Greater
St. Louis Bridge NewsGreater
St. Louis Bridge NewsEditor:
Sheryl Finkenstadt, St. Louis MO sheryl@finkenstadt.com
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"Good luck comes and goes. Skill stays." The nice thing about duplicate is that it minimizes the former and emphasizes the latter. OK, so Mercedes Benz and Lexus, your esteemed opponents, bid and make 7NT – while the field of Fords and Chevys (bless them!) is in 6 or even 3. But generally speaking, luck is not the key ingredient in duplicate. So, working to improve our skill makes more sense than bemoaning our “luck”. Good luck with that! [grin] |
Charity
Pro-Am AuctionThe second Annual Charity Pro-Am Auction game, held at Bridge Haven on August 28, raised $4,850 for Backstoppers (www.backstoppers.org ).
Chief Ron Battelle (left in the photo) of the St. Louis County PD received all the checks from Barbara Reid (right). Thanks to Bob McGill for the photo.
For this event, a Bridge Pro was someone with 2000+ACBL master points. “Amateur” bridge players bid to play with a pro. The dollar amount bid by the amateur was donated directly to Backstoppers. Twenty-five (25) tables enjoyed the thrill of this event. The first place winners (name of “Pro” listed first) were the following:
Section B: Paul Ellebracht & Dennis Abelin (1NS)
Dennis Spencer & Toby Globe (1EW)
Section C: Glen Smith & Carol Hamilton (tied 1-2 NS)
Stephen Brauss & Don McLean (tied 1-2 NS)
Judy & Bill Eaton (1EW)
The regional was a great success -- 1450 tables filled this annual event, with more than 9770 master points earned by 832 different players. Topping the St Louis area players were Alan (5th) & Nancy Popkin (6th) with 114.50 and 112.36 masterpoints, respectively.
It was good to see Sasanka Ramanadham, long-time member of Unit 143, return from Birmingham AL to play with Andrew Carver (Edwardsville IL). The pair garnered 62.23 MPs, placing 26/27 to beat the rest of the local players. Eight players earned between 50 and 60 MPs:
Lee Hastings (59.80)
Roger Lord (59.46)
Susan Perez (59.20)
John Samsel (59.20)
Rod Beery (54.63)
Tom Oppenheimer (54.20)
Mike Giacaman (52.16)
Linda Leinicke (50.96)
The St Louis 199'er tournament on Saturday, Sept. 24, was fun. Co-chaired by Lee Hastings and Jane Ettelson, the tournament set a new attendance record. There were 40 tables in the afternoon (wait-listed more than two weeks before the event!) and 23 tables in the evening session. To compete with local players, pairs came from Kansas City and Jefferson City MO and Springfield IL, as well as several other towns.
Special recognition goes to Jane Ettelson, who concludes her Board Service as chair of this tournament for five years. Said Jane, " I have enjoyed being the tournament chair and watching the growth of the event. It is rewarding to see so many novice players participating and enjoying tournament competition. Lee and I appreciated the hard work of the volunteers (Jackie Baker, Chuck Ettelson and Carl Clyne) and the director, Donna Coker – all of whom made the tournament run smoothly. A special thanks goes to Sandy Springer for her wonderful catering.”
Congratulations to the winners:
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The “Brag Board” continues to grow. There are currently 55 pairs with a 70+% club game in 2011, with three pairs grabbing a 75+% game. Generally speaking, these pairs are Flight A players (2000+ MPs), as you would expect. However, newer players take heart! About a dozen pairs of your cohorts also posted 70+% games in an open field! For a complete listing, click here.
Unit 143 membership is 1174 and many members continue to advance. Congratulations to the 53 following players who have gained new stature between August 1 and October 1, 2011.
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NEW JUNIOR MASTERS Mary W Buchanan Dale R Burian Joseph S Gaudette Howard T Handelman Ann K Lemp Carole D Leslie Dorothy A Schainker
CLUB MASTERS Charles Baker Delores D Dalton Cathy A Galan Irene S Holmes Margie Horowitz John J Oefelein Robert F Wood Frederick O Hanser Michael Monaldi SECTIONAL MASTERS David Bishop Margaret S Bover Tom Engle Kathleen G Essma Jo Ann Froehlic Mary Lois Hoo Roxy W Kesler Karl A Lovegreen Gary D Moll Mrs Chris R Newman Karen Pahuski Ken S Schwartz Marian Solari |
REGIONAL MASTERS Judy W Milto Mike Murphy
NABC MASTERS Patricia N Berge Kevin Clarkin Mary Hawley William Lobdell Stephen M Russell Navin H Shah
LIFE MASTERS Beth Curtis Mary Fort Nancy Keefer Patriicia A. Levy Richard Maxedon Bob Pedrotti Daniel Spangler
BRONZE LIFE MASTERS Karen Engle Daniel Spangler Maureen Swihart Veena Uberoi SILVER LIFE MASTERS Kay Cohen Egan Diekhoff Mark Ludwig
GOLD LIFE MASTERS Daryl Fisher Mike Giacman |
October 14-16, 2011 -- Fall Sectional, Blanchette Park, St. Charles. Full schedule is here.
January 13-15, 2012 -- Winter Sectional, Blanchette Park, St. Charles
