February 2015 - 7

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Letters to the Editor

Life in the slow lane

Sticker shock

For those of us new bridge players
who were teachers in a former life, we
come to realize through bridge that
students who we thought were "slow
learners" were not as slow as some of
us! "Slow" is now defined as transferring partner into a four-card major
- more than twice! "Slow" is missing new-minor forcing more than six
times! "Slow" is miscounting trumps
repeatedly. "Slow" is telling dummy
to "trump it" in a notrump contract.
"Slow" is playing your king in second
position, only to see it overtaken by
partner's ace. "Slow" is signaling partner with a low card when a high spot
should have been played. And what if
you and your partner allow yourselves
to mess up a new convention at least
seven times before you drop it from
your convention card? And we thought
that our former students were slow for
missing the same question twice on
midterm and final exams!
You will run into your former students and your former bridge partners
in the future. What they will have
remembered you for is not the exam
question they missed or the convention they messed up, but how you made
them feel.
EDGAR IWAMOTO
Retired professor
Lexington KY

Lend-lease program

Although I am decidedly a child of
the computer age and a relative child
in ACBL terms, I actually prefer to play
bridge at a table with people, cards,
bidding boxes, etc., in a nondescript,
stuffy room, in a boring office building or at a tournament, which could be
anywhere ranging from an Army Reserve armory to a fairly nice hotel ballroom. Unfortunately, due to advancing

age, increased traffic, or simply lack of
interest, the decline of people playing
bridge at the club, especially at night, is
startling to me. I am worried that there
will be nowhere to play in 10 years
except at home on my computer or at a
tournament.
Having some firsthand knowledge
of directing club games and managing a club, I can attest that running a
club is definitely a labor of love with
little financial gain involved. I also live
in a city with rapidly increasing rent,
making the slim chance of profitability
even slimmer. Wouldn't it be in the
ACBL's interest to somehow subsidize
bridge clubs by offering a real estate investment program? It seems to me that
wealthy bridge players could lease or
purchase suitable properties and then
rent those spaces to bridge club owners
at reduced prices, perhaps even in a
nonprofit capacity. Then there would
be less pressure for club owners to
break even, and more incentive to offer
night games and lessons for younger
professionals.
There may not be much future without club games.
AMY CASANOVA
Portland OR

Ain't no Saint

Several readers pointed out a goof in
our promo for the New Orleans NABC
in the December issue.
There are many fine attractions in
New Orleans, but "the Saints' Peyton
Manning" is not one of them. Peyton
Manning has played his entire career
with the Indianapolis Colts and Denver
Broncos. The editors may be thinking
of Peyton's father, Archie Manning,
who played for the Saints from 1971
through 1982.
PAUL ELSTEIN
Columbia MD

I was surprised to learn that a surcharge of $20 per pair will be assessed
for all NABC+ events starting in 2015
for those sessions using screens, and
that this surcharge would only apply
to top-level events. While there should
be some way to recover extra costs
associated with the expenses for these
screens, it is not clear that such an
increase in card fees is the best solution. After all, this does represent a
50% increase in card fees. It is suggested that the ACBL look for other
revenue sources and also try to economize where possible, as this level of fee
increase is expected to reduce interest
in playing in the top events, which can
hardly be the intent. In any event, it is
totally unacceptable to have this surcharge apply only to certain events that
use screens. This discriminates against
one class of player (those playing in the
top events) from other classes of players (those in masterpoint-restricted
events).
JOE QUINN
Sugar Land TX

Terry is terrific

What a wonderful surprise to read
in the December issue (page 36) that
tournament director Terry Lavender is
one of the recipients of the 2014 Jane
Johnson Awards.
Bridge is a game that some people
will not play because numerous players and directors do not smile, speak
kindly or treat others with respect. Yet
when you meet Terry, she is kind, understanding, courteous and respectful
regardless of the circumstance
Letters to the editor are welcome by regular mail and email.
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. Send emails to editor@acbl.org.

February 2015 Bridge Bulletin

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of February 2015