Bridge and Bacalhau

My partner Christine and I like to check out historical and cultural oddities as we travel around the country (and a bit of the world) to attend either bridge tournaments or sporting events. When we were in Boise, Idaho, for a Davis Cup tennis match a few years ago, we discovered that Boise was … [Read more...]

Remember the Alamo

T.J. Singer, one of the regular tournament directors in South Florida employed by the American Contract Bridge League, had told us that he was going to the 4th of July Regional in San Antonio, TX, under a new ACBL “directors exchange” program to let them see how things are done in different parts of … [Read more...]

North of the Border

There are two major impressions my partner Christine and I took away from spending almost a week at the 2017 summer North American Bridge Championships in Toronto, Canada. On one hand, it was great to see so many friends from Florida, Canada, as well as from our former haunts in the … [Read more...]

My Blue Suede Shoes

My partner Christine and I had just finished touring Graceland and we had not yet been able to clear our heads of all the Elvis songs when it was time to play bridge in the afternoon game of the M.A. Lightman club in Memphis. Elvis recorded over 600 songs, and he never played bridge, but at least … [Read more...]

Peace in the Middle East?

The last couple of times my partner Christine and I played bridge in South Florida, we noticed something peculiar. Every time you play in South Florida, the game always has a number of professionals with their clients, who pay them a minimum of $200 per club game – more for Sectional … [Read more...]

Mel’s Rule of 2

My partner Christine and I have made it something of a priority to try and qualify for the North American Bridge Championships this summer in Toronto, Canada, in the B classification of the Grand National Teams (GNT) competition. This past weekend (2-25-2017) we took the first step toward that goal … [Read more...]

Bring it on, Jeff

Our palms were getting sweaty, the knees felt a little weak and the butterflies in the stomach were going crazy. Jeff Meckstroth was approaching our table with his wife Sally, and he brought a whole fan club of kibitzers with him following him from table to table. This was the highest-ranked … [Read more...]

Magic in Orlando

My partner Christine and I just returned from a successful, but exhausting seven straight days of competition at the fall North American Bridge Championships at Disney’s Dolphin Hotel in Orlando. We played on various teams and in pairs competitions, in double sessions most days, and got at least … [Read more...]

BYOB – that means ‘box,’ not booze

Homer said to beware of Greeks bearing gifts. Poker players know to be wary of anyone bringing his own deck to the table. But in Canada, no one has to be scared of any bridge player bringing his own bidding box to a tournament. They're just from Quebec City, the only place in Canada where for some … [Read more...]

Breaking the Rules

The Melbourne, Florida, bridge club that plays at the Wickham Park Senior Center has become the second club away from home for my partner Christine and me. In the days when at least one of us was still working and we were limited to night and weekend games, we often made the 50-minute drive up to … [Read more...]