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 do have a "lost and found" area, though it's not really marked! If
you look next to the coat rack on a spare side table, you'll see a
collection of sunglasses, water bottles, a watch, and convention cards
that need to make their way back home.
At some future date, we'll refresh the area by discarding the lost
items, so give it a look next time you visit!
NAP qualifiers last chance
This week our Open Pairs games will all be NAP Qualifiers. The
masterpoint awards are huge, and paid as 50% black and 50% red points.
The $1 extra card fee goes to help pay some travel reimbursement for the
pairs qualifying from District 23 to compete at the spring nationals
next March in Memphis.
There are three strata, non-Life Masters under 500 points, players under
2500 points, and the Open championship strat. Your qualification for a
strat is determined by your masterpoint holding on May 6, 2024, when
masterpoints were compiled from events through April 30. If you went
over 500 or over 2500 since then, you're still eligible for the lower
level. Check the back of your June /ACBL Bulletin/ to be sure.
For all the details about the North American Pairs in District 23,
including game reservations for the district final on October 27, visit
the NAP information page here: https://nap.bridgemojo.com/
Are you curious if you've already qualified? Look for your name on the
District 23 qualifier list here
<https://web2.acbl.org/documentLibrary/play/NAP_Qualifiers/NAP_D23.htm>.
(Note that the list is sorted by unit number.)
Open for Labor Day weekend!
Come hang out for our games on Saturday, the Unit Game on Sunday, Sept.
1, and the club game on Monday, Sept. 2, Labor Day!
Upcoming courses
Our bridge curriculum features eight different courses for players of
all levels! We currently offer courses on Wednesday and Thursday
evenings, from 7:00-9:00 PM, rotating through the catalog of courses as
best possible.
The next courses will be:
* /Improving Your Judgment - Doubles
<https://pasadenabridgeclub.com/course/iyj_doubles>/, starting Sept. 11
* /Bridge Basics 2 - Competitive Bidding
<https://pasadenabridgeclub.com/course/competitive-bidding>/,
starting Sept. 12
Each course runs for six meetings. The $120 course fee includes an
excellent textbook. You can save your seat in either course at this
link: https://pasadenabridgeclub.com/contact/course_enrollment
Classes this coming week
Individual classes are available to join for $25. No need to sign up for
a full course!
The defense course is especially good for drop-ins! Send me a note and
let me know you're coming.
* Wednesday, 7:00 PM, /Introduction to Defense/, "Signaling against
suit contracts"
* Thursday, 7:00 PM, /Bridge Basics 1 - Introduction/ "Practice hands"
Coming up ...
The Pasadena San Gabriel Unit (ACBL 559) will be hosting three games in
September. The club will host unit games on Sept. 1 and 15.
We also have our fan favorite "Over/Under" game scheduled for Sunday,
Sept. 29. Newer players will be assigned to ppartner for the day, and
get a taste of a true club tournament game with an experienced partner.
More about that soon!
The next silver point week will be October 7-12.
/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
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>
These are our last couple of days to get the 5-game discount card.
Thursday is August 15, and the final day to buy some future games for
$10. We'll sell you as many as four cards for $50 each, and a lot of
people have been buying as many as they can. That's commitment!
Games at the club are now $12. Next Monday we have a week of silver
point games with the Western Conference Sectional Tournament at Clubs,
and following that will be the last chance to get your qualifier for the
North American Pairs tournament. Those games will be $13 to cover the
extra sanction fee from the ACBL.
For the special games, you can still use your punch cards, but we'll ask
you to kick in a buck.
Our coffee service, Parks Coffee, is discontinuing the sale of lemonade
and iced tea, and will stop supporting the dispensers like the one I
have in the club. Admittedly the dispenser has been a bit unreliable!
I still love my Arnold Palmers, and would like to serve iced tea and
lemonade. I'll be looking for some alternatives. We have enough supply
to last another month or two.
Classes this coming week
Individual classes are available to join for $25. No need to sign up for
a full course!
The defense course is especially good for drop-ins! Send me a note and
let me know you're coming.
* Wednesday, 7:00 PM, /Introduction to Defense/, "Third-hand play to
the first trick"
* Thursday, 7:00 PM, /Bridge Basics 1 - Introduction/ "Major Suit
Opening Bids and Responses"
Coming up ...
*Silver point games, August 19-24*. The Western Conference is hosting
this Sectional Tournament at Clubs. Clubs throughout California and
Nevada are eligible to participate, so the overall awards are
potentially pretty big!
*North American Pairs Qualifiers, August 26-31*. As well as paying huge
masterpoint awards (half red, half black), if you earn at least 50% in
these games you qualify to compete in the NAP District Final on October
27. And that could lead to competing in the NAP finals in Memphis next
March!
These NAP Qualifiers are your last chance for the 2024-25 NAP. August 31
is the last day for club qualifiers. For lots more information about the
North American Pairs, drop in here: https://nap.bridgemojo.com/
Finally, our next courses will be I/mproving Your Judgment - Doubles/
starting Sept. 11, and /Bridge Basics 2 - Competitive Bidding/ starting
Sept. 12. All the information is available here
<https://pasadenabridgeclub.com/available_courses>.
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 have a great new group of students in /Bridge Basics 1 -
Introduction/ on Thursday evenings. Michael Blottin and Jane Winer will
be hosting practice sessions for them (and anyone else interested) on
Saturday mornings at 9:30 at the club in our classroom.
It's also great to see the new students popping in for Office Hours,
Monday through Thursday at 3:00 PM.
One of the hurdles that new players have to overcome is holding and
seeing 13 cards at once, while trying to sort them into suits and rank.
I just made a short video called *Sort a bridge hand
<https://youtu.be/7tolBTlo74Q>* and posted it to the club's YouTube
channel. It shows how I do it, which is probably one of a thousand ways
to sort a hand. You can see it here: https://youtu.be/7tolBTlo74Q
Still time to buy discount cards
Card fees for games at the bridge club are now $12 for regular games,
$13 for special games (STaC, NAP, fund games, etc.).
To ease the transition, we're selling punch cards of five games for $50.
You can buy as many as four if you like (that's commitment!). We'll have
them for sale through August 15.
They've been going quickly! I need to go make some more right after I
finish this newsletter. :)
Saturday intermediate/novice (299er) game
Our first Saturday morning game for the I/N players had a great turnout,
with seven tables. Everyone came for the 9:30 workshop, and it was very
well received.
The lessons will consist of a single hand with interesting bidding,
play, or defense problems. Following at about 10:00 we'll play a
matchpoint duplicate game of 14 boards.
Everything will be done by 12:15, with the rest of your Saturday still
available. (Or have some lunch and play in the Open Pairs game at 1:00,
like Carol and Terri did last week!)
Classes this coming week
Individual classes are available to join for $25. No need to sign up for
a full course!
The defense course is especially good for drop-ins! Send me a note and
let me know you're coming.
* Wednesday, 7:00 PM, /Introduction to Defense/, "Opening Leads
against Trump Contracts"
* Thursday, 7:00 PM, /Bridge Basics 1 - Introduction/ "1 Notrump
Opening Bids and Responses"
Coming up ...
*Silver point games, August 19-24*. The Western Conference is hosting
this Sectional Tournament at Clubs. Clubs throughout California and
Nevada are eligible to participate, so the overall awards are
potentially pretty big!
*North American Pairs Qualifiers, August 26-31*. As well as paying huge
masterpoint awards (half red, half black), if you earn at least 50% in
these games you qualify to compete in the NAP District Final on October
27. And that could lead to competing in the NAP finals in Memphis next
March!
These NAP Qualifiers are your last chance for the 2024-25 NAP. August 31
is the last day for club qualifiers. For lots more information about the
North American Pairs, drop in here: https://nap.bridgemojo.com/
Finally, our next courses will be I/mproving Your Judgment - Doubles/
starting Sept. 11, and /Bridge Basics 2 - Competitive Bidding/ starting
Sept. 12. All the information is available here
<https://pasadenabridgeclub.com/available_courses>.
Best regards,
Mojo, Jane, Zachary
