WebMaster: - unit559webmaster@gmail.com - 626 340-9575

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B U L L E T I N   B O A R D

Pasadena Bridge Club 649 N. Fair Oaks Ave #201 Upstairs above the pizza shop Mojo Jones 626 247-4457 Zach Vedro 626 215-5080 Full Schedule Open Games Mon-Sat 11:00 AM M-F 1:00 PM Saturday Regency Bridge Club   201 E. Colorado St, Glendale Adam Barron    323 318-4308 Thursday   12:30 Social Duplicate Game   Arcadia Community Center Marie Nimmrich        626 448-3304 Wednesday 9:30 - 50¢ Friday 1:00 - 50¢ Mojo Jones   626 247-4457 Unit Game Director 1st & 3rd Sunday 12:30 Pasadena Bridge CLub Bridge Lessons Mojo   626 247-4457 Waken Sectional AUG 23-24 Unit Game - Sept 7 Unit Game - Sept 21 ACBL Tournaments Schedule RSVP Pasadena BC Check my ACBL Masterpoints Pasadena Bridge Club     Pasadena Club Results Glendale Regency     Regency Results La Fetra Club     La Fetra Results District STaC Results     Mojo's BBO Results ACBL Tournaments     ACBL Live Results Dr John Waken Sectional     Arcadia Community Center Results Unit Game Results     Old Unit Game Results Regionals This Year Our unit games are held twice a month, usually on the first and third Sundays, and both games are held at the Pasadena Bridge Club. - Game time is 12:30 Be sure to call Miriam Harrington for a reservation:                             626 232-0558 We Have a Page for New Players For New and Lower Ranked Players Roy Wilson 626 340-9575 -- unit559Webmaster@gmail.com If you use Text Messaging...TEXT ME!   Roy           You will learn more by losing to good players than you will by winning against poor players Stray Words of Wisdom Two Diamonds, Flannery - 11-15 HCP This bid was devised by Bill Flannery sometime in the 1960's when he solved a problem that no longer exists today.  Why is it no longer a problem?   Because we stopped opening 4-card majors! Back in those days players found it difficult to describe a hand with a 5-card heart suit and a 4-card spade suit, so Flannery said, "Let's open 2!d when we have this hand!  He also suggested that the point-count should be 11-15 HCP.   Although we no longer have that problem, the agreement is still being used. Some players prefer a Reverse Flannery which is probably an improvement - Four hearts and five spades with 11-15 HCP, although the point-count range often changed depending on how aggressive the partners are. What was the problem that Bill Flannery wanted to solve?  If you opened 1!h you would have to reverse if you wanted to show the 4-card spade suit, and if you opened 1!s, (as you could when playing 4-card majors,) then when you rebid 2!h your partner would not know that you have five of them. Responses to an opening Flannery 2!d call: 2!h or 2!s is non forcing 2NT Is forcing, asking for a better description 3!c or 3!d is invitational, usually with a 6+card minor 3NT is to play A Jump to 4!c is a transfer to hearts A Jump to 4!d is a transfer to spades A jump to either major is natural and non-forcing A jump to 4NT is 6-Keycard Blackwood - Both major suit kings are keycards But.... My opinion is that the 2!d call for either standard or Reverse Flanney is a waste... If you only open 5-card majors, you can open 1!h and a good partner will bid a 4-card spade suit.   Done.  Flannery is a solution for a problem that no longer exists. Anybody want this non-paying job?     Contact me!   626 340-9575 unit559webmaster@gmail.com Roy Wilson - Emerald Life Master Not Guilty I was accused of cheating by three ACBL officials who told me that EDGAR, which is their software that examines hands played on BBO, reported three hands they said I played about five years ago. They decided I was guilty and suspended me, and told me that I had two options, either plead guilty and accept their punishment or file a $900 request for a hearing.  I was also told I would need an advocate, at a cost of about $1000 a day, if I wanted to appeal. It took several months for me to discover how this happened, and now that I know, I will not present it to my accusers, so although innocent, I will remain "guilty." For about five years my patio was a place where a couple of generations of my relatives came together wth friends and often played bridge.  Out of perhaps 12-15 of them only two were ACBL members, and one was a rookie while the other had perhaps 20 masterpoints.  Kimberly and Pat.  My son gave them the password to my BBO account and they used it to play together.  They never told me!  For some reason they thought there was a membership fee to belong to BBO.  They sat next to each other and played on an iPad and a laptop, and oi  Responder bids 2NT to ask for the singleton.iften asked others about the best bid or play.  I have no idea what kind of advice they received from the others, but since everyone could see both hands I can only imagine what they were told to either bid or lead.  In any event, EDGAR, the software app that looks at suspicious hands and reports cheating, reported me as being suspect.  Three people at ACBL headquarters accused me of cheating five years ago.  I had no explanation for the few hands they showed me!  The three accusers also became my three judges, and were a jury of three as well.  They suspended me. When I told the family I had been suspended, Kimberly and Pat said it might have been them.  they said they would be glad to offer the ACBL an explanation for whatever they might remember of hands from years back. After some thought, I have decided to drop it.  There is a $900 filing fee for a hearing, plus a $1000 a day cost for an advocate.  There's also the cost of flying three of us to Mississippi.  But... most important of all, they might exonerate me but then punish Kimberly and Pat.  Nope.  No chance.  It's over.  I quit.  They win. (I also believe I would not have much chance of convincing three people who have already made up their minds.)   Close   Change in Rank Four of our members recently achieved significant changes in rank... Richard Halverstadt - Life Master Hanna Zhuang - Bronze Life Master Karmen- Silver Life Master Fredy Minter - Gold Life Master Congratulations, friends!  You have all made great achievements, but Richard, you have made the 2nd most difficult change in rank -- Life Master! Our Unit Game It's this Sunday at 12:30... Be sure you call Miriam for a reservation. Miriam - 626 232-0558 There's a Regional this week - It's down in Irvine... Let me know if you do well or gain a new rank! Regional in Irvine HIDDEN TEXT   Close   Unit Historian:    Do you have an old photo or other memorbilia from our past that you can share with us?  Please contact Mike and let him make a copy. Mike Marcucci 818 903-2471 nstarmgm@att.net Pasadena-San Gabriel Unit 559 Unit Board Announcements Our unit is one of nine in District 23 and we are sanctioned by the American Contract Bridge League. We have an elected board of 12 members that meets monthly and is responsible for unit games, our Holiday party and the annual John Waken sectional. Unit Board Members     Unit 559     Bylaws Zero Tolerance Standing Rules Unit Board Policies Unit Membership Roster How to Find Our Virtual Club on the BBO Website Our unit members can play in a virtual club game set up by Mojo and Paula... When you log on, you are at the Home screen.  Click on Competitive and then click on All Tournaments. There's a Search Box at the top, on the right.  Simply type in a few letters or numbers that will help identify what you are looking for:  23 is sufficient for District 23, and 559 is enough for Unit 559.   You can use either the abbreviated Pasa or 559 for our virtual club. Use this link if you would like to see the convention card used by the BBO robots. BBO Robot's Card WEB PAGES AND WEB SITES     BBO Login Our Virtual Club bridgemojo.com Our Friends on BBO       1 2 3 4 a      Memorial to Lost Friends    Gallery of Players    A Scrapbook of Photos Bridge Cartoons b   Tips From Our Top Players Interesting Bridge Articles Double Dummy Problems Problems and Solutions c   Card Play Technique Stuff Everybody Knows Bridge Utilities Standard Bidding d   Ask the Coach: -  JJ Members Page History of Our Unit Karen Walker's Bridge Library:   e   Ace of Clubs - Mini-McKenney ACBL Convention Chart Information Links Maps f    Frank Stewart's Daily Hand Bridge Stories and Tales D22 - Daily Bulletins D23 - Daily Bulletins ACBL District and Unit Websites       1 2 3 4 A    The ACBL Alert Chart Conventions Chart Duplicate Decisions The Laws of Duplicate Bridge B    The Montreal Relay The Big Club The 2/1 System Extended Precision C    Keycard Asking Problem Bids Bridge Tales Losing Trick Count D    Bridge Probabilities 52 Bridge Tips - Kantar Pavlicek's Bridge Tools Ed's Newsletter     Looking for a certified bridge teacher?       Morris Jones     mojo@mojobridge.com   Claudia Elmes     elmesclaudia@gmail.com   Zach Vedro     zvedro@hotmail.com   Lisa Walker     lisawalkerlac@gmail.com   Roy Wilson Precision System   unit559webmaster@gmail.com   American Bridge Teachers Association   ABTA   Unit 559 Membership Report Ranks are updated quarterly after the 7th of the month. Top 30 Players - Unit 559 Rank Requirements Unit 559 Active Members Click the rank below for a list Master Points     Rookie 0-5 No color points needed Junior Master 5-20 No color points needed Club Master 20-50+ No color points needed Sectional Master 50+ 5+ silver points Regional Master 100+ 15+ silver points and 5+ gold points NABC Master 200+ 25+ silver and 20+ red/gold/platinum (5 must be gold or platinum) Advanced NABC Master 300+ 50+ silver and 50+ red/gold/platinum (25 must be gold or platinum) Life Master 500+ 75+ silver and 100+ red/gold/platinum (50 must be gold or platinum) Bronze Life Master 750+ Life Master with at least 750 points Silver Life Master 1000+ Life Master with at least 1000 points (200+ must be silver/red/gold/platinum) Ruby Life Master 1500+ Life Master with at least 1500 points (300+ must be silver/red/gold/platinum) Gold Life Master 2500+ Life Master with at least 2500 points (500+ must be silver/red/gold/platinum) Sapphire Life Master 3500+ Life Master with at least 3500 points 700+ silver/red/gold/platinum (350+ must be gold or platinum) Diamond Life Master 5000+ Life Master with at least 5000 points 1000+ silver/red/gold/platinum (500+ must be gold or platinum) Emerald Life Master 7500+ Life Master with at least 7500 points 1500+ silver/red/gold/platinum (750+ must be gold or platinum) Platinum Life Master 10,000+ Life Master with at least 10,000 points 2000+ silver/red/gold/platinum (1000+ must be gold or platinum) Grand Life Master 10,000+ Life Master with at least 10,000 points 2000+ silver/red/gold/platinum (1000+ must be gold or platinum) Must have a victory in an eligble event August Total Membership  335 Go to the top of the page August, 2025 Status Change for our Members updated each month in the first week New Members Jackie Weisman   Pasasdena Rick Weisman   Pasasdena Transferred In Carolyn Matthews   Altadena Transferred Out Marilyn Kogan   Austin TX Advanced in Rank - 6   Jane Winer  Junior Master   Milo Sketeris  Club Master   Richard Halverstadt  Life Master   Hanna Zhuang  Bronze Life Master   Karmen Armoudjian  Silver Life Master   Fredy Minter  Gold Life Master                   Since June 16, 2016 -- You are Visitor Number   937713 This website was established in 1999 by Roy Wilson Linux version 1.0.0 was introduced March 14, 1994 The First Web Site was established at CERN in 1992 by Tim Berners-Lee. This website was built in 1999 A Slackware LINUX server         It ain't Windows!