Well here we are ...
We have our Monday evening 0-1000 game tonight, 7:15. Friendly partners
available at the Partnership Desk.
Three important points:
* The ACBL hasn't approved the pooling of our five clubs with the
Santa Clarita Unit 556+ pool. (They also haven't rejected it.)
* Paula does not have a director for a Monday night game
* Unit 556 has a splendid Tuesday night game that everyone here is
welcome to play in (as well as their other games).
For the time being (while I'm on vacation) there won't be a local Monday
evening game. The three Saturday games will be on hiatus with no
available local director, along with the Wednesday evening games. (The
Newcomers have several additional games available from the All Western
99er Nite Club.)
Unit 556 will be welcoming all of you to play in their games, and they
are adding games to their weekly schedule, including limited games on
Tuesday and Wednesday mornings. Hopefully the ACBL will do something in
the next few days to formalize a new club pool.
The current Unit 556 schedule is posted here:
https://my.acbl.org/club-results/266882
There is a schedule printed in the upcoming Southern California Bridge
News, and I'll be working on a web page for Unit 556 over the next few days.
I'll continue to be available online of course. Jane and I are planning
to depart toward the East Coast on Saturday morning, with a likely
return in early July.
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>
Open Pairs today at 12:30.
200% rating, Silver points.
Every Sunday we play *20-21 boards* for a great afternoon of bridge with
all your friends from Arcadia, San Marino, Pomona, and Downey.
Friendly partners often available at the Partnership Desk. I can always
get the last single player 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>
It's the final two days of Silver Linings week. We should have some busy
games!
* 9:30 a.m. 15-minute Zoom mini bridge lesson
* 10:00 a.m. 0-500 Pairs
* 12:20 p.m. Newcomer Pairs
* 12:30 p.m. Open Pairs
There are always volunteers to help fill tables during Silver Linings,
so there should be some friendly partners available for anyone who need one.
This Saturday's 9:30 15-minute mini-lesson will be my last one for a few
weeks. I'll pick them up again as Summer starts to wind down. I also
hope to have news of several additional online events and players
available coming with the first of the month. For now, I believe you can
plan for your favorite games to remain on the schedule and be better
than ever. :)
Here's the Zoom link to join the Saturday mini lesson. I'll do a brief
defense topic (let's talk about attitude signals).
Time: May 29, 2021 09:30 AM Pacific Time (US and Canada)
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83912578991?pwd=Y1R2UnJ1TFM2dVZzYmsyTDdzeFcydz09
Meeting ID: 839 1257 8991
Passcode: 7ntxx
If you're bored over the summer, try glancing through the collected
mini-lessons on 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>
Wednesday is always a busy day at PPDVBC :)
* 10:45 0-500 Pairs
* 7:15 Newcomer Pairs (with Zoom discussion after)
* 7:30 Open Pairs (with extra award credit!)
The 7:30 Open Pairs game should be a really good one for masterpoint
awards. Come play if you can!
Friendly partners available at the Partnership Desk! During Silver
Linings week I always have multiple volunteers from people looking to
get into a club game. (I volunteered to a director in Temecula on Monday
-- had a nice game with a good player, and took home .9 silver points. I
actually need a bunch of colors for my next rank of Gold Life Master.)
You may have noticed that BBO had a MAJOR outage late yesterday
afternoon. They appear to be recovered at this point, and once again
PPDVBC dodged the bullet with no games canceled as a result.
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>
It's Silver Linings week! Today we have our 0-500 game at 10:45.
Friendly partners in the Partnership Desk!
Hope to see you there. :)
Mojo
--
Morris Jones, Monrovia, CA
BridgeMojo <http://bridgemojo.com>
Old Town Sidewalk Astronomers <http://otastro.org>
Mojo's Blog <http://mojo.whiteoaks.com>
Starting today, through Sunday, all VACB games on BBO will be paying
extra points, and all in silver.
Our first game is *tonight at 7:15, with the 0-1000 Monday* evening game.
Silver points are the ones traditionally awarded at Sectional
tournaments -- the bridge tournaments run by local ACBL units. They're
also available at special "Sectional Tournament at Clubs (STaC)" games.
Silver points are important because they're required for several
advancements in rank in the ACBL.
*Would you like to find more games to play in this week?*
When you visit the ACBL Virtual Club section on BBO, you may see other
games popping up. If you were a player in other face-to-face clubs, like
Glendale, Beverly Hills, or South Bay, you may have other games you're
eligible for.
You can also try playing as a substitute in other VACB games. Here's how:
*You can add yourself to the Substitutes list
*
* From the Home page, click on *Competitive*
* Click on *All tournaments*
* Look for the blue button in the lower left that says *Substitutes*
* Add your name to the list, and watch for invitations
When directors have a seat to fill, either for an entire game, or a
temporary fill, you'll be offered an invitation. If you decline two
invitations, you'll be taken off the list until you add yourself again.
Playing as a substitute is a complete crap shoot! You don't get to
choose your partner. But if you do play in a full game, you're
eligible to win masterpoints. I've met some splendid players that
way, and had some good games.
You'll also be invited to play in games that are not VACB games.
They might be tournaments elsewhere in the world, or just a friendly
team match.
Be on your best behavior! Don't ask to be removed just because
you're having a bad game. If you're encouraging and supportive, sit
back and enjoy the fact that you're getting a *free game *of bridge. :)
(If you have an abusive partner, by all means let the director know,
and they'll be happy to sub you out for someone else.)
*You can offer your services to other club directors*
* From the Home page, click on *Competitive*
* Click on *All tournaments*
* Click on the Search field in the upper right, and type in *VACB*
Here you'll see a list of club games that are starting within the
next two hours. If you see games that have an odd number of entries,
those directors will be looking for fill-in players.
I always enjoy having players offer to fill-in before the game. I
know I'll be getting a willing and friendly player.
To offer your service, click on the Host box to the left of the game
name. It will say something like "vacb253567". A profile box will
appear, and you can tell the director you're available to sub. Tell
him how many masterpoints you have. Directors are always looking for
novice/intermediate players to help fill tables with
novice/intermediate partners! (You may not get the director if
someone is running the game from their own account, so don't expect
a response. All you can do is offer!)
Wait for the game to start, and if you're lucky, you'll get an
invitation from the director.
When you do this, you doubly promise to be a good citizen at the
table. There's no telling who might be your partner! Enjoy the free
game, and hope for lots of good luck. :)
Good luck scoring some silver points this week!
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>
Our regular Open Pairs game is today at 12:30. Come play if you can!
Friendly partners often available in the Partnership Desk -- if you need
help finding that, drop me a note! I'll walk you there.
* 12:30 Open Pasadena Pomona Downey
We typically play 20-21 boards on Sunday afternoons, for a better game
and MOAR BRIDGE PLS. :)
*Next week*: Monday starts a new Silver Linings week! All games pay
silver points, 200% of normal club rating. Line up your partners! :)
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>
This Saturday is a good warm-up weekend for next week's Silver Linings
week, starting on Monday. All games next week will pay silver points --
required for several ACBL rank changes.
Saturday events:
* 9:30 a.m. 15-minute bridge mini lesson (See below)
* 10:00 a.m. 0-500 Pairs
* 12:20 p.m. Newcomer pairs (separate email to the newcomer list)
* 12:30 p.m. Open Pairs (with extra masterpoint credit)
As always, friendly partners are often available at the Partnership
Desk. If you're the only one left, I can always get you into the game
with someone from the standby substitutes list on BBO.
At 9:30 tomorrow I continue my Saturday morning mini lessons with more
on second hand play on defense. Here's the Zoom link for the lesson:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83912578991?pwd=Y1R2UnJ1TFM2dVZzYmsyTDdzeFcydz09
Meeting ID: 839 1257 8991
Passcode: 7ntxx
Previous lessons are available on YouTube at this playlist:
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>
We have two great games today along with our weekly Wednesday newcomer
game with Zoom postmortem.
Come play if you can! The Open game in the evening has a nice
masterpoint award boost.
* 10:45 0-500 Pairs (18 boards, 7 minutes a board)
* 7:30 Open Pairs (18 boards, 6 minutes a board)
Friendly partners 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>
Join us for our Tuesday morning 0-500 game on BBO!
* 10:45 0-500 Pasadena Pomona Downey
Join the Partnership Desk if you'd like to play but don't have a
partner. I can always get you into the game with a BBO standby player.
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>
