PHILADELPHIA - My partner Christine Matus and I really wanted to sit in accident-caused traffic jams both ways on the Schuylkill Expressway Saturday - NOT! - and we had two choices to achieve that goal: We could have gone to watch the Philadelphia Flyers lose the opening game of their season to the … [Read more...]
Forced to bid with only 3 points! Aaaarrrggghhh
January 9, 2013 By Leave a Comment
BALA CYNWYD, PA - The Philadelphia Contract Bridge Association (PCBA) showed off its new site for all area Sectional tournaments this past weekend with a well-attended Sectional at the Bala Golf Club in Bala Cynwyd, PA off City Line Avenue, and despite a couple of glitches, people generally liked … [Read more...]
On the road: Doing the Charleston
January 3, 2013 By Leave a Comment
CHARLESTON, SC - My partner Christine Matus and I “did the Charleston” in the week between Christmas and New Year’s, combining lots of bridge at the Mid-Atlantic Winter Regional duplicate tournament (an ACBL-sanctioned event) in the cavernous Charleston Convention Center with some interesting … [Read more...]
You win some, you lose some
December 11, 2012 By Leave a Comment
LANCASTER, PA - Well, although I’m probably less than five points away from attaining my Life Master status now, I didn’t quite get there yet. At Sunday’s four-person Swiss format team competition that ended the Lancaster, PA, Winter Regional duplicate bridge tournament (an ACBL-sanctioned event), … [Read more...]
Never let your opponents play 2 Hearts!
December 4, 2012 By Leave a Comment
PIKESVILLE, MD - They raised money to build a new bridge club in the Harrisburg, PA, suburb of Camp Hill with a variety of fundraising techniques, including the sale of commemorative bricks at the entrance. When my partner Christine Matus and I played in the inaugural Sectional tournament there … [Read more...]
Atlanta turkey: No master points, but a gutsy ‘steal’
November 26, 2012 By Leave a Comment
ATLANTA - Over the Thanksgiving Day weekend while visiting my grandchildren, I dropped in on the tough Atlanta Duplicate Bridge Center for the second time in my lifetime and once again came away without any points, although I got some points for niceness. “You are very pleasant to play with,” … [Read more...]
From the cornfield to the concrete jungle
October 3, 2012 By Leave a Comment
READING, PA and MANHATTAN, NYC - Talk about contrasts! At the beginning of the past weekend my partner Christine Matus and I played in a Sectional bridge tournament in the cornfields in rural Pennsylvania, and at the end of the weekend we tried our luck in a club game in Manhattan among the … [Read more...]
Snookering the bridge pros with four little hearts
September 7, 2012 By Leave a Comment
CONSHOHOCKEN, PA - A week after my partner Christine Matus got her Life Master ranking in bridge at a Regional tournament in Rhode Island, I got all the silver points I need to achieve the same distinction at this past weekend’s Sectional tournament in Conshohocken. I’m within about 40 … [Read more...]
God bless America – and the odd Dutchman, too
July 12, 2012 By Leave a Comment
BETHESDA, MD - Before leaving on a brief vacation to Holland for a family reunion, my partner Christine Matus the math professor convinced me to have one more try at getting some of the gold MasterPoints we both need to get our Life Master designation. That meant going to the National Capital … [Read more...]
Hot and heavy bridge action in Sin City
March 21, 2012 By Leave a Comment
LAS VEGAS - I knew from past experience that Las Vegas Bridge World on West Flamingo Road in Sin City is a tough place to play. They’re cardsharps in much more than poker over there and usually nothing but A players show up so that the stratification for the B and C classes lies incredibly … [Read more...]