got Bridge? BREAKING NEWS McGregor Point Bridge Club McGregor Blvd. Ft Myers, FL

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got Bridge? McGregor Point Bridge Club 15675-1 McGregor Blvd. Ft Myers, FL 239-433-4422 BREAKING NEWS Silver point week is coming up on December 4-10.

The stratification is based on average masterpoints for the pair. Get your team together for the one-session silver Swiss on Sunday, Dec. 10. There will be open and <750 sections.

1 got Bridge? McGregor Point Bridge Club McGregor Blvd. Ft Myers, FL BREAKING NEWS Silver point week is coming up on December Do you need those precious silver points to make Life Master? Here's your chance. We will have open silver sections and <750 silver sections. The strata for the open games will be open, 2500 and 750. The stratification is based on average masterpoints for the pair. Get your team together for the one-session silver Swiss on Sunday, Dec. 10. There will be open and <750 sections. Strata for the Swiss will be determined by the average masterpoints for the team. The cost for the silver point games all week will be $1.50 extra. Night games are back! November is the time we reopen our night games on Monday and Wednesday evenings. The games begin at 6:30. The sign up books for the evening games will be on the counter with the daytime sign up books. Please put it in the back of the book if you wish to be a standing game. It's party time! Mark the dates for our holiday parties. The evening one will be on Monday, Dec. 18th at 6 p.m. The club championship will begin at 6:30. The daytime party is on Wednesday, Dec. 20th. Be sure to arrive half an hour early for both games for refreshments and a short carol sing. Dress in your holiday finery and bring a dish to share, your mellowest singing voice, and don't forget to bring your holiday spirit. The club will provide punch (spiked and non-alcoholic) to bring out the holiday cheer. Sign up in the Monday evening and Wednesday afternoon books.

MORE BREAKING NEWS New game for new players Rick is starting a newplicate game on Sundays at 12:30 beginning on January 7, 2018.

2 MORE BREAKING NEWS New game for new players Rick is starting a newplicate game on Sundays at 12:30 beginning on January 7, He will present a 45-minute talk following by a short bridge game designed for the newer players. If you are used to playing on Wednesday or Saturday mornings, this is the duplicate game for you! Sign up in the Sunday afternoon book. End of year bridge fest Finish up the year with a bang! Plan on playing in four sectionally rated games starting on Thursday, Dec. 28th! There will be an unbelievable amount of points up for grabs, which could change who wins the MPBC Player of the Year. On Sunday, Dec. 31, we will have a Swiss team and holiday party to ring in the new year. You might want to get your team together now and bring any leftover holiday goodies. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from the staff at the McGregor Point Bridge Club!!

3 Stop card In line with the actions of the ACBL Board of Directors, the Stop card will no longer be in the bidding boxes as of Jan. 1. In an effort to make our players comfortable with the new regulation, we are also removing the stop cards. From the ACBL Bulletin, "Players, meanwhile, are reminded of the obligation to pause in the direct position after a skip bid so as to avoid making unauthorized information available to their partners. Fast action -- any call or bid -- is also covered in this admonition. Players should strive to maintain an even tempo during the auction." If the person on your right makes a jump bid, you should study your hand for about 10 seconds before taking any action. We hope you will comply with the spirit of this article. Straight Talk and Smart Talk Classes The best ongoing classes for players who already know the basics happen on Wednesday and Saturday mornings from 9 am to 11:30 am. On Saturday. Steve talks for about 15 minutes about a specific subject. There is no talk on Wednesday. Both days involve playing hands and getting advice from the experts during the bidding and/or after the play, They explain what you did right and what you did wrong, generally with a great deal of humor. Everyone who has come to these classes agree that it is a wonderful way to learn. The problems and solutions are immediate and the learning is more dynamic than just trying to read a book. You can learn with your partner or the club can find someone with whom you can play. Please let us know if you want to come. Call Then join Rick on Sunday for the newplicate stress free game!

4 Unless otherwise noted, there is a game everyday at 12:30! Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday December *11:00 R&V talk STaC Swiss 17 Birthday Game *11:00 18 Evening Holiday Party + CC Closed Merry Christmas 31 End of year pairs 19 *11:00 26 *11:00 13 Evening Club Championship 20 Holiday Party + CC End of year pairs *11:00 R&V talk *11:00 R&V talk 29 End of year pairs End of year pairs Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday January *Open Sectional 8 Evening Club Championship 9 *11: er Silver Tourney er Silver Tourney er Swiss Silver Tourney *11:00 17 Evening Club Championship *11:00 R&V talk 20 Life Master Party! 21 Birthday Game 22 23*11:00 Junior Fund Game *11:00 R&V talk in Enuf Swiss *11:00

5 Players of the Month Bob Borneman 3.46 Barbara Fritzsche 1.51 Glenda Guess 1.45 Ron Carpenter 4.91 Vinny Freaney 4.66 Les Dolak 3.33 Bill Rush 5.81 Narcissa Podkowik 4.46 Cheryl Olson Diane Drinnon Marlyn Warden 9.35 Dave Yudowitz 9.31 Don Radosevich Margie Smink 9.31 Gilda Reynolds 8.99 Bill Lipton Esther Bankuti Audrey Kurland Over 70% Club Patsy Hanson Steve Linehan 72.45% Frank Pietro Mary Stegman 70.27% Molly and Ed Tranovich 70.03% Ken Ramsey Mary Stegman Frank Pietro 9.35 Moving on up! Over 20 Lorraine Prior, Susan Cunningham, Barbara Fritzsche Over 50 Sonja Mooradian Over 100 Sally Gayeski, Susan Bradley Over 200 Katy Boyle Over 300 Steve Wells Over 500 Christl Smith

6 Play this hand with me: A few weeks ago declarer was presented with the following problem playing in 3NT: Dummy Declarer AQJT A3 KQ42 KT8 A83 A7432 How do you play this hand with the KH opening lead? (The answer is on page 10.) Life Masters Party On Friday evening, Jan. 20, the club will host its annual Life Master and Awards party. We will honor the Class of At the current time this will include: Nancy McCrory Pat Ponczek Marina Kotch Jane Kuckel Jane Bailey Steve Pilzer Larry Schoenfeld Marilyn Stoces Richard Podkowik Dan Zevin If you became a life Master this year and we failed to acknowledge your accomplishment, please let us know as soon as possible. We will honor the top three winners in each category in the 2017 player of the year race. There is still time to earn lots of points and gain one of those spots! We will have open and an NLM section for this special game. The club will provide champagne, cake and sandwiches. Sign up at the front counter and join us for this very special event.

7 Dear Val, I am not sure when to open in 3rd and 4th position after two or three passes. Is there a guideline, or should I have a full opener? One partner tells me open with all 10 point hands in these positions. Another of my partners insists on at least 12 points. -- Baffled Dear Baffled, When you have a marginal opening bid in third seat, ask yourself the following questions: Can I get a plus score by opening? Will I improve our chances for defense by opening? Do I have a convenient rebid (or the ability to pass) if partner responds? Will my opening get us too high? Will my opening help the opponents? You might be able to answer all these questions, but if you have a good suit and the ability to pass at your next opportunity, then open. It may keep the opponents from getting to their best spot and give partner a lead on defense. With xxx, AKQx, xxx, Qxx -- I would open 1H (yes, 1H!) and plan on passing any new suit bid by partner. In fourth seat you may have heard of the guideline of add your number of spades and high cards to get to 15. Otherwise, pass. Why spades? That is the highest ranking suit and allows you to compete at the same level as any opponent who decides to venture into the auction. It is highly unlikely that your opponents will compete as high as the 3-level with two passed hands. I also like to have some defense, so holding Qxxxx, QJ, QJx, Kxx is not my idea of a fourth seat opening bid. One other consideration in those positions -- you might want to preempt on a hand you might open differently in first or second seat. Holding AKxxx, x, xx, Qxxxx I would open 2S in third seat and probably in fourth seat. If you do open a weak two in fourth seat, it should be a hand you expect to make a plus score at the 2-level and not much higher -- KQT9xx, x, AJx, xxx. Since you know partner has 10 points (no one else opened), you expect to make 2S. You do not want to open 1S and have partner fall in love with his hand, raising you to 3S or even 4S with a fit.

Dear Val, The other day I missed a game after the following bidding: pass by my partner, 1H on my right, 2D by me, 2H on my left, 2NT by my partner. I held Axx, x, AKxxxx, xxx.

8 Dear Val, The other day I missed a game after the following bidding: pass by my partner, 1H on my right, 2D by me, 2H on my left, 2NT by my partner. I held Axx, x, AKxxxx, xxx. I thought partner didn't fit my suit and was a passed hand, so I passed 2NT. We made 3NT easily since he held Kxx, Kxx, xxxx, Axx. When they led a heart, we had 10 tricks! -- Fuzzy Dear Fuzzy, You made one common error. When your partner is a passed hand and offers to play NT, he is sure to have a fit with you. He envisions a source of tricks, and so should you with a good suit. Forget the fact that you only have 11 hcps. You are likely providing your partner with six diamond tricks and one spade trick. All he needs is either the AC or the KS to come to nine winners IF he has a diamond fit. If he does not fit your suit, he should not be offering NT as a contract. Forget the points -- count those tricks and raise to 3NT. Dear Bridge Players, This is a real column. If you have a question, write it down and send it by or just give it to Val. It could be the next question of the month with an answer! Rick would like to thank everyone for the kind support and well wishes during his medical issues. He would also like to report that his latest MRI came out clean!!!! And they did find he still has a brain!

Play this hand with me answer One thing you know is that you cannot afford to lose the lead. It is tempting to win the AH and test diamonds to see if they break 3-3, but that is not a good plan.

10 Play this hand with me answer One thing you know is that you cannot afford to lose the lead. It is tempting to win the AH and test diamonds to see if they break 3-3, but that is not a good plan. Nor is it likely that the QJC is doubleton. Even if you have four diamond tricks, you have only two clubs, one heart and one spade. So it all comes down to the spade finesse. Since you need the KS to be onside, take the finesse at trick 2. Now you have two more entries to repeat the spade finesses to bring in a total of four spades, one heart, three diamonds and two clubs. If the unlikely 3-3 split occurs in diamonds, you have 11 winners! I would happier if that suit did not break, as I had the foresight to go after spades first while I still had entries. Bravo to those who took 10 tricks. How did you do?

got Bridge? BREAKING NEWS!

got Bridge? BREAKING NEWS! got Bridge? McGregor Point Bridge. 15675-1 McGregor Blvd. Ft Myers, FL 239-433-4422 BREAKING NEWS! Gold point at the club! On Wednesday, Oct. 25th, the club will be hosting the Instant Matchpoint Game.