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
