Minnesota Bridge

Board One

Steve Gaynor provide us with a cute story that actually happened at the table!

Thanks, Steve; Board One is posted below!

No Foolin'!

Friday is April Fool's Day. But - don't be a fool!

Enjoy the 2016 Hiawatha Bridge Sectional, held at the Rochester International Event Center!

With great events offered Friday, April 1 through Sunday, April 3, you'll have plenty of competition to kick off spring.

Free coffee and treats, plus a fine venue, all sweeten the deal.

Here's the flyer with all the details.

Be wise; be there!

Smiles in Reno

Occasionally, one hears a bridge story that puts a smile on your face.  Bill Voedisch shares a cute one from Reno.

Denny Cerkvenik and I played in a 1 session Swiss.  We were in A/X/Y with a pick up pair.  Our teammates were a fellow with 3500 points and a lady with 350 points who had never played together before.  In ten minutes, they filled out a card and headed for the table!

We won 3 out of 4 matches, with our only loss facing the eventual overall winners.  We finished 4th in A out of 41 total A/X/Y teams.

Not bad for our little pick-up team!

But - here's the cute part of the story.  Also in our event was a six person team.  The team included Mike Passell, Chris Compton and Marc Jacobus. Their team must have had at least 150,000 master points!

They won 1 of their 4 matches, and earned .25 master points.

"Gimme's" in bridge?  Can't count on 'em!

Bill Voedisch

 

 

Charity Begins with ... Bridge Players!

 

Unit 178 would like to hold a charity game and fundraiser for a worthwhile, local organization. We invite our unit members to suggest their favorite charity as this year's recipient.

Your proposal should include your name, the name of a 501c(3) qualified charity, plus a brief explanation of the worthiness of the charity. Also, a willingness of charity representatives to attend the event and your willingness to chair the event with the 178's board as your committee should be included.

Please submit proposals to Linda Brammar at [email protected]!

 

 

 

Alert!

An alert reader sent an inquiry to MN Bridge about this news story.  It is true; the Ramada, previously the Thunderbird, has been sold and will be demolished.  Though it was to be the site for the Gopher Regional 2016, a new venue will be where the Gopher shall be held instead.

Co-Chairman Patti Stuhlman has been in contact with the Ramada.  As soon as she knows to what location the Gopher shall be rescheduled, it will be reported here at MN Bridge.

Please help us spread the word!  Let your partners, teammates and friends know that this change is in the works.  We will alert all as soon as the information is available!

Unit 103 - Awards Party

You are invited to attend the Ace of Clubs and Mini McKenney Unit 103 Awards Celebration!

 

The board of Unit 103 would like to congratulate and celebrate all of our players who achieved excellence in their 2015 performance.  

 

Lunch will be served at 1PM on Saturday, April 23rd.  Awards will be presented after our meal, with a pairs game to follow.  The event and game will be held at the Bridge Center of St. Paul:  2603 6th Avenue, North St. Paul.

 

We invite all to play in the pairs game.  Award winners play free of charge; $6 entry fee for everyone else.

 

We look forward to seeing everyone at this special celebration!  Please RSVP by April 10th:  651.490.5430.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fast Minnesotans in Reno

The Fast Pairs has ended.  Two of our own were fast - and good enough - to earn the second spot.

Congratulations to Terry Beckman and John Koch for a super finish!

They may be a bit wistful now; it appears that their score was fewer than 3 matchpoints shy of the the top spot.

Yet, second in a national event is a major accomplishment.

T & John - we are so proud of you!  Very well done!

Fast and Furious!

While some of us have left the beauty and competition of Reno - others of us are still in the hunt.  Two in particular are T Beckman and John Koch.

Currently, Terry and John continue to have a super tournament!  In addition to two regional pair wins, they are currently in second place in the NABC Fast Pairs!

Good luck today, Terry & John!

Rockwell Mixed Pairs - Exciting Finish!

No time to take photos, but definitely making time to report this thrilling news!

Congratulations to Minnesota's own Peg Waller and Ron DeHarpporte.  Our pair finished third in Mixed Pairs!

Peg and Ron; we are so proud of you!

 

 

Spring is Coming Sectional Results

Along with spring weather, Minnesota bridge players enjoyed a fun filled weekend of tournament bridge the first weekend in March. At the top of the leader list, we find Michael Lee Howland and Kerry Holloway, raking in a most respectable 23.81 masterpoints.  Well done! Also earning over 20 masterpoints was Harry Sapienza.  All results for each event can be viewed here.

As always, our thanks to our excellent directors, Tony Ames and ever present assistant Larry Oakey. And thanks to hostess and tournament chairman Teri Blu.

A great time was had by all!

The Top One Hundred

Final tabulations are in for the top 100 masterpoint holders in Minnesota.  The list is below.

Your blogmaster, Peg Kaplan, is honored to be at the top of the list, with 14,930.76. But 2015 sees more players hurdling the 10,000 mark.

Terry Beckman, second on our list, has 10,496.04. Third place Sharon Anderson now has earned 10,314.60, and Peder Langsetmo, in fourth position, has 10,157.20.

Our fifth and sixth placeholders are moving ever closer to 10K.  Not counting anything earned in 2016, TGLO (The GREAT Larry Oakey) needs just a hair over 45 to cross the 10,000 boundary; John Koch a bit over 300. At the rate John has been racking up the points recently, 300+ should be no problem!

Jack Rhatigan, Bob and Cindy Balderson, and Paul Meerschaert round out our top 10 masterpoint holders. 8705 was the number required to be in this elite company.

Inclusion in the top 100 for 2015 took 2402.60. Congrats to Jeanine Hall for capturing this spot.

We hope that everyone has loads of fun and thrills in 2016, as they compete to add to their own masterpoint totals!

And as always, please remember. None of us earn anything on our own. Without fine partners and teammates - we would have no masterpoints!  

Spring IS Coming!

Recently, we've seen glimmers of spring in Minnesota.  This coming weekend, however, we are going to see the real thing:  the "Spring is Coming" sectional!  

Head on over to the Twin City Bridge Center in Minneapolis, and enjoy a variety of events from March 4th through the 6th - along with hospitality and great competition. The schedule and details can be found here.

See you soon!