August 2007 - 61

The Reisinger Board-a-Match
Teams is one of the hardest
events to win on the ACBL
schedule. It takes stamina, guts,
luck, great card reading, and
sometimes a little bit more.
Last year in Hawaii, my
friend Jim Mahaffey fielded
a pretty good team for the
Reisinger. I would guess that his
team would be in the top 10 on
anyone's list. But a funny (not
to Jim) thing happened on the
way. His designated teammate
(D.T.) somehow did not get the
entry in on time, and the team
was shut out from playing. This
may seem like a harsh penalty, but
this event is seeded, and the seeding
committee works long hours to get
it right. In an interesting turn of fate,
the Mahaffey team was forced to play
in the North American Swiss. With
one round to go, they were playing
for the win. Alas, no luck, but a great
story anyway.
How did D. T. foul this up? His first
salvo had something to do with the
seven-hour time change. But when
it was pointed out that we had been
there a week already, he needed a
fallback position. It turned out that
the Daily Bulletin said you could buy
an entry by 8 p.m. the following day,
a small error. But he was adamant
that he thought he had another day in
which to buy the entry. That would be
cool: Play on day one, see how you
do. If you like your game, go ahead
and buy an entry. I was sitting with
Jeff Meckstroth when D.T. broached
that particular excuse, and we got the
giggles for 20 minutes.
Is that the worst thing I have ever
seen happen in the Reisinger? Not
even close. Check this out. Richie
Schwartz, always a contender, had a
very good team one year that made it
to the final day in eighth place.
At this point, let me explain the
cuts. Any number of teams start the
first day, and there is a dramatic cut
to get to the second day. Usually only
21 teams make it. For the third day,
they come down to 10. These 10 play
August 2007

By George Jacobs

each other twice during a long and
grueling day.
So Richie finds himself on day two
playing an inelegant contract where
his partner had passed him out in a
cuebid. He decides there is no point
in playing the contract as he cannot
win the board. Remember, in this
event you can only win, lose or tie a
board, and you are playing it against
only one other team.
It is the last board of the round,
so Richie leaves the table to get
a pop or a machete. Anyway, his
three opponents at the table, JoAnna
Stansby, her partner, and Mark Lair,
Richie's pard, take all the hands out
to determine what the result would
have really been. They make their
determination, return the cards to the
board and go merrily on their way.
Oops! They put the cards back in the
wrong pockets, fouling the board. So
the Schwartz team, which finished
eighth, and the JoAnna team, which
didn't, are both assessed a two-board
penalty. Richie goes to bed in eighth
place and wakes up in 11th! Ouch.
"New" events
At the St. Louis Regional, they list
the events on the in-house television.
One year, they had the following

two events listed: The Morning
Knock-ups (I got up early, but
no luck), and the Satisfied
Pairs (you could tell - they
were the ones smoking and
smiling).
At that same tournament,
there was a Wheel of Fortune
show that I was watching
in the room. The puzzle was
solved and the answers were:
macadamia nuts, hibiscus and
50th state. The bonus question
was: Which state is this? The
lady answered Idaho. Peggy
Kaplan called from the gym
and asked if I had seen this and
how could anyone be that dumb. So I
said to hold on, walked into the other
room and asked Claude. He said he
hated macadamia nuts. I didn't know
what to say then, and I still don't.
Adventures with Mike
A few years ago, my lovely wife,
Stacy, was trying to win her firstever flight A regional. We were in
the final, playing a very tough team
(Mike Passell, Marc Jacobus, etc.)
and we were down 37 at the half. I
was playing with Mike Cappelletti
Jr. Desperate measures were called
for. When Mike opened 2, I asked
for key cards and found we were off
two. So what, I bid the slam anyway.
I figured maybe one of the key cards
we were missing would be the trump
king and Mike could finesse it. It
was, and he did. A little later, he
opened 3. Again I asked, and again
we were off two. This time it was
okay. I knew we were off the king,
but I had four hearts and they could
easily be 1-1. So I bid this one also.
It turns out that Mikey was also being
aggressive and had opened 3 with
only six of them. Luckily, the king
was singleton onside, and we made it.
We won the match by 12, and Stacy
had her first win. Jacobus has asked
that I alert him whenever I may be
going to a regional from now on so
he can pack extra aspirin.
Ciao for now.
r
61
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of August 2007
