Greater St. Louis Bridge News

Bragging Rights, Kansas City vs. St Louis

Flight B winners (Matt Diehl, Ron Diehl, Andrew Carver & Sasanka Ramanadham) triumphed in this contest, held at the August Regional in St. Louis.
 

“Never be afraid to try something new. Remember: amateurs built the ark, professionals built the Titanic.”

At the August Regional, on the evening of August 22 in the I/N room, Janie Wolfe and Joyce Bishop came in 2nd in A and 1st in B & C in their section with a 56% game.

This was the first time Joyce had ever played duplicate bridge! Janie, the more experienced player, had only played in the I/N that afternoon and at one previous club game!  Out of the 5 sessions of duplicate bridge she had ever played, she had 2 first place wins. They are both hooked on bridge and prove that people should not be hesitant because of their lack of experience. Congratulations to them both!

Oh, and Janie continues her path of success. She also came in first in Flt A in her section at the AM session of the 199'er tournament on September 26. 

Tricolor: How do you win gold and red and black masterpoints in the same event? 

The annual nationwide Instant Matchpoint Game, held at Lake Saint Louis MO on September 9, brought 11 tables to the event. Pre-dealt hands with commentary booklets made the event even more enticing than the reward of one full gold point as part of the first place winnings. All other awards were red/black. The coveted gold went to George & Marilyn Bogaki and Barbara MacPeek & Dan Waeltermann for their first-places-in-section performance.

You know you’re doing something right when they live in California and play in your 199er Tournament! 

At the 199er tournament on September 26, Susan Haas from California called to set up a partnership as she was going to be in St Louis visiting her sister. Jane Ettelson, 199er Tournament Chairperson, arranged a partnership with Virginia Seibuhr and they hit it off well, and decided to play in the evening also. When Susan arrived at the evening game, she ran into a relative, Julia Bruner, who was also playing in the tournament. She said she had no idea that anyone in her family played duplicate bridge and was so surprised to find her at the tournament. They hope to play in the future.

The 199er was a huge success with a total of 55.5 tables (36.5 in the AM and 19 in the PM). This is a record for both sessions. This was an increase of 6 tables from our previous record, set at the last tournament in March 2009 (49.5). Winners and photos are at right.
 

St. Louis Club Hosts Mike Lawrence

Bridge Haven of Hazelwood MO hosted a seminar in August when they invited Mike Lawrence to St. Louis. Mike, a world champion, bridge author and Bridge Bulletin contributor, gave classes and answered questions for two days. Read more...

Mike has a unique way of getting information across in an entertaining fashion. He had the club owner, Silver Life Master Chuck Starovasnik, on the hot seat. Everyone enjoyed seeing Chuck and Mike banter back and forth. This was an excellent example of an experienced player learning more. That’s the beauty of bridge: No matter how skilled a player is, there’s always something more to learn.
 

Club Corner: Jim Hammond

Jim Hammond runs the Monday Morning Bridge Club at Bridgehaven. He calls himself a “bridge-aholic.”

For Jim, it started in 1945 in the US Navy. The addiction was immediate. He continued playing Rubber Bridge through college and most of the 1950s. The addiction was wearing off a little when he discovered DUPLICATE. The curse was worse than ever!

Until about 1990 he only played the game. But then the Matriarchs of North County bridge, Mary Hedrick and Pat Scharick, died or retired. To help keep the game going in North County, he became a director and started a club. Currently, he is the director of the Bridge Haven 10:30 AM Monday game. It's a fun game but the competition is good.

199er Tournament Winners

Kevin Clarkin ­ Dennis Abeln 
(Afternoon Flts. A,B,C)

John & Becky Hubert 
(Morning Flt A)

Randall Johnson ­ Arther Preedy 
 (Morning, Flt B)

Robert Griffin ­ Wallace Burton
(Morning, Flt C)

NEW JUNIOR MASTERS                

Michael Albers

Kathryn Botney

Margaret Boveri

Nancy Burke

Jerry Dutra

Ann Epstein

Marty Epstein

Janis Frie

Eugene Gabianelli

Gayle Garrett

Marda Gatewood

Robert Griffin

Sandra Hankins

Margaret Hiemenz

Nancy Hinkson

Sharyn Kessler

Nancy Labrier

Robert Niehaus

Arthur O'Mara

Marian Solari

NEW CLUB MASTERS

Ralph Britton

Kevin Clarkin

Carl Clyne

Robert Daniels

Peggy Dozier

Mark Jackson

Patricia Lazaroff

William Maack

Vernon Meadows

Sandra Meinz

Roberta Millham

Cynthia Peters

Faye Raisher

Ken Schlueter

Regina Schlueter

Ed Schmidt

Penny Williams

NEW SECTIONAL MASTERS

Dr. Albert Barnett

Randy Baker

Dr. Hong Liu

Carol Rentz

Nancy Whitelaw

Sigrid Woltzen

NEW REGIONAL MASTERS

Fran Axelbaum

Jackie Baker

Richard Butler

Joyce Caton

Jackie Elliott

Becky B Hubert

Ann Lux

Mike Mitra

Navin Shah

NEW NABC MASTERS

Barbara Frith

Doug O'Leary

Jeanne Redington

Joann Sandler

Martha Smith

Dan Spangler

Margaret Taylor

Raye Zeigler

NEW LIFE MASTERS

Cookie Arneson

Linda Lesser

Dolores Schriedel

Phyllis Siegel

Veena Uberoi

NEW BRONZE LIFE MASTERS

John Antognoli

Pat Bradley

Mary Fran Oldani

Dolores Schriedel

Richard Smith

NEW SILVER LIFE MASTERS

James Faulkner

Debbie Romero

Stephen Zenk

NEW GOLD LIFE MASTER

Linda Leinicke