
for experienced and newer players alike. He teaches how to think about
bridge, not just rules to memorize.
* 9:00 AM Modern Preempts
* 1:00 PM Defensive Tools
Spend the day with us for $85. Save your seat at this link
<https://pasadenabridgeclub.com/contact/course_enrollment>.
New Courses Starting
Three great new bridge courses are starting this week. Each one is six
classes long and comes with a splendid textbook:
* Wednesday 7:00 PM, Bridge Basics 3 - Popular Conventions
<https://pasadenabridgeclub.com/course/popular-conventions>
* Thursday 7:00 PM, Improving Your Judgment - Doubles
<https://pasadenabridgeclub.com/course/iyj_doubles>
* Saturday 9:30 AM, Bridge Basics 1 - Introduction
<https://pasadenabridgeclub.com/course/bridge-basics-introduction>
Enroll in any of the classes at this link
<https://pasadenabridgeclub.com/contact/course_enrollment>.
Bridge Basics 1 has 20 students enrolled right now, with a limit of 28.
Sign up through PCC Extension at this link
<https://pasadena.augusoft.net/index.cfm?method=ClassInfo.ClassInformation&i…>.
"Can't see new games on RSVP!"
All of my players on RSVP Bridge are members of "groups" that correspond
to each weekly game or class at the bridge club. When you visit RSVP,
the only events you see on the calendar are of groups you belong to.
When you play in a game for the first time, I automatically add you to
the group for that game. The group members can see who is signed up to
play, reserve seats for future games, and get a reminder email before
each game.
To join games you would like to hear about:
* Click https://rsvpbridge.com/ and Login
* Click "My Clubs" in the top row
* See all the groups available, and see "Would you like to join any of
these groups?"
When you add new games such as Monday or Tuesday Open Pairs, they appear
in your calendar.
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 3 - Competitive Bidding/ "The
Stayman Convention"
* Thursday, 7:00 PM, /Improving Your Judgment - Doubles/ "The Takeout
Double"
* Saturday, 9:30 AM, /Bridge Basics 1 - Introduction/ "Introduction"
This Saturday afternoon I thought it might be a good idea to go over the
Convention Card. I will discuss how it's organized, how to read one, and
how to create one with your partner.
Saturday morning we're inviting our Bridge Basics 3 students to come
hang out and practice the Stayman Convention, or shuffle and deal hands!
Feel free to join us at 9:30. Come practice with Jane Winer and Michael
Blottin in the Knowles Memorial Bridge Classroom.
Support for Kelsey
Kelsey McRaeMy new bridge player and student Kelsey McRae was diagnosed
with stage 2 breast cancer this past February. She's doing well and
recovering now from a double mastectomy and reconstruction.
Her friends have set up a GoFundMe page
<https://www.gofundme.com/f/donate-to-kelsey-mcraes-breast-cancer-recovery?m…>,
and I was happy to offer some support. If you'd like to as well, give it
a click! Help get Kelsey back to the bridge table soon.
Best regards,
Mojo, Jane, Zachary
