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>
At the Pasadena Bridge Club our course catalog has seven courses, from
/Bridge Basics 1/ to /Two Over One Game Force/.
We have three sessions at the club that are dedicated to class work:
Wednesday afternoon at 3:00, Wednesday evening at 7:00, and Thursday
evening at 7:00.
In each of those three sessions, we usually cycle through the seven
courses in order, so there's usually something for every level of
player, and every course should come up three or four times a year.
The courses make up a sequence of learning, and always work best having
had the experience of playing games of bridge at the club. Once you have
some playing experience, you can really take any course in any order you
like.
Revisiting any of our courses is an amazing experience. There's so much
detail in all of our topics, seeing the material a second time is like
peeling away another layer of the onion.
Here are the three courses that are starting up the coming week:
Introduction to Defense
This is the fifth course in the catalog, following Bridge Basics 4 -
Play of the Deal. In this course you will learn how to work with your
partner to take as many tricks as possible on defense. It's a great
class for helping to visualize where the missing high cards are when you
can't see them!
* Six Wednesday afternoons, 3:00-5:00 PM, starting May 27
* Course fee $120 includes textbook by Eddie Kantar
* Full lesson plan here
<https://pasadenabridgeclub.com/course/intro-to-defense>
* Register for the course here
<https://pasadenabridgeclub.com/contact/course_enrollment>
Two Over One Game Force
This course introduces probably the most successful bidding system in
the world for club and tournament play. By making a small tweak to
Standard American bidding, it often simplifies finding the right game
contract or explore for slam. In this course you'll learn some of the
patterns and idioms that come with 2/1GF, and be ready to play. This
course includes some of the best play-of-the-hand lessons in the catalog
as well!
Your instructor for 2/1GF will be our own wizard Zachary Vedro.
* Six Wednesday evenings, 7:00 - 9:00 PM, starting May 27
* $130 includes textbook by Audrey Grant and Eric Rodwell
* Full lesson plan here
<https://pasadenabridgeclub.com/course/two_over_one_game_force>
* Register for the course here
<https://pasadenabridgeclub.com/contact/course_enrollment>
Bridge Basics 2 - Competitive Bidding
This may be the second course in the catalog, but it's also a course
that's effective for players with quite a bit of game experience. Here
is where you will learn to think like a bridge player, and see what
kinds of decisions will affect your score on every hand. /This is a
great course to revisit!/
* Six Thursday evenings, 7:00 - 9:00 PM, starting May 28
* $120 includes textbook by Audrey Grant
* Full lesson plan here
<https://pasadenabridgeclub.com/course/competitive-bidding>
* Register for the course here
<https://pasadenabridgeclub.com/contact/course_enrollment>
More tidbits ...
/Our next session of /*Bridge Basics 1 - Introduction*/will be held on
Wednesday evenings at 7:00 PM starting July 15./
You can always drop in for a single session of any course for $25
The novice/intermediate program at the Pasadena Bridge Club is going strong!
The reason we're learning this game is so we can enjoy playing it! If
you're new to games at the bridge center, your *best first game *is held
on Thursday afternoons at 3:00 PM. We play about 12 hands for about two
hours, hosted by Susan Kane.
We have a great Tuesday evening game hosted by Lisa Walker, starting at
7:00 and finishing by 9:15.
Our Saturday morning novice/intermediate game is a special event
including a free 20-minute workshop at 9:30 followed by a game that
finishes by 12:15, hosted by Mojo.
Hope to see you soon at the bridge club!
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>
As of this writing our club sits at #30 in North America among
face-to-face bridge clubs. I couldn't be more proud!
Our novice/intermediate games continue to grow. Seven-table games are
pretty common on Tuesday evenings and Saturday mornings. The Thursday
afternoon game is frequently drawing 5-6 tables.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Pasadena Unit Game this past Sunday was dedicated to the memory of
Rosario "Charo" Holdo, who passed away last week. Charo was a beloved
presence at the club, and I miss her tremendously.
Special Classes: Opening the bidding
We have a course in the catalog that we haven't taught for a while,
/Improving Your Judgement: Opening the Bidding/. I'm extracting the
first two classes from this course for a special two-night event.
For experienced players, opening the bidding is not as simple as
counting to 13 points. The best opening strategy changes with your
seating position relative to the dealer. There are times when you should
open with fewer, and times when you shouldn't open with 13!
On two Thursday evenings, May 14 and 21, we'll get into the details with
some guidelines that adds important nuance to opening the bidding.
We'll focus on the one-level opening bids. The first night will cover
opening in first and second seat, and the second we'll examine opening
in third and fourth seat.
If you're playing in duplicate games at the club, I highly recommend
this course! There are no other prerequisites. It will change your
opening bid decisions for the better.
* Thursdays, May 14-21, 7:00 PM
* Attend both classes for $40, or $25 individually
* Register here!
<https://pasadenabridgeclub.com/contact/course_enrollment>
Upcoming Course Schedule Set
Here are the upcoming courses starting the week of Memorial Day.
* Wednesday afternoons: /Introduction to Defense/, May 27
* Wednesday evenings: /Two Over One Game Force/, May 27
* Thursday evenings: /Bridge Basics 2 - Competitive Bidding/ May 28
I'll have a new class email later this week with more details for the
"class" email list as well.
Here's where you can find out
<https://pasadenabridgeclub.com/available_courses> about all of our courses.
Classes This Week
Our classes are best in the context of a full course, but they also
stand alone very nicely. If you can't take a full course, you can always
drop in for a single class on any topic for $25.
This week's classes are particularly perfect for drop-ins. Each of the
topics is having a "Practice Hands" session. If you've been through the
course, it's a great opportunity for some focused practice on the course
topic!
Here are this week's individual classes:
* Wednesday 3:00 PM /Bridge Basics 4 - Play of the Deal/ "Practice Hands'
* Wednesday 7:00 PM /Improving Your Judgement - Doubles /"Practice Hands"
* Thursday 7:00 PM /Bridge Basics 1 - Introduction /"Practice Hands"
The Saturday morning 9:30 workshop is on as usual, with another great
hand from Eddie Kantar's /Thinking Bridge/ series. (Attend the workshop
for free, even if you don't play in that morning's game!)
Coming up ...
We've set dates for the next /Bridge Basics 1 - Introduction/ session.
It'll be on Wednesday evenings starting July 15.
/Also/ our friend of the club and up-and-coming bridge player Tyler
Slamkowski (best bridge name ever) teaches music at Saugus High School
in Santa Clarita. His three guitar orchestras (around 50 students each!)
will be performing on Monday and Tuesday, May 18 and 19, featuring many
interesting music genres. Drop Tyler (tyler.slamkowski(a)tutamail.com) or
myself a note and we'll set you up.
Best regards
Mojo, Jane, Zachary, Lisa, Susan
