Scorecard Volume 57, No. 4 July/August 2025

Volume 57, No. 4

Ken Monzingo

July/August 2025

President’s Message

By Jack LaVigne President District 16

Ken Monzingo

With heartfelt appreciation, we acknowledge Ken Monzingo as he steps down from his role as Chair of the Publications Committee. We are deeply grateful to Ken and his protégé, Sergio Mendivil, for their unwavering commitment to creating and maintaining the D16 website. Ken’s contributions extended far beyond technical work – he developed a comprehensive style guide for all written communications and generously served as a proofreader, helping to ensure clarity, consistency, and professionalism in everything we published.

GNT Scheduling

Due to an unfortunate scheduling conflict, an Austin sectional took place on the same weekend as the Grand National Teams (GNT) event in Dallas. District 16 will make every effort to oversee the scheduling of these events to avoid future conflicts. We encourage all eligible players to participate in the D16 GNT Finals.

In the coming years, two GNT flights will be held at the Houston Election Sectional in early April, and the other two at the Dallas Spring Sectional in early May. Flights A and C will alternate annually with the Championship and B flights between the two cities. Unit tournament coordinators should keep these dates in mind when requesting sanctions during that period.

Bridge War

I’d like to challenge all D16 members to help grow our membership by introducing others to the game we love. In the January/February Scorecard, I highlighted “Just Declare” on BBO® – a simple and accessible way to share bridge with your friends. I also hope you enjoyed Betty Starzec’s article on Bridge War in the May/June Scorecard. It presents another fun and easy way to spark interest, especially among younger friends, family members, and acquaintances. Let’s work together to welcome new players into our bridge community.

“I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.” – Mother Teresa

ACBL District 16

Upcoming D16 Tournaments

June 30-July 6 San Antonio Fourth of July Regional

July 25-26 San Antonio I/N 2 Day Sectional

August 2-3 Austin Summer 0-200 Sectional

August 7-9 Tyler Tournament of Roses Sectional & I/N Regional

August 18-21 Houston Unit 174 STaC

August 27-September 1 Allen Dallas Labor Day Regional

September 4-7 New Braunfels Sectional

September 11-14 Houston BCOH 499er Sectional

September 15-21 D16 STaC (Fundraiser for NABC)

September 25-28 Austin Fall Sectional

October 2-4 Denton Local Sectional

October 4-5 Austin 0-50 Sectional

October 9-11 Beaumont Sabine Neches Fall Tournament

October 10-11 San Antonio I/N 2 Day Sectional

October 15-18 San Antonio Diane Olson Election Sectional

October 17-19 Fort Western Sectional

October

President Jack LaVigne

District 16 Officers

First Vice President Second Vice President

Jerry Harrington Kristen Onsgard

Executive Secretary Executive Treasurer

BJ Sanders

James Southerland

Immediate Past President Betty Starzec

Committee Chairs

Awards Charity

Jerry Harrington Karen Nussbaum

Membership Teacher of the Year

Lauri Laufman Sam Khayatt

Tournament Publications

Tomi Storey TBD Coordinators

Education Grand National Teams

Patricia Herrera

Scott Nason

Marketing/Publicity Intermediate/Newcomer

Rachell Jackson

Sam Khayatt

STaC North America Pairs

Daniel Jackson

Larry Davis

Financial Verifier Recorder

Jim Woodward

Larry Davis

NABC Correspondent Tournament / Sanction

Scott Nason Applications

Scott Humphrey Lecture Series

James Moody, Dolores Aquino (I/N) and

Patricia Herrera (Spanish)

Webmaster

TBD

District 16

Scorecard Editor

Evvie Gilbert

For Submissions, Omissions or Errors, send an email to: D16-ScorecardEditor@d16acbl.org

Regional Director's Update

By Rebecca Brown Region 9 Director

Coming NABC and D16 GNT

Masterpoint Milestone Messages

Everything is heating up! It was August in May and the heat is on for the Summer NABC to be held in Philadelphia beginning July 23. Our District will be represented proudly by GNT winners (See Scott Nason’s column in this issue) and other topflight players. We are lucky to have many excellent players whose accomplishments we are always ready to celebrate.

D16 Up-and-Coming Players

But what about those players just starting? Perhaps it is even more important for us to recognize and affirm their progress; the up-and-coming players of today are the future of our district. As Region 9 Director, every month I receive notices of rank changes of D16 (and D15) players, among other statistical notices. Every player who accomplishes a rank change gets an email from me congratulating them and asking them to share their bridge stories and their photos. I read each of the stories I receive; I find them at least interesting, and often very moving.

I concluded that these stories should be shared with you. Working with Evvie Gilbert, our Scorecard Editor, and with players’ permission, of course, we now include a new feature, Masterpoint Milestone Messages, that shares them with you. Please check it out!

I bet you will find the stories fun and inspiring. It may also be your first introduction to someone you will sit opposite at the table. Take the opportunity to recognize the player’s accomplishment. No doubt you will see a player’s face light up! Who knows? You may have just congratulated someone on becoming a Junior Master who will turn out to be the next Bob Hamman!

See you at the table! Send your comments, complaints and suggestions to me at Region9Director@ acbl.org

North American Pairs (NAP) Cycle Began in June

By Larry Davis

D16 NAP Coordinator

Players are strongly encouraged to play in NAP games offered at the club-level in June, July and August. You may play in these games as many times as you’d like (even after you’ve earned a qualification to play at the district-level).

Play Anywhere

You may play in any club in the ACBL – even if said club is not in your unit or district. No unit-level qualification is required to advance to the district-level (held January 10-11, 2026 in Austin).

Red Points & Stratifications

NAP games pay very well in masterpoints – half of any points earned are red points. There are four masterpoint strats: 0-750 (NLM), 0-3000, 0-6000 and 6000+. Your strat is dependent upon your masterpoint holding as of the May 7 ACBL monthly determination. If you later “advance” to the next higher level, your strat for NAP purposes remains as it was on May 7.

If you play at the district-level, you may play with any District 16 player in your strat who qualified – it does not have to be with someone with whom you previously played. So, make sure to jump into those club games and qualify to participate.

2025 District 16 Grand National Teams (GNT) ♠

By Scott Nason D16 GNT Coordinator

The2025 District 16 GNT 2025 finals are in the books.

Flights A & C

The first two flights – A and C – were competed in Houston on April 5-6 and discussed in the previous issue.

The other two flights were competed in Dallas on May 2-3.

Championship Flight

The Championship Flight had four entries, the biggest field since before COVID-19. On the first day, a round robin reduced the field to two teams:

Dinkin: Sam Dinkin & Finn Kolesnik (Austin) –Unit 207, Greg Hinze & Venkat Koneru (San Antonio) – Unit 172, Bob Morris (Houston) – Unit 174

Wheeler: Sally Wheeler & Buddy Hanby (The Woodlands), Jack LaVigne & Thomas Rush (Houston) – Unit 174

Team Dinkin faced off against Wheeler to win the finals handily.

District 16 Championship Flight GNT Winners Dinkin Team

Finn Kolesnik, Sam Dinkin, Bob Morris, Greg Hinze, Venkat Koneru

Flight B

There were seven teams entered in Flight B, one shy of the number required to qualify two teams for the summer NABC. The seven teams played a round robin, reducing the field to four for the semi-final

Knockouts (KOs).

The four Flight B teams to qualify for the semi-final KOs were:

Litwin: Stuart Litwin (Round Rock), Anita Albert, Jarek Langer & Benjamin Klauder (Austin) – Unit 207

Jaeger: Phillip Jaeger & Thomas Hackenberg (Round Rock), Linda Griffith & Frank Floca (Austin) – Unit 207

Remmers: Dale & Valerie Remmers (Plano), Bob Holliday (Dallas), Mary Lynn Genovesi (Fairview) –Unit 176

Jinna: Hasin Jinna (Houston) & Suvabrata Biswas (Katy) – Unit 174, Elaine Wood (Keller) & Vijay Vasudevan (Frisco) – Unit 176

The top qualifier Litwin team lost its KO to the Jaeger team (both Unit 207 teams). The third qualifier Remmers team defeated Jinna team. In an exciting final, the Jaeger team came back on the final three boards to overtake Remmers and earn the win.

District 16 Flight B GNT Winners Jaeger Team

Frank Floca, Tom Hackenberg

Phillip Jaeger, Linda Griffith

Each winning team receives a $2400 expenses stipend and the D16 invite to the Philadelphia NABC in July.

New Members

April 2025-May 2025

172 Kerry Ano

172 Jason Baker

172 Paula Brett

172 Martin Fitch

172 Tiffini Greer

172 Scott Johnson

172 Vanessa Rodriguez

172 Kathy Schlosberg

172 Angelica Vargas

174 Rodree Carlile

174 Shen Che

174 Rebecca Chen

174 Chastity Crissman

174 Stuart Gibbs

174 Marc Haci

174 Robert Herman

174 Deniese Huggins

Junior Master (5 MPs)

173 Claudia Garcia Lozano

173 Ma Laura Madero

173 Susan Stopford

174 Rebecca Chen

174 Jean A Foster

174 Marc Haci

174 Ann B Muffeny

174 Sissie Omalley

174 Janice Sauve

174 Bernard M Weintraub

176 Davis Cable

176 Stacy Mihalsky

176 Carla Swenson

174 George Hildebrandt

174 Keith Koenig

174 Cynthia Martin

174 Alana Miller

174 Marissa Morris

174 Madhura Patel

174 Karen Rebolledo

174 Whitney Turner

174 Mary Ann Vandermark

176 Frank Johnson

176 Jennifer Linhart

176 Heather Welsch

183 Linda Diehl

187 Jeri Jones

187 Laura White

197 Tricia Grimstead

207 Roger Boyd

207 Andrew Clifford

207 Steve Coonan

207 Jena Courtney

207 Joseph Dunk

207 Laura Dunk

207 Richard Grey

207 Geoffrey Keats

207 Dave Mullinix

207 Martha Rand

207 Paula Troy

225 Pamela Hamilton

225 John O Sullivan

225 Nancy Smith

233 Lindsey Carl

233 Lindsey Stevens

Masterpoint Milestones

April 2025-May 2025

183 Glen D Carson

183 Phoebe Eckstein

183 Evelyn Estes-Knowles

183 Danny Lee

183 Norma Slocum

183 Margaret M Gisler

187 Susan Case

187 David Swanson

187 Laura White

197 Bryan Camp

201 Asher Puente

204 Carol G Bennett

207 Jeanette Alexander

207 Loraine Gatson

207 Laurie Slick

225 Angela G Dickinson

225 Joanna Jewett

225 John O Sullivan

233 Mr. Peter W Curtice

Club Master (20

173 Mira Levinson

174 Ryo Chen

174 Dilip J Dharia

174 Xueqian Lin

174 Chris L Manley

174 Steve Vandoorn

176 Gilbert Brown

MPs)

176 Jane G Hancock

176 Terry L McComas

176 Mr. Jayaprakash Namburi

176 Bhushan Sanghi

176 Kaijian Shi

176 Sidney M Snively

183 Brandon Buchanan

187 Brenda Turner

204 Mrs. Nettie C Cavin

204 Elizabeth M Jones

207 Jay Carnegie

207 Mary Doonan

207 Charles E Greenwell

207 Steven Harris

207 James Michalski

207 Bruce Raven

207 Ainge Southerland

207 James Michalski

209 Sandra Harwell

225 Judith A Fuller

225 Julie O Shaughnessy

233 Bonnie V Loe

Sectional Master (50 MPs)

172 Neill F Amsler III

172 Donnelle Blahuta

172 Brenda Garcia

174 Bob Driskell

174 George W Edwards

174 Frank Posada

174 Najet S Soltani

174 Deborah Zissman

176 Ms. Maretta K Deiterman

176 Mrs. Pattye E Ramacciotti

183 Ermine L Morris

187 Eric W Hanson

197 Cissy Lara

197 James W Reid

204 I Riki Rich

201 Mr. Russell J Wright

207 Charlotte E Brigham

207 Matt Claflin

207 Shanker Reddy

207 Mr. Michael W Scott

207 Dan G Seitz

207 John R Thomas

225 Diane B Patrick

225 Loren Goodman

Regional Master (100 MPs)

172 Gwynne S Mayer

174 Julie Etta Davidson

174 Dwight J Evans Jr

174 Debra Oakes

174 Therese L Perez

174 Christine M Pillow

174 Patricia C Pipitone

174 Mrs. Jacqueline Pognonec

174 Sherry A Seyer

174 Mrs. Linda M Spiegelhauer

176 Matthew J Rippin

176 Marilee Schmelzer

183 Mr. Rick Harwell

187 Charles W Good

187 Patricia H Good

187 Willa V Hewlett

197 Ms. Cynthia S Williams

201 Patricia M Lavelle

201 Marty Simpson

207 Dr. Ken Burton Jr

207 Jane Kecskes

225 Ms. Sherry K Russell

254 Travis Lindenbaum

NABC Master (200 MPs)

172 Gloria Harkey

174 Jennifer S Armstrong

174 Dr. Robert Boyd

174 Mr. Jim H Gosnell

174 Pam Johnson

174 Edward P McKee

174 Jinrong Wang

174 Mrs. Cissy Wortham

174 Bob Yelli

176 Linda Appel

176 Linda B Cerf

176 Matthew J Rippin

183 Elizabeth C Furman

183 Jan A Vanhummel

187 Mr. David P Boyle

207 Ms. Gaye A Campbell-Baker

207 Alecia M Southworth

209 Mr. Douglas C Jeffrey III

209 Dale Linton

225 Ms. Bonnie E Todd

225 Brenda M Williams

233 Malissa R Baugh

353 Ms. Nell Lister

Advanced NABC Master (300 MPs)

172 Scott Anderson

172 Beverly Flannery

174 Judi Whaling

183 Carolyn R Henderson

183 Joy R Pearson

183 Lynnie Sharma

187 Ms. Mary Anne Wilkinson

207 Dianne Morris

209 Juanice J Welsh

Life Master (500 MPs*)

174 Mr. Thomas Brown

174 Mr. Bradley C Etnyre

174 Joan B Slayden

176 Karim N Abuhamad

176 Kent L Baxter

176 Jim M La Rose

176 Elaine Lowenkron

176 Mrs. Nancie N Wagner

183 Michael E Frederick

183 Lynn Long

205 Mr. Norman S Rosenblatt

207 Earnestine Broyles

207 Jamie Southerland

209 Mr. Bill D Brooks

Bronze Life Master (750 MPs**)

174 Hua Chen

174 Mrs. Lee A Ned

174 Joan B Slayden

174 Ms. Barbara D Sweeney

176 Karim N Abuhamad

176 Dr. Robert M Bugbee

176 Debrah Chockley

176 Dr. Steve Conover

176 Patricia H Ducayet

176 Edwin J Ducayet Jr

176 Linda L Harley

176 Elaine Lowenkron

176 Mrs. Nancie N Wagner

176 Mr. Calvin W Winchester

183 Suzy Lynch Cummings

205 Mr. Norman S Rosenblatt

209 209 Mr. Bill D Brooks

225 Mrs. Ann Haynes

225 Mr. Sanjay Santhanam

Silver Life Master (1000 MPs)

172 Mr. Stephen P Simpson

173 Mr. Raul G Bouffier Jr

174 Mr. Michael P O'Shea

174 Anik Waters

174 Mr. James A Woodward

176 Ms. Mary-Jane Cross

183 Mrs. Audrey F Wright

205 Ms. Vinette J Howell

207 Pam Beck

207 Sally Sassen

225 Mrs. Jeanie C Nutter

Ruby Life Master (1500 MPs)

174 Mr. David L Bradt

174 Lauri Laufman

174 Ms. Linda S Marlin

174 Carol Meade

174 Mr. Terry A Sucher

174 Irene White

176 Nget C Carter

183 Mrs. Joyce L Anderson

183 Mr. Alan M Rauch

197 Kay E Davidson

201 Dee K Payne

207 Andrew Z Chen

207 Mrs. Linda J Griffith

207 Michael M Edwards

207 Ann E Roe

Gold Life Master (2500 MPs)

174 Mrs. Liane Tsai

207 James B Moody

Sapphire Life Master (3500 MPs)

176 Mr. Jon F Browne

176 Ms. Sheri L Bumgardner

176 Kristen Onsgard

176 Mrs. Dorsey Shaw

207 Ms. Tricia A Kane

207 Jim Wallace

Emerald Life Master (7500 MPs)

207 Mr. John E Bromberg

*Prior to January 1, 2010 - 300 MPs

**Prior to January 1, 2010- 500 MPs

Masterpoint Milestone Messages

Linda Appel

NABC Master Unit 176 - Dallas

Linda

Appel’s path to becoming an NABC Master is a testament to the power of friendship, consistency, and a love of learning. She began her bridge journey just eight years ago in an evening adult learning class taught by Jack Schober – who now, fittingly, is one of her regular partners. From there, Linda dove into the game with enthusiasm, playing regularly at the Bridge Academy of North Dallas until the pandemic forced her and her fellow players online.

She has traveled out of Texas with friends to tournaments, including a memorable one in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, that concluded just days before COVID-19 brought travel to a halt. Along the way, she also deepened her skills through a three-day course with Audrey Grant and by playing regularly with a tight-knit group of five partners – all of whom share conventions and help each other grow. As Linda puts it, “My friends are my best teachers.”

Now playing four to five games a week, often from wherever she’s traveling, Linda has found bridge to be a joyful and constant presence in her life. Her story reminds us that progress comes through shared passion, steady commitment, and the joy of learning together.

Bill Brooks

Life & Bronze Life Master Unit 209 - Midland

Mywife, Audie, and I played party bridge with my parents a couple of times a year for about 20 years. In early 1993, we decided to take our game more seriously and enrolled in a "Learn to Play Bridge" class at our local community college, taught by Joe Salmon, one of our club’s directors. That first year, we accumulated fewer than five points at club games and a Ruidoso sectional tournament.

Three years later, we earned our first gold masterpoints – 3½ – at a Dallas regional knockout event. However, for the next 30 years, we remained stuck at around 10 gold masterpoints, still needing 15 more to reach Life Master status.

This year my bridge friend, Travis Woodward, invited me to the Longview Regional after a successful tournament experience with Kathy Young. Kathy’s husband had a temporary work assignment in West Texas, so she had actively played in our local clubs. Travis introduced me to the "completion team," a mentoring group from the larger Lafayette, Louisiana bridge club that supports newer players to advance through the ranks.

For the tournament, I partnered with Dion Dubois, an educator, bridge instructor, and club officer from Lafayette. We had an hour-long phone call to finalize our convention card and then I headed to Longview. Over five days of bracketed Swiss teams, we steadily earned gold points – 8.16 on day one, 4.91 on day three, and 4.51 on day five.

After 30 years, I finally crossed a major bucket-list item: achieving Life Master/Bronze Life Master status! Now, the club and I want to bring a similar mentorship and tournament experience to our own club to help up-and-coming players earn points and move up the ranks.

Our club needs more players – especially younger ones – to keep the game thriving.

Thomas Brown Life Master Unit 174

- Rosenberg

Ilearnedhow to play bridge when I was a teenager in Dallas – it was offered as a perk in the apartment complex where my parents originally moved when we moved to Dallas. My instructor thought I had some talent, so she took me to a duplicate session in North Dallas in 1965. There, I met the Oswald and Jim Jacoby during a session. My teacher was in awe of them, but I had no idea who they were. They wiped the floor with us, but Jim was very nice and pointed out where I made a mistake in the play of a hand. Looking back, that gesture means a lot to me.

As a result, I was hooked on the game and played every day at the student union at SMU. At the end of my freshman year, it was recommended that I take some time off due to my low grades (probably related to the hours spent playing bridge). After I received my draft notice, I joined the Air Force. I didn’t play much bridge, except for a brief period when I was stationed at Andrews AFB in Washington and went to the club on Connecticut Avenue with a fellow airman. We also went to one big regional tournament in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where we did well in the first session; but my partner got nervous and started drinking with the inevitable result. I was very mad and reacted badly. At that point, I decided to let it go. In 2000, I got a new ACBL card since there was no prior record from the 1960’s. However work prevented me from taking it further until December 2022 – 53 years after my

Lancaster experience.

The first turning point was a trip on Viking Ocean from Barcelona to San Juan, Puerto Rico in December 2022. Strictly by chance, there was a director and his wife from Florida who ran a small 3-table Howell session on sea days. I picked up my first official masterpoints. From there, I joined a club in Sugar Land with a pick-up partner. We had some success, plus I had some success playing online with robot partners. The second turning point was meeting my mentor at the Bridge Academy of West Houston, Chloe Ella Fackenthall. She helped me clean up my bidding and referred me to my current partner, Tonya McNabb.

From there, it was a matter of playing the right events. We molded a good team for events at regionals and the Louisville NABC. The silver points were the hardest to obtain because my district and unit are stacked with many good players. But I got there.

Gloria Harkey NABC Master Unit 172 – San

Antonio

Thisis my story, and I am sticking to it. What, no partner? This didn't stop me. I found Mentors: To Joe Hsiau, John Hilbig, and Beth Gale; A special, Thank you! I could not have done it without you. We played against some of the strongest pairs by choice at the local club. This was right after restrictions were lifted after COVID-19. It was a humbling experience to say the least. As we improved, my biggest problem was focusing in the moment at the table. One day I realized, I had to venture out solo. It was a scary time to go after the coveted gold, which meant regional tournaments. I played with various partners at different regional events and received red and gold masterpoints. However, I challenged myself to see if I could play with complete strangers and still do well. So far so good. A special thank you, to the Partnership Desks in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Ben Franz, Houston, James Sells and Shirley Shelton, Longview. These three regional tournaments catapulted me to NABC Master this first quarter of 2025. To newcomers, put yourself out there and don't be afraid to challenge yourself.

Laura Kelly Life Master Unit 183 - Saginaw

My bridge journey started when I was in high school. My mother, a master bridge player of the Goren style, taught me and my two sisters to play bridge. To this day. I can hear her say “second plays low” and “fourth from you longest and strongest.” When I went to college, bridge was a popular pastime in the dorm – too much so, in my case. After that first semester, my father and I had a ‘discussion’ and subsequently I gave up bridge for the next 50 years.

After I retired, I started bridge again. I studied at Hot Springs Village club, the Longview Bridge club, and at Lake Chapala Bridge club. I moved to Colorado Springs, Colorado in 2017 and continued my studies. Toward the end of pandemic, our club offered a mentor program. With trepidation, I asked Dennis Goldston (District 17, Unit 360, Colorado Springs) to mentor me. He was like the Yo Yo Ma of my bridge world. Wonder of Wonder – he agreed. Shortly after we made our arrangement, I moved to Texas. We continued to study via BBO®.

Dennis is an awesome man, full of humor and patience. He is a powerful teacher who knows how to bring out the best in his students. Our sessions on BBO were filled with laughter and learning, as Dennis skillfully guided me through complex strategies while making the experience enjoyable. My husband would be in the room listening to our lessons. I would choose a card and Dennis would scream “No, No, No, not that card” or I would make a mistake and Dennis would yell “that is criminal, just criminal”. Of course, I would be incapacitated with laughter. My husband's chuckles in the background only added to the warmth and joy of our sessions.

Eventually, the hard work paid off as I saw significant improvements in my play. Dennis’ teachings, characterized by his sharp wit and unwavering support, became the cornerstone of my bridge journey. Each session was a blend of serious learning and delightful camaraderie, making the entire experience enriching in ways I hadn’t imagined.

As I progressed, I participated in many tournaments and began to see the fruits of our labor. The insights

and skills imparted by Dennis helped me navigate through challenging games with a newfound finesse. I am profoundly grateful for his mentorship, which reignited my passion for bridge and brought a sense of fulfillment to my retirement years. The memories of those laughter-filled lessons will always hold a special place in my heart.

Pam LaShelle Platinum Life Master Unit 207 - Georgetown

Growing up in a Game Loving Family

Igrew up in a very Victorian house in Winterset, Iowa where we worked hard and we played hard! Every day we worked until noon and then if your work was done you could play all afternoon! If it wasn’t done, then you had to work until it was! Most of our time was spent outside playing in a three-bedroom playhouse my grandfather built for us (three sisters and a brother). We cleaned it, messed it up again and cleaned some more!

In the evening and sometimes in the afternoon we were busy at the card table playing some sort of cards and as we got older, we were introduced to bridge. My brother (six years older) and my twin sisters (four years older) all played and then I played too! My younger sister (six years younger decided it wasn’t the game for her). To me it was the best game and the most challenging. We played lots of other games, but this game was by far the favorite.

My parents had bridge club in the evenings and I could hear them laughing, sometimes yelling and some cursing and having a great time! I wanted that good time too!

By the time I went to college I played cards as much as I studied and still hadn’t found duplicate yet. I managed to graduate, find a wonderful husband who also played bridge, got married and after a few years, I found the duplicate club in Omaha! It was an incredible club with everyone playing together (no limited games) and most of the big games were at night. The better players all seemed to take a newer player under their wing, and I luckily got some great help with the game.

About this time my parents became worried I was spending too much time with this game called “duplicate” and went to Des Moines to see what it was

Dennis Goldston

all about and prove to me it was no good. Yes, you guessed it! They got hooked and my mother became a Life Master and my father almost did! My father was a seat-of-the-pants kind of player and did some wild bidding and play, but he seemed to be lucky playing this way! This kind of wildness caused some pretty big fights between my parents, but they always played together despite the difference in style.

Bridge was more than fun, and I was so hooked! Ten years in Omaha and 40 years in Austin and finally I earned 10,000 masterpoints! So many fabulous friends and partners through bridge, so much fun! Like one of my bridge partners Jeff McGee ( Unit 174 - Livingston), said, “There is nowhere else I would rather be than playing bridge with you right now!”

Xueqian Lin Club Master Unit 174 - Houston

Xueqian

Lin started learning to play bridge in May 2023. He joined the ACBL in October 2024. Xueqian enjoys playing both online and F2F with friends. In 2024, he won the Texas Bridge Association’s Most Improved Player.

Bonnie Loe Club Master Unit 233 - Belton

Afterliving in Pyeongtaek, South Korea for two years, I moved to the Temple area in May 2024 to help care for my aunt, Belva Barrington, who is an avid bridge player and Ruby Life Master. Her initial question when we discussed my coming was would I like to learn how to play bridge. I agreed that would be a great idea, so in mid-May, I started watching and taking notes at her weekly bridge game at the Bridge Studio of Temple. On May 29, she threw me into a game and said it was time to play. We won that day with 54% and I earned my first masterpoints (MPs).

I was playing with anyone that needed a partner. Everyone at the studio was very helpful and eager to add to my education. My next MPs came in June when my partner, Stephen Olson, and I won with 63%. Stephen has been mentoring me and helping me improve my bridge game along with my aunt and

various partners at the Temple location. We played three days per week and had additional practice for me in our home occasionally with a group of four. I joined ACBL to get my number so all my efforts could pay off by tracking my MPs with ACBL.

Stephen and I played on BBO® for a while and in late 2024 decided to start trying some tournaments online to test how we did. Playing online was like catnip to a cat, I was hooked. We were playing more consistently as a partnership and I would also play individual games with the robots to try to test my skills against those in my bracket. This proved to be successful for me as I earned most of my MPs in these past three months.

The district seems to do a great job of keeping everyone informed about upcoming events as my email folder has plenty of saved ones for me to choose whether online or in person. I had no idea I had gotten to the level of Club Master until Regional Director Rebecca Brown’s email arrived congratulating me. I intend to keep playing and try my hand at some sectional or regional tournaments sooner rather than later.

I discovered I love Bridge!

Mark Sneed

Club Master Unit 197 - Lubbock

TheLlano Estacado Bridge Center has been my main support for reaching this status. It is a wonderful group. They took me in, gave me books, provided lessons on Fridays. I can’t say enough good things about them, especially Sue Myers.

My mother is a factor as well. She is 83 and lives in Lebanon, Tennessee, and is a Life Master, almost to the Sapphire level. She plays on OKBridge regularly. We go over hands after my games in Lubbock and also use BBO® to play together casually. She gives me pointers afterwards. I’m addicted to bridge and am looking forward to retirement when I can totally focus on the game.

Juanice Welsh Advanced NABC Master Unit 209 - Midland

Atmy first job out of college one of the ladies I worked with decided I should learn to play bridge. I loved card games and thought why not. She then decided that 30 minutes at lunch was insufficient for learning bridge. She arranged for me to play with a partner with whom her husband had gone through basic training. I thoroughly enjoyed it and married him two years later.

In 1982 our family moved to Midland. One of the first things I did was organize a party bridge group of eight women. Over the years many of my friends moved. This happens in an oil town. There are still three of the original eight and we still play once a month.

My husband worked as an OB/GYN and I was responsible for our office and at various times other offices and same day surgery clinics billing system and raised two boys. I did not take the time to play duplicate bridge until I was 70 when I joined the local bridge club.

There, Belle Harris taught me Stayman, transfers, and weak twos. There was not an intermediate teacher in Midland and our club closed six months after I started because of COVID-19.

I began to play online. I usually played once a day with Linda Buzan from our club and any other partner I could find online. I received a letter from Paul Cuneo (immediate past regional director) saying I had made my first level in duplicate bridge. While pleased, I was still frustrated with the learning process.

Betty Dickerson, one of our club’s better players, told me to read The Play of the Hand, Defense by Larry Cohen, and Judgement at Bridge by Mike Lawrence. KC Evans, in my opinion the best player in our club, introduced me to Max Hardy’s Two Over One Game Force. She has also answered endless questions and occasionally plays with me. Small pearls of wisdom fall out of her mouth while we play. Thank you, KC. I have read these books and many more, but my learning opportunities were limited.

Indirectly, through Paul Cuneo I was introduced to Thomas Rush (Unit 174) and began taking lessons. I became friends with his wife, Janice Hardcastle Rush, and we got to play in the New Orleans NABC North American Pairs. We did not win but it was a great

experience.

Before attending the NABC, I studied Audrey Grant’s materials in preparation for the Best Practices teacher certification that was offered at the NABC. I successfully obtained my certification and was able to follow Patty Tucker (ACBL 2016 Honorary Member of the Year) around for a day so I could observe her teaching techniques.

I still take lessons from Thomas and attend tournaments. I have also started playing in Dallas area clubs where they are trying to locate regular partners for me.

I took the director’s course from Melody Euler (Now in Arizona) and because she is such a wonderful teacher, I am now a director despite accidentally skipping two pages of the test. Belle Harris is allowing me to direct beginner games while I learn the ropes.

Thanks to All Who Helped My Journey

I cannot mention all the people who have helped me on my journey, but they are all kind and thoughtful. In particular, I want to mention Paul Cuneo, Thomas and Janice Rush, Fred Gregory (my mentor), District 16 and the Bridge Club of Houston for their Mentor/Mentee Program.

I hope that by getting both the Best Practices Teacher and Director’s certifications I will be able to help our club grow. Thus, I really have two goals: Earning Life Master and Help keep a viable duplicate bridge club in Midland. I feel each will be a challenge that I cannot possibly do by myself but I will work toward both.

How can the ACBL Better Serve?

I was asked if there was anything ACBL could do to serve me better. Help those like me that are 300 miles from reasonable sized games find partners. We need someone with whom we can work through the boards. We need someone who is willing to travel to sectional, regional and national tournaments. We need someone who loves bridge enough to be willing to work to help others to be better players. It would be nice if the ACBL would provide an online membership directory broken down by districts and units to help other members find players across the country. It would be nice to have a list in the Bridge Bulletin that is updated each issue recommending “good reads” for newer players, perhaps even broken down by masterpoint levels. Maybe publish more articles about how to reach others interested in the game. I know the ACBL is working on many of these items already. Please continue your efforts. They are appreciated.

D16 + Club

Gary Blaiss & Robbie Butts 75.83%

Lubbock – LLano Estacado Bridge Club

John Erickson & Gil Micheletti 75.72%

Conroe – Lone Star Bridge Club

John Osborne & Terri Tedford 70.41%,

San Angelo – San Angelo Bridge Club

Jane Boozalis & Marilyn Leiman 70.4%

Houston – Bridge Academy of West Houston

Carole Lee O'Connor & Jerry Harrington 74.75%

San Antonio – Fiesta Bridge Club

Scott Vaughn & Kristie Tooley 74.7%

Lubbock – LLano Estacado Bridge Club

Greg Andrews & Scott Cantor 74.03%

Houston – Apple Duplicate Bridge Club

Tom Spradlin & Peggy Singer 74%

Pittsburg – Pittsburg DBC

Janis Dismukes & Vicky Fisher, 73.96%

San Angelo – San Angelo Bridge Club

Mary Hildebrand & Bobby Ebling 73.91%

Lubbock – LLano Estacado Bridge Club

John Smalley & Tipton Golias 72.82%

Beaumont – Beaumont Bridge Studio

Courtney Coffman & David Richard 72.28%

Conroe – Lone Star Bridge Club

Rick Barrett & Lesley Kellet 72%

Houston – Bridge Academy of West Houston

Pawel Hanus & Ari Sippola 71.5%

Dallas – Friendly Bridge Club

Ginny Knoelke & Suzanne Dorris 71.48%

San Angelo – San Angelo Bridge Club

Courtney Coffman & Charles Brower 71.36%

Conroe – Lone Star Bridge Club

David Worrall & Karen Bell 70.83%

Pittsburg – Pittsburg DBC

Elouise Young & LaRue Smith 70.63%

Beaumont – Beaumont Bridge Studio

Will Anthony & Scott Vaughn 70.29%

Lubbock – LLano Estacado Bridge Club

Lucille Armintor & Flo Ferguson 70%

Beaumont – Beaumont Bridge Studio

Susan Pennington & Martha Oliver 70%

Orange – Orange Community Bridge League

Martha Sigler & Nancy Smalley 70%

Beaumont – Beaumont Bridge Studio

Martha Oliver & Dee Payne 70%

Orange – Orange Community Bridge League

Bob and Zack Townley- Smith - 70%

Beaumont – Beaumont Bridge Studio

Reporting D16 70% + Games

TheD16 70% + Club recognizes members who have scored 70% or higher scores in one of the district’s club masterpoint games that is open or non-restricted club game. 70% + Games must be reported to Scorecard. These results are not automatically picked up from club files. The club director, manager or any player may send an email to: D16-ScorecardEditor@d16acbl.org with the subject: D16 70% + Club.

Be sure to include the club’s name and location. Games will be reported on a first come, first served basis as space is available.

Unit 183 Aubrey

By Nancy Connors

Member Profiles

Meet John Luebkemann

You may be acquainted with superb bridge player, John Luebkemann, but did you know that bridge is actually John’s second favorite “mind sport”? Scrabble® ranks first! John has played in tournaments for over 40 years including several top 20 finishes in the national championships. He has traveled far and wide to pursue his love of Scrabble making appearances in five world championships at international sites such as Melbourne and London, to name a couple.

John was born in Stuttgart, Arkansas where he was the youngest of three children with two older sisters. After majoring in math and attending the University of Arkansas for two years, John transferred to Georgia State University where he completed their Actuarial Program. Following college and certification boards John started his career as an actuary. (Look it up! It requires a high aptitude in mathematics and statistics.)

John spent the next few decades working for several companies and lived in Arkansas, Georgia, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Delaware, Virginia and Texas. He spent his final decade working for Transamerica and was relocated to Bermuda where he resided for

eight years. It was there that he took up the game of bridge. With no active Scrabble scene, John became a student of bridge and is now on the brink of earning his Ruby Life Master status thanks to mentors in both Bermuda and Dallas.

John’s advice to novice bridge players is to “focus on understanding your partner and your defensive carding. …Conventions are helpful but if you don’t have the first two [strategies], you will struggle to get better.”

While John plays weekly in McKinney and Denton, he also travels to compete in tournaments. His favorite tournament is the Bermuda Regional where he will play for the eighth time. He credits that venue with a collegial atmosphere, friendly players, very strong competition, and beautiful weather! His most unforgettable competition, however, was going with 20 players from Bermuda to play bridge in Barbados.

John lives in the Del Webb community in Aubrey and enjoys a variety of pastimes and hobbies. He is an avid Arkansas Razorbacks and Dallas Cowboys fan. He is partial to analytical games such as Sudoku and mahjongg. He seems to think in numbers according to one recent bridge partner who was flabbergasted when he remembered her ACBL number and typed it in for her after only seeing it once! (He confessed that his mother has the same ability to remember numbers.)

John is a fun and easy-going guy and the McKinney Duplicate Bridge Club is happy to claim him as one of their own.

Nancy Connors is a member and reporter for the McKinney Duplicate Club in Plano.

John Luebkemann

Linda McReynolds - Volunteer Extraordinaire

Unit 174 Houston

By Sarah Springer

Oneof the faces we see all the time at tournaments is a perennial volunteer, Linda McReynolds. Linda is a Sapphire Life Master and believes in giving back in multiple ways. She started her bridge career when she married at 28, but did not start playing seriously until 2012. Since that time, she does not miss a Unit 174 tournament and thoroughly enjoys the game. Nowadays you see her playing mentor/mentee, organizing teams for Eight is Enough at the Bridge Academy of West Houston, serving as ambassador, at tournaments manning the partnership desk, COVID-19 desk, hospitality desk – she is one of the most prolific volunteers in our unit and we are blessed to have her. Linda recently served on the Unit 174 board as well. What makes up this dedicated person? Linda has a very interesting background. Her early years were hard-scrabble, living off the land out in the country with her parents and six siblings. They built their house from the ground up, starting with just two rooms for the large family, and they survived on very little, if any, money.

Linda was the very first in her family to go to college, thanks to her first-grade teacher referring her for a nursing scholarship to Lillie Jolly School of Nursing in Houston. The school was extremely strict, requiring students (all female of course) to stay on the campus except for two nights per month. Students were not allowed to marry. One of Linda’s classmates was kicked out of school two weeks before graduation because she requested that her married name be put on her degree! Out of nursing school at 21, Linda worked at

various hospitals, starting off in surgery and moving to other services like the emergency room. Her first salary (which she thought was fantastic) was $432.00 per month. At 28, she married, and left her nursing career.

Linda participated in many sports, including basketball, volleyball, and bowling. She decided that she would take up golf and went after the sport like it was her full-time job. She was determined to become the champion at the golf club and after five years of dedication and hard work, she did it! Linda played golf all over the world including at the legendary Saint Andrews Club in Scotland. She would win her tournaments about 75% of the time, and she had six holes in one! Linda also won the Houston City Tournament at the age of 45, defeating women half her age.

Linda’s spirit of volunteering and giving back led her to sponsor kids to learn golf at her club, and she also was on the Board of the Women’s Golf Charities, planning golf tournaments all around Houston for ten years.

With all of this, how did she have time for bridge? Well, Linda played with her husband at the Kings and Queens Club with Fran and Tim Willis. Fran was a wonderful bridge teacher and also played golf, so after completing the golf games, bridge games were played until it was time to go home. Tim Willis was a firstclass bridge player, and Linda’s first bridge tournament experience was when Tim’s partner canceled at the last minute and Fran threw Linda to the wolves as Tim’s substitute partner in a big tournament at Rice University. The experience was traumatizing but did not dissuade Linda from pursuing excellence in bridge.

Of course, the golf club locker room casual bridge games did not provide the challenge that Linda needed for her competitive spirit, and after her beloved husband passed away in 2012, she started regularly playing duplicate bridge, soon becoming a Life Master. Linda is currently a Sapphire Life Master and is looking forward to achieving her next level, Diamond Life Master. Watch out for a big celebration then! She devotes the same energy to her bridge game as she did when she worked so hard to become her golf club’s Women’s Champion.

Linda McReynolds

Linda greatly enjoys mentoring others and feels joy celebrating their successes along with her own. She advises newer players (and all players really) to be conscious of their “Why” in playing bridge, and to set realistic goals. She says, “Always remember that your partner is the most important person in the room.”

Linda has achieved much in her life, but she always stays grounded and connected to her roots. She spends as much time as possible with her daughter Joy, her son-in-law Ryan, and her three wonderful grandchildren, Evelyn Grace, John Weldon, and Caroline Joy.

* Lewis M. Crippen, Ajijic

* Eugene B. Duff, San Antonio

* Diane Dunn, Whitehouse

* Max V. Frey, Dallas

* Mrs. Bonnie George, Lubbock

* Dwight D. Hill, Grand Prairie

The family property out in the country is still there, and Linda and her surviving siblings raise chickens, turkeys, ducks, geese, and a few guineas. She is always pleased to receive your used egg cartons, so remember to save them and take them to the club – you might be lucky enough to receive a carton back filled with wonderful fresh eggs.

Sarah Springer is the immediate past Unit 174 president, the Unit 174 Scorecard reporter and a Ruby Life Master. When she is not playing bridge, she is a Family Law Attorney.

In Memoriam

* Patricia A. Mitchell, Chapala

* Mrs. Marsha Shortt, Houston

* Mrs. Toni A. Snow, Houston

Pat A. Uhls, Austin

* Ivan A. Uys, Fort Worth

*Life Master

Suzanne Birdwell 1955 | 2025

Suzanne

Birdwell, president of Unit 225, passed away June 11. Her leadership of the board and unit will be missed. Suzanne was born in Dallas and raised in California.

After receiving her bachelor’s degree, Suzanne began her human resources career that started in Silicon Valley. Mergers took her to Maryland, where she earned her Masters of Science in Business from Johns Hopkins University. Another acquisition took her to St. Paul, Minnesota where she was Vice-President of Human Resources for St. Jude Medical.

Away from work Suzanne enjoyed playing bridge. After retirement Suzanne moved to Wills Point where her mother’s family has lived for generations. She was an active member of Russell Memorial Methodist Church. Suzanne enjoyed traveling the U.S.A. and Europe. Above all she cherished her family and friends, her cats, and reading. Suzanne was an enthusiastic member of the Canton Bridge Club.

By Evvie Gilbert

D16 Clubs in the ACBL 2024 Top 50

District 16 is proud to recognize two of our clubs making it into the 2024 ACBL Top 50 Clubs: Clear Lake Bridge Club (Houston, Unit 174) and Bridge Center of Austin (Austin, Unit 207). We’d like to tell you a little about both clubs.

Clear Lake Bridge Club (19th with 3821 Tables)

Clear Lake Bridge Club (CLBC) is the evolution of a group of players over the last 30 years.

CLBC Origins

CLBC was started by Ed Allen as a privately owned club in the late 1980's. Ed directed the games which began with one game/week in a rented room until the game grew enough to begin leasing full-time space in a strip shopping center a few blocks north of the current location. Ed moved the club to its current location at 16614 Sea Lark Road. Initially the club leased the north side of the building and the owner ran a beauty salon in the south side.

New Member-Owned Club Formed

Ed retired in 1998 and a group of about 30 frequent players got together to take over the club’s operation. They purchased the club’s assets, took over the building lease, and

Nelson Brown CLBC's First President/Manager

kept the CLBC name. Initially, it was an unincorporated member-owned club. Nelson Brown played a pivotal role in financing the club’s purchase and was its first president/manager.

Merger with Pasadena Bridge Club

Shortly after CLBC was purchased, the Pasadena Bridge Club (PBC) lost their lease and worked out an arrangement to hold their games using CLBC facilities. The PBC was a similar member-owned-andoperated-not-for-profit club. Over time, most players became members in both clubs and eventually PBC was merged into the CLBC in late 2011. At the time of the merger, CLBC ran six games per week and PBC ran three.

Unpaid Volunteers

Currently, the board and about 30 other positions, except for directing and teaching, are performed by unpaid volunteers. This allows low membership dues and game fees. In 2013, CLBC became a not-forprofit corporation in Texas.

Purchase of Club House

In 2013 the building owner retired, closed her salon and sold the building to CLBC. This was very fortunate timing because the club had been steadily growing and was starting to need more space. Owning the building increased playing space by more than 50% and allowed two activities at the same (classes and games, open and point-limited games).

Online Play

In early 2020 COVID-19 spread broadly, and "social distancing" became the norm. The ACBL canceled its national and regional tournaments and made a painful recommendation that due to the nature of bridge and the significant numbers of older/vulnerable players, F2F bridge should be suspended. CLBC stopped their games and classes.

Ronnie Martin whose first volunteer job was the club’s Garbage Man, spent time at the club turning off computers, unplugging items (routers, modems, one refrigerator, etc.) and even removing batteries from the bridge pads. In general, he made sure the club’s vital assets would be protected during the closure.

club together and also did a great job of writing the obituaries for all of the members we lost during that time. I'm sure she would have preferred not doing that job but nothing daunts her.

Game Schedule Summary

While the current membership size is decreased since the pandemic, the club still offers Open Pairs games Monday-Saturday with Sunday set aside for teams games, I/N Pairs games Monday-Thursday, Bridge Lab (organized play) Sunday and Tuesday, and Bridge classes on Monday and Tuesday.

A very busy club indeed!

Bridge Center of Austin (43rd with 3106.5 Tables)

The Bridge Center of Austin (BCA) is part of the Texas Capital Bridge Association.

Unit Growth Seminar/First Location

Prior to 2005, bridge games in Austin were dispersed among various locations and Unit 207 membership was declining. In 2005, Unit 207 hosted a “Unit Growth Seminar,” given by Donna Compton.

CLBC then began a joint effort with Galveston Bridge Club to launch the CLBC-GBC Virtual Club sponsored by ACBL and hosted on BBO®. With this activity the club maintained roughly the same table count from prior years during this siege.

Katie Gardner was the club's president throughout the shutdown. She did a great job of holding the

Among the recommendations made, the strongest one was the need for a central place to play bridge. This “Center” needed to: have consistent game times; have an education program; be large enough to host large games on the unit level, possibly sectional tournaments; and have restrooms

Ronnie Martin Past Club Garbage Man & President

Photo by Ryan Byer

Donna Compton

Katie Gaardner Past Club President

and parking facilities adequate for large crowds. The goal was to bring the bridge community of Austin together to promote the game of bridge.

Although not members of the Unit 207 board, Beth Tobias and Rosemary Kelley attended the seminar and were inspired by the Donna’s recommendations. Beth and Rosemary decided it was worth their best efforts to create a bridge center that met all the goals stated at the seminar. They began a search for a building that would accommodate bridge games and provide a central location for Austin bridge. A nice, affordable place was found in the business park at 5555 North Lamar. They spoke to directors of the existing games about having their games at a new facility and began to recruit players willing to contribute funds to open a new facility.

BCA Origins

In 2005, the Partners for Austin Bridge (PAB), doing business as the Bridge Center of Austin (BCA), was incorporated in Texas. Thirteen blocks of shares were sold and the BCA was born. The club opened in the business park on North Lamar. The facility was furnished, and a grand opening was held on September 17, 2005 - just 4 months after Donna Compton suggested this plan. All the duplicate bridge games in Austin, except three at the Senior Activity Center (SAC), were now housed in the same location. No longer constrained by using facilities belonging to other entities, new games were started. Beginning and Intermediate lessons were started. Programs for growth and player retention were implemented. There was now a telephone book entry under “Bridge,” and unit events (other than sectionals) were able to be held in the same location as the regular games. A classroom allowed lessons and games to be held simultaneously.

Move to Current Location

The growth of the games pushed the limit of the leased space, so three years later twelve more blocks of shares were sold, and with these funds the BCA was able to move to its current location at 6700 Middle Fiskville Road.

All unit games as well as most sectional tournaments were now able to be accommodated at the BCA. During this time the unit membership soared to almost 900, a 50% increase over the 2005 level. With the new center came more growth and promotion of the game.

Point-Limited Games

More point-limited games were started and flourished under the supervision of Laura Delfeld, one of the new owners. Largely because of the BCA’s efforts, unit membership reached almost 1000, and the unit was awarded recognition as one of the fastest growing in District 16.

Source for New Players

Although they are no longer running the only non-SAC games in Austin, the BCA continues to be a major source for new players through its educational programs and comprehensive set of limited games. It actively supports a local charity, Posada Esperanza, and occasionally runs charity games for other organizations as well (e.g. Haiti relief, Alzheimer’s).

Game Schedule Summary

BCA offers weekday and some Saturdays games as well as a weekly evening game. The games are both open (one Tuesday / month, Wednesday evening, Thursday, Friday, and some Saturdays) and point-limited (Tuesday, two on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday). Monday's game is special where a pair may have only one Life Master. It is also likely that BCA is the only club in D16 that offers an evening game.

Their stated goal continues to be to provide the best possible environment for promoting bridge in Austin.

We congratulate both clubs and laud the work done by all the many volunteers over the years who enabled these clubs to exist and grow.

Rosemary Kelley & Beth Tobias

Laura Delfeld

Unit 172 - San Antonio

By Ellen Hessel

May Unit Game

San Antonio's bridge community celebrated a marvelous unit game on May 17 at Saint Thomas Episcopal Church. This venue is rapidly becoming a favorite for unit game and tournament play, according to player comments from those in attendance. Hard work from chairpersons Karen Fillis and Jamie Gardner and partnership co-chairs Jo Neesvig and Rebecca Evans resulted in a turnout of 21.5 tables. Thank you to all the members who brought mass quantities of food; and to the squadron of folks who helped set up the kitchen and the playing area. And the winners are: Patty & Greg Hinze (1st overall) with a 66.7% game. They prevailed by a whisker over fellow North/South players Brian Bankler & Roxana Tom (66%). First place East/West (and 3rd overall) goes to Donna & Dave Swarthout (64.5%). A special shout out goes to Michael & Louise Beldon, who came in first in C and B with a dandy 58.4% game. This achievement is from a partnership with 700 master points between them! Well done!

June Swiss Teams Unit Game

Fourteen teams showed up for our June 7 two session Swiss Teams unit game at the church. Flight A winners were Brian Bankler, Rosemary Kelley, Bill McCarty, and Daniel Jackson. Flight B was won by Andy Villastrigo, John Hilbig, Martin Hester and Samuel Williams Jr. Flight C winners were Debbie Schweiss, Albert Fulton, Jim Roff and Evelyn Pitman.

4th of July Regional

By the time this publication reaches you, our 4th of July Regional will likely be ongoing. Hope you are enjoying our new venue and experiencing some fun, competitive bridge along with all of our District 16 friends as well as those coming from other districts in the league.

Unit 174 - Houston

By Sarah Springer

Message from Unit 174 President Betty Starzec

Since the Election Sectional two

months ago, your new unit board has been working diligently developing new ideas and creating an effective team. Our new members – Cindy Schaefer, Judi Whaling and Fred Gregory – are already contributing immensely to the team of Brigitte Sandifer, Gary Kerr, Lesley Kellet, Karen Nussbaum, Peaches Eads, Paddy Fiorono, Steve Gorden and me.

We are focused not only on budgeting but recruitment and maintaining our membership. Peaches is head of the Membership Team and is trying to meet and exceed the expectations of the ACBL.

Karen and Gary completed chairing the June sectional and we hoped all who attended had a great time – especially with free bagels on Sunday morning.

Fred will be completing his first District 16 board meeting as Unit 174 representative at the San Antonio 4th of July Regional.

Unit 174 is still looking for locations to hold sectionals. Information about a location’s requirements will soon be posted on our website. Watch for the schedule for the 2026 Barbara Phillips Lone Star Regional where we have added a couple of new events that have been successful at other regionals.

Future

Life Masters

The Future Life Masters (FLM) of Unit 174 is a board sponsored program with the mission to support and develop the newest players (0-99 masterpoints) in Greater Houston Bridge. FLM is a resource center featuring information about classes, games and tournaments with a freestanding website.

FLM Weekend F2F Games

49er Game

Play in Person Every Sunday Afternoon Game time: 1:30 p.m.

Bridge Club of Houston

4876 Louetta, Spring 77388

$5.00

Betty Starzec

99er Game

Play in Person Every Saturday Afternoon

Game time: 1:00 p.m.

Clear Lake Bridge Club 16614 Sea Lark Road 77062

$6.00

99er Game

Play in Person Every Tuesday Morning

Game time: 10:30 a.m.

Bridge Academy of West Houston 10510 Harwin (Shriners) 77036

$7.00

All Clubs Welcome Singletons! EVERYONE PLAYS!

News from Unit 174 Clubs

Apple Duplicate Bridge Clubs

Weekly Game Schedule

Open games are held on Monday and Friday at 11:30 a.m. at the Tracy Gee Community Center, 3598 Westcenter.

Bridge Academy of West Houston

Ben Ball's 97th Birthday Party

On Tuesday June 3, our bridge club celebrated a very special occasion – Ben Ball’s 97th birthday which was Monday, June 2. We marked the milestone with a festive party in his honor. True to form, Ben played East-West, his preferred direction, so he could stay on the move. He provided the club with his famous custom-engraved cookies, sparking curiosity and conversation around the room. It was a joyful afternoon filled with bridge, food, and admiration for Ben’s sharp mind and enduring spirit.

Byron Fackenthall, Charley Dalton & Alan Zand 90th Birthday Party

On Wednesday, June 11, our bridge club celebrated a remarkable milestone with a birthday party for Byron Fackenthall, Charley Dalton, and Alan Zane, who each turned 90 within a few days of one another. The afternoon was filled with warmth and appreciation for these three beloved members. Byron, our dedicated Thursday Ambassador, continues to provide a welcoming experience by ensuring that single players always have a partner. Charley had kindly volunteered to handle the table fees, helping the club run smoothly behind the scenes. The highlight of the celebration was a witty and entertaining poem written by Lesley Kellet, capturing the spirit and camaraderie of the occasion.

With Lesley’s permission, here is her poem:

Ben Ball

97 Years Young!

Byron Fackenthall, Charley Dalton & Alan Zand 90th Birthday Party

A Model Ambassador

He is the very model of a really good ambassador. He’ll tell you how and where and when He’ll take on any challenger

He knows the rules of duplicate and quotes the facts historical

From 1 short club to 7 No, in order categorical

He’ll tell you tales of epic hands and quote the facts historical

He understands conventions, both the simple and nonsensical

He’s very well acquainted with the rookies and the older guys …

Especially the ones that make Chloe Ella sigh and roll her eyes

He’ll nudge you into tournaments and STaCs and all the sectionals

He’s very strict on etiquette, and guides newcomers through the rules

On how to bid and count the cards

And where to sit and when to move

He’s fierce, he’s fearless and he’s fun

West Houston Bridge Clubs’s own top gun

He’s there to help and motivate and sometimes even sympathize…

Especially with ones that make Chloe Ella sigh and roll her eyes

Our Wonderful Ambassador Spectacular… Happy Birthday Byron!

– Lesley Kellet

Mentor/Mentee

Mentor/Mentee games are held on the first Tuesday of each month at 10:30 a.m. The next games are scheduled for Tuesday, July 1 and August 5. If you have not yet signed up, you can register online by clicking here Mentees must have fewer than 300 masterpoints.

Eight is Enough Swiss Teams

The Eight is Enough Swiss Teams are held once a month on Sundays at 1:30 p.m. The upcoming games are July 20 and August 24.

Weekly Game Schedule

The Bridge Academy of West Houston hosts games at 10:30 a.m. at the Arabia Shriners:

• Tuesdays: Open and 99er games, except on the first

Tuesday of each month, which is reserved for the Mentor/Mentee game.

• Wednesdays: Open and 0–299er pairs games.

• Thursdays: Open and 0–499er pairs games.

Bridge Club of Houston

Bridge Lessons

• Tuesday Tidbits

Build a solid foundation with Julie Halperin, Diamond Life Master and ACBL Teacher, and enjoy a free lesson from 9:30-10:10 a.m. The game to follow begins at 10:30 a.m. We will set up partnerships for those who need it. Text Julie at 713 857-8004 with questions or concerns. Lessons are open to all.

• Beginner Bridge Class

Classes started in June and runs through October 25.

Practice for I/N Players

FLM 0-49 Game

The FLM 0-49 Game is on Sundays at 1:30 p.m. Please see the FLM section of the Unit 174 report for more details. For questions, you may contact via email or call BridgewithCarol@gmail.com or call 936-6508180.

Mentor/Mentee F2F

Mentor/Mentee games are held the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month at 10:30 a.m. To be matched with a mentor for the second Tuesday game, contact Judy Cupps by email at judy_n_al@yahoo.com or by phone at 713 320-5592. For the fourth Tuesday game, phone/text Bob Zeigler at 713 829-6928.

BBO Mentor/Mentee Games

BBO Mentor/Mentee games are held the first and third Mondays at 7:00 p.m. (The Mentee should invite and pay for the mentor). Contact Mike Linkins at mlinkins@swbell.net if you have any questions.

Online 0-20 Game

The Online 0-20 games are held the second Saturday of the month at 9:00 a.m. (usually).

Saturday F2F 299er Game

Saturday F2F 299er game is held every weekend. To find a partner or to register please contact Kas Rangan at kas.rangan@gmail.com or call at 539-210-1333.

5th Tuesday 0-1000 F2F Game

Make sure to check the BCOH website for more information.

Game Schedule Recap

F2F Open Pairs

Mondays: 11:55 a.m.

1st and 5th Tuesdays: 10:30 a.m.

Wednesday & Fridays: 10:30 a.m.

Saturdays: 12:00 p.m. (noon)

F2F Swiss Teams

3rd Tuesday: 10:30 a.m.

Online - Choose Houston on BBO

Thursdays: 7:00 p.m.

See the SE Carolina Club of Clubs for more information.

You can read more about all of our games at the BCOH website.

July 1-5, 7-9, 11-12 NAP Qualifier Games

July 4 Hot Diggity Dog Party

July 14-16, 18, 20 Club Championship

July 21-23, 25-26 Unit Club Championship

July 29 1,000 Limited Game

August 2, 6 Club Championship

August 11-13, 15-16, 25-27, 29 NAP Qualifier Games

August 18-23 Unit 174 STaC

August 22 Pizza Friday

Life Master Party

Congratulations to Bob Domsalla for earning his Life Master. A celebration was held on May 10 at 11:00 a.m. with the noon game to follow.

P R E V I O U S L Y

Enjoy a few of our party photos below!

Check the BCOH Website for more including details, potlucks and points each week.

Clear Lake Bridge Club

CLBC is located at 16614 Sea Lark, Houston 77062. We hold games every day of the week. We close for Unit 174 tournaments, Christmas and Easter. You can reach us at 281-480-1911.

Game

Fees

Our game fees are $6.00 for members ($7.00 for guests). If you are a frequent guest, it is probably a good idea to become a member because our annual dues are only $25.00/year.

Weekly Game Schedule

Games are held every day of the week. Please arrive at least 10 minutes before game time.

Open games are held Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday mornings at 10:00 a.m., and Thursday and Saturday afternoons at 1:00 p.m.

I/N games are offered four days per week as follows:

0-99 games are on Saturday at 1:00 p.m.

0-299 games are on Monday and Wednesday at 2:00 p.m.

0-749 games are on Tuesday at 10:00 a.m. and Thursday at 1:00 p.m.

Swiss Teams games are on Sunday afternoons at 1:00 p.m.

If you are interested in playing in the teams games, register by calling the club or signing up in person at least one day prior to the game so that the director can set up the game on time. Chuck Ensor will assist anyone to organize a team for any teams game. You can call Chuck at (713) 501-0282 or email him at cwensor@sbcglobal.net

Bob & Susan Domsalla Life Master & Ruby Life Master Party

Thomas Rush Diamond Life Master Party

Memorial Day Hot Diggity Dog!

Eight is Enough Teams games are usually held on the second Sunday each month. It may be moved to another Sunday when there is a sectional tournament or for The Longest Day. Check the CLBC website for accurate calendar information.

The Swiss Teams stratifications are:

Level 1 – 0-749 masterpoints (1)

Level 2 – 750-1999 masterpoints (2)

Level 3 – 2000+ masterpoints (3)

Example: A team with one Level 3, two Level 2 and one Level 1 players total is 8 (3+2+2+1). The requirement is that the team’s total must be less than or equal to 8.

Mentor/Mentee (M/M) Open games are the third Wednesday at 2:00 p.m. each month.

Please Note: July's games will be held the fourth Wednesday (July 23).

Mentees must be Non-Life Masters with less than 500 masterpoints. The game is held after the morning Open game. Sandwiches are served for lunch between the games. Reservations must be made no later than noon on the Monday prior to the game. Mentees pay the game fee for both the M/M. For Information please visit mentor-mentee program or contact Susan L. Hanna, M/M coordinator, at s.l.hanna@gmail.com

Bridge Labs (Supervised Play)

Bridge Labs are Sundays and Tuesdays from 2:005:00 p.m. The table fee is $8.00.

U P C O M I N G . . .

Congratulations, Susan Kaplan!

Congratulations to Susan Kaplan, our newest Diamond Life Master. We will be celebrating with her on Friday, July 18! Please join us. P R E V I O

The Longest Day CLBC participated in the ACBL The Longest Day Fundraiser which happened after the submission deadline for this issue. Please watch the next issue to read about our club's festivities and the generosity of our members.

Lake Conroe Duplicate Bridge Club

Lake Conroe Duplicate Bridge Club is a very welcoming and friendly club. We have players from all levels, so players new to duplicate will feel comfortable; and seasoned players will find a challenge.

We would like to invite you and your bridge friends to join us every Friday. We meet at the Restoration Church, 107 Fish Creek Thoroughfare, Montgomery.

When you enter the parking lot, drive around to the back of the property to the parking lot of the newer Worship Center and the Children's Church building. We currently have our games in the Children's Church building lobby. It is an easier access with no steps or ramps.

We begin playing at 10:30 am. The game fee is $5.00. We always offer snacks, sweet and savory, and coffee and iced tea. We will take a break midday, so please bring your lunch. There is a refrigerator, ice maker, and a microwave for your use if needed.

If you need a partner for our Friday game, please contact Carol Meade at 281-543-4541 or email her at meadecm@icloud.com, and she will do her best to find you a partner.

Sugarland Bridge Club

Games are every Tuesday beginning at 9:30 at Lago Mariscos Mexican Seafood Restaurant, 2329 Hwy 6, Sugar Land. If you have questions about the games, you can contact Mariah Stopper at 713-817-6899 or email her at mariah.stopper@yahoo.com Players are invited to stay for lunch at the restaurant following the game.

Unit 176 - Dallas

By Bill Driscoll

Dallas Labor Day Regional August 27-September 1

Get your partners and teammates lined up for our upcoming Dallas Labor Day Regional at the Marriott Courtyard, Allen, 210 E Stacy Road Allen 75002.

If you book by August 8, you can take advantage of the special room rate of $109.00 per night. Click here to make room reservations.

You can read the tournament details in this issue.

Spring Sectional Recap

The Dallas Spring Sectional had 363 tables over four days of play, 41 more tables than our Winter Sectional! Play was 57% Swiss Teams and 43% Pairs. Thanks to all who came out to play and make this a successful event. We appreciate our many volunteers who made this tournament possible including Bill Higgins (tournament chair), Mary Lynn Genovesi & Rosalind Smith (hospitality), Paul Taylor (partnership desk), Bob Holliday (photography), Ed Yetter (business manager), and Chuck Eastin (equipment manager). The tournament results can be found here.

Grand National Teams (GNT) Recap

The District 16 GNT Championship and Flight B finals were held concurrently with our Spring Sectional. There were 34 tables of play over the two days of play.

Congratulations to Unit 176 members Valerie Remmers, Dale Remmers, Bob Holliday and Mary Lynn Genovesi for finishing second in a closely contested Flight B Final.

Thanks and kudos to Scott Nason for his hard work in planning, advertising, and executing these events. You can read about the event in Scott’s column. The overall results can be found here.

Unit Game Recaps

May 18 Unit Game Results

The May 18 unit game had a total of 17 tables.

Open Pairs winners:

Natalie Rollier & Lue Waddle (N/S Strat A)

Ari Sippola & Pawel Hanus (E/W Strat A)

Kashi Singh & Jeff Karpeles (N/S Strats B & C)

Donna Jordan & David Sterner (E/W Strat B)

James Rider & Cheryl Rider (E/W Strat C)

Open Pairs results can be found here.

Unit 176 Mentor/Mentee Program

This program provides new and advancing (<750 MPs) players with an opportunity to improve their game by pairing with a Mentor (>750 MPs). M/M pairs agree to play as partners in sanctioned games (either F2F or online) at least twice a month. More details and a sign-up link are available on the Unit 176 Website. We need more mentors so please consider signing up

U p c o m i n g E v e n t s 2025 Tournaments

August 26-31, Labor Day Regional, Courtyard by Marriott, Allen

October 29-November 1, Fall Sectional, Lovers Lane United Methodist Church

Remaining 2025 Unit Games

July 13, August 10, September 7, October 5, November 16 and December 14 (Unit Holiday Party)

All unit games are held at King of Glory Lutheran Church on Sundays starting at 12:30 p.m.

The unit games are hosted by Friendly Bridge Club or Valley View Bridge Club on an alternating basis. Club News

Friendly Bridge Club

Friendly Bridge will have a Grand Birthday Party on Friday July 4th in our Plano location. Our country celebrates its 249th birthday, and the reincarnation of Friendly post-pandemic is celebrating our 4th anniversary. Come enjoy hot dogs and ice cream, and of course bridge. We'll have our normal start time of 10:30 a.m., and take a lunch break mid-way through the game.

Memorial Day we had 17.5 tables – let's fill the room this July 4th with 20 tables of bridge. Throughout the summer we will have NAP games, club championship games, and all the glitter point games that ACBL Community Clubhouse allows.

Just check out our website calendar for all the details: http://bridgewebs.com/friendlyllc.

Dallas celebrates the end of summer with our annual Labor Day Regional which runs from August 27 through and including Labor Day September 1. Thus all the Dallas area bridge players and our guests from throughout the district and beyond will celebrate Labor Day together as we close out our Dallas Regional at the Courtyard by Marriot-Dallas-Allen at the Event Center. Come celebrate holidays with Friendly and the rest of the Dallas Bridge Community.

Just check out our website calendar for all the details.

Valley View Bridge Club

On Wednesday, July 2, Valley View Bridge Club will host a Club Championship Game & Independence Day Party.

Please join us at any of the Dallas area bridge clubs games.

Unit 183 - Fort Western

By John Coe Robbins

Cooperative Approach

The Unit 183 board of directors has voted to enable our Arlington, Denton and Fort Worth locations to work together to manage our future tournaments, with all clubs sharing the proceeds. We are hoping this cooperative approach will benefit each of our locations as we move forward and will help us expand on the recent May sectional in Fort Worth, which averaged fourteen tables per day. Additional sectional tournaments this year are in the works for Denton and Fort Worth in the fall. You can see when in this issue.

Fort Worth Studio's Garden

Special Kudos to Liz Furman for her fund-raising efforts and planning, which have given us the new professionally landscaped area outside the north windows of our Fort Worth location. Her fundraising via food sales with the help of Lorraine Little will continue until all costs for the attractive “desert garden” project are covered. The site is now fully decorated inside and out and equipped to accommodate at least twenty tables for regular games and sectional tournaments.

Holiday Notes

The Denton club hosted a successful 16-table game for Cinco de Mayo this year and Arlington will celebrate Independence Day with its annual Hot Diggity Dog bridge game Saturday, July 5th. Bridge and hot dogs have proved a great combination and there will definitely be no extra charge for those who (hopefully) use plenty of napkins.

Unit 201 - Sabine Neches

By Linda Briggs

Memorial Day for Unit 201 members was an occasion of patriotism, remembrance of those who gave their lives in this country’s service, fellowship, and hot dogs.

The general meeting, June 9, included the Board of Directors election. The results are: new member, Maxine Moye; and returning members: Dean and Michele Domec, Earl Pittman, Theresa Cooper, Susan Gore, Janis Williams, Paulette Schwiart, Val Townley-Smith, Susan Pennington, Kris Cherry and Marianna Carpenter.

Masterpoint Race Awards

New Board of Directors

Members Wearing Red, White & Blue on Memorial Day

New Unit 201 Board of Directors

Ace of Clubs and Mini-McKenney Awards Masterpoint Race Winners

Mini-McKenney Awards went to Richard Turkel, Arlene Turkel, Mattie Grant, Daisey Arnett, Paulette Schiwart, Elouise Young, Susan Pennington, Harlene Michaels, Wayne Outlaw, Jerry Heckman, Arline Meyers, Carol McGill, Nancy Smalley, Tipton Golias.

Ace of Clubs went to Richard Turkel, Arlene Turkel, Mattie Grant, Daisey Arnett, Elouise Young, Jerry Gore, Susan Pennington, Paul Keedy, Jerry Heckman, Arline Meyers, Carol McGill, Nancy Smalley, Tipton Golias.

Free Lessons

Bob Townley Smith is giving free lessons June 14, 21, 28; July 12, 19, 26.

The Longest Day

The Longest Day, chaired by Linda Briggs, was held Wednesday, June 18 in Beaumont, and Friday, June 20 in Orange. Unit 201 has participated in this fundraiser for the Alzheimer's Association for 11 years, raising $68, 295.

Check out the D16 70%+ Club to see our members who scored 70%+ games since our last report.

Unit 204 - Fort Concho

By Troy Harvey

Let’s kick things off with a huge shout out to Janis Dismukes and Vicky Fisher, who on April 1st – no fooling –scored an outstanding 73.96% at a four-table game. Now that’s how you start a quarter! Keep up the excellent work, ladies.

Gold Dust & Winning Streaks

Speaking of incredible play, Ginny Knoelke and Suzanne Dorris struck gold during Stardust Week, earning a sparkling 71% at a seven-table game. These ladies sure know how to win!

Slam News & Big Scores

Neal Perlman and Dale Harris wowed the club with a bold and successful 7♠ bid – winning the slam pot! Not to be outdone, in another one of Julie Moorman’s Shamrock Open game two other

Dale Harris & Neal Perlman 7♠ Slam

Hope Garza & Carol Bennett and Barbara Wright & Julie Moorman 7NT Slams

pairs hit the jackpot with 7NT bids! Fantastic job, all around!

Also in April, Peggy Jackson and Nancy Greer placed 1st with a stellar 66.63%, landing 3rd out of 77 pairs in the Common Game report!

Nancy Greer & Peggy Jackson

Triple Judy Power

Judy – Judy – Judy! That’s right – our club currently has three Judys, each as wonderful as the next. When they showed up at a recent spring game looking like they coordinated outfits, it was a moment worth capturing.

Judy Farmer, Judy Wilde & Judy Kelley

Tournament Trailblazers

During April D16 STaC Week, many of our players had excellent results. Too many to list here, so check them out via this link.

Meanwhile, Janis Dismukes and her sister, Diane Spilman, traveled to the Sooner Unit 167 Tournament in Oklahoma City. In one session, they placed 1st E/W with 57.50%, earning 1.51 gold masterpoints – representing San Angelo in style!

Janis Dismukes & Diane Spilman

1st E/W - 57.5% - 1.51 Gold Masterpoints

Sooner Unit 167 Spring Regional

International Flair

While on vacation in Marbella, Spain, Barry Jackson managed to squeeze in a bridge session at the Atalaya Golf & Country Club. The highlight? “Delicious pizza and fries” – less so the bridge, but we appreciate the international representation nonetheless. Viva San Angelo!

Looking Ahead: Tall City Tournament

The San Angelo club geared up for the Tall City Tournament in Midland this June. Seventeen members (and counting!) attended – many sporting brand-new shirts featuring the ACBL 100-Year logo that you can see on page 1

Stay tuned for results in the next issue!

Unit 205 - Amistad

By Mary Ann White

Upcoming Regional Tournaments

There are lots of upcoming tournaments in Mexico for those who are looking for a little vacation. The Mexican Bridge Federation, in conjunction with ACBL, will be holding its regional tournament at the Lake Chapala Club from October 6-12. Always lots of fun and hospitality at this tournament!

Then, from November 10-16, you can attend the ACBL Puerto Vallarta Regional Tournament. We have a new venue this year – Melia Puerto Vallarta. This is a lovely all-inclusive property in the Marina area of Puerto Vallarta, close to the airport with lots of restaurants nearby. But you might not be needing

those because we are offering an all-inclusive rate at the hotel – $240 double or $210 single including your food, drinks, and taxes! That’s a pretty good offer, so why not join us? You can read more details on the flyer.

If you want to plan ahead, you can put another regional on your calendar. This time it’s the Mexican Bridge Federation/ACBL Regional in Mexico City from January 12-18, 2026. If you’ve never been to Mexico City, it’s a fantastic place with lots to see and do. You won’t want to miss this event!

Mexican Women’s Team

Along with Nicci Beninger and Carla Hickey from the Lake Chapala Club, and Patricia Herrera (Mexico City), I have had the privilege of representing Mexico on the Mexican Women’s Team. We traveled to Canada on May 31-June 1 to take on the Canadian Women’s Team for the right to attend the World Bridge Championships in Denmark in August. Although we lost out in a close battle, I am honored to have played alongside these three ladies. We wish the Canadian team the best as they move forward. Next time!

Big Games

There were some big games at the Lake Chapala Club in April and May. Mike Roney and Charles Chartier posted 75.10% on April 7 (4½ tables). Susan Case and Dave Swanson had a very nice 72.00% in the 499r game on April 25 (3 tables). And Laura White and Sue Torres scored 75.00% in the 499r game on May 23 (3 tables).

Masterpoint Milestones

And finally, congratulations to Vinette Howell who advanced to the rank of Silver Life Master and Norm Rosenblatt who achieved Bronze Life Master.

In Memoriam

It is with heavy hearts that we recognize the passing of two beloved Lake Chapala Duplicate Bridge Club (LCDBC) members. Lew Crippen was a major contributor to the success of ACBL bridge in Western Mexico. During his time lakeside, he served as President of LCDBC as well as President of Unit 205. He was a teacher, a fine bridge player, and a friend and helper to all. He is survived by his wife, Trudy, to whom we send our deepest sympathies.

In addition, we mourn the loss of Billy Heim, who lost his battle with cancer. Billy was a proud US veteran, long-time resident at Lake Chapala, and all-around nice guy. He was an avid walker, having

completed the Camino in Spain on more than one occasion – a feat I have to admire. Billy was one of those people who was loved by everyone at the club – another feat I have to admire! He is survived by his wife, Pat, to whom we send our condolences.

Unit 207 - Texas Capital Bridge

By Barbara Clements

Onceagain, I am happy to describe some of the success of our unit’s members.

We heard that in a March tournament team game, a group of “young guns” (some of whom are from Unit 207) earned 119 out of a possible 120 points. Included on this impressive team were Jarek Langer, Finn Kolesnik, Shawn Drening, and Ben Klauder. Way to go guys!

Also, in the Golder North American Pairs, 78 teams played. Coming in first in – Flight B were Andrew Chen and Charlie Chen. They are also part of a winning 0-2500 Swiss Team. Fantastic.

Local Milestones in May and June

Sapphire Life Master – Tricia Kane (Austin), Jim Wallace (Georgetown)

Gold Life Master – James Moody (Austin)

Ruby Master – Michael Edwards (Georgetown), Andrew Chen, Linda Griffith, Ann Roe (Austin)

Silver Life Master – Sally Sassen (Austin), Pam Beck (Georgetown)

Life Master – Ernestine Broyles, Jamie Southerland (Austin)

We’re so happy for you all!

Unit 207 Championship Game

The Unit 207 Championship Game will be held on July 12 at the Bridge Center of Austin at 1:30 p.m. It is a one session event. Please join us.

Unit 209 - Great Permian Basin

By Ann Parish Bill Brooks

Congratulations to Bill Brooks! He earned his Life Master in May – and went straight to Bronze Life Master. Of course we had a party – with an AI picture of Bill! Some of his non-bridge friends joined us for lunch – lots of brisket, sausage, sides, and desserts. We had ten tables, and we played bridge all afternoon! A good time was had by all, especially Bill!

Open House

On May 7, we had an open house from 11:30 a.m.1:30 p.m. We invited people who were not members of our duplicate bridge club, and we had twelve people show up (that’s three tables!). Some of our members were actually playing bridge, so the guests could watch the use of the bidding boxes, the boards, and the placement of cards during the game. We hope some of them will decide to dust off their bridge skills or take lessons from one of our teachers and then come back and join us.

Bill’s AI Portrait & Bill

Audie & Bill

ACBL Top 25 Ace of Clubs Masterpoint Race

Unit 209 had several 2024 Ace Of Clubs Masterpoint Race winners in the ACBL Top 25 for their category:

Category Rank Name

300-500 11

500-1000 19

1000-1500 6

1500-2000 8

Tournament Practice

Paula Bayley

Travis Woodward

Paula Baggett

KC Evans

We had our Midland Tall City Sectional at the beginning of June, and many of our players are novices who had never played in a teams game. Or they had played only once – at last year’s Midland tournament. Even some of our experienced players needed a refresher in Swiss Teams protocols.

So on May 22, Director Belle Harris organized a Swiss Teams game with six teams, each including life masters and novices. We got to practice movement of players, boards, and handheld computers. Some players had never played for IMP’s, so they had to learn how that worked. We all learned/remembered a lot, and everyone had fun.

The winners were Ann Servatius, Scott Johnson, Mary Kay Burkholder, and Dorothy Baird. The second-place team was Mary Truex, Mark Knox, Stewart Doreen, and Charles Grimes. Third were Sandy Hill, Ann Parish, Lonnie Yee, and Paul Newbury.

Tournament Thanks

We had a great tournament on June 6-8. The Tall City Sectional attracted players from San Angelo, Lubbock, Abilene, Lafayette (LA), and of course Midland and Odessa. Thanks to all the folks who worked so hard to make it a big success – people who moved furniture, brought food, washed dishes, emptied trash, donated pencils and pencil clips, helped Don Davis (our director) find things, and generally smoothed the games for the players.

Non-Life Master (NLM) Players of the Month

Non-Life-Master Players of the Month are Dale Linton and Martie Massie.

Dale Linton

July NLM Player of the Month

Family: I was raised on a farm in Haskell County. I was the youngest of five children.

I am married. My husband, Dalton (aka “Slim”), and I have two children. Our daughter, Cindy, lives in Fort Worth with her husband, Steven, and three dogs. They have three children, two sons and a daughter. Joshua, their youngest, passed the Bar Exam and is working in Ft. Worth. He recently married in April 2025.

Their other two children also live in Fort Worth. Zachary teaches high school English and history to seniors (and a few juniors). Caitlin mainly stays home taking care of their three children. She has a BS and is a registered nurse. She was a college basketball player at Hardin Simmons.

Our son John and his wife, Jenny, are raising her two grandsons. John also has a son and grandsons in Houston.

Career/job: I attended Texas Tech for two years and worked for the Humble Federal Credit Union for four years. Then I had two children while Dalton worked full-time. When my son, John, was in third grade at West Elementary School in Midland, I went to work for Midland ISD as a teacher’s aide and later as a librarian. I was there for 22 years, retiring on May 31, 1995.

Non-bridge activities: I have done a lot of genealogy research on my family, Dalton’s family, and my son-inlaw’s family. Through the years, Cindy and John kept

Dale Linton

me busy with twirling lessons, clarinet lessons, piano lessons, softball practice, and other activities. I was President of West Elementary PTA for two years. I even did the school scrapbook one year! Now I spend time and energy on children and grandchildren.

How I learned bridge: My siblings taught me the basics of bridge in 1960. We played whenever we got together. When I worked for the credit union, four of us played every day at noon. I played for many years with Ileana Machen afternoons and nights. I have been playing duplicate with the Permian Bridge Club for over five years.

Marty Massie

Family: My husband, Jim, and I are retired with two cats to keep us company. Our two kids are grown, married, and off on their own adventures on opposite corners of the country – as in Portland, Oregon and Pflugerville. We visit the Texas group often to keep up with our 5-year-old grandson who is expecting a new baby brother or sister this coming fall. Yay! Two little ones!

Career/job: I retired in June 2020 from Concho during the COVID-19 shutdown as senior oil/gas reservoir engineering assistant. My job involved lots of time on computers using math and organizational skills. I’ve kept that up since by co-leading the remodel of the bridge house in 2020 and taking over as treasurer of the Club in 2021.

Non-bridge activities: Other than bridge, my passions are bi-weekly yoga at the YMCA and travel adventures in our Airstream. Two years ago we spent six weeks traveling through Canada and the East Coast. We are ready to take the cats for another long adventure.

How I learned bridge: This year marks 17 years since I took lessons from Belle Harris at Midland College. I’ve met lots of friends at the bridge house and scored a few points.

Happy Summer!

As Unit 209 ends our tournament, we are ready to play regular ol’ bridge for the rest of the summer.

Unit 225 - East Texas

By Gary Britt Club News

Sheila Bell DBC

From Lisa Looney, Class Organizer and Teacher

TheBeginner Bridge lessons were nearing completion. On Wednesday, April 22 they celebrated with a Crazy Hat Day/SLAM Party. The Class first played at the Sheila Bell DBC on May 7, and were met with a warm welcome!

From Molly Chambers

The Sheila Bell DBC had three guests play on Memorial Day. Enjoy their photos. We enjoyed meeting them and look forward to seeing them again.

August NLM Player of the Month

Marty Massie

Becky Phillips, Elle Formby, Kirsten O’Donnell, Donna Abernathy, Lisa Looney (teacher), MaryAnn Fricks, Linda Leach, Pam Hamilton & Nancy Smith (Laura Turner np)

Daughter/Mother Duo Julie Tidwell & Beth Coker

Son/Mother Duo Ranger Wages & Sarah Wages

Wife/Husband Duo

Dena Hill, Ranger Wages & Mike Hill

These two young people, Rookie and Ranger, played with the club on June 11!

Pittsburg DBC

From Linda Harrison, PDBC Director

Highlights of Pittsburg Duplicate Bridge Club activities:

• North American Pairs (NAP) games will be held in July and August with extra masterpoints.

• Free Beginner’s Basic Bridge lessons started

Thursday, June 12 from 10:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. These classes run for eight weeks. Student Helpers were encouraged to help new students learn bridge. It’s also a good review for the helpers as well. The instructors are Linda Harrison, Jo Britt and Gary Britt.

• June was dedicated to supporting Alzheimer's Association on June 17 and June 20 (The Longest Day). PDBC played bridge for The Longest Day and all table fees were donated to Alzheimer’s Association. The club held a silent auction which closed at 12:15 on June 20. Our goal is to raise $1500. We’ll update how we did in the next issue.

Nacogdoches DBC

From Gay Roach

Our little Club keeps gliding along. We are so lucky to have had a game every Monday this year. Bonnie Todd was surprised by a Birthday party on May 5th with cake and ice cream.

On May 19th Mark Reynolds surprised us all with a “Hot Daugh” party complete with all the trimmings, and I mean ALL the trimmings! Everyone loved it and Phillis Rude reminisced about having her first “Hot Daugh” ever after she came to the United States. Most of us couldn’t eat just one!

And that is not all of the surprises. Yours truly, Gay Roach, was surprised with a party and birthday cake from E. T. Testerman at the Longview Club on June 11.

We are all looking forward to the Tournament of Roses August 7-9 in Tyler.

Rookie & Ranger Wages

E T Testerman, Mike Graham & Gay Roach

Unit 233 - Central Texas

By Linda Pitzer

In early May, the Waco bridge clubs moved to Waco’s Harrison Community Center located at 1718 N. 42nd Street. Harrison Center provides a more spacious area for our bridge set up. All three clubs now meet at 12:30 p.m. Sue Blackwell thanked directors, Tom Corlett and George Holmes in June with gift cards for their special assistance during the past year. Club Manager Cathy Valentine is encouraging two of our members to take the online course to become club managers.

Games & Classes for Newer Players - Come Join us!

0-99 Masterpoint Game: Every day at 6:00 p.m. (CT)

The 99er Nite Club East games are offered seven days a week at 6:00 p.m. If you are a 99er, ask your club if they are participating. Your club must "opt in."

0-199 Masterpoint Game: Every day at 6:00 p.m. (CT)

The 199er Nite Club games are offered seven days a week at 6:00 p.m. If you are a 199er, ask your club if they are participating. Your club must "opt in."

For more information email Janice_Hardcastle@hotmail.com

Click here to see the flyers for the Nite Club Games Lecture Series

Zoom® Spanish Lecture Series - Third Saturday of every month at 12:00 p.m. (México City), 1:00 p.m. (CDT)

July 19 & August 16 – TBD

Zoom® Intermediate/Newcomer Lecture Series - Fourth Saturday of every month at 12:00 p.m. (CDT) 11:00 a.m. (Mexico City)

July 26 & August 23 – TBD

Click Zoom® Link for either lecture.

Remember that if you are unable to attend the live lecture, all are recorded so you can watch when you have the time. They are located on the D16 website under the Lectures buton.

August 2nd - 3rd

Saturday & Sunday, 1:30 pm

Entry Fee: $10 per session

($14 per session for unpaid ACBL members)

J Strat A : 100-200

K Strat B : 50 - 100

Ö Strat C : 0 - 50

Strats may be adjusted at Director’s discretion

Need more tourney information? Email us: unit207contactus@gmail.com

Partnerships:

Rebecca Brown: 210-885-4550 brownrebeccag@gmail.com

Mickey Goldwater: 512-970-7179 mg@mickeygoldwater.com

Wednesday, April 30 - Saturday, May 3 - Open & Side Game Pairs

Wednesday PM Open - A

Harry Elliott, Kashi Singh (np)

Thursday PM Side - A

Joan Jackson, Peggy Sutherlin (np)

Wednesday PM Open - B

Mary McGinnis, Marie-Anne Johnson

Thursday PM Side - B

John Redfern, Loralee Berg

Wednesday PM Open - C

Jim Rider, Cheryl Rider

Friday AM Side - A

Martha Young, Jay Gibson

Thursday AM Side - A

Petra Hamman, Kristen Onsgard

Friday AM Side - C

Paramjeet Ahluwalia, Karim Abuhamad

Wednesday, April 30 - Saturday, May 3 - 0-749 Pairs

Wednesday AM - B

D Lane Mueller, Patsy Rainwater-Maddu (np)

Thursday AM - A

H.P. Goel, Bhushan Sanghi

Wednesday AM - C

Jose Portela, Sarah Warnecke

Friday AM - A

Paulette Armstrong, Dale McGilvray

Wednesday PM - A

Jose Portela, Sarah Warnecke

Saturday AM - A

Athena Leung, Jyoti Boppana

Thursday, May 1 - Stratified Swiss Teams

A Scott Nason, Bill Staats, Milt Neher, Kimmel Jones

Thursday AM Side - C

Karim Abuhamad, Paramjeet Ahluwalia

Saturday PM Side - C

Marie-Anne Johnson, Andi Gordon

Saturday PM - A

Judy Wood, Kurt Smith (np)

B

John Saylor, Preston Morrow (np), Gail Wingfield, Jo Shah

Wednesday, April 30 - Bracketed Swiss Teams

Bracket 1

Sheri Bumgardner, Nancy Kornegay, Mark Bumgardner, Steve Kornegay

Bracket 2

Liz Furman, Bob Dixon, Ira Nemazie, Jo Shah

Bracket 2

Jean Higgins, Denise Strueber, Bill Higgins, John Ellis

Bracket 3

Gail Wingfield, Athena Leung, Linda Walton, Chuck Eastin

Friday, May 2 - Bracketed Swiss Teams

Bracket 1

Judy Thompson, Connie Scott, Walter Netschi, Patty Stille Tied

Bracket 2

Gary Bush, Barry Schaffer, Kristen Onsgard, Emily Harrell

Bracket 3

Larry Mayo, Bhushan Sanghi, Bob Neal, H.P. Goel

Saturday, May 3 - Bracketed Swiss Teams

Bracket 1

Harry Elliott, Bob Wilkin, Ari Sippola, Pawel Hanus

Bracket 2

Sharon Harbach, Brian Eaton, Ross Ramsey, Arvind Sharma

Bracket 3

Joni Antweil, Charles Golenternek, Joyce Norton, Bonnie Brewer

Tied

Tyler Tournament of Roses

Sectional & Non-Life Master Regional

August 7, 8, 9 - 2025

Holiday Inn South Broadway

5701 S. Broadway - Tyler, TX 75703

Bridge Rate - $114

Call 903-561-5800 - Ask for “sales” - deadline to book is July 23

Includes breakfast

Open Pairs-Single Session

Non-Life Master Pairs-Two Sessions

Thursday 7th & Friday 8th

10AM & 2:30PM

$15 per session

Bracketed Teams

Open Pairs Sectional & NLM Regional

Saturday 9th

10AM and TBD

$144 per team

Lunch will be provided

Stratifications

Based on average master points of pairs/teams

Open Pairs

Sectional - Silver Points

A - 2500+

B - 1000 to 2500

C - 0 to 1000

Tournament Chairs

Shreedhara “Rathnam” Ramarathnam svr75703@yahoo.com 903-561-0398

---

NLM Pairs

Regional - 1/3 Gold, 2/3 Red Points

A - 300 to 750

B - 100 to 300

C - 0 to 100

Partner Chair

Bob Fiorendino bdino46@yahoo.com 214-641-6016

Sandra O’Bannon sobann715@suddenlink.net 903-312-7520

ACBL Tournament Director Carolyn Pinto

Regional Sanction 2508109, all events award 1/3 Gold, 2/3 Red. Sectional Sanction 2508312, all events award 100% Silver.

♥ Austin Spring Sectional Winners ♦ Unit 207

Thursday, May 1 & Friday, May 2 - Open Pairs

Thursday PM - A

Beth Tobias, Paul Tobias

Friday AM & PM - A

Ron LaCour, Paul Tobias

Thursday, May 1 - Sunday, May 4 - Stratified Swiss Teams

Thursday AM & PM A

Dave Swarthout, Donna Swarthout, Charlene Sands, Virgil Massey

Friday AM A

John Hilbig, Rebecca Brown, Thomas Trudeau, Mark Craig

Saturday PM A

Richard Clarke, Pat McMullin, James La Fountain, Lysa Nguyen

Sunday BCD B

Teresa Mack, Stephen Olson, Jo McDaniel, Jeff Watkins

♥ Sun City NLM 0-750 Sectional Winners ♦ Unit 207

Saturday, June 7 - Sunday, June 8 Pairs

Saturday AM - BC

Dennis Schmidt, Deloris Rensch

Saturday PM - B

Kristin Andersen, Cynthia Smith

Sunday PM - A

Saturday PM - C

Amy Seitz, Dan Seitz

Sunday PM - C

Cindy McCauley, MJ Riedlinger

John Pimm, Ruth Pimm

Playing Site

New Braunfels Civic Center 380 Seguin Ave New Braunfels, TX 78130

Thursday, September 4, 2025 – Cost $14 / person / session

10:00 am Stratified Pairs (single session)

3:00 pm Stratified Teams

10:00 am & 3:00 pm 499er Stratified Pairs

Friday, September 5, 2025 – Cost $14 / person / session

10:00 am & 3:00 pm Stratified Pairs (single sessions) 10:00 am & 3:00 pm 499er Stratified Pairs

Saturday, September 6, 2025 – Cost $14 / person / session

Hotel:

Comfort Suites, 1489 N IH 35 (830) 643-1100

Thursday & Friday are Single Sessions

10:00 am & 3:00 pm Stratified Pairs (2 session play through) 10:00 am & 3:00 pm 499er Stratified Pairs

Sunday, September 7, 2025 – Cost $144 per team

10:00 & TBA Nell Morgan Stratified Swiss Teams Meal served between Sunday’s session

Tournament Chair: Ann Kuehler (830) 708-0001 annkuehler@gmail.com

499er Game (3 Table Minimum) Thursday-Saturday

Stratifications: A: 2500+ B: 0-2500 C: 0-750 All Events Average MP’s Strats changes at the discretion of the DIC Director:

Cashless Entry Only

Tournament Co Chair:

$7 Discount for Students Guest Speaker on Saturday at 2:30 pm Door Prizes

$4 additional per session for unpaid/lapsed ACBL members

Non-members: must sign up for a FREE 120-Day Guest Membership go to acbl.org/membership

Partnership Chair: Hospitality Chair:

Nearby

Friday, May 16- Saturday, May 17 - Pairs

Friday AM - 0-749 A Liz Furman, Robert Terry

Friday AM - 0-749 B (Tie)

Tim Baris, David Hammer

Friday PM - Open C

Mike Frederick, David Branch

Friday AM - Open A

Brian Eaton, Ross Ramsey

Saturday AM - Open A

David Branch, Gary Neisler

Sunday, May 18 -

Sunday - A

Alan Copeland, Jimmy Justice, Jo Smith, Carl McGill

Friday AM - Open B & C

Brian Eaton, Ross Ramsey

Saturday PM - Open A

Kimmel Jones, Bill Staats

Stratified Swiss Teams

Sunday - B

Karol Monroe, Alan Rauch, Paul Taylor, Robert Scrimale

Friday PM - Open A Larz Smith, Anne Smith

Saturday PM - Open B

Kim Lee, Danny Lee

Sunday - C

Brenda Darby, Kim Lee, John Burgess, Danny Lee

Dallas Labor Day Regional

August 27 – September 1

COURTYARD BY MARRIOTDALLAS - ALLEN AT THE EVENT CENTER

210 E Stacy Rd. Allen, TX 75002

Rate: $109/night (reserve by August 8th)

Reserve online at https://tinyurl.com/2025Marriot-Reservation-Link

ACBL members $16 per session + $4 per session for unpaid or lapsed members. Guest membership available for new members.

Gold Rush Pairs

299er Pairs

Single Session Pairs

Complementary Coffee during Morning Session and other hospitality surprises!

LIMITED ROOMS AT $109 RESERVE TODAY!

0-750 Play for Gold! 5 Events Wed-Sun 10:00 AM & 2:30 PM

Wed. Thru Sunday Daily Schedule

10:00 Bracketed Swiss Teams (1 st Session)

Stratified Open Pairs* (1 st Session)

GOLD RUSH PAIRS * (1st Session)

*May play only one session.

299er Stratified Pairs (Single Session)

2:30 Bracketed Swiss Teams (2 nd Session)

Stratified Open Pairs* (2 nd Session)

GOLD RUSH PAIRS* (2nd Session)

*May play only one session.

299er Stratified Pairs (Single Session)

Tournament Co-Chairs: Ed Yetter: eyetter@sbcglobal.net Tomi Storey: skeeter303@yahoo.com

Partnerships: Mary Chaffin

Send Email to: PartnershipU176@gmail.com

After August 27, contact partnership desk on site.

Director in Charge: Kevin Perkins

Single Sessions Wed-Sun 10:00 AM & 2:30 PM

For Open Pairs and Gold Rush Pairs you may play only one session.

Monday, Sept 1 Schedule

10:00 Strati-Flighted AX Swiss Teams (2 Session Play-through)

Strati-Flighted BCD Swiss Teams (2 Session Play-through)

Stratified Open Pairs (Single Session)

There will be no Monday afternoon pairs game.

Stratifications and Flighting Stratified Events

A:4000+ B:1250-4000 C 0-1250

Strati-Flighted Swiss: A:5000+ X: 0-5000 (A and X play together)

Strati-Flighted BCD Swiss: B:1500-3000 C: 500-1500 D: 0-500 (BCD play together)

Note: for Strati-Flighted events: Qualification is based on the maximum MPs of any player on the pair/team. Stratification within the flight is based on average MPs.

♥ Houston Nearly Summer Sectional Winners ♦ Unit 174

Friday, June 6 - Sunday, June 8 - 0-299 Pairs

Friday AM - DEF

Aline Wilson, Claire Caudill

Saturday AM - EF

Beth Young, Amy Drexel

Saturday PM - DE

Amy Drexel, Loretta Cross

Sunday AM - D

Jan Vanhummel, Pamela Greenwood

Friday, June 6 - Sunday, June 8 - Open Pairs

Friday AM - A

David Henke, Kerr Godfrey

Friday PM - A

Marsha Bernstein, Jack LaVigne

Saturday AM - A

Lynne Andress, James Breihan

Saturday PM - C

Gil Micheletti, John Zilic

Sunday PM - A Brigitte Sandifer, Debi Balter

Friday, April 4 - Sunday, April 6 - Bracketed Swiss Teams

Friday - Bracket 1

Sally Wheeler, Shawn Quinn, Buddy Handby, Joe Quinn

Saturday - Bracket 3

Chloe Ella Fackenthall, Lesley Kellet, Judi Whaling, E Edgar Cosman

Friday - Bracket 2

Pamela White, Linda Drake, David Littmann, Judi Whaling

Saturday - Bracket 4

Darlyn Dusek, Susan Hanna, Rubin Chang, Michael Hanna

Saturday - Bracket 1

Sally Wheeler, Buddy Hanby, Tom Breed, Joe Quinn

Sunday - Bracket 3

Wei Xu, Mark Pan, James Zhan, Jessie Lee

Saturday - Bracket 2

Gary Winston, Janice Sandberg, Shari Winston, Eric Sandberg

Sunday PM - BC

Sunday - Bracket 4

Marcia Cohen, Charles Otto, Jane Yarian, Kathy L'Hommedieu

Annette Ehrhardt, Kathleen Pflueger

Puer to Vallarta Regional

November 10 thru November 16, 2025 Website: www.pvregional.com

Monday, November 10

Miguel Reygadas Open Pairs (single session) 7:30pm

Vallarta KO Teams 1 7:30pm

Tuesday, November 11

Choice Pairs (any 2 of 3 sessions) 9:30am 1:45pm 7:30pm

Vallarta KO Teams 2, 3 1:45pm 7:30pm

Stratified Swiss Teams (2 sessions) 1:45pm 7:30pm

Wednesday, November 12

Choice Pairs (any 2 of 3 sessions) 9:30am 1:45pm 7:30pm

Los Cabos KO (Soloway) 1 & 2 9:30am 1:45pm

Acapulco KO (Soloway) 1 & 2 1:45pm 7:30pm

Thursday, November 13

Choice Pairs (any 2 of 3 sessions) 9:30am 1:45pm 7:30pm

Los Cabos KO (Soloway) 3 & 4 9:30am 1:45pm

Stratified Swiss Teams (2 sessions) 9:30am 1:45pm

Acapulco KO (Soloway) 3 & 4 1:45pm 7:30pm

Stratified Swiss Teams (2 sessions) 1:45pm 7:30pm

Friday, November 14

Choice Pairs (any 2 of 3 sessions) 9:30am 1:45pm 7:30pm

Ixtapa KO (Soloway) 1 & 2 9:30am 1:45pm

Cancun KO (Soloway) 1 & 2 1:45pm 7:30pm

Saturday, November 15

Choice Pairs (any 2 of 3 sessions) 9:30am 1:45pm 7:30pm

Ixtapa KO (Soloway) 3 & 4 9:30am 1:45pm

Stratified Swiss Teams (2 sessions) 9:30am 1:45pm

Cancun KO (Soloway) 3 & 4 1:45pm 7:30pm

Stratified Swiss Teams (2 sessions) 1:45pm 7:30pm

Sunday, November 16

Lew Crippen Stratiflighted Swiss (lunch included) 10:00am and TBD Fast Open Pairs (2 sessions, lunch not included) 10:00am and 1:00pm ZERO TOLERANCE POLICY NO SMOKING and FRAGRANCE FREE POLICY

CASH ONLY (USD OR EQUIVALENT PESOS)

Meliá Puerto Vallarta

Av. Paseo de la Marina Sur 7, Marina Vallarta

$210 single, $240 double

ALL-INCLUSIVE with food, drinks and taxes

For reservations: www.pvregional.com

Stratifications:

Choice/Open Pairs: A: 3000+ B: 1000-3000 C: 0-1000

Stratified Swiss: A: 3000+ B: 1000-3000 C: 0-1000

Stratiflighted Swiss: A: 6000+, X: 4000-6000, Y: 0-4000 B: 1250-3000, C: 750-1250, D: 0-750 (B/C/D plays separately; no player over 3000) By Average Master Points

Entries per Session: USD $20 ACBL Members

USD $24 Unpaid ACBL Members

USD $10 Junior Members Sunday Swiss (2 Sessions): USD $40 per Person

USD $48 per Person Unpaid ACBL Members