June 2014 - 8

Letters to the Editor

medication	and	is	thrilled	to	report	few	
side	effects.	She	could	easily	be	able	to	
play	bridge	for	several	more	years.
When	she	goes	to	her	local	clubs,	
she	carries	her	own	bidding	box.	She	
knows	there	isn't	a	way	to	avoid	handling playing cards other players have
touched,	and	she	uses	hand	sanitizer	
and	washes	her	hands	often.	Using	her	
own	bidding	box	gives	her	the	extra	opportunity	to	avoid	germs	that	might	be	
more	difficult	for	her	to	fight	compared	
to the average player.
Unfortunately,	some	opponents	are	
less	than	cordial	when	having	to	read	
the	bids	from	her	"different"	bidding	
box.	Indeed,	they	are	sometimes	downright rude.
I'm	writing	to	ask	other	players	to	
reconsider	when	you	are	tempted	to	
make	snide	comments	about	something	that	is	being	used	to	help	another	
player stay healthy. Seriously, is that
too	much	to	ask?
MURIEL	ALTUS
Tampa	FL

Gracious Bob

Reading	about	Bob	Hamman's	
sportsmanship	award	(April,	page	
15)	reminded	me	of	a	long-ago	von	
Zedtwitz	Life	Master	Pairs	won	by	
Eric	Rodwell	and	Doug	Simson.	The	
day	after	they	won,	the	Daily	Bulletin	
featured	a	deal	in	which	the	winning	
pair	scored	big	on	defense.	After	leading	from	a	five-card	suit,	Simson	later	
bared	a	king.	When	declarer	played	
Rodwell	for	the	king	and	finessed,	Simson	won	and	cashed	out	for	down	one.
I	found	the	identical	defense,	only	I	
found	it	against	Hamman	and	Bobby	
Wolff.	When	the	critical	moment	came,	
Hamman	tanked	for	at	least	three	
minutes	as	I	tried	hard	not	to	betray	
the position.
Hamman	then	played	the	ace,	dropping	my	stiff	king	to	the	oohs	and	aahs	
of	a	large	assemblage	of	kibitzers.	As	

8 Bridge Bulletin June 2014

I	departed	the	table,	Hamman,	noting	
my	distress,	leaned	toward	me	and	said,	
"Believe	me,	you	didn't	give	anything	
away."	
True	or	not,	his	comment	was	exceptionally gracious, especially given
that	he	didn't	know	me.	It	was	much	
appreciated	then	and,	obviously,	still	
remembered.	
MARK	STARR
Brookline MA

Better than gold

Ten	years	ago,	playing	in	the	Lebhar	
IMP	Pairs,	a	national	event,	Kevin	
Podsiadlik	and	I	scratched	in	the	first	
round	and	received	a	platinum	masterpoint.	When	we	got	back	and	checked	
the	results	before	starting	the	second	
session,	we	saw	there	had	been	a	scoring	correction.	We	lost	our	platinum	
point.
At the 2014 Spring NABC in Dallas,
Harry	Elliott	and	I	scratched	in	the	Silver	Ribbon	Pairs	and	got	one	platinum	
point.	Again,	there	was	a	scoring	correction,	and	again,	we	dropped.	This	
time,	however,	we	still	got	.86	platinum.	That	evening	we	got	another	2.1	
platinum.	Combined	with	.53	from	the	
Jacoby	Open	Swiss	Teams,	we	finished	
the	week	with	3.49	of	the	coveted	masterpoints.	It	was	worth	the	wait.
BOB	WILKIN
Highland	Village	TX	

Later for that

Duplicate	bridge	games	are	scheduled	six	times	a	week	at	a	Poughkeepsie	NY	club.	All	but	one	are	played	
during	the	9-to-5	workday,	with	no	
scheduled	weekend	games.	Question:	
Who	can	play	bridge	during	these	
working	hours?	
Not	the	18-65	crowd.	They	are	out	
earning	a	living	so	when	they	do	retire,	
they	can	take	up	this	wonderful	game.	
Recently,	a	relatively	young	mail	
carrier,	while	making	a	delivery	to	

the	club,	stopped	me	and	asked	a	few	
questions	regarding	bridge.	During	our	
conversation,	he	mentioned	that	when	
he	retires,	he	wants	to	play	bridge.			
PETER	HARDMAN	
Rhinebeck	NY

Taking notes

In	the	March	issue	(page	51),	Mike	
Flader	answered	a	question	regarding	
a	defender	without	an	honor	who	hesitated	unduly	before	not	covering	declarer's	queen.	One	of	the	things	I	like	
about	playing	online	at	Bridge	Base	is	
the	ability	to	enter	notes	about	players.	
When	I	encounter	that	sort	of	behavior	
I	make	an	entry	for	the	person,	and	I	
try	to	check	my	notes	when	coming	to	a	
new	table	during	online	ACBL	tournaments.
KENNETH	BERNIKER
El Cerrito CA

Green club

As a holiday, Earth Day (April 22)
isn't	much	-	unless	you	run	a	bridge	
club.
Vanderbilt	Bridge	Club	in	Nashville	
TN	has	more	than	40	remote	scoring	
devices.	Only	in	sectional	tournaments	
are all the devices in use at any one
time,	but	each	device	requires	two	AA	
flashlight	batteries.
VBC	uses	rechargeable	batteries,	but	
there	is	a	limit	to	the	number	of	charging	cycles,	so	we	conduct	a	battery	collection	drive	twice	a	year.	Managers	of	
satellite	clubs	are	asked	to	bring	their	
batteries	to	us	for	disposal.
A	VBC	member	uses	plastic	coffee	
jugs	to	collect	batteries	for	transportation	to	a	local	hazardous-waste	disposal	station.	Last	November,	more	
than	120	batteries	of	all	descriptions	
(two	containers)	were	kept	out	of	local	
landfills,	a	big	deal	because	those	batteries	contain	mercury.
JOHN	MaGUIRK
Nashville TN
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of June 2014
