Thursday Open Game 13 February 2025

We only played 5-1/2 tables this week because people were scared of the storm which did not really materialize. ACBL will award 25% gold for today's game.  Congratulations to Simone/Gordon and Jim/Ed for getting points in the C strat today. Please forgive the earlier posted result. Previously there was a mistaken switch in direction for boards 13-15 which my earlier correction did not take.


12 February 2025 - We had a fabulous Lincoln's Birthday game!

 Hello All!

We had a 5 and a half table Howell Movement where we had one sit out and everybody played 24 hands, in 8 sets of 3 boards.  The first place went to Margie and Suzanne with a 60.11%, Dave and Jan came in 2nd with 58.33%.  Third/fourth place was a tie between the partnership of Dave and Zelda and Cynthia and Marion with a 54.17%.   You all did well!  The top score for Hand 9 was a 930 by Pat Dodge on a doubled 3 Spades making 4. Wow! Great Bidding!  The booby prize goes to Jack and Shipwreck, bidding 1 diamond and making 7 on hand 20!  Was someone asleep? Thank you for coming on such a cold and overcast day!  We missed all our friends from Exeter, Please come back!

Please remember Jane G.! Give her a call or take some food! Poor gal!  We will welcome her back with open arms!  Enough of the joint problems!

See you next week! 

Suzanne 



 Tuesday 11 February 2025

We discussed handling the opponents as declarer in Adv Beginners and began a new cycle in beginners lessons with evaluating the hand and opening one of a suit.  Next week we will look at the squeeze play and the end play as declarer in Advanced Beginners and responses to openers bids in Beginners class.

The winners today were the Cullys with 64.58%!  Second place went to Wynne G and Betty L with 59.03% and third place went to Cathy V and Dianne Luby with a very nice 56.94%.  We welcome a new member Tricia Higgins who is brand new to bridge, but is picking it up quickly!  Welcome Tricia!!

See you all again next week! ---Carl 

Another Bridge Boot Camp coming March 8, 2025

What it will be like:

    We will discuss up to 27 randomly dealt boards, one at a time.  Attendees will bid and play the same hand, followed by discussion of how I would have bid  and played the hand and why. A hard copy of the hands and my discussion of the bid and play will be provided at the end of the camp.  I will have enough sets of cards to handle up to 5 tables.  If needed, due to extra players that don't fill out a table, some players will need to rotate as observers, but no one will need to do so for more than a few of the hands.  That will only happen if we have one or two extra because I will fill out the table if we have three extra.

It will start at 10 AM and continue until 4 PM or until 27 boards have been discussed, whichever comes first.  There will be a 15 minute break for lunch at about noon, but no lunch will be available, so bring your own.  

The fee will be $15/person, which is divided between Centennial Hall, North Hampton DBC, and me.

If you have any questions, email me at cvwikstrom@gmail.com.  Hope to see you there!  ---Carl



 

 Another Bridge Boot Camp coming March 8, 2025

What it will be like:

    We will discuss up to 27 randomly dealt boards, one at a time.  Attendees will bid and play the same hand, followed by discussion of how I would have bid  and played the hand and why. A hard copy of the hands and my discussion of the bid and play will be provided at the end of the camp.  I will have enough sets of cards to handle up to 5 tables.  If needed, due to extra players that don't fill out a table, some players will need to rotate as observers, but no one will need to do so for more than a few of the hands.  That will only happen if we have one or two extra because I will fill out the table if we have three extra.

It will start at 10 AM and continue until 4 PM or until 27 boards have been discussed, whichever comes first.  There will be a 15 minute break for lunch at about noon, but no lunch will be available, so bring your own.  

The fee will be $15/person, which is divided between Centennial Hall, North Hampton DBC, and me.

If you have any questions, email me at cvwikstrom@gmail.com.  Hope to see you there!  ---Carl

 Thursday 6 February 2024

Sorry but bridge is cancelled today. We are projected to receive 4" of snow during our game which would be difficult to deal with safely.

NEXT WEEK WILL BE 25% GOLD POINTS!


Wednesday 5 February 2025 Cold sunny Day

 Hello bridge players!

Today WEDNESDAY 5 FEBRUARY 2025 we played a 6 table 8 round Howell movement with 3 boards a round for a total of 24 boards!

We welcomed a new player - Bob Walsh who played with Jim Nay and takes lessons from Joe Watts in Exeter!   North Hampton welcome Exeter players!  

Today the first place finish went to John Burnap and Joan Nickel with a 61.67% game!  One of our longest partnerships!  Congratulations! Second place went to Hildy and Paul with a 59.58% game! In third with 59.17 were Jan E. and Suzanne then in 4th were Jan P. and Jane with 58.75% followed closely by Pat and Sherry!  You are all winners! (PS  Jan E and Jan P's names are not pronounced the same!)

Thank you for coming today! Stay safe tomorrow with the expected snowstorm. We broke down the tables to save the director a trip over the weekend if it snows and bridge is canceled on Thursday!

See you on Lincoln's birthday (remember him??) next week!

Suzanne 



 Tuesday February 4, 2025

In advanced beginners class we discussed planning the hand and preserving entries. In Beginners lesson, we reviewed Jacoby 2NT and talked about filling out the convention card.  Next week we will talk about handling the opponents in Adv Beginners and we will reboot to a new cycle and discuss evaluating your hand in Beginner's lessons.  

It will be a new cycle of lessons so if you know anyone looking to learn how to play bridge with no prior knowledge, next week is the lesson they want to start. 

The winners today and for the second week in a row were the Kingsburys with a whopping 67.89%!!!  Lyndon B and Charles M came in second with 56.25%.  We welcomed two new members with Barbara McAdoo and John Ricjards.  Welcome!!

I had a great time as usual and look forward to next week!  --Carl


 


 Thursday Open Game 30 January 2024

We had a nice 8-1/2 table Mitchell movement today.  Congratulations to Claudia/Carl and Sandra/Bob for the first place finishes.  Jim/Ed and Suzanne/Dave were first and second in the C strat. I expect the mps below to be increased y 50% by acbl.



 Wednesday 29 January 2025 - This morning we had a little bit of snow. We had 4 and a half table and played a 9 round Howell game with 27 boards.

The couple in first were Jan and Jane with  60.42% , in second place were Rick and Penny with a 57.64% followed by Bobbie and Sic, and Gordon and Jack.  You all did very well.  

Thank you for coming to bridge on Wednesday.  Remember you can come without a partner and we will set you up.  (a good set up hopefully)

Suzanne 


with 

 Tuesday 28 January 2025

In Advanced beginners, we discussed the importance of determining when to pull trump as declarer.  In beginners. we discussed the Gerber convention used to ask for Aces and Kings in No Trump.  Next week we will continue play of the Hand in Advanced Beginners and review Jacoby 2NT in beginners.  

We restart the cycle on February 11 (That's just two weeks away!), so tell all of your friends who are interested in learning bridge, but were reluctant to come into the middle of the lesson cycle.

We Had 6 full tables in the pupil game including a fill-in by the instructor.  Gerri C and Kathy H were the big winners with 63% and the Kingsburys came in a very repectable second with almost 62%! Our new player, Lynn Bubley( WELCOME!!), came in third, in spite of being saddled with the instuctor.

Looking forward to next week already!!  ---Carl



 Thursday Open Game 23 January 2025

We had another perfect game yesterday with 9 full tables. I just learned the mps shown below are 50% below the mps eventually awarded by acbl and there is nothing I can do to fix the acbl program to report the correct mps. I understand that this report is based on playing 18 boards, but since we played 27 boards the mp award below is multiplied by 27/18.

Anyway there were a couple real buzz saw hands yesterday. Board 6 had a C void opposite a D void which was great for defense but horrible for offense. On board 21 I thought my 2H bid was safe in S since I had 6 until I found that W had 6 H also!

Congrats to Pam/Larry and Sue/Barbara for first place finishes. John/Nancy and Brent/Darrell did great as C strat teams and Ellen/Nancy and Joe/Linda placed well as B strat teams.


Wednesday January 22, 2025 Some boards you shuffled yourselves! Fun game!

 Wednesday 22 January 2025 - Daybreak saw negative numbers in Fahrenheit, but 5 tables of hearty people showed up to play Bridge.  We had a visitor on his way to Bermuda- Richard ,  from Arizona who played with Jan Ebeling! On hand 3 they bid and made 6 NT.

Unfortunately,  I thought we had 6 tables and put the mats out for 6 tables.  Then when I discovered my error, I tried to run the game the old fashioned way - with Travelers - little slips that belong to each board, Unfortunately we had people playing the same people. The travelers were the half a sheet of paper.  Everybody said they did not care about the score, so we just played 9 rounds.  I will show the cards that you played, so you can see for the few hands, what you played. 





 Tuesday 21 January 2025

We continued Play of the Hand Suit bids in advanced beginners and went over King Asking in the Beginner's lesson.  Next week, we will discuss planning the play in advanced beginners and the Gerber convention in the beginner's lesson. 

We had 4.5 tables in our Pupil game and played 9 rounds of 2 with a sit out. The Cullys were the winners (again!) with a score of 58.33% and Lyndon B and Charles M are back and came in second at 56.25%. Christopher and Melissa  were third at 54.17% and the Kingsburys came in fourth with a respectable 53.15%.

We will be doing a restart of the beginner's lesson cycle on February 11, so tell all your friends who are interested in learning the game.

Also, I want to remind you to keep March 8th clear for our "Bridge Boot Camp" here in Centennial Hall.

IMPORTANT REQUEST!  There are several forms of viruses that are making the rounds this winter. We are an elderly club and don't have the ability to fight off infections that we had when we were younger.  So, please, if you are feeling symptoms or think you may have been exposed to a virus (not just COVID, but flu, a cold, or any of the alphabet soup of viruses that have been identified) stay home and come back when you are feeling better.  Thank You for your cooperation.





 Thursday Open Game 16 January 2024

We had a great 9-1/2 table match today.  I was happy to see Ellen Hamil, Carolyn Furber and Lucia here again.  Congrats to the new partnership of Carole Shepis and Bob for first place N/S. Jim/Ed took first place E/W even though they are C strat players. Joe and Linda also finished in the money as C strat players. I am not yet sure why my acbl program calculates the mps below when acbl actually awarded 4.24 mps for first place.


Wedneday 15 JAN 2025 Really Windy and Cold Fun Game to be inside

Today we had a 6 and a half table Howell game, where all players played 24 boards.  The people in first were  Jane and Jan with a 63.3 % game followed by Colleen and Audry with 59.17%  and Cynthia and Marion with 56.67%, but all of you are winners. There was a tie for 4/5 between Bobbie and Sid and Hildy and Paul.  We welcome Bill Shipwreck back after a prolonged absence.

Thank you all for coming on such a cold day!

See you next week.

Suzanne




 Tuesday January 14 2025

We talked about counting losers in suit bids in adv beginners lesson.  We will begin discussions on planning the order of play next week.

In beginners lessons, we talked about 1430 (RKC) .  Next week we will discuss asking for Kings,

We had 4.5 tables in the pupil game. The winners were Christopher and Melissa with 68.75%.  Second place went to John Safford and Bill Swett wih 61.46% and third were John B and Joan N with 57.29%.

See you all next week.  --Carl



 Thursday 9 January 2025

We had 8 full tables in our STaC game today.  WE played 8 rounds of 3 boards with a ship after 4 rounds so you played the same people in the 8th round as the 1st.  Lesley and Carol were the overall winners in both A and B strat and Lisa and Nancy were the EW winners in both A and B strat. Darrell and Brent won the C strat NS and Jim and Ed won the C strat EW.  The points will convert to silver by the end of the week,


Wednesday 8 January 2025

 Hello, 

On a cold and extremely windy day, we had a 5 and a half table Howell movement, playing 3 boards a round. 

The pair that came in first were Hildy and Paul followed closely by Mark and Marie-Laure, whom we have not seen for a long time! Congratulations. Third were Jill and Janet, followed by Jane and Jan!.  You all played a great game, and kept knocking the first place people out and replacing them. What a race!  You all played very well and were really competitive!

Thank you for coming.  We will continue to play at 12 Noon.

Suzanne 



 Tuesday January 7 2025

We learned about planning No Trump play and choosing the order of play as declarer in the advanced beginner lesson.  In beginners we learned about the three methods of Ace asking and practiced bidding Blackwood and playing slams.  Next week we will learn about playing suit contracts as declarer in Adv Beginners and Roman Key Card in beginners.

We had 5 full tables with a playing director in the Pupil game.  David Rollins carried his partner to victory with 64.76%!  The Culleys  came in second with 62.33% and Christopher and Melissa cam in third.  It was a great beginning to the new year!  See you next week! ---Carl

IMPORTANT REQUEST!  There are several forms of viruses that are making the rounds this winter. We are an elderly club and don't have the ability to fight off infections that we had when we were younger.  So, please, if you are feeling symptoms or think you may have been exposed to a virus (not just COVID, but flu, a cold, or any of the alphabet soup of viruses that have been identified) stay home and come back when you are feeling better.  Thank You for your cooperation.



 Thursday Open Game 2 January 2025

We had a perfect 9 table Mitchell today with 3 A, 3 B and 3C stratifications both EW and NS for our first game of the year.  Roger (playing with Connie today) just won his 3rd first place finish this week! The 2nd place finish was taken by C strat teams in both NS and EW - congrats to Darrell/Brent and Linda/Nancy for fine games.  Mary/Andi also placed 4th even though they are in the C strat.

Next week is a silver point sTac game. The lesson will be taken from Ron Mak's lesson on Christian replies to 1NT.


Wednesday FUN PIZZA PARTY DAY! HAPPY NEW YEARS DAY!

 Today for the rainy gray day,  we had a Marvelous Pizza Party with 6 full tables.  We played a Howell Movement with 8 rounds. We welcomed a couple of new players to the Wednesday game, Dave Roberts and Carol Rodenberg, both of who played here at North Hampton in the Past!.  Just the right number of pizzas with 3/4 of a pizza left over for snacking!  Jan Poulin brought delicious brownies with nuts in them!  Those disappeared very quickly.

Coming in first for the New Year's Day Fun Game were the team of Connie and Roger with a 71.67%!  What a way to start off 2025! Second place went to the partnership of Jane and Jan with 55.83%, then Gordon and his bride with a 55.42!   Claire and Mary Lynn were hot on theri heals!  You all did very well!  Thank you all for making the party so much fun!

Thank you all for coming on such a rainy, otherwise dreary day!

Suzanne

PS.  If you want to see how the group on Thursday would play the same hands, check the 19 Dec 2024 contracts!  They had several small slam bids and made! I did not look at what we did today!  (Just a hint, Roger and Connie, may have played all the same hands in all the same direction 13 days ago, so even if you don't remember a specific hand there is probably some hidden memory) 

Happy New Year!