April 2021 - PPDVBC - BridgeMojo

Last game of Charity Week Sunday
by Morris Jones 18 Apr '21

18 Apr '21

We have our regular Open Pairs game today at 12:30. As always, friendly partners are often available at the Partnership Desk. If there's one left behind, I can get them into the game with a player from the BBO substitutes list. We usually play 20-21 boards on Sunday, with a normal clock time of 7 minutes per board. It makes for a delightful game. Best regards, Mojo -- Morris Jones, Monrovia, CA BridgeMojo <http://bridgemojo.com> Old Town Sidewalk Astronomers <http://otastro.org> Mojo's Blog <http://mojo.whiteoaks.com>

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Charity Week continues and Saturday mini lesson
by Morris Jones 16 Apr '21

16 Apr '21

This weekend is still Charity Week at all of the ACBL Virtual Clubs. Games pay double black points. Our Saturday afternoon Open game also gets an award boost from the newcomer game playing at the same time. * 9:30 Zoom 15-minute mini lesson * 10:00 0-500 Pairs * 12:20 Newcomer Pairs * 12:30 Open Pairs, 18 boards, 7 minutes each. Here's the link for the Saturday mini lesson (when you actually lead the trump suit at the opening lead?): https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83912578991?pwd=Y1R2UnJ1TFM2dVZzYmsyTDdzeFcydz09 Meeting ID: 839 1257 8991 Passcode: 7ntxx Previous Saturday mini lessons are available at the YouTube playlist here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLD5qT1hFf-OreW5_zBRHB3WwF6Ljdp-OS Best regards, Mojo -- Morris Jones, Monrovia, CA BridgeMojo <http://bridgemojo.com> Old Town Sidewalk Astronomers <http://otastro.org> Mojo's Blog <http://mojo.whiteoaks.com>

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A note to the members ...
by Morris Jones 14 Apr '21

14 Apr '21

For those of you who don't also receive the Unit 556 game announcments, this from Paula: A warning to folks regarding cheating: Do not share information about hands, not verbally or by text. It may be tempting to get an edge, but the penalty is severe. A pair recently admitted to verbally exchanging information about a few of their hands. The penalty: suspension for 180 days, followed by 2 years of probation and forfeiture of all Masterpoints won from May 1, 2020 to April x, 2021. This was in D23, but not in our club. Best regards, Mojo -- Morris Jones, Monrovia, CA BridgeMojo <http://bridgemojo.com> Old Town Sidewalk Astronomers <http://otastro.org> Mojo's Blog <http://mojo.whiteoaks.com>

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Wednesday Charity Games
by Morris Jones 14 Apr '21

14 Apr '21

Good morning! It's a busy Wednesday supporting Charity Week at the Pasadena Pomona Downey VBC! * 10:45 0-500 Pairs * 7:15 Newcomer Pairs * 7:30 Open Pairs All games pay 200% masterpoints (instead of the usual 150%). Of special interest: The Open Pairs game at 7:30 gets an additional boost in award credit! Come play if you can! Partners are often available in the Partnership Desk, and if there's one left I can get you into the game with someone from the substitutes list. Best regards, Mojo -- Morris Jones, Monrovia, CA BridgeMojo <http://bridgemojo.com> Old Town Sidewalk Astronomers <http://otastro.org> Mojo's Blog <http://mojo.whiteoaks.com>

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Charity Week continues!
by Morris Jones 13 Apr '21

13 Apr '21

Charity week at the ACBL virtual clubs! Double black points at all VACB games. Today: 10:45 0-500 Pairs Hope to see you there! Best regards, Mojo -- Morris Jones, Monrovia, CA BridgeMojo <http://bridgemojo.com> Old Town Sidewalk Astronomers <http://otastro.org> Mojo's Blog <http://mojo.whiteoaks.com>

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Summer bridge? Let's talk. News from Mojo
by Morris Jones 12 Apr '21

12 Apr '21

I'm sending this to my players of all experience levels to open a discussion about how things are likely to change in the coming months. We're getting closer to summer ... bridge clubs are opening ... people are getting shots. Jane and I are now fully vaccinated and starting to make travel plans. Nothing exotic -- we're planning a 5-6 week US road trip after Memorial Day, and a Hawaii trip at Labor Day. We have friends and family scattered around the country who we'd like to visit. We love long days in the car with music and countryside. The San Marino Club (nee "Women's Club") is about to undergo a major renovation. The local unit has a large quantity of "stuff" stored there, and there's a project to evacuate and store as much as we feel needs to be preserved. They're planning work parties on the 15th and 19th, but I'm still awaiting details of if we can get into the building, when, and how many people. (Want to help? Let me know.) The renovation to the historic club building does preclude reopening the San Marino Bridge Club for several months. :( Meanwhile the Arcadia Bridge Center is open with a five game a week schedule (reservations required). Tom Lill doesn't yet have a date for opening the La Fetra club, and I haven't heard about plans to reopen Downey Whittier. This "temporary" project, the virtual bridge clubs, that began to keep local bridge alive while we were all at home, is about to morph into something different. I expected the online club attendance to plummet when we were able to do something better, but I believe I was mistaken. We love the ability to join a bridge game with familiar faces without having to leave home and find parking. The virtual club system has to change, though. Right now it's enforcing a walled garden that's based on 2019 club attendance. This frozen-in-amber online club doesn't make sense as we get more distant from that time, and the concept of a "home club" becomes ever more fluid. One thing that has to change is the elevated masterpoint awards for the virtual clubs, along with the awarding of black points that were intended for in-person club play. If the ACBL Virtual Clubs suddenly dropped the masterpoint awards to, say 80% instead of the current 150%, and online play were strictly "unpigmented" points, would anyone care? Some will, some won't. Open players who are just looking for a good game are going to play in the biggest games they can find. Newcomers will want to play with the friends they meet and know from bridge class. Online bridge was vigorous before 2020, but now it's massive. Here's one thing I couldn't do in 2019: I could not in good conscience recommend a place for my new bridge students to play and practice bridge online. (Have you ever dropped in on a table of strangers in the Casual side of BBO? The behavior is horrible!) Now I can offer curated sanctioned games for bridge newcomers on BBO, and I can offer excellent social games using RealBridge from the UK. So what am I to do this summer? Is there a future for the Pasadena Pomona Downey VBC? I won't be teaching from Memorial Day to Labor Day, but players wanna play. I've had offers from large virtual club pools in various parts of the country to join with them while I'm away, but that doesn't appeal. There are other directors who I can call on to help run games while I'm away. Either way I believe that the game schedule should be trimmed come Memorial Day. I want to find a way for the new players to get into the "All-Western 99er Nite Club" and other available novice/intermediate games. That has proven problematic for silly reasons. When we make it back home, I want to start hunting for a Pasadena location to open a part-time face-to-face teaching club with a few games a week and a low-overhead location. I don't believe I'll have the customer base I might have had when I was planning a full-time location in Old Town. I'm expecting to have a hybrid in-person bridge club with an online class and game schedule for new players: the Pasadena Bridge Club and "BridgeMojo Online" or something like that. Comments welcome! Mojo P.S. Teacher of the Year nominations close on April 15! Do you know a great teacher? See page 33 of the April /Bridge Bulletin/. :) -- Morris Jones, Monrovia, CA BridgeMojo <http://bridgemojo.com> Old Town Sidewalk Astronomers <http://otastro.org> Mojo's Blog <http://mojo.whiteoaks.com>

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Charity week starts here with Monday Night Bridge
by Morris Jones 12 Apr '21

12 Apr '21

Today starts ACBL Charity Week. All of the ACBL Virtual Club games will raise money for the ACBL Charity Foundation, which supports local community projects in all of the ACBL districts. All games this week will pay double black points (compared to in-person club games), and card fees will be $6. *Tonight! 0-1000 Pairs*, 7:15. We play a snappier game in the evenings: 6 minutes per board. :) Best regards, Mojo -- Morris Jones, Monrovia, CA BridgeMojo <http://bridgemojo.com> Old Town Sidewalk Astronomers <http://otastro.org> Mojo's Blog <http://mojo.whiteoaks.com>

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Open Pairs 12:30
by Morris Jones 11 Apr '21

11 Apr '21

Come play this afternoon at 12:30! We have our regular Open Pairs game. We've been playing 20-21 boards for a somewhat better game on Sundays. If it looks like a good movement, that will be my plan. 7 minutes a board, for a relaxed good Sunday afternoon game. :) Best regards, Mojo -- Morris Jones, Monrovia, CA BridgeMojo <http://bridgemojo.com> Old Town Sidewalk Astronomers <http://otastro.org> Mojo's Blog <http://mojo.whiteoaks.com>

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Limited and Open games Saturday
by Morris Jones 09 Apr '21

09 Apr '21

Here's the bridge schedule for Saturday! * 9:30 15-minute bridge mini lesson -- Short suit leads in trump contracts * 10:00 0-500 Pairs * 12:20 Newcomer pairs * 12:30 open Pairs The mini lesson is on Zoom at 9:30. I always start up a bit early to socialize: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83912578991?pwd=Y1R2UnJ1TFM2dVZzYmsyTDdzeFcydz09 Meeting ID: 839 1257 8991 Passcode: 7ntxx You can browse through other Saturday bridge lessons on this YouTube playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLD5qT1hFf-OreW5_zBRHB3WwF6Ljdp-OS If you're looking for a partner, drop in on the Partnership Desk for each game. We often have friendly partners looking for a game. :) Best regards, Mojo -- Morris Jones, Monrovia, CA BridgeMojo <http://bridgemojo.com> Old Town Sidewalk Astronomers <http://otastro.org> Mojo's Blog <http://mojo.whiteoaks.com>

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Wednesday Bridge
by Morris Jones 07 Apr '21

07 Apr '21

Today we have a limited game and an open game: * 10:45 0-500 Pairs * 7:30 Open Pairs (6 minutes per board) I also have a newcomer pairs event at 7:15 that adds value to the Open Pairs at 7:30. Come play if you can! Friendly partners are often available at the Partnership Desk. :) Best regards, Mojo -- Morris Jones, Monrovia, CA BridgeMojo <http://bridgemojo.com> Old Town Sidewalk Astronomers <http://otastro.org> Mojo's Blog <http://mojo.whiteoaks.com>

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