August 17 2024
SEPTEMBER IS COMING, AND IT IS A DOOZY
You'd be hard-pressed to come up with a bigger month for bridge in the state of Minnesota than the month of September this year. There's all KINDS of special events going on, and if you are a bridge lover (which you are), you've got lots to choose from. Chances are pretty good that you could earn more masterpoints in September than in any other month this year. (And maybe than in any month for many years?)
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First up is Minnesota's second big regional of the year, the Med City Regional in Rochester. September 3rd through the 8th, it features pairs and team games every day (including Sunday). There is also an online game attached to this tournament, where you can earn gold points from your basement (the online games are restricted to D14 players only, and all Minnesota players belong to D14, so you're good to go).
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Less than two weeks later is the Minnesota NAP Unit Final. This two-session red and gold point extravaganza will be held at the Bridge Center of St Paul's Roseville location. You must have qualified at the club level to play in this game (see the list of NAP qualifiers by clicking here). This Unit NAP Final will be a party, and in addition to all of the sectionally-rated pigmented masterpoints going out the door, it should be a great deal of fun. As with the NAP qualifying, all the "C" players play together - separate from the "B"s and the "A"s.
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The very next week is Mankato's Rambling River Sectional! This is the first big sectional for Mankato in many years, and they are planning to put on quite the presentation. Lots of silver points will be available to players who stop by Mankato on September 28th and 29th. This will be a terrific way to finish the month of September bridge tournament play. (The flyer for the Mankato Sectional is to your right, or you can click here.). |
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On top of all of the tournament action next month, September is International Fund Game month - so your local bridge club will be holding some International Fund games for extra black masterpoints. And Wednesday, September 11th is an ACBL-wide International Fund Game, where (once again) lots and lots of extra masterpoints are available. And did we mention that the Grand National Teams qualifying period begins on September 1st? September will be "lit" - bring it on! |
August 16 2024
BEGINNER BRIDGE CLASS SCHEDULED IN ST CLOUD
Scott Krupke [Little Falls] will be teaching a course on Beginner Bridge at the Sartell Community Center in October. It's a course for anyone who might be interested in learning about bridge, regardless of card playing experience. Here are the details:Mondays at 6:00pm
October 7 through November 11 (six sessions)
Instructor: Scott Krupke
Cost: $50 For details on registration, check out the St Cloud Bridge Club website.
Lessons being taught elsewhere across Minnesota this fall can be found by clicking here.
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August 16 2024
UNIT 103 NAP "C" PLAYERS PROGRAM PAYING OFF
| This NAP season, Unit 103 offered to reimburse table fees for Minnesota clubs holding separate NAP Flight "C" games - to encourage participation. There are still a couple of weeks to go in the club-qualifying NAP season, but already, NAP tables from stand-alone Flight "C" games are up +91.7% over last year. So far, Minnesota has seen 46 Flight "C" tables in separate Unit 103 Flight "C" games, compared to just 24 tables in 2023, which is terrific for the program (and more importantly, the players). Next up will be the Unit NAP Final September 21st! | |
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August 15 2024
LONG TRUMPS AND DISTRIBUTION = GOOD GAMES
| Something along the "points schmoints" argument, this week's John Koch [St Cloud] column shows how you should be bidding more when you have long trumps and good distribution. It includes some terrific hands, and against some famous opponents (or is that "infamous?"). Click on the image to the right or click here to check out what John has to say about it. | |
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August 14 2024
SUNDAYS ARE ABOUT TO GET A LOT MORE FUN
Beginning on Sunday, September 8th, the Bridge Center of St Paul will host an open pairs game at 6:30pm. Prior to the game each week, starting on the 15th, there will be an intermediate lesson taught by Keith Connolly [St Paul], which starts at 6:00pm.
Keith's lesson on the 15th will be about counting winners and losers on your initial hand, and how to plan for an end play. Advance sign-up isn't required, just bring a partner and the expectation of a good time.
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August 14 2024
MINNESOTA NAP QUALIFIERS APPROACH 550
 | | North American Pairs games this week popped Minnesota player qualification up to 546 players - that is awesome. The full list of players is available by clicking on the image to your left; there are 334 Unit 103 players that have qualified at the club level, with 212 Unit 178 players qualifying. And there are several NAP qualification games yet to come before club qualification closes shop at the end of the month, so look for this number of Minnesota players to top 550 before it's all over. All of these players are eligible to play in the Minnesota Unit NAP Final on Saturday, September 21 at the Bridge Center of St Paul (flyer for that event is here), where wheelbarrows will be on hand to help with the massive red (and gold) points going out the door. |
August 14 2024
UNIT 103 GNT CLUB REIMBURSEMENT PROGRAM
| Just as with this year's North American Pairs, Unit 103 clubs that run Flight "C" games for the upcoming Grand National Teams competition will be reimbursed for their table fees by the Unit. Any Unit 103 club can run a GNT Flight "C" game between September 1st and March 28th at no cost to run the game (up to 30 aggregate Flight "C" tables per club). It's part of a larger effort to increase Flight "C" player participation in the NAP and GNT programs (which worked wonderfully with the NAP this year). ACBL table fees for GNT club-level games are $7.15/table, some of the most expensive club games to run. . .but this year they don't have to be. Your club can run them for free - so be sure to ask your club manager to schedule a few! |
August 13 2024
GOPHER REGIONAL WRAP-UP HELD ONLINE
| While all tournament eyes are on the Rochester Med City Regional in a few weeks, Patti Stuhlmann [Minneapolis] held an online get-together with the Gopher Regional Planning Committee to wrap up this year's May tournament and look ahead to the Gopher in May 2025. Patti provided details of this year's Gopher attendance and finances, soliciting feedback from the team and previewing the 2025 tournament. In on the zoom meeting was Gopher Co-Chair Warren Nelson [Cloquet], along with Bev Meyer [Minneapolis], Annie Schaeffer [Lakeville], Steve Gaynor [Inver Grove Heights], Jean Boettcher [Inver Grove Heights], Sue Greenberg [Byron], Matt Belau [Rochester], Matt Koltnow (DIC) [Seattle WA], Mike Cassel [Roseville], Jane Schmidt [St Paul] and Sue Sanger [St Louis Park]. |
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Patti reported attendance at this year's Gopher (751.5 tables) was up +9.4% compared to 2023. There was also a profit of $6,316.36 from this year's event, split between the two Minnesota Units. For the 2025 Gopher, a couple of new ideas are on tap. One, the two-day four-session team events limited participation; so there was discussion to move to Bracketed Teams each day of the tournament. Two, should an evening session be added to the tournament? Committee members want to have an opporunity for those who work a chance to play during the evening, even if that is online. The schedule for the 2025 Gopher is expected to be set in September.
Connie Nelson [Avon], the Gopher Publicity Chair, Warren Nelson [Cloquet], the Gopher Co-Chair with Patti, and Brian Crossley [Burnsville], Information Desk Chair, are all retiring from their positions going forward. They have done a terrific job over the years, and everyone thanks them (especially Patti!) for their support. Betty Trillegi (Richfield) is taking over the Information Desk, and Bev Meyer [Minneapolis] and Annie Schaeffer [Lakeville] will work together on the 2025 Partnership Desk. If you or someone you know might be interested in helping out with next year's Gopher, Patti would love to hear from you. It's never too early to start working on next year's tournament.
Notes from the meeting are to your left (click to open in a new window).
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August 13 2024
NAME THIS MINNESOTA BRIDGE PLAYER
 | | This Minnesota bridge player is getting ready to cross the 10,000 masterpoint mark within the next month (chances are very good it will happen just at or before the Rochester Med City Regional). Some really terrific finishes during the course of this bridge player's career, with a 3rd place overall at the 2016 Spring NABC in the Rockwell Mixed Pairs. . .and a 2nd place overall at the 2016 Summer NABC in the 0-10K Mixed Swiss teams!
Just who is this Minnesota bridge player? You may already know who it is. . .but if not, we'll have an update when they cross that 10,000 masterpoint finish line. And if it happens in Rochester, there will definitely be a party that you do not want to miss. |
August 13 2024
JUST THREE WEEKS OUT!
August 12 2024
NEXT WEEK'S NON-LIFE MASTER TOURNAMENT
If you have not already scheduled your partnerships for the Bridge Center of St Paul's NLM tournament next week, there's still time. One week from Wednesday, NLMs get their own silver point sectional games at the Bridge Center of St Paul's Roseville location. (The flyer is to your right - click on it to check it out.)
This event is being held Wednesday August 21st to Friday August 23rd, with NLM pairs games at 10am and 2pm. Non-Life Masters with up to 749 masterpoints are invited, however because it's stratified, 99ers get compared to players with their own experience level. If you're looking to play and need a partner, Kim Hayward [Bayport] will set you up - call her at 651-271-3500.
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August 12 2024
GOPHER #1 IN YEAR-OVER-YEAR REGIONAL TABLES
| | This past week's regional in Omaha NE had a total of 810 tables; that's off by -15.2% and just 57 more tables than those hosted at the Gopher this year. So far in 2024, there have been five open regionals held in the Upper Midwest. . .and of these five, the Gopher Regional in May has seen the greatest improvement in table counts (year-over-year) with a +9.5% increase leading the pack. (Here is hoping that this is a trend that will continue!)
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August 11 2024
MINNESOTANS SCORING IN OMAHA THIS WEEK
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There were more than a dozen Minnesota bridge players that made the trip to the Omaha Regional this week. It's a great tournament, and despite total tables being off by roughly -16.4% this year, this tournament is still a bit larger than the Gopher.
Our Minnesota players did well in Omaha this week, with 12 of them earning some masterpoints at the tournament. You can see a list of the Minnesota players and their Omaha Regional winnings to your left (click on the chart to open it in a new window).
Of note: of these Minnesota players, Amy Dutton [Mendota Heights] and her partner Bill Bonneau [Omaha NE] came in 1st place overall in the Wednesday Gold Rush - well done, Amy!
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August 11 2024
SOMEBODY JUST WON THE "BAD BEAT JACKPOT"
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We'd say "don't you just hate it when this happens", but for most of us, this is probably never going to happen. That's because you have to start out by having a 70.00% game, which is extremely difficult to do. But this week Dennis Hoffelt [Detroit Lakes] and partner Barbara Lanier [El Cerrito CA] had a good game going up in Detroit Lakes on Thursday. What felt like a good game turned into a GREAT game, as they finished with a 71.30% score. Quite the good result and cause for celebration!
So imagine their - disappointment - when they found out that their spectacular result was only good enough for 2nd place overall in the game? Jim Brothers [Mesa AZ] and Jon Martin [Fargo] earned enough matchpoints to come in 1st overall with a 73.96% game. Even better! These 70.00%+ scores are rare enough, but to have two in the same game is quite unusual.
If you're familiar with poker rooms, most have what's known as a "bad beat jackpot". A small portion of the table stakes go to this fund which gets paid out when (as an example) someone has at least an aces-full house or better - and loses to a better hand. Perhaps your local club needs to start such a thing! (They sure could have used one in Detroit Lakes this week.)
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August 10 2024
MINNESOTA TOURNAMENT PLAY OPPORTUNITIES
Lots of opportunities through the rest of the year for you to get your pigmented masterpoints! Here's a look at the current list of tournaments remaining in 2024 in Minnesota; get a partner or two and (as they say to declarer,) start planning your play.
| REMAINING 2024 MINNESOTA BRIDGE TOURNAMENTS | | | |  |  |  | ROSEVILLE
NLM Sectional
Aug 21-23 | ROCHESTER
Regional
Sept 3-8 | MANKATO
Sectional
Sep 28-29 | SARTELL
NLM Sectional
Oct 12 | ROSEVILLE
Sectional
Oct 24-26 | ROSEVILLE
Sectional
Dec 12-15 |
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August 10 2024
A QUICK NORTH AMERICAN PAIRS UPDATE
You have a few weeks left to qualify for the North American Pairs at your local club; there are lots of NAP games still scheduled for this month (check your local club's calendar by clicking here). A quick update on Minnesota players shows player participation and player qualification is getting more impressive every week.
Through August 9th, there have been 533 Minnesota bridge players who have qualified to go farther in the NAP program this year; that's incredible. Almost half of those players, 251 of them, are in the Flight "C" category. Also - incredible.
A reminder of the big Unit NAP Final coming up in about six weeks at the Bridge Center of St Paul's Roseville location - Flight "A", Flight "B" and Flight "C" players all have their own separate flight to play in, so you're playing against players of the same experience level for those red points (and gold dust!).
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August 10 2024
KORY SOLARZ KNOCKDOWN TOURNEY RESCHEDULED
| In addition to the St Cloud bridge club cancelling their games this week, COVID cases within the club have also prompted a rescheduling of the 2nd Annual Kory Solarz Knockdown Tourney. Originally to be played on Thursday night this week, the event will take place three weeks later, on Thursday evening August 29th. The craziness and all-around good time of this bridge get-together should be well worth the extra wait! (As will be the photos that are taken that night.) |
August 9 2024
"CALM BLUE OCEAN CALM BLUE OCEAN CALM BLUE OCEAN"
| | Waters can get a little choppy at the bridge table sometimes, and we've all had a chance to close our eyes and repeat to ourselves "calm blue ocean" in the hopes that it really will help calm things down. But here's a chance to actually be on that calm blue ocean while at the bridge table, and with a few other bridge friends.
Lou Tesler [Eden Prairie] is organizing a bridge cruise April 12-19 2025. It's aboard the Celebrity Equinox, which starts/ends at Port Canveral, FL, and stops in the Bahamas, Belize, and Cozumel, Mexico. Lou is planning daily ACBL-sanctioned bridge games (masterpoints while cruising!), and says deep discounts are available for those who act quickly. (There is an additional charge up to $200 per person to cover the cost of the sanction, ACBL director, equipment and enhanced internet.) The flyer is to your left - click on it to view it in a new window, and if you'd like more information contact Lou at loutesler@me.com or 612-859-1835.
[ED: The Bridge Blog receives no commission or compensation regarding this cruise, we just know cruising and bridge go so well together and thus are just passing this along for those who might be interested.] |
August 8 2024
COVID CLOSES ST CLOUD BRIDGE GAMES THIS WEEK
| Due to the high number of COVID cases within the St Cloud bridge playing group, all St Cloud games this week have been cancelled. Games are expected to resume on Monday, August 12th. Remember - if you have symptoms (COVID, cold, allergy, or otherwise), STAY HOME - your bridge playing friends will be happy to try and set you when you are feeling better. |
August 8 2024
HARDEST WORKING BRIDGE GUY IN RICE COUNTY
Or many more counties, for that matter. It's Nate Pike [Northfield], who took over the Northfield Bridge Club responsibilities when long time founder Evie Estenson passed away a couple of years ago. Every Thursday, duplicate bridge is held at the Community Center in Northfield, alternating between teams play one week and pairs the next. It's not expensive; the card fees are $1 per session. But Nate puts on a spread as if you're at a major tournament!
They only average four tables a week, but there are no sit-outs. Donated computers allow Nate to set up BBO fill-ins should there be a half-table. . .and he sets those up in advance of the game every week. His results page is tied to a flat-screen monitor, so you're always aware of how the game is going; and while there is no dealing machine, all players chip in and separate cards into suits once you're done with the table action. There are plenty of bridge clubs with more tables each game that don't have a club manager willing to go through all this each week. And it would sure be easy to not put out as much effort (or just do what's needed or required). . .but Northfield is lucky to have Nate Pike in charge, and if you visit their club on a Thursday you'll see what we mean.
 
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August 8 2024
GEARING UP FOR GRAND NATIONAL TEAMS
 | | While the North American Pairs club qualifying ends this month, the Grand National Teams play at your local club fires up starting September 1st. And while it is true that less experienced players tend to shy away from teams play (usually due to unfamiliarity more than anything else), teams at tournaments and team online play is up quite a bit of late. (The top chart on your left is the teams tables at the Minnesota Gopher over the years as a percentage of all tables at the tournament.)
Even at the Gopher Regional now, teams tables account for almost half of all the tables at the tournament (41.1%)! In additional to the Grand National Teams starting up next month, there is the Rochester Regional (with teams play every day of the tournament); there's also teams play as part of the Mankato Sectional at the end of the month. So plenty of opportunities for getting a foursome together and having some fun getting into trouble as a team are coming up.
When it comes to the GNT, historically Minnesota has most of its tables in play during the month of September (last year's Minnesota GNT tables are listed on the lower chart to your left, by month of the competition) - so watch for those GNT games on your local club schedule. |
August 8 2024
ACTIVE DEFENSE OR PASSIVE? SOME TIPS
| "More tricks are given away with the wrong defense than all the signals in the world." So says John Koch [St Cloud], and we're not one to argue. This week John provides 22 different hands, providing tips on when to be active on defense - and when to be passive. Click on the image to the right or click here to check out what John has to say about it. | |
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August 7 2024
MINNESOTA IS CRUSHING THE D14 NAP SO FAR
Minnesota bridge clubs (and their players) are crushing the North American Pairs through two months. D14 includes Nebraska, Iowa, the Dakotas, and Minnesota, but when it comes to the NAP this year, it's all Minnesota so far. The top 5 D14 clubs for NAP tables this summer are all in our state.
The Omaha NE metro area, home to Omaha Bridge Studio (the largest bridge club in all of D14) has had 1,008 total bridge tables during June and July. But 0 (that's zero) of those tables were NAP tables. Not one single game in Omaha this summer has been an NAP game. The Twin Cities metro area has had 1,167 total bridge tables the past two months, with 263 of those tables (or 22.5%) as NAP tables. (Even the Des Moines IA metro area, with their 397 tables in June and July, had 35 tables of NAP players.) This is one big reason why Minnesotans dominate the D14 NAP and GNT program. Minnesota clubs participate - and encourage their bridge players to get involved. Even with the largest club in D14 in Omaha, it's impossible for players to participate when you don't hold any NAP games.
So why don't other bridge clubs within D14 do more to provide these games for their players? That is a question that will likely come up in D14 meetings down the road. With still one month to go in the NAP, all indications at the moment are that Minnesota will be leading the way once again in the North American Pairs competition this year.
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August 6 2024
NEW STUDY: IT REALLY HURTS TO THINK
If you've ever found yourself with a headache after a three-session day of tournament bridge, or feeling exhausted at the end of a week-long regional having played every day without a day off, a new study shows it's not just you. New research published by the American Psychological Association shows that mental exertion leads to irritation or frustration in many situations - supporting the concept that it hurts to think.
The study, conducted by Radboud University in the Netherlands, appeared Monday in the association's monthly journal, Psychological Bulletin. The senior author of the study, Erik Bijleveld, is a psychologist and associate professor at Radboud University. His team compiled studies involving a variety of participants -- for instance, healthcare workers, military employees, amateur athletes and college students -- from 29 countries. The research team collected data from 358 different cognitive tasks -- learning a new technology, finding one's way around an unfamiliar environment, practicing golf swings and playing a virtual reality game, to name a few (with no mention of duplicate bridge, interestingly enough). In all studies that researchers analyzed, participants reported the level of effort they exerted and the extent to which they had unpleasant feelings, such as frustration, irritation, stress or annoyance.
Across all populations and tasks, the more significant the mental effort, the higher the unpleasantness that participants experienced. So what does this say about bridge players?
Well, for one thing, you're tougher than the rest of the population. If it really does hurt to think (and you can read the details of the study here), you're willing to put up with it to play cards. The benefits of duplicate bridge are well documented, and bridge is still wildly fun. Second, if you do find a bit of mental exhaustion after a tough day at the bridge table, then this study doesn't really provide anything new - rather it confirms what you already know. Bridge is great exercise for your brain, and exercise (of every sort) can be tiring. Third, even if you don't make every right decision during a bridge game, the decision to play in the first place is the best possible decision you can make. The social aspect of duplicate bridge, helping to stave off cognitive decline down the road, and the thrill of competition at the table easily overwhelm any potential frustration or stress from playing. Now we just need a study like this based on or including the bridge playing public!
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August 5 2024
THE LATEST ON EDGAR
Progress on EDGAR, the ACBL's computer program to determine cheating players, was provided during the Summer NABC in Toronto. At the current rate of the program, the ACBL expects that all roughly 83,000 online players will have been screened in about 18 months (somewhere between October 2025 and March 2026). The ACBL claims players who have been determined to be cheating are currently between 1.3% and 2.0% of all players (there's some redundancy in statistics, so there's no exact count of cheaters). More data will provide more accurate results of course, but as of now 11 cases are before the Institute for Bridge Arbitration, and so far 242 players have been tagged as "red", or cheating, according to the computer program.
Here are the statistics as of July 10th:
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August 4 2024
CELEBRATING IN ST CLOUD
As players continue to grow in their game, and milestones are achieved, it's great to celebrate new rank achievements as they happen. And up in St Cloud, they celebrate those milestones in style!
To your right would be Nancy Balfanz [St Cloud] and Sue Knauss [Rockville], who recently made Life Master and Bronze Life Master (respectively). Everyone else at the club in St Cloud was celebrating with them last week - along with a piece of celebratory cake. Well done, you two! (It makes one consider making every rank achievement milestone up in St Cloud!?) | |  |
August 3 2024
UPCOMING REGIONAL SPORTING AN ONLINE OPTION
Even if you are not currently planning to travel to Rochester's upcoming Med City Regional, you'll still have the opportunity to earn some regionally-rated gold points during tournament week next month. Wednesday, September 4th, and Thursday, September 5th will have special online BBO games available that are tied to the tournament.
There will be an Open two-session game and a Gold Rush two-session game for players limited to District 14 players (all players in Minnesota are in D14). More details will come as we get closer to the tournament, but the good news is that you can still get some gold points even if you can't make it to Rochester. And if you can make it to Rochester, these games will be a 3rd session during the week for those bridge players who just cannot get enough bridge. (You. . .you know who you are.) |
August 2 2024
FALL IS FOR LEARNING
Fall lessons have been scheduled, so players can learn a few new things about this great game of bridge - or hone up on their existing skill set.
Bridge Center of St Paul's BEGINNING BRIDGE 101 - BIDDING
Mondays 6:30p tp 8:30p, taught by Larry Huiras
September 23 to November 11
Details of the class, including costs and course book can be found by clicking here.
Bridge Center of St Paul's BEGINNING BRIDGE 102 - PLAY OF THE HAND
Wednesdays 6:30p tp 8:30p, taught online by Larry Huiras
September 25 to November 20
Details of the class, including costs and course book can be found by clicking here.
Rochester's BRIDGE - EXERCISE FOR THE MIND
Tuesdays 6:30p to 8:00p, taught by Layne Vinje
September 3 to October 22
Northrop Community Education Center, Rochester
Details of the class, including costs and course book can be found by clicking here.
Rochester's BEYOND BEGINNING BRIDGE
Tuesdays 10:00a to 11:30am, taught by Joanne Long
September 3 to October 22
Northrop Community Education Center, Rochester
Details of the class, including costs and course book can be found by clicking here.
Rochester's REFINING YOUR GAME
Thursdays 9:30a to 11:30am, taught by Sue Greenberg
September 19 to October 31
St Luke's Episcopal Church, Rochester
Details of the class, including costs and course book will be available
at the Rochester club by mid-August.
Edina Senior Center's BEGINNING BRIDGE
Tuesdays 1:00p to 3:00pm, taught by Teri Blu
September 10 to October 29
Edina Senior Center, Edina
Lessons will include declarer play with an emphasis on bidding.
You can register for this class by clicking here.
Don't forget the regular Monday morning lessons in Duluth, along with the weekly Tuesday noon lessons in St Cloud! And if your local club doesn't offer lessons, ASK THEM to do so. It's in everyone's best interests.
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August 2 2024
MINNESOTA TABLE TRENDS
 | | Much like the rest of the country, Minnesota's face-to-face (F2F) tables are predominantly held during the week on Mondays. Over the past 52 weeks ending July 22nd of this year, the state has averaged 246.5 club F2F tables per week. (That's not counting tournaments.) 72 tables a week are held on Monday, which is followed by Thursday and then Tuesday, with no regular in-person games held on Sundays.
Presently, of the 37 regularly scheduled Minnesota club games each week, 11 of them are limited masterpoint games. The chart to your left shows the average tables per game over the past 52 weeks for the regularly scheduled bridge games across the state; while the chart below shows the average tables per weekday. Trends continue to be on the upswing, which is great!
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August 1 2024
TFW YOU MEET YOUR 5th GRADE TEACHER AT THE TABLE
| Muggs Ernste [Northfield] is a regular in the Northfield Thursday game; and this week Matt Belau [Rochester] made an appearance at the Northfield game with a few friends on a team to play in the Northfield team game. So naturally they ran into each other at the table, and as it turns out, Muggs taught Matt when he was a 5th grade student at Edison Elementary in Rochester some 54 years ago. For the record, he did apologize to her for being such a problem student so many years ago - and he says "54 years later, and she's still teaching me a few things!" (You just never know who you will meet at a bridge game.)
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August 1 2024
HELPING TO MAKE A DOUBLE-SQUEEZE A SURE THING
| This week's John Koch [St Cloud] column instructs on how to help make a double-squeeze a sure thing. And if you're not ready to try a double-squeeze, his write-up helps to find a missing honor. . .one that you might want to know about to make your contract! (HINT - if you try the 60% finesse, you're down two.) Click on the image to the right or click here to check out what John has to say about it. | |
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July 31 2024
END-OF-JULY NORTH AMERICAN PAIRS UPDATE
There's two months down and one month to go in the club-qualifying stage of the North American Pairs. This past month saw a drop overall in Minnesota NAP tables, which isn't surprising - these games are a little pricey for your local club to run, and once everyone is qualified, there's not much incentive to keep running them (as players only need to qualify once).
Overall, Minnesota's NAP tables this month came in at 276.5 tables, which is a bit off June's 282 tables (or -2.0%). . .but these first two months of qualification have still had more tables (559) than last year's June and July combined Minnesota NAP tables (413 through two months).
The number of Minnesota players who have qualified to go on in this competition is HUGE. Currently, 493 players have qualified in the NAP - that list of all those players can be accessed by clicking here. This includes a whopping 227 Flight "C" players! And don't forget the big NAP Unit Final will be held on September 21st at the Bridge Center of St Paul, where lots of red and gold points await pre-qualified players. If you still haven't yet qualified, there is one more month to go! (See the list of August club calendars by clicking here.) | | 
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July 30 2024
UPDATED TOURNAMENT CALENDAR
Steve Gaynor [Inver Grove Heights] has sent us his latest tournament calendar, listing events for Minnesota bridge players to mark on their calendars and get playing. Click on the image below to open this file in a new window - and a H/T to Steve for taking the time to send this in.
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