 | Almost two-thirds (63.4%) of Minnesota players have yet to reach their Life Master. Which means they're striving to get to that goal, trying to learn more about the game, and making an effort to be engaged. Help them out. That (in turn) will help you in the long run. |
 |  75.56% Bill Heyer and Richard Towner, 5/21, Mankato DBC 73.51% Gerald Gray and Barbara Gray, 5/16, Plymouth DBC 72.92% Jim Brothers and Jack Martin, 5/30, Detroit Lakes 72.31% Paul Gutterman and Barry Purrington, 5/4, BCSP 72.21% Dave Collins and Terry Beckman, 5/4, BCSP 70.83% Nate Pike and Tom Estenson, 5/22, Northfield DBC 70.74% Scott Krupke and Theresa Kornwolf, 5/13, St CloudMAY'S LIMITED MASTERPOINT 70% GAMES: 70.24% Yvonne Schneider + Linda Olson, 5/1, BCSP |
 | Congratulations to Rebecca, who joins Gail Baev [Woodbury], Gregory Dorr [St Paul], Earl Conner [Woodbury], and Florian Lauer [St Paul] as "Gopher 2025 LM Club" members. Nice club! |
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North American Pairs Flight "C" tables in Unit 103 clubs was 46.5 tables (up from 24 the previous year); and Grand National Teams Flight "C" tables were 15 tables (up from 0). Frequently these intermediate/novice players feel more comfortable playing with players of their own skill-level, and if your club wants to run these games at no cost to the club, check with your club director or manager.   |
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  | The Winter Sectional in January and Rochester Med City Spring Sectional were both up pretty big; the Leap Into Spring Sectional was off this year; and both the St Cloud NLM Sectional and Gopher Regional were very close to right on target from 2024's numbers. Your next opportunity to add a playing table or two to this total comes at the St Cloud Sectional June 12-14. Their flyer can be found by clicking here. |
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Sectional Thu June 5 Rochester  | Sectional June 12-14 Sauk Rapids  | Sectional July 9-11 Maple Grove  | Sectional Thur August 14 Rochester  | Sectional August 21-23 Roseville  | REGIONAL Sept 15-20 Rochester  |
The first hand has to do with figuring out the right defense to set a slam contract; trick 1 isn't much of a question mark, but trick 2 will make the difference! (Click on the image to see the whole deal and answer.) The second hand deals with a bidding sequence that most of us wouldn't come up with (which is why Mike wanted us to learn from it). It's a way to find out that you don't just have a slam, you have all 13 tricks. Bidding it in NT with a stiff A in one suit isn't easy - but someone did find it. Another great bidding sequence is shown on the third hand - and we're grateful for Mike to have sent these instructional and informative analyses.    |
 | Patti Stuhlman [Minneapolis] and her Gopher PR Committee headed by Warren Nelson [Cloquet] really have to be commended for the work they did in promoting the Gopher this year. Of the five open regionals that ran last week, the Gopher had easily the smallest dropoff in tables of all five. (Denver CO's tournament ends today, ao their table counts used here were from Tuesday of last week through Saturday.) The NABC next July will be nice to have, no doubt! But we'll miss the success of the Gopher until 2027. And our calendar is already marked for it. |
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 | The Woodbury club is celebrating three new Life Masters, who all earned their title at the Gopher Tournament this week (that's Gail Baev [Woodbury], Greg Dorr [St Paul], and Earl Conner [Woodbury]) - so if there wasn't already the expectation of cake(s) at this party, bring 'em on. They'll have a "Social Bridge" Tournament on Monday in place of their regular game, where players get partnered up with different players through several rounds of Chicago-style scoring. All those details can be found on the flyer to your left. Anything that involves bridge, social interaction, and fundraising for local charities in need is a must-attend in our book. |
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 | There have been more than two dozen open regionals to date, and besides the mammoth Gatlinburg TN tournament, a lot of the bigger table counts belong to "destination" regionals (those are vacation spots where you can also play some bridge). Even if there was no increase in tables from last year, the Gopher should be in the top half of regionals for attendance. But no matter the final table count, having fun at the event will matter most. And THAT is pretty much a lock no matter how many tables there are. |
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Patti reported that tables will be right in line with last year - possibly a few off from last year's totals. She indicated that's not unexpected, and presently this tournament is still expected to make a small profit. She's very happy with the turnout, and very pleased with everyone who has helped to make it the success that it is. Patti also provided an update on the Nationals in 2026, where efforts will be made to raise money - and she urged everyone, from the District to Units to local clubs to individuals to please help by raising some cash to help put on the Nationals. The money she's interested in raising will go to fund our local volunteers and helpers, as well as some transportation issues getting people in and out of the downtown Minneapolis area. For example, Patti wants to provide free parking downtown for all volunteers - and is going to have a shuttle service running from the Bridge Center of St Paul to the National playing site for those that want to park offsite. More on all this will be coming down the road, but with Patti in charge we're pretty sure things will go really well. Minutes from the 103 Board meeting will be posted on this site just as soon as they are approved. |
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Next month also includes the St Cloud Granite City Sectional, which has been moved due to too many tables of players at their old location (a problem we would all enjoy having!). The three-day silver-point "Upper Midwest Coachella" is taking place at the Sauk Rapids Government Center - if you would like directions on how to get there, click here. Here's a look at club calendars around the state: (Click on any calendar to enlarge it and open in a new window.)      |
 | Dave Gustafson [Stillwater] celebrated his birthday at the Gopher today - and there were the "usual suspects" helping out at the information tables and partnerships desks. It was a terrific crowd - and so much so, that parking was a bit of an issue. There's been an update to overflow parking at the Gopher, with bridge players able to park in ANY open space in the hotel parking ramp as long as it is not marked as "reserved for Aire Plaza resident". On to day 2! |
This is not Minnesota's problem alone, as has been documented here in the past. E-Clubs (or "Electronic Clubs", which used to be known as "Virtual Clubs", as the ACBL initially called them) have been suffering across ACBL-land for some time. The ACBL has tried to group what's left of the online players on BBO together, with the "ACBL Clubhouse" games - which is an effort to take all of the tiny games and make a big one or two. The ACBL then gives some of the money back to the players' local clubs. It does make for a bigger game, but at the expense of your local E-Club. You still have a few online options out there for the E-Club crowd; and of course there are always the bots (BOOOO!). With the nicer weather here for a few months, online play isn't likely to pick up up a lot. . .but we will see what transpires later in the fall. 
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Dave Neiman [Minneapolis] Andy Caranicas [St Paul] Eli Caranicas [St Paul] Kurt Schaeffer [Lakeville] Keith Thompson [Bloomington] Warren Nelson [Cloquet] Jenny Peterson [Golden Valley] Mark Stuhlman [Clearfield UT] Richard Clayton [Clearfield UT] |
Bill Voedisch [Marine] and Denny Cerkvenik [Minnetonka] formed a partnership in 1967. Here's the scoop from Bill himself:
We are also among very few players still alive who played in the first Swiss Team ever in Minnesota in the winter of '68-'69 at the Calhoun Beach hotel. The only person in the room who knew how to score was Larry Oakey ... who else ... and he had all he could do to keep us focused and organized. I believe Ron DeHarportte was there and I'm wondering if others still with us were also there. Maybe let me know. Denny and I were also founding members of "The Polish Army," a name assigned to us by Larry based on your last names. We also had Roger Heimke. We got Polish Army shirts and when we next showed up at a Swiss, Larry was selling the entries and asked ... as only he could ... "I suppose you think men in uniform play free." The memories. Thank you, thank you Denny for over 58 years of bridge together. -- Bill Voedisch |
Newer players will have a chance to collect bridge-themed items such as pens, earrings, shoelaces, keychain holders, tee shirts, socks, playing cards, and bidding wheels. Eligible players should stop by the Information Desk next week to check it out - and get a special welcome. |
 | In Minnesota, clubs in Unit 103 run more Mentor and NLM programs, so it's not a surprise that 103 has seen more Guest Memberships (209 players) than Unit 178 (131 players). But 178's figure is still well above the ACBL-wide average of 52 guest memberships since the program's inception. Of these four-month free-membership players, Unit 103 has converted 37.8% of them into full-time ACBL members; 178 has converted 23.6% of theirs. (The ACBL's average conversion rate is 46.2%.) This program has been successful in introducing new players (and classroom learners of the game) to some longevity in the duplicate bridge world. The Gopher Regional next week will have a spot for signing up non-ACBL memberships to this guest membership program, but it works just as well at your local club. (And it's how they get hooked!) You can invite your family and friends to a free four-month ACBL membership by signing in here. |
 | AFTER you've seen the video - you can click here for the answer key. *(It's a video that's not just for beginners and intermediates. Even players with more than 18,000 masterpoints occasionally laugh at their opponent's play - which happened earlier this month in a Roseville game. Everyone can learn something from watching.) |
       | As of today, there's still a bit more than 80 masterpoints to be acquired before the big party takes place; however this player earned more than 62 masterpoints at last year's Gopher. So with the big regional taking place next week, a lot of this ground could be covered in a very short period of time. PLUS this individual is a regular masterpoint earner at our local clubs each week. Chances are good that you know who this player is - and can't wait for their party to celebrate crossing the line soon. Updates coming. |
  | For almost all of Minnesota's bridge clubs, table counts the first 20 weeks of 2025 are off a bit from the same period just one year ago. The top chart on your left shows the change in average number of tables per week for each of the major bridge clubs from 2024. For the entirety of Minnesota, club tables are off -2.1% from the same 20 pre-Gopher weeks in 2024; the St Cloud DBC stands out as the huge anomaly here with an eye-popping increase in tables of +29.6% per week. The bottom chart on your left shows the number of each club's pre-Gopher tables-per-week relative to the last pre-COVID year of 2019. (Where club tables in 2019=1.00, clubs that have more tables per week than 2019 are above that N=1.00 line; clubs that have fewer are below the line.) Two things stand out on this chart. First, when looking at pre-COVID tables to the current 2025 tables, four of Minnesota's bridge clubs are above the 1.00 line - meaning they have more tables now than they did in 2019. Woodbury, at the top of the chart, was the benefit of two things: they've added a weekly game since 2019, which has helped increase their overall tables. In addition, when the Bridge Center of St Paul moved 12 miles to the west, Woodbury snapped up some of the East Metro's players. The Edina Senior Center game also has more tables than before COVID - but that's because the behemoth which was the Twin City Bridge Center shut down, and Tony Ames swooped up some of those tables. Northfield doubled their games per month, so they're also above the line. Most other clubs show slightly fewer tables than 2019, and for Minnesota as a whole, our tables are at 97.9% from six years ago. The second thing that stands out on this lower chart is that almost every club has improved their table counts since the first 20 weeks of 2022's totals; so since we've been back, there's been some growth across the board. Now we'll see what happens after this year's Gopher. |
  | Generally speaking, North Dakota has some very small games (2-1/2 tables); no doubt they would prefer larger table counts, but you must think they're glad to be able to play duplicate bridge at all. South Dakota has so few games during the week (two or three) that a really well-attended game can spike their weekly average (thus the wild swings on the chart for SD). Nebraska has a few very large games, as do Iowa and Minnesota. Minnesota runs far more games than anyone else, including mentor and limited masterpoints games (which aren't big games and therefore artifically limits our overall tables per game number). But as you can see from the chart, we're in a good place - and all those limited masterpoint games Minnesota runs should really payoff down the road. |
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| They're trying something new in Rochester this September - Supervised Play (also known as Chat Bridge) on day 1 at the Med City Regional. Players who have less than 20 masterpoints can play duplicate bridge in a tournament atmosphere while mentors roam the room to answer questions, help with the bidding or play, and more. Theoretically, the plan is to try and bring in a few tables of players to the tournament atmosphere that might not normally come. Will it fly? Just one way to find out. The flyer for the tournament is posted on your left. (You'll hear a lot more about it between now and September.) |
The early weather forecast for the Gopher Regional next week is perfect weather for indoor bridge. Not so much tennis, or boating, or golf, but bridge, yes, definitely bridge. A lot can happen between now and next week, but at the moment there's a definite trend towards the springlike - and not the upper 80s we've been enjoying this week. It's expected to be mostly cloudy most of the week, with showers or rain possible (or likely) each day except Thursday. Daytime highs right around 60F until the end of the week, when things warm up once again. Note that if you were hoping to goose your turnout at a bridge tournament, where the only drops that fall are those of declarer's tears, this is the forecast you might hope for. It certainly can't hurt attendance! Stay tuned. |
 | Total tables in Madison this past week came in at 283, or up +4.2% from last year. It shows that Midwest bridge players are still coming to the big tournaments, and for Minnesota there's no bigger tournament than the Gopher Regional next week. (Nearly a dozen Gopher players made the trip to Madison to help with that table count - hopefully they'll return the favor!) You can check out how all the tournaments this year are doing on the ACBL tables page of this website. |
The last of the Gopher Planning Committee meetings was scheduled for this evening, but that has been canceled as everything is going according to plan. So "according to plan" that there just isn't much else to do except show up next week and have fun at the bridge table. It's a testament to Patti's organizational skills and the people with whom she surrounds herself with, and the work they do is not lost on the rest of us. So while tonight's meeting has been canceled for the committee, the great news for everyone is that things finally appear to be on auto-pilot with less than a week to go. Making plans to play next week is a great way to show your appreciation for their hard work! |
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 | The Rochester DBC runs as many extra masterpoint games as possible, and that means top awards of 4.00+ or even 5.00+ in some of their Monday games. Greg Caucutt [Rochester] doesn't like to miss a game, and he earned more than thirty black masterpoints in April at their club - nothing online, no tournament play, etc., just during their local club games - and thus has earned the title of Minnesota's "King of Clubs" for this month. Joe Koester [Brooklyn Park] was right there at 27.84 black club points in April, good for second place this time around (and frankly, first place any other month). The top black club masterpoint winners are listed to your left. |
Tournaments in general - and especially those the size of the Gopher - do not magically come together with the wave of a pass card. They start with terrific organization at the very top - that would be Patti - and the fine people with whom she surrounds herself. Thanks to every member of the Planning Committee for their exceptional volunteer service, and for the fun we're about to have in less than two weeks. |  |
Tony Ames [Minnetonka] partnered up with George Bleskachek [Eau Claire] and their team won the 22-table Swiss teams midweek. The same event saw Fay DeBellis [North Oaks], Kimberly Hayward [Bayport], Sarah Wahl [Minneapolis] and Jackson Wahl [Minneapolis] coming in 7th out of the 22 tables. There's more! Full results of the Madison WI Regional can be found by clicking here. |  |
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Rochelle Christensen [Falcon Heights] Elizabeth Kiernat [St Paul] Mary Jo Leighton [St Cloud] Don Stryker [St Paul] |
Participating clubs in Minnesota this week will provide 25% gold (and 75% black) points - without any special travel on your part. You can play in the friendly environment of your own local club! Check with your local club manager to see what games are gold dust games this week, as the Stardust Week started yesterday and runs through Sunday. |  |
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But there's a game tonight! The good people that run the MGSC are offering free Gopher entries to both the winning pair (and a random pair) that play in the game this evening, so there's even more incentive to sign up and get into some trouble from the comfort of your own home. |
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In a race as close as winning any Kentucky Derby by a nose, 20.00 matchpoints was the top available score on each of the 26 boards in this game, and just one-half a matchpoint separated Dave and Terry from Barry Purrington [Eagan] and Paul Gutterman [Eagan] who were your big winners on Sunday - with a 72.31% game. You might be familiar with your local casino's "bad beat" jackpot at the Texas Hold 'Em table, when aces full (or better) gets beat by a better hand. When we say the bad beat jackpot paid out, unfortunately the jackpot here is $0.00. Maybe we should start one going? (Or maybe one pair should buy the other one lunch - but which pair buys?) |
 | This Bulletin will be emailed to everyone who played in the Gopher one year ago, so chances are you'll also get it in your e-mailbox. It makes for great reading and is packed with info on the upcoming event. |
Results of this inter-unit bridgefest can be found by clicking here (the Open game) and for Minnesota's 749ers, their results can be found by clicking here.      
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 | Tournament tables (Open and I/N combined) are up +5.0% from 2024 (480 tables vs 457 last year through April 30) Online BBO VACB tables are down -14.3% from 2024 (198 vs 231 last year, no surprise as e-Club participation has fallen off the cliff everywhere; the new ACBL Clubhouse, which directs funds back to local clubs, hasn't helped with this) Face-to-face club tables are up +0.9% from 2024 (2,872/2,845; the ACBL as a whole has witnessed a jump of +2.6% for these first 16 weeks of the year [335,856 vs 327,278]) All Minnesota tables (in person, tournaments, and online) are up +0.5% from 2024 (3,550/3,533)
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Every face-to-face bridge game at your local club this month can be a Grass Roots FUNd game, which pays extra masterpoints - AND supports D14's Grass Roots program which supports our Grand National Teams and North American Pairs events. Check with your local club manager about running these special games (or your club's calendar of games for then they are being held). More on the ACBL's designation of this month can be found by clicking here. There's a "Stardust" week next week thanks to the ACBL, and the big Awards Game at the Bridge Center of St Paul on Sunday. Of course one cannot forget the Gopher Regional in a few weeks! More on all of these big May games as they get closer. |
