What does it really take to make a Slam? Some optimists say you should start thinking Slam once you’ve determined that between you and your partner you have a minimum of 29 high-card points. Others say you need at least 30 or even more. As with everything else in bridge, there’s probably no … [Read more...]
An Unusual Entry
February 3, 2016 By Leave a Comment
Bridge players love to tell each other about the strangest things that ever happened during a bridge tournament they attended. We keep telling people about the time when the a/c went out during a Regional in Fort Lauderdale, where profuse sweating made everyone Ill-tempered, and also about the time … [Read more...]
Delayed Alerts
January 4, 2016 By Leave a Comment
What a way to start the 2016 New Year – with a zinger of an argument at the table, and winning it! With the Voidwood (or Exclusion Blackwood) convention, my partner Christine and I reached an unbeatable 6 Clubs contract in the auction, but our very competitive opponent, the solid A player Freeman … [Read more...]
Trust Your Partner
December 30, 2015 By 1 Comment
Whether you play with one or more regular partners, the ability to be a good partner is probably the most important skill any bridge player can develop. To be consistently successful in duplicate bridge, you have to have developed an unerring confidence in your partner – that he or she will not … [Read more...]
Up or Down
December 23, 2015 By Leave a Comment
As they move up through the American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) ranks, regular duplicate players face a choice. Do you play “down,” looking for weaker competition to beat up to gain MasterPoints more quickly, or do you play “up,” measuring yourself against tougher players in a field where it may … [Read more...]
Finding Honor at Honors
December 15, 2015 By Leave a Comment
It’s a small world – even in the big city. Many of my friends, acquaintances and even some enemies have probably heard me tell the story of how I, many years ago when I was a younger man, single-handedly quashed the hopes of Bulgaria to stage the Winter Olympics. At the time I was working for … [Read more...]
Those MF Hands!!!
December 2, 2015 By Leave a Comment
Like most duplicate bridge players, my partner Christine and I always try to leave Miss Fit at home – we don’t like a menage-a-trois – but every time she seems to be able to sneak into the car and come along. Misfits are a fact of life in bridge and are one of the more challenging aspects of the … [Read more...]
Silver Life
November 27, 2015 By Leave a Comment
My partner Christine achieved her Silver Life Master rank on Sunday (11-22-2015) when we won the 8-is-enough Swiss team competition at our home club, the Vero Beach Bridge Center, partnering with our friends Ann and Dick Bottelli to place first with three wins – two of them by blitzes – and just one … [Read more...]
In Between Rich and Poor
November 25, 2015 By Leave a Comment
My partner Christine and I always assumed that running a bridge game as a business is a penny-ante affair and no one really gets rich off bridge – with the possible exception of a handful of professionals who are so good they can command $200,000 annual salaries plus bonuses from their rich … [Read more...]
Tampa pre-empt doesn’t scare Eagles fan
October 14, 2013 By Leave a Comment
TAMPA, FL - The people of Tampa Bay proved to be very congenial hosts when Christine Matus and I decided to spend a weekend there around the Buccaneers’ NFL home game against our former home team, the Philadelphia Eagles, on Sunday (10-13-2013). Walking the streets of Ybor City the night before … [Read more...]