February 2011 - 7

Letters to the Editor

The rules should not only allow for
but favor this method.
JIM HUTTER
Ames IA
The Laws no longer prohibit deal‑
ing in the 1-2-3-4 then 4-3-2-1
method you describe. Law 6 (The
Shuffle and Deal) was changed in
1997.

Five shuffles suffice
To the Editor:
Although it takes at least eight shuffles to randomize a bridge deck, five
shuffles followed by dealing suffice
for random hands, as shown by the
article in The American Mathematical
Monthly (October 2010) by Mark A.
Conger and Jason Howald. That article was mentioned in the lead letter in
December. For more details, see my
blog post: http://blogs.williams.edu/
Morgan/2008/12/22/eight-shuffles/
FRANK MORGAN
Williamstown MA

Proper credit
To the Editor:
I just finished reading Billy Miller's
article in the December issue (page
59). As Billy pointed out, Grant Baze
denied having devised this convention.
Indeed, the inventor was Bobby
Goldman. The convention is called
Goldman after Stayman. I played it
with Bobby from its inception until
he died in 1999. I have just Googled
Goldman/Stayman, and it lists Bobby
as the creator. He also devised Exclusion Blackwood and Super Gerber.
After a Stayman auction, three of
the other major is an unbalanced
slam try. The next step asks for the
shortness. In this scheme, 4 is a balanced slam try, 4 is ace asking and
4NT is a quantitative slam invitation.
After going through one of these steps
to confirm a fit in the major, 4NT is
Roman Key Card Blackwood for that
major.
RUTH STOBER
Great Neck NY

Not so fast
To the Editor:
The solution to December's Puzzle
Page (page 45) is correct in stating
that declarer can't make 3NT when
both black suits break poorly, but that
is true only if declarer follows the
suggested line of play.
As long as both defenders follow
with a spade at trick two, declarer
can succeed against any distribution by continuing at trick three with
dummy's other spade honor (the play
rejected by the Puzzle Page answer).
Declarer next leads a low club to
the king and then ducks a spade. The
four aces and two low spades now
yield six additional tricks to make 3NT.
BILL WEINGARDEN
Santa Monica CA
The puzzle was meant to be posed
as a matchpoint problem, which
would make a difference in the play.

Fondly remembered
To the Editor:
Thank you for publishing the tribute
to Martha Noll in Club News (December, page 28).
In June of 2009, I went to the
District 3 Regional at Saratoga NY
expecting to play with a partner
who had moved to North Carolina.
His Monday flight to New York was
canceled, however, because of a mechanical failure. The rescheduled
Tuesday flight was also aborted. I was
high and dry with the other two members of our team.
We went to the Partnership Desk
and found Martha, who was looking
for three players. We started playing
on Tuesday and clicked immediately.
We won 9.27 gold and 5.84 red by
Thursday. In the first session, Martha
wore gold slippers. I told her not to
take them off and she didn't! What a
lovely lady.
It is sad that she didn't make Life
Master, but I helped her get all the
gold she needed, and she helped me
get the gold I needed to become a Life
Master last June.

She was such an upbeat, positive
person that I never knew she was ill.
The item about her made my day.
JAY KASOFSKY
Woodridge NY

Good experience
To the Editor:
If all Marriott Hotels were like
the Marriott World Center Resort
in Orlando, home of the Fall North
American Championships, I would
stay nowhere else. The staff was
wonderful, always friendly and accommodating. Whoever fixed up the
package should be assigned to all
NABCs. With a room rate of only $109
per night, we also had free self-parking, orange juice, coffee and tea, and
we received 20% off all food. Despite
the charge for the Internet, it was
surely the best deal ever.
PHILLIP ALDER
Hobe Sound FL
ACBL's Meeting Services makes
arrangements with host hotels
for all NABCs. For the Orlando
tournament, arrangements were ac‑
complished with support from the
local organizers, who provided all
the free OJ and coffee, along with
many other amenities and services.

Priorities
To the Editor:
I was hospitalized with colitis the
day before I was scheduled to lecture to the Intermediate/Newcomers
group at the 2010 Fall NABC in Orlando. I told the doctor who was treating
me what I had coming up - and that
she had 23 hours to cure me. I got
that strange look civilians often
➤
Letters to the editor are welcome
by regular mail, e-mail editor@acbl.
org or fax 662-253-3187. Brevity is considered a virtue, as is subject matter with
relevance to a majority of ACBL members.
Unsigned letters are not considered for
publication, so please include your name
and hometown. Letters may be edited.
All letters will receive a response.
February 2011 Bridge Bulletin

7
http://blogs.williams.edu/
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of February 2011
