I agree with Roy. Our objective, as I see it, is to preserve the game and try to incentivize and grow the participation of players. It’s not, primarily, to sustain ACBL. ACBL itself needs to provide value added that makes players want to be members. Moreover, as I understand the economics, ACBL gets part of any game fee that the players pay to participate, whether or not the player is an ACBL “member.”
For many players, being a “member” means they can compete and get points that can grow over the years and get them personal satisfaction, recognition and bragging rights. For some players, however, they could care less about the status recognition associated with black, red, silver, etc. points. They may simply enjoy playing bridge, the camaraderie, intellectual challenge, and competition – without the bragging rights.
We should do all we can to spread the popularity of bridge.
Don
Donald K. Garner
Cell: (310) 367-3092
Email:dgarnersemail@gmail.com
From: Roy Wilson <unit559webmaster@gmail.com>
Sent: Monday, July 15, 2024 8:53 PM
To: Unit 559 board discussion list <unit559board@bridgemojo.com>
Subject: [Unit559board] Re: Fwd: John Waken sectional tournament
I feel very strongly about this…. If we charge the same entry fee for a non-member as we do for a member, there is no additional cost to us and we do not have an additional burden. We simply have one more player. For what reason would we "punish" someone who is not a member? Besides, we are not aware of the reasons a person might let his membership lapse. Over the years I can only recall three players who continued to play after giving up membership. One of them told me that he had lost his retirement income when the very small company he worked for went bankrupt, but he still enjoyed the game but didn’t want to pay for membership in the ACBL.
Can anyone give me a good reason to charge more for a non-member than for a regular member? We certainly don’t have any additional cost.
Roy
I’ve played bridge more than half my life. The lesser half I wasted.
On Jul 15, 2024, at 7:51 PM, Morris Jones <mojo@pasadenabridgeclub.com> wrote: