Greater St. Louis Bridge News

News from Greater St. Louis Unit 143

Editor:  Sheryl Finkenstadt, St. Louis MO    sheryl@finkenstadt.com
 

“A June wedding? Almost no one is foolish enough to imagine that he automatically deserves great success in any field of activity, yet almost everyone believes that he automatically deserves success in a partnership."

If you have more than one regular partner, it may help you to allocate 15 minutes of discussion to go over your agreements and style. It is truly amazing how often a “Oh, it’ll never come up” situation DOES come up.
Bridge is a complicated game; that’s one of the reasons partnerships enjoy it.

Worldwide Pairs

Marvin King & Judy Putzel and John Burgener & Karen Erlanger earned Worldwide accolades! These two local pairs placed in the top 100 of the world.

Marvin & Judy placed #22 in the world (#12 in the USA); John & Karen placed #65 in the world (#32 in the USA) in the Saturday afternoon game at Olivette.

This is the event played around the world -- and in St Louis! The Worldwide Bridge Contest sponsored by the World Bridge Federation was held Friday, June 1, at Bridgehaven and on Saturday, June 2, at both Bridge Haven and Olivette. The Friday and Saturday games are separate events. Raw scores are matched at the club level (local MP awards) AND worldwide.

Eighteen pairs played Friday at Bridge Haven – 10 of whom posted results above the 50th percentile worldwide (almost 5200 pairs). A combined 58 pairs played on Saturday (33 at Bridge Haven, 25 at Olivette); 24 of these pairs ranked above the 50th percentile worldwide (5100 pairs).

Grand National Teams

St. Louis won the open flight of the District 8 Grand National Team Championship in April. They'll represent District 8 this July at the Summer NABC in Philadelphia. Congratulations go to:

Tom Oppenheimer, Nancy Popkin, Alan Popkin, Tom Kniest and Rod Beery
 

May Sectional

The May Sectional was a rousing success, with 1481 silver points earned by 445 players. Congratulate these winners (the only ones for whom we have pictures) when you see them at the tables:

Saturday Open Pairs: Steve Zenk & Egon Dierkoff

Saturday Evening 199er: Delaine Bowd & Dennis Whitmore

(Hint: pictures are taken on site, free-of-charge. But you have to stop by!)

Mike Carmen enjoyed a surprise party!

Friday, May 4, was a special night at Bridge Haven for Mike Carmen. Mike has been Unit 143 Tournament Director for more than 30 years. If you enjoy the sectionals and regionals that we have in St. Louis, it is because this man behind the scene has done much of the work, as a volunteer with a smile on his face.

When you see Mike, let him know you appreciate what he has done for so many years. The ACBL said they do not have a "join date" for Mike because he joined before they had computers. Mike said he thinks it was about 40 years ago.

Chuck Starovasnik, owner of Bridge Haven for 14 years, presented Mike with a trophy that said, "Thanks for all you do for Bridge". It had a red (for hearts and diamonds) St. Louis Arch, surrounding a translucent arching plaque.
 

Advances in Rank

Unit 143 now has 1189 members. Well-deserved congratulations go to the 37 following players who have advanced in rank as of June 1, 2011.

Upcoming tournaments

August 6-12:  Gateway to the West Regional at the Renaissance Airport Hotel. Prime Time KOs, two Gold Rush Pair Championships, 4 new 2-session Open Pair events and more.

September 22:  199er Championship. Open to anyone with less than 200 masterpoints.

October 19-21:  Fall Sectional in St. Charles