July 2019 - 7

➺ InBox
Sarcasm alert

I read, with great dismay, that George
Jacobs' last column in the Bridge
Bulletin is coming soon. If that means
he'll be writing no more columns in
the magazine, then I have no other
recourse than to resign my ACBL
membership! I've already earned my
Life Master rank: What else do I have
to look forward to in bridge other than
his column?
RUSS LEAVITT
Palm Coast FL

Took the advice

I read the cover article in the May
issue from Roy Shapiro ("Bridge as a
Marathon Event"), followed the methods he suggested, and then played in
two STaC games in Maryland near my
home.
My partner and I are Flight C players. We came in first in one session,
garnering 0.55 masterpoints, and we
were second in Flight C, second in
Flight B, and third in Flight A in the
second session, earning 0.80 points.
We are in a new partnership, and my
experience level is low - I'm not a
Club Master yet - so these were great
results for us.
The method makes great sense, Mr.
Shapiro. Thank you.
JULIE FOX
Cambridge MD

STaCs and invitational clubs

Sectional Tournament at Clubs
(STaC) games at invitational clubs
get a disproportionate reduction in
masterpoints from open clubs. At
open clubs, STaC games are a great
motivator, especially for newer
players to get more involved in bridge
and compete to move up the ladder.
Winning an early STaC game at an
open club is how my ACBL career got
going.
At invitational clubs, however, the

Letters to the Editor

increase in masterpoints is minimal
compared to the increase in ACBL
fees, so some of these clubs choose not
to participate in STaC games. This is
lose-lose. ACBL misses out on additional fees and the larger turnout
for STaC games; players lose out on a
chance to earn significant silver points.
I propose ACBL look at increasing
masterpoint awards for invitational
club STaC games, or reducing the
extra fees at invitational clubs for
STaC games so that invitational clubs
participate.
FRED REKER
Seal Beach CA

It's a ruff game

It has been almost 20 years since I
and Eileen Brenner, my bridge partner
as well as life partner, ended our competitive bridge careers. At that time,
we made the decision to prioritize our
family when her grandchildren were
born. I still read the bridge column every day in our local paper while having
breakfast. I look at the diagram and try
to logic out the point of the article.
After perusing a recent deal, I said
aloud, "I ruff three clubs in my hand."
At that, one of our dogs bolted for the
front door while barking frantically.
When we stopped laughing, Eileen
said, "Maybe next time, you should
spell it out r-u-f-f."
MICHAEL S. PICKERT
Livingston NJ

Thanks for the memories

This congratulatory letter is years
late, but I have been wanting to thank
you for publishing the wonderful
Bridge Bulletin. The quality is professional, the hand analyses are easy to
read and the variety of articles for
beginners to advanced are so helpful. I always read it cover to cover and
immediately look forward to the next

issue.
As I write these words, I can't help
but think of the great black and white
magazine from years ago. I started
receiving it when I joined the ACBL in
1961. I have lots of other memories of
those early years. The very first game
that I played, I won. I didn't sleep all
night (too much coffee), and I was
hooked. Then there was the threesection side game at the Oakland CA
Sectional that my partner and I won
at the ages of 17. And the hand that
gave us a big boost when I placed the
six-level contract in the 4-4 diamond
fit (which made) rather than the 5-3
heart fit which went down. And there
was the unit game that my partner and
I won with a 53% game (shades of Bob
Hamman's comment).
While I have lots of other memories,
as we all do, the last one I will mention
occurred at the local club where we
were the only pair to bid 7NT, which
makes, except that I blocked myself
from the dummy and went down one!
(Never to be forgotten.)
Thank for the memories, ACBL. You
are doing a splendid job.
GREGORY SANOFF
Windsor CA

Trap pass becomes trap door

For the first time in our 40-year
partnership, Steve Emerson and I used
airline travel to get to a bridge tournament. The Spring NABC in Memphis
featured our favorite event - the IMP
Pairs - and we hoped to qualify for the
final.
We were definitely below average
when this hand came up. As dealer
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.

July 2019 Bridge Bulletin

7
July 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of July 2019
