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