Thursday Open Game 19 February 2026
I was happy to see Philip here again this week. Congratulations to James/Bob and Darrell/Brent for the first place finishes in both the A and B strats! Suzanne/Tom and Donna/Peter both finished in the C strat.
Wednesday Open Game 18 February 2026
We had a very nice 10 full tables. Congratulations to Larry/Vincent and David/Bob for the first place finishes. Congratulations to Barbara/Lisa and Bob/James for first place in the B strat. Congratulations to Mary/Suzanne and Judy/Carolyn for first place in the C strat.
Board 18 was later modified to show 1NT making EW not NS.
17 February 2026 Lesson will be by Pamela Robinson We look forward to having you here! Sue and Martha look at the following hand. A SMALL SLAM WAS NOT bidable
In Hand 7 a small slam was not possible unless East threw 3 clubs to save his K of diamonds.
but you do not need a lot of points. Had North had the Ace instead of King. she would have had 13 points and Sue would have had 11 - all that is is 24 points. A long ways from the +points that is normally needed. Would you like to have the hands shown? even if the scores are not available?
Poem by Sue Hill (one of Pam's students)
Poem 10 Feb 2026
Today’s bridge lesson was New Minor Forcing,
For which Suzanne did some abundant outsourcing.
Partner bids a minor and you bid a major with five.
Partner has less than 3 of each major so bids 1NT to stay alive.
You bid the other minor to give partner a clue,
Now your partner knows exactly what they should do.
We also reviewed the rules of weak 2’s,
Going down when vulnerable and doubled has you singing the blues.
Don’t save your partner and here is why,
You might go down big time and it will make you cry.
When you go down by 5?
Don’t like that jive.
Here we go now with a practice hand of weak 3’s.
Sure hoping it doesn’t knock me on my knees.
We played boards 1 through 4
And asked for 4 more.
Round and round and round we go
Where Dave lands nobody knows.
Jane gets to be dealer and open the bidding
Only 1 spade this time? You’ve got to be kidding.
I have 2 good majors which one should I bid?
Sometimes there’s no good answer, on this I don’t kid.
One thing is for sure that in bidding I sometimes lie,
And when my cards are laid down I hope my partner won’t sigh.
As you can tell by my ditty today was good fun!
When 3 o’clock came we were sad to be done.
To Suzanne as our temp teacher we bid fond adieu,
To Pam who’s returning we look forward to seeing you.
To the students who’ve been missing please return and join our good time.
It might help to stop me from making these lesson notes that rhyme.
Please bring us your friends who want to learn to play bridge
We meet 11-3, do bring your lunch, there’s a fridge!
A lesson is followed by quick eats at your table.
We are helpful to beginners because we want them to be able
To play with us each Tuesday and join our merry band
Of ACBL bridge players across this great land.
Thanks for tolerating my ditty of today’s lovely lesson.
For me this comes naturally, you tell me, a curse or a blessin’?
See you next week for more bridge drills,
Kind regards with respect from fellow student, Sue Hills.
Thursday Open Game 12 February 2026
We welcome Philip Placzek who was here for the first time today! Congrats to Darrell/Brent and Carl/Cliff for 1st place finishes. Barbara/Joyce and Ellen/Nancy were 1st in the B strat. Jim/Ed and Sharon/Philip were first in the C strat. Paul/Joe and Margaret/Dave also placed in the C strat.
Wednesday Open Game February 11 2026
We were happy to welcome Susan Scott to our game today for the first time. We had a full 9 tables in our 25% Gold Point game. Congratulations to Nancy/Daryl for a fabulous first place finish. Bob/James and Mary/Dave tied for first place in NS. Mary/Michael were first place in the B strat. Nancy/Barbara came in first place in the C strat.
POEM 10 FEB 2026 New Minor Forcing by Sue Hills
Today’s bridge lesson was New Minor Forcing,
For which Suzanne did some abundant outsourcing.
Partner bids a minor and you bid a major with five.
Partner has less than 3 of each major so bids 1NT to stay alive.
You bid the other minor to give partner a clue,
Now your partner knows exactly what they should do.
We also reviewed the rules of weak 2’s,
Going down when vulnerable and doubled has you singing the blues.
Don’t save your partner and here is why,
You might go down big time and it will make you cry.
When you go down by 5?
Don’t like that jive.
Here we go now with a practice hand of weak 3’s.
Sure hoping it doesn’t knock me on my knees.
We played boards 1 through 4
And asked for 4 more.
Round and round and round we go
Where Dave lands nobody knows.
Jane gets to be dealer and open the bidding
Only 1 spade this time? You’ve got to be kidding.
I have 2 good majors which one should I bid?
Sometimes there’s no good answer, on this I don’t kid.
One thing is for sure that in bidding I sometimes lie,
And when my cards are laid down I hope my partner won’t sigh.
As you can tell by my ditty today was good fun!
When 3 o’clock came we were sad to be done.
To Suzanne as our temp teacher we bid fond adieu,
To Pam who’s returning we look forward to seeing you.
To the students who’ve been missing please return and join our good time.
It might help to stop me from making these lesson notes that rhyme.
Please bring us your friends who want to learn to play bridge
We meet 11-3, do bring your lunch, there’s a fridge!
A lesson is followed by quick eats at your table.
We are helpful to beginners because we want them to be able
To play with us each Tuesday and join our merry band
Of ACBL bridge players across this great land.
Thanks for tolerating my ditty of today’s lovely lesson.
For me this comes naturally, you tell me, a curse or a blessin’?
See you next week for more bridge drills,
Kind regards with respect from fellow student, Sue Hills.
Wednesday Open Game 4 February 2026
Thank you for coming to today's game, our Wednesday Unit Championship. Congratulations to David & Nancy for placing first overall, and to Larry & Vinnie for placing second overall and first in North/South. Also congratulations to our C players Bob & Mark and Gordon & Jack for placing in this game. 
3 February 2026 Tuesday lesson
3rd February 2026
We had an informative class today! We reviewed bids that need "alerting" and "explanation" like NT is 15 to 17!.
We also reviewed penalties for missing your contracts, both vulnerable and non-vulnerable as well as what doubling does to a missed contract!
The lesson was about Weak 2s. and when and why we make those bids.
Having only 2 tables we could not run a game using the bridge mates, but we had a grand time playing over 20 boards! Lots of practice! and we had a great time!
thanks to all who showed up!
NEXT WEEK New Minor Forcing! and I was finally able to print out the handouts for today!
See you next Tuesday!
Suzanne
TUESDAY FEB 3rd. Bring your manila envelope handouts!
Suzanne S will be giving the lesson on Tuesday Feb 3rd. Get out your handouts(the ones from the manila envelope) and read about Weak 2s (prempts) for Feb 3.
For Feb 10th I plan to introduce (or go over) New Minor Forcing. That is a method of telling your partner if you have 4 or 5 of the major after your partner opens the bidding.
See you then!
Suzanne
Lesson and Game on Tuesday, January 27 is cancelled
Lessons and game will resume on February 3. Hope everyone has recovered from the storm, illness, or travel fatigue.!
Thursday Open Game 15 January 2026
We had a great 10 tables in our upgraded point game today. Welcome to Bob Bilharz who was playing with Patti Andrews. First place was earned by Bob/Dave and Connie/Roger. Ellen/Nancy and Joyce/Bill were first in the B strat and Jim/Ed and Brent/Carol were first place in the C strat. It was nice to see everyone talking and enjoying each other.
Wednesday Open Game 14 January 2026
Thanks for coming out. Congralations to Carl & Cliff and Dave & Bob. Congratulations to Gordon & Jack and Michael & Mary and Pat & Sherry for placing in our C group. This was a GNT Fund game, so check the ACBL Masterpoint awards, they might be higher than are listed here.
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Thursday Open game 08 Jan 2026.
Congratulations to NS Brent and Skip for first overall! followed closely by the Vancelettes!~ ES top score were the Atwoods! followed by Lisa and Barbara! Good show everyone! Thank you for coming to our beautiful club on such a winter day!
The results will be compared to the whole region of New England and the Masterpoints will be upgraded at the end of the STAC games!
Thank you for coming to bridge!
See you next Thursday~!
Skip
Tuesday, January 6, 2026 Pupil Game
We had 2.5 tables with a phantom pair. Top scorers were Melissa Vokey and Dianne Luby (1) and Bob Eberhart and Jean Lanham (2). After discussing future lessons with the players during their sit outs, I decided to spend more time on the various meanings of "double". Next week, please bring any handouts you have on the take-out double.
Pam