Hi all -- the Tuesday evening bridge game series has ended, and I'll be
spending the next five Tuesday evenings conducting the Competitive
Bidding class for PCC. (Don't ask! Sold out with a waiting list.)
You've had a taste of duplicate bridge now, and there's lots more
available online and even in person.
Jane and I have a long road trip planned for 5-6 weeks starting about
Memorial day. When we come back, I'm not sure what I'll plan, but there
will be bridge. Classes will cycle through again in September.
Meanwhile, consider these options:
BBO online newcomer games
The official online bridge service of the American Contract Bridge
League is Bridge Base Online (https://www.bridgebase.com). I manage
a virtual bridge club there, the Pasadena Pomona Downey VBC
<https://bridgemojo.com/ppdvbc>, and we have two weekly newcomer games:
* Saturday afternoon at 12:20
* Wednesday evening at 7:15
Each game is 12 boards, and lasts about 90 minutes. Both games play
the same hands as an "Open Pairs" game that runs at the same time,
so they provide a fascinating opportunity to see how experienced
bridge players bid and play hands. On Wednesday I also convene an
after party (a.k.a. "postmortem") to answer questions about hands.
This is the way to get a taste of official ACBL bridge, playing with
other new players. If you do well in the games, you even get to win
masterpoints™. They get awarded in hundredths of a point. :)
(I'm not sure about the status of these games after May 30, so ...)
Other online newcomer games on BBO
There are games similar to my newcomer games at the All-Western 99er
NiteClub <http://www.d21acbl.com/news/2020/99er_Western_Flyer.pdf>
on BBO. The games are at 6:30 every Monday through Thursday.
They've been working on establishing games for 0-20 players as well,
and need new bridge players to join up.
They also have a post-game board review with a teacher on most evenings.
Drop me a note and I can get you on the list for these games.
In person ACBL games
Every Saturday at 10:30 at the Arcadia Bridge Center
<http://www.arcadiabridgecenter.com/> they hold a "rookie game" for
newer players. That's you!
My house
Jane and I are planning to host bridge games for vaccinated new
bridge players on Saturday afternoons in May. We'll gather at our
house in Monrovia at about 4:00. I have room for three tables.
Here's your best way to transfer your game from online to in-person!
These will be purely social duplicate bridge games for fun, and
learning to play bridge with physical cards.
We're thinking of playing at 4:00, break for pizza, maybe play some
more after. No charge, just social bridge.
*To join the online games, you need to do a couple of things:*
* Create an account on BBO https://www.bridgebase.com if you haven't
already
* Add a few dollars to your BB$ account (each of my newcomer games is $5).
* Get a player number from the American Contract Bridge League (free
guest membership)
o Here's my write-up about ACBL guest memberships
<https://bridgemojo.com/acbl-guest-memberships>, and how to do it.
* Attach your ACBL player number to your BBO account.
For the online games, I'll be happy to help you get everything arranged
and find the games. Several of our Tuesday evening players are already
playing in the Newcomer games on BBO. You already know many of these people!
Online bridge on BBO is a bit more spartan than RealBridge -- there's no
audio or video, and they have message windows where you can type
messages to the table. Nevertheless, BBO is where the action is for
serious (and non-serious) duplicate bridge these days. This is where the
in-person bridge clubs retreated for the pandemic.
*To join my home game:*
* Get your vaccination :)
* Drop me a note!
* We'll try to do the first one on May 1, 4:00 p.m.
I want to give you all the opportunities I can to get out there (or stay
in) and play some bridge.
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 another excellent bridge game on hand for tonight. Below you
will find:
1. Your link to join the game on RealBridge
2. A starting seating chart -- take your seat when you join
3. A link for the Zoom after party to discuss the interesting hands
(Don't connect to Zoom until you leave RealBridge at the end of the
game!)
Important times! *Check-in at 6:45. Game starts at 7:15*.
Here's your RealBridge link:
https://play.realbridge.online/ct.html?p=210420128076&q=TEPlayCGVkPkn39RO1
Here's the seating chart and partnerships to start the game (send
corrections as soon as possible!):
1
N/S John Horn Linda Burrow
E/W Betsy Michel Beth Hollander
2
N/S Jon Fuhrman Susan Kane
E/W Dean Park Marilyn Park
3
N/S Galina Diankova Tsvetelina Valkov
E/W Christina Eickholt Jane Houston Jones
4
N/S Shirley Dostal Susie Woodyard
E/W Patricia Baxter Scowley Jean Blomberg
5
N/S Cindy Fang Denise Loo
E/W Gargi Upadhyaya Mark Irvine
6
N/S Noel Jeffrey Xiaoyan Zhou
E/W Laurie Howard Rosanne Ogles
7
N/S Rick Brezer Carol Callaghan
E/W
Here's the Zoom meeting for after:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84142867296?pwd=cnFGOWhvbjQrQ29UMy9TWGFaZmVxQT09
Meeting ID: 841 4286 7296
Passcode: 507368
(For those of you who haven't yet paid the card fee, I'll be writing
invoices probably tomorrow.)
This is the final game of our series! There are lots of alternative
opportunities to play with other newer bridge players. Many of you might
know of the sanctioned online ACBL Newcomer games I have on Wednesday
evening and Saturday afternoon. If you're in the Pasadena area, there's
a popular rookie game at the Bridge Center in Arcadia every Saturday
morning at 10:30. There are other places to play as well. I'll be
putting together some options for you over the next 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>
Hi all! It's our final Tuesday Evening bridge game for the time being. I
think I have a list of players. Now is the time to send corrections!
I'll be sending a seating chart and game links on Tuesday afternoon
about 4:00.
Arvind Bhambri
Beth Hollander
Betsy Michel
Carol Callaghan
Christina Eickholt
Cindy Fang
Cory Brendel
Dean Park
Denise Loo
Galina Diankova
Gargi Upadhyaya
Helen Baatz
Jane Houston Jones
Jean Blomberg
John Horn
Jon Fuhrman
Laurie Howard
Linda Burrow
Liza Billington
Marilyn Park
Mark Irvine
Mary Hayes
Noel Jeffrey
Patricia Baxter Scowley
Rebecca Thompson
Rick Brezer
Rosanne Ogles
Shirley Dostal
Susan Kane
Tsvetelina Valkov
Vicki Davis
Xiaoyan Zhou
Let me know who I forgot!
(I've already heard from Galina, Tzvetlina, Laurie, and Rosanne.)
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>
Big game tonight! We should have 7 tables in play! (Odd number though!
No teams this week -- maybe next. :) )
Check in starts at 6:45, game starts at 7:15
I'm going to post a seating chart, a link to the game, and a link to the
Zoom after party. Scroll down for everything! :) Jot down the
interesting boards as you play!
Here's the seating chart:
1
N/S John Horn Linda Burrow
E/W Mary Hayes Betsy Michel
2
N/S Jon Fuhrman Susan Kane
E/W Cory Brendel Liza Billington
3
N/S Dean Park Marilyn Park
E/W Galina Diankova Tsvetelina Valkov
4
N/S Christina Eickholt Jane Houston Jones
E/W Shirley Dostal Susie Woodyard
5
N/S Patricia Baxter Scowley Jean Blomberg
E/W Cindy Fang Denise Loo
6
N/S Gargi Upadhyaya Mark Irvine
E/W Noel Jeffrey Xiaoyan Zhou
7
N/S Arvind Bhambri Ho Ming Yim
E/W Mojo Jones Beth Hollander
Here's your link to *the game on RealBridge* (works after 6:45). To log
in, use your full name, and *leave the ID# blank*:
https://play.realbridge.online/ct.html?p=210413123953&q=TEPlayUYKhclhKAGiD
Here's your *link for the Zoom cha*t after the game (don't connect to
Zoom before or during the game!):
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84142867296?pwd=cnFGOWhvbjQrQ29UMy9TWGFaZmVxQT09
Meeting ID: 841 4286 7296
Passcode: 507368
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>
Who's planning to play tomorrow evening? I have a long list of players.
Tomorrow afternoon about 4:00 I'll send an email with links to the game
and a seating chart for the first round.
If we have an even number of tables (6 or 8) I'd love to try playing and
scoring as a team-of-four game. I can make up teams from existing
partnerships easily. It's a delightful and social way to play duplicate
bridge.
If you're on this list, I will be expecting you! If you are not coming
*please let me know* as soon as you can.
Arvind Bhambri
Beth Hollander
Betsy Michel
Carol Callaghan
Christina Eickholt
Cindy Fang
Cory Brendel
Dean Park
Denise Loo
Galina Diankova
Gargi Upadhyaya
Helen Baatz
Jane Houston Jones
John Horn
Jon Fuhrman
Linda Burrow
Liza Billington
Marilyn Park
Mark Irvine
Mary Hayes
Noel Jeffrey
Patricia Baxter Scowley
Rebecca Thompson
Rick Brezer
Shirley Dostal
Susan Kane
Tsvetelina Valkov
Vicki Davis
Xiaoyan Zhou
I'm pretty sure I can remember the partnership matchings. I always
welcome a reminder note!
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>
Another great game in store tonight! The game will open to join at 6:45,
and we'll start play at 7:15.
Here's the link to join the game on RealBridge:
https://play.realbridge.online/ct.html?p=210406128122&q=PlaymYFN3YjzH8fP
Here's the seating chart for tonight. When you log in to RealBridge,
click on your seat to join your table:
Table
1
N/S Jon Fuhrman Susan Kane
E/W John Horn Linda Burrow
2
N/S Rick Brezer Carol Callaghan
E/W Cory Brendel Liza Billington
3
N/S Vicki Davis Susie
E/W Dean Park Marilyn Park
4
N/S Christina Eickholt Jane Houston Jones
E/W Gargi Upadhyaya Noel Jeffrey
5
N/S Beth Hollander Xiaoyan Zhou
E/W Denise Loo Mark Irvine
6
N/S Cindy Fang *Rosanne Ogles*
E/W
Here's a link for the Zoom meeting where we'll get together after the game:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84142867296?pwd=cnFGOWhvbjQrQ29UMy9TWGFaZmVxQT09
Meeting ID: 841 4286 7296
Passcode: 507368
If we can get 6 tables again next week, I'm going to propose having a
"team of four" game, which is my favorite way to play bridge.
Keep a notepad at your desk, and jot down the numbers of the hands that
seem interesting or difficult!
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>
Who's coming to play Tuesday evening?
*Please reply and confirm* and let me know if you'll be here, and who
your regular partner is (if you have one).
Here are the players I'm expecting -- send corrections if you're not on
the list or mistakenly on it! :)
Arvind Bhambri
Beth Hollander
Carol Callaghan
Christina Eickholt
Cindy Fang
Cory Brendel
Dean Park
Denise Loo
Gargi Upadhyaya
Jane Houston Jones
John Horn
Jon Fuhrman
Linda Burrow
Liza Billington
Marilyn Park
Mark Irvine
Noel Jeffrey
Rick Brezer
Shirley Dostal
Susan Kane
Vicki Davis
Xiaoyan Zhou
Tomorrow afternoon I'll send links for the game, the Zoom after-party,
and a seating chart.
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>
