[News] A little about ACBL

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> This past Saturday was our busiest Saturday ever for normal club games at the Pasadena Bridge Club. Our novice/intermediate "workshop and game" at 9:30 had nine full tables, and our afternoon Open Pairs had nine full as well, for an 18-table day. So far in 2026 we're in the top 50 in f2f bridge clubs in North America. We have a *special guest visiting* on Monday. Brenda Egeland, the creator of RSVPBridge, is visiting the club and playing in the game. Drop in and say "hi," or better, join us in the game. The ACBL you may not know ... The American Contract Bridge League has a physical headquarters just south of Memphis, TN. But the bulk of the ACBL is found in their districts and units. North America is divided into 25 districts, and each district is divided into a number of units, sometimes containing a single sanctioned club. Our unit (559) is the Pasadena San Gabriel Unit. We're bounded by the Glendale Verdugo, Pomona Covina, Downey-Whittier, and Santa Clarita Antelope Valley units. There are nine units in District 23. District 23 is Los Angeles County, and we're surrounded by District 22, which is everything else in Southern California (including, for instance, Ventura and San Diego). While the ACBL has a professional administrative staff (including CEO Bronia Jenkins), and a field operation that includes tournament directors, /everything else ACBL is managed by volunteers!/ From the national board of directors to the smallest unit board, *everyone is a volunteer.* Sectional and regional tournaments are all managed by volunteers. There are volunteer "boards of directors" at every level. This structure has its tradeoffs, but it speak volumes about how bridge players are dedicated to the growth and preservation of our game. The Pasadena San Gabriel Unit will be having its annual membership meeting and board election at the unit game on March 1. Our bridge club is within unit 559, but the club does not have a formal business relationship with the unit. Most clubs, like ours, are independent businesses. To hold unit games and sectional tournaments, the unit rents space and hires directors. Not an ACBL member yet? Join for free here <https://my.acbl.org/membership/join?guest=X&club=277210&teacher=8202249>! Opening lead recording off for now A lot of players enjoyed being able to see the opening leads in the club game results, About an equal number thought it was a hassle, and another equal number (can you say "thirds?") didn't mind either way. At this point I think we had fun with it. We may do it again for a limited time, or for individual games (maybe the Saturday morning game?). It's a good way to discover the effect of opening lead on results, and was worth doing. I'm expecting an equal number of cheers and "awws." Classes This Week Our classes are at their 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. Here are this week's individual classes: * Wednesday 3:00 PM /Bridge Basics 2 - Competitive Bidding/ "The Competitive Auction" * Wednesday 7:00 PM /Bridge Basics 4 - Play of the Deal /"Handling the opponents" * Thursday 7:00 PM /Improving Your Judgment - Doubles/ "Balancing and other doubles" *Mojo's pick for this week*: Wednesday afternoon, "The Competitive Auction." We add a few tools, like Negative Doubles (a.k.a. Responder's Double), and look at the competitive auction as a whole. Every Saturday morning at 9:30 we feature a short free workshop from Eddie Kantar's /Thinking Bridge/ series. The workshop is free, and you're welcome to join even if you're not planning to play in the game that follows. Coming up ... The next session of /Bridge Basics 1 - Introduction/ is scheduled for Thursday evenings starting April 2. Here is the link to register <https://pasadena.augusoft.net/index.cfm?method=ClassInfo.ClassInformation&int_class_id=70755&int_category_id=0&int_sub_category_id=0&int_catalog_id=0> for the course through PCC Extension. Sunday, March 15, a full day bridge seminar with Robert Todd. We'll start taking signups for that in a week or two. Best regards Mojo, Jane, Zachary, Lisa, Susan