May 2014 - 8

Letters to the Editor

ning play even with the alternate layout
of the club suit. His analysis in reporting the deal was based on the actual lie
of the cards.

Empowerment

We introduced a Zero Tolerance
policy at our club in Moncton NB more
than two years ago. The problem we
encountered was the reluctance of the
victims of bad behavior to put up their
hands and call for the director when
there was a problem at the table. We
had a card made up with a list of unacceptable behaviors and another that
exhorts players to behave themselves.
The cards are the same size as the
Pass, Double and Alert cards. The tab is
in the middle so it is easy to see. We encourage players to pull out the card and
show it to the offending player when
they feel uncomfortable at the table.
This has been perceived as being
less confrontational than calling the
director, and if the behavior continues it will empower them to call the
director. Since we implemented the
policy and introduced these cards, the
atmosphere at our club has greatly
improved. The main benefit is that we
have been able to attract and retain
new members.
JENNIFER HUNTSMAN
Moncton NB

Timesaver?

Most of us remove a hand from the
board, sort it, play it and then mix up
the cards before returning the cards to
the duplicate board.
My suggestion is for players to pick
up a sorted hand, play it and then sort it
before returning it to the board. That's
it: Just play and sort - no shuffling or
mixing the cards. If the boards are not
pre-dealt, we would have to sort the

8 Bridge Bulletin May 2014

hands before and after playing the first
round.
The first advantage of the new procedure is that it is a bit faster.
The second advantage is that those
folks who are not nimble of finger do
not have to struggle with mixing up the
cards. Many of our fellow players have
problems with, among other things,
arthritis or Parkinson's disease.
A third advantage is that if a person
needs help arranging his/her hand,
partner can put the cards in a card rack
and sort the hand after play.
There does not seem to be any downside to this suggested procedure.
ARTHUR WASSERMAN
Ann Arbor MI

Generous gesture

During the Reno Holiday Regional in
December, Reno Youth Bridge players participated in a game. There were
approximately 16 tables of youngsters
playing. Many people in Reno participate in this program, and the kids practice online as well. Reno Youth Bridge
is trying to introduce young people to
the beauties of the game, and the kids
really love it.
At this tournament, Billy Miller
(one of your columnists) and his team
were playing in a knockout. Having
noticed the kids playing, Billy and his
teammates reached into their pockets
and donated enough money to pay for
15 ACBL memberships for the young
bridge players.
Those of us who support and work
for Reno Youth Bridge very much appreciate the gesture.
GARY NITZBERG
Carson City NV

The queen's take on bridge

I enjoyed the articles about bridge
husbands and wives in the February

Bulletin. My husband began teaching bridge to me almost after our first
date in 1969. My mother was a Southern Baptist and disapproved of cards,
dancing, drinking, etc. My parents did
not think bridge players were having
a good time, and they did not even like
people who played bridge.
Three months after our first date, my
future husband had me playing duplicate.
After another three months or so, we
married and began raising our family.
We eventually had four sons, so duplicate took a back seat in our lives. When
the kids became teenagers, we began
playing duplicate bridge again and
traveled to tournaments and enjoyed
our pursuit of becoming Life Masters.
We played in the North American Pairs
games on six occasions and made new
friends everywhere we went.
Although we had dreams and plans of
traveling during our retirement to play
lots of bridge, things changed for us, as
life often does. We now have 11 grandchildren and other things in our lives
outside of bridge. We actually bought
our burial plots and a headstone that
reads King of Hearts on my husband's
side and Queen of Hearts on mine.
Now, we play mostly at the local club
three or four times weekly, and at this
point in our lives, it is very satisfying to us. The friends we have made
through bridge are important in our
lives. Similar to what Mike Passell said
in his portion of the article, we would
be just fine and would have enjoyed
our married lives without duplicate,
but for this queen and my king, bridge
has offered us so much enjoyment and
added so much to our lives, that we are
glad we found it and that we can enjoy
it together.
BONITA HAYS
Shreveport LA

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of May 2014