June 22 2024
HE IS THE HOST WITH THE MOST
Congratulations to Scott Krupke [Little Falls] and Mark Doucette [Little Falls], who are the Granite City Tournament Co-Champions this year! They earned 22.90 silver points over the 3-day tournament up in Sartell, and were followed ever-so-closely by Lynn Schnettler [St Cloud] with 22.25 masterpoints.
Scott is (of course) St Cloud's club manager, big cheese, and all-around nice guy; and as the host of this event, for Scott to wind up with the most masterpoints in the tournament is *chef's kiss!*
154 different bridge players earned silver points this weekend in Sartell - here is a look at the top 40 masterpoint winners from the Granite City Sectional.
| |  |
June 20 2024
GRANITE CITY SECTIONAL RESULTS [UPDATE]
Day 3 UPDATE: No let-up on day 3 in Sartell, with 57.5 tables in the two-session pairs. That's an eye-popping increase of +74.2% from last year's Saturday sessions - and for the three-day tournament 169.5 tables, or an increase of +44.9% from last year. On top of all of that, this tournament raised $643 for the Minnesota Bridge Education Fund as well as $1,500 for the 180 Degrees St Cloud Youth Shelter, which serves homeless youth in central Minnesota. That photo to the right is Barb Zipoy [Bloomington] from the Minnesota Education Fund receiving the donation from Connie Nelson [Avon] on behalf of all the tournament players. Congratulations to everyone up in St Cloud and their group of volunteers for putting on such a successful tournament!
Day 2 UPDATE: Today it was Pair/Team games at the Granite City Sectional in Sartell, and once again players turned out by the foursomes. Another 27 tables this morning, with 30 tables this afternoon - that is another solid increase from 12 months ago for day 2, as total Friday tables (57) were up +32.6% from 2023! To put it in perspective, to beat last year's total tables at this tournament, just three tables have to show up tomorrow. Look for this tournament to come very close to having 150 total tables by the time the bidding boxes get put away tomorrow evening.
Day 1: Thursday in Sartell saw 27 team tables this morning and 28 pair/team tables this afternoon - that's a fantastic start to the sectional, with a total tables increase for day 1 of 34.1% over last year's opening day. 55 tables on day 1 - they must have been looking for more tables to set up! (Not the worst problem to have with a tournament.)
Full results of the Granite City Sectional can be found by clicking here.
| |
 |
June 20 2024
OUTSTATE CLUBS RAISE MORE THAN $10,500
If you are reading this, you know someone who has suffered (or may be currently suffering) from Alzheimer's disease. This week's The Longest Day efforts by the ACBL and its clubs have been to raise money to try and find a cure for Alzheimer's as well as support caregivers.
Every donation is helpful - whether it's $1 or $1,000. Fundraising for something like this isn't a competition, and even small donations add up. But you have to give credit where credit is due, and Minnesota's outstate bridge clubs have generously donated over $10,000 to the Alzheimer's Association in this effort this week. (Although there are some individuals in the metro area who have made donations [and thanks for those!], no Twin Cities bridge clubs this week organized The Longest Day games - or appear to have registered on the Alzheimer's site to fundraise.) Rochester's bridge players generously donated $6,762 for the cause, with St Cloud's bridge players raising $3,742. Mankato's bridge group ran a Longest Day bridge game Wednesday and accepts donations here.
Even if your local bridge club passed on The Longest Day this time around, you can still make a donation independently of your club, as it's a terrific cause and every donation, large or small, helps. The
Alzheimer's Association website can be found by clicking here.
|
June 19 2024
"ROYAL STAC" SET FOR MINNESOTA PLAYERS - UPDATE
The week of July 1st through the 7th D14 has scheduled a "Royal STAC" which will include Minnesota clubs. These are games that pay sectionally-rated masterpoints, but unlike other STaC games, the points are 25% Gold/25% Red/25% Silver/25% Black. It's a great opportunity to get some pigmented points in the comfort of your own bridge club!
As of now, Unit 103's Bridge Center of St Paul, Rochester, and Duluth are the Minnesota clubs who have signed up to participate. (There may be more clubs joining - click here for the latest list of participating clubs.) UPDATE: No Unit 178 clubs have signed up for the Royal STaC, but that does not mean you can't play in one of these games. You do not need to be a member of Unit 103 to play in one of Unit 103's Royal STaC games the first week of July.
|
June 17 2024
ONLINE SILVER LININGS WEEKS = $$$$$
We just wrapped up another "Silver Linings Week" on BBO, where Minnesota players (along with everyone else) could get sectionally-rated silver points playing in the comfort of their own home. This year, the ACBL elected to add a Silver Linings Week to 2024 (going from two last year to three this year) - because these things are humongous money-makers for the ACBL.
Here are a couple of charts, each with weekly data over the past 18 months (since 12/20/22). One is a bell curve showing each week's average online VACB tables per game on BBO, the other showing each week's total online VACB tables on BBO. The Silver Linings Week data points are in red - and no matter how you cut the cards - the Silver Linings Weeks are what is keeping the ACBL in the online business. (This past week's average BBO VACB tables per game was more than four standard deviations [4.04] above the mean.)
 
The downside to these online silver point weeks is that some feel it's affecting face-to-face sectional attendance. Bridge is a social game - and there's nothing more fun than playing bridge in person - but if you just earned six silver points online last week, would you still bother to travel to St Cloud this week for their Open Sectional? Here is hoping you do. All local bridge clubs are struggling right now, and tournaments help their bottom line - and that of your Unit, which returns that money to players in the form of education, hospitality, tournament sponsorship, new player recruitment, etc. There's nothing wrong with playing online, but only as long as it is not at the expense of your face-to-face play. (Hopefully we will see you in St Cloud starting Thursday!)
|
June 16 2024
THE BOOK OF REVELATIONS
Courtesy of Steve Gaynor [Inver Grove Heights], this Book of Revelations is from what one might consider the "bridge bible"."Misconceptions abound regarding many bridge proprieties. Both newer and experienced players do not always
handle situations properly and it may cause hard feelings due to those actions. I am hoping to clear the air
regarding some of these topics and make the game more enjoyable for everyone, including our directors and
caddies!"
-Steve He covers a lot of topics which relate to bridge players of all experience levels - click on the image to the right to read all about it.
| |  |
June 16 2024
A I: "SHOW ME A DOG PLAYING BRIDGE"
June 15 2024
IN THIS BUSINESS, VOLUNTEERS ARE EVERYTHING
|
Here is a tip-of-the-hat to Bill Voedisch [Marine] who has agreed to store and take care of the trailer which houses our tournament bidding boxes and tables. You'll see the trailer moving around the state to our various tournaments this year, thanks to Bill! In the bridge business, volunteers are everything (seriously, this game would not be nearly as much fun or as successful without them) - so next time you see Bill, be sure to give him a shout-out for volunteering to take such good care of our trailer.
| |  |
June 15 2024
BIG THINGS HAVE SMALL BEGINNINGS
Most of us know someone who has suffered (or may be currently suffering) from Alzheimer's disease. This week, many local Minnesota bridge clubs will be participating in The Longest Day, which is the ACBL's partnership with the Alzheimer's Association to raise money to try and find a cure for Alzheimer's - as well as support caregivers in our community.
If your club has scheduled The Longest Day games, be sure to show up and make a donation. And whether they have these games scheduled or not, you can always fundraise for this very worthy cause in addition to what your local club may (or may not) have scheduled. (The St Cloud Bridge Club will have their sectional at the end of the upcoming week, so they raised $3,742[!] for the Alzheimer's Association by fundraising back in January.) Even small get-togethers can produce big results. This weekend, several tables of players got together in Rochester for an informal bridge game get-together (photo below), raising $1,200 which will go to the Rochester DBC's fundraising total.
Do your part for this very worthy cause! Be sure to support your local club's The Longest Day games this week; and if you would like to make a donation independently of your club, the Alzheimer's Association website can be found by clicking here.
|
June 14 2024
NAP PARTY PLANNED FOR SEPTEMBER
The North American Pairs club qualifying period (and club-level games) runs through the month of August. After that is any unit-level action on the NAP, and this year your Minnesota units are planning to have a party for NAP players.
Saturday, September 21st at the Bridge Center of St Paul's Roseville location, a two-session NAP event for everyone that has qualified at the club level will provide a great opportunity to score red and gold points. It's a "non-qualifying" Unit Final, so you don't need to play in it to move on to the D14 Finals in October. . .but everyone who does play on September 21 will move on to the D14 Finals. Plus, it's face-to-face competition - and who doesn't like 100% sectionally rated red/gold points?
The flyer for this event is on your right; click on it to enlarge it and open in a new window. Be sure to qualify at one of your club's NAP games this summer - and then we'll see YOU in September.
| |  |
June 9 2024
THAT. . .DID NOT TAKE LONG
|
We're just one week into the twelve week North American Pairs qualifying period - and already 144 Minnesota players have qualified to move on in this competition. 96 Unit 103 players and 48 Unit 178 players are eligible to play in the NAP's post-August competition, which is terrific. There are some rumblings about a party atmosphere for the NAP players in September (more information on that some time next week), but if you have not already qualified for the NAP there are lots of opportunities yet to come. Click on the list to the right to view the Minnesota bridge players who have qualified (so far) and the flights for which they have qualified - and keep playing!
| |  |
June 8 2024
UPDATED D14 NAP CONDITIONS OF CONTEST
|
Keith Thompson [St Paul], our D14 NAP Coordinator (and same role for Unit 103!), has issued the latest Conditions of Contest for D14's North American Pairs - you can check them out by clicking here. Changes don't appear to be substantial (including any change of dates), but do include the clarification of a few items. The bottom line is that you'll still need to qualify at the club level to play in the D14 Finals in October and still need to have the expectation of some fun in doing so.
|
June 8 2024
NAP TABLES AND WHERE TO FIND THEM
  
They say "past performance is no guarantee of future results", but if you're looking for a North American Pairs game in which to qualify, would you believe playing in Northfield or St Cloud might be your best bet? NAP tables across Minnesota from last year are displayed above, with the chart on the left (in red) showing the number of NAP tables at each Minnesota bridge club along with the percentage of those club's NAP tables in comparison to Minnesota's total NAP tables. St Cloud ran 131 NAP tables in 2023, or 18.7% of Minnesota's total NAP tables. Neither Woodbury or Mankato ran any NAP games in 2023, so their table count (and percentage of MN's tables) is zero.
The middle chart above (in blue) is a look at each club's NAP tables compared to their club's total tables during June-July-August last year. Northfield ran every game as an NAP qualifier (they're allowed two per month per sanction, and they ran two games a month!). But the truth is you don't have to travel too far to get qualified in an NAP game - within the Twin Cities Metro area, 20.2% of all the bridge tables during June-July-August last year were in NAP qualifying games.
Check with your local club as to when they are running NAP games this year - the list of Minnesota qualified players continues to grow and can be found by clicking here. But be sure to find a game or two, get some red points at a sectional rating, and qualify to play in October!
|
June 6 2024
WINONA WINHAWKS WIN ONE
The left hand photo below features Chris Carroll [Winona] on the left and partner John Rethlefsen [Winona] on the right. They came in 1st overall in the Rochester 749'er Non-Life Master Tournament this morning. 17 tables over the course of the action saw lots of silver points going out the door for thirty (yes, 30!) newcomer players, and it's great to see these Minnesota players doing well! The photo on the right features Earlene Wickre [Rochester] and Harlan Wickre [Rochester], who took the afternoon session - congratulations to everyone who had some fun today.
  |
June 4 2024
STAC WEEK COMING UP
A STAC week has been added to the tournament schedule, such that Minnesota players will be able to earn some silver points playing against other D14 participating clubs - in the comfort of their own local club game. It's less than a month away - the STAC games will run July 1 through July 7 - and STAC stands for "Sectional Tournaments At Clubs" (and not "the cards are STACked against you"). Click on the map to the right for a look at participating clubs. This map will be updated as more clubs join in on the action (no Twin Cities clubs have signed up yet, but there's no question that they will, so again, look for an update - and of course check with your local club).
Click here for the most current list of participating Minnesota clubs.
| |  |
June 4 2024
MANKATO JOINS THE PARTY
 | |
With Rochester's Fall Sectional replaced this year with the Med City Regional in Rochester, an opening for another fall sectional tournament this year has been snapped up by the good folks in Mankato. This would be the first sectional tournament held in Mankato, with the two-day event held the last weekend of September. The "Rambling River Fall Sectional" will be on the 28th and 29th (see the schedule to your left).
Add it to your tournament calendar - and we'll hope to see you in Mankato in just a few months!
|
June 3 2024
FOR INTERMEDIATE/NEWCOMERS ONLY
| Pretty much every Minnesota bridge tournament will have a game for less experienced players - so Non-Life Masters and newcomers to the game can "swim with their own fish" (as it were). But there are some opportunities for tournament play that are only for less experienced players. These are some tournaments coming up over the next few months at Rochester, St Paul, and St Cloud that are strictly for Intermediate/Newcomer players. Check out the flyers to the right for more information on these bridge tournaments this summer that are JUST for you. | |   
|
June 3 2024
WHERE WERE YOU?
 | |
That's Theresa Kornwolf [Elk River] on the left - all smiles upon earning her first gold points at the Gopher Regional tournament last month. Do you remember where you were when you got your first gold points? Chances are you might - and even if you don't, you probably had the same smile then that Theresa is showing here. Congratulations, Theresa, and keep it up! |
June 3 2024
IT'S WHAT IS HAPPENING THIS MONTH
Not everyone who manages a bridge club also manages to put together a monthly newsletter - but a couple of them in Minnesota take the time to do so. Here is a look at the latest club news along with what is happening at the Bridge Center of St Paul and down in Rochester for the upcoming month (click on a newsletter below to enlarge it and open in a new window):
  |
June 2 2024
D14 NAP CONDITIONS OF CONTEST
 | |
Here's a special thanks to D14 NAP Coordinator Keith Thompson [St Paul] who has just issued the D14 Conditions of Contest for the North American Pairs competition. Click on the image to the left to open up the Conditons of Contest in a new window (for perusing or printing) - and schedule a partner or two in your local club's NAP games this summer!
If you have played in a Minnesota NAP club game and are wondering if you've qualified to play in the D14 Finals online this October - click here to get the list of players currently eligible to go on in the competition. |
June 2 2024
THERE'S STILL SOME WORK TO DO
|
There is no question that face-to-face tables in Minnesota bridge clubs and tournaments are rebounding nicely from year-to-year since the big re-opening in 2021. However there is still some work to be done. Looking at face-to-face tables in Minnesota clubs during the 2023 calendar year, and comparing them to the pre-COVID year of 2019, shows just 57.9% of those 2019 tables were in play last year. (The national average of post-COVID to pre-COVID attendance is right around 56%, so clearly this is not something that is unique to Minnesota.)
| |  |
| The biggest "hurt" over the past several years may well be the closing of the Twin City Bridge Center (some of whose 4,701 tables in 2019 have been picked up by the Plymouth and Metro Bridge clubs, but not all). Every Minnesota club continues to be affected by the pandemic, and you can see why the ACBL (and your local Minnesota units) are making a concerted effort to get back bridge players who still are not playing regularly at the club. (And if you know someone who hasn't played in a while, invite them to a game!) |
June 1 2024
THE MONTH OF RED AND PURPLE
June - already!? Yes, although summer is still officially a few weeks off, June, with its warmer weather and brighter evenings has arrived on the Minnesota bridge scene. It's also the month of red and purple at your local bridge club.
The red is the red-pigmented points you'll earn at your local club when they have a North American Pairs game (see the club calendars below). Usually, red-pigmented masterpoints are available only at Regional tournaments. But when your club holds an NAP game, not only will you get some red points - but you're also supporting your D14 Grass Roots Fund program that helps to send NAP players to next year's NABC. The purple is the color of the Alzheimer's Association "The Longest Day" Fundraiser this month. Check with your local club when you can play to make a donation to this very worthy cause - or you can make a donation on behalf of the Minnesota bridge scene by clicking here. The donation is tax-deductible, and most of us are very well versed in the difficulties that Alzheimer's patients and caregivers go through when battling this terrible disease.
Whether you are supporting D14's North American Pairs fund (which helps send NAP winners to next spring's NABC) or supporting the Alzheimer's Association (the worthiest of bridge causes!), getting some red (or purple) this month is for a great cause - so be sure to get out there and play.
|
May 30 2024
P R CHAIR POSITION FOR THE GOPHER OPENS UP
|
Connie Nelson [Avon] has unselfishly volunteered her time and effort to helm the PR Chair for the Gopher the past couple of years (and done such a terrific job!) - but now she's ready to turn over the reins to another individual for 2025. Gopher Chair Patti Stuhlman [Minneapolis] is on the hunt for someone willing to be in charge of next year's PR for the Gopher. . .so if you know of someone who might be interested (including if that someone might be you) have them contact Patti (or Connie, for that matter) and get some details of what responsibilities go along with the position. Tournaments of any size need volunteers to make them happen - and if you love bridge, please consider giving back a bit of your time.
|
May 29 2024
"YAY" TO THE MINNESOTA EDUCATION FUND
The Minnesota Education Fund (for more information on the Education Fund, click here) accepts donations which are tax-deductible. Those donations are then turned around as grants to worthy causes to further participation and education in our local bridge community. In other words, they do terrific work.
Now Unit 178 has asked the Education Fund to pay for the first year's ACBL dues for new bridge students who complete a bridge class. It's a nice perk to encourage students to keep playing (and to play in our local clubs). Unit 103 will make a similar request, so that participants in bridge classes Minnesota-wide will have a jump start on their ACBL memberships.
Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to the Minnesota Education Fund - their work benefits all of us. (Donation information here.)
|
May 29 2024
UNIT 103 TO SUBSIDIZE FLIGHT "C" NAP/GNT GAMES
At the Unit 103 Board meeting last week at the Gopher Regional, they have decided to try and encourage clubs to run more Flight "C" games for the North American Pairs and Grand National Teams by reimbursing local clubs the table fees for those games. It's an effort to increase Non-Life Master player participation in the NAP program.
Here is how it would work: The Unit would play for the table fees for any Unit 103 club that runs a stand-alone Flight "C" game (either NAP or GNT) up to the first 30 tables (in either competition). This way, local bridge clubs can run the game for free - and more Flight "C" players will be in the competition!
Watch for your local club to run one (or two) of these games, and if you don't seem them on the schedule have your club manager contact a Unit 103 Board member for more information. Flight "C" players are the future of bridge - and we want to encourage those players as much as possible.
|
|
