December 2010 - 29

WHAT'S NEW * WHAT'S COMING * WHAT'S HOT
The Real Deal, Intermediate Level
The Real Deal, Advanced Level
By Larry Cohen

$19.95 ea.
Compact discs for PC

Rating: A

Reviewed by
Paul Linxwiler

Real Deals are real fun

Using his popular "The Real
Deal" column as a springboard,
author and expert player
Larry Cohen has released a pair of
CD‑ROMs to test players' bidding,
declarer play and defense. The CDs
- one for intermediate players, the
other for advanced - use the famil‑
iar "over‑my‑shoulder" approach to
instruct and entertain. Cohen person‑
ally played most of the 60 deals on
each CD. Each deal is presented as a
mini‑story in which readers are asked
what they would do at critical junc‑
tures in the bidding or play.
The products are easy to use, loads
of fun, and will improve your game.
To order, visit www.larryco.com.
Also available from bridge supply
houses.

The ABCD's of Bridge
By Gail Greenberg

$22, spiral bound, 228 pgs
Rating: A
Reviewed by Brent Manley

Teacher talks

In her introduction, au‑
thor Gail Greenberg asserts
that she wrote the book in
response to requests from
students in her bridge classes. They
should congratulate themselves for
giving her the push.
Dealing mostly with competitive
bidding, the book has an impressive

amount of the kind of information
learners need, presented in an easy‑
to‑understand format with lots of
quizzes to reinforce the points. If
you are just starting out and need
help with tools and judgment
in competitive situations, you
can't go wrong with this book.
Published by Gail Greenberg.
Order through the New York
Center for Bridge, 133 East
58th St., New York NY 10022
(attention Betsy Jenks).

Bergen Booklets
By Marty Bergen
$9.95 each, 24
pages each
Rating: B+
Reviewed by
Brent Manley

Small packages

Marty Bergen
continues to pro‑
duce the short but useful booklets,
aimed mostly at aspiring players. The
count is up to 16 with the latest: What
You Must Know About Transfers, The
Best of Bergen (about bidding), How
to Defeat 3NT and Creating
Trump Tricks.
The booklets are short and
a bit pricey (per‑booklet price
reduced if you buy several at
a time), but there's good in‑
formation presented in a style
that the audience should find
easy to absorb. These would
make nice gifts this holiday
season for friends and family
just starting out in the game.
Published by Bergen Books. Ordering information available at www.
martybergen.com.

BetterBridge1
iPhone/iTouch/iPad application

By Moo-edutainment
$4.99

Rating: A

Reviewed by Dave Smith

Tap that app

Two of the ways bridge players el‑
evate their game are taking lessons or
reading (books, newspaper columns
and magazines). Now, there's another
way. As the popular expression goes:
"There's an app for that."
BetterBridge1 is a series of deals
that you can play on your iPhone
(also iTouch and iPad). There are 16
deals per app that range from gentle
(their term for easier) to medium to
challenging. There are partscores and
slams, but mostly games.
To play, you select one of the deals.
You can advance through each deal
by tapping on the card you wish
to play. You can tap "Back" if you
change your mind. If you are not sure
how to proceed, tap "Intro" for direc‑
tions.
After you finish a deal, you can tap
on "Show" to see the solution. Did
you understand the theme of a par‑
ticular deal, or were you lucky? You
need to know the answer, if you want
to improve.
Here's a deal from the medium class:
QJ6
85
Q74
 K Q 10 6 3
A73
AKJ2
A532
J8
North
3NT

South
1NT
Pass

December 2010 Bridge Bulletin

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29
http://www.larryco.com http://www.martybergen.com
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of December 2010
