August 31 2026
70% AND BETTER MINNESOTA GAMES THIS MONTH
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August 31 2026
TWO WEEKS TO THE MED CITY REGIONAL
 The countdown is underway to the only regional in Minnesota this year - that's in Rochester starting on September 14th.

The Med City Regional in Rochester kicks off two weeks from today; it'll feature team games and pair games each day of the tournament.  The flyer is just to your left - click on it to open it in a new window - and get those partnerships going!  (John Ryder [Rochester] is handling the partnership desk for the tournament for open players, with Connie Dalzell [Rochester] handling partnerships for 749ers.)

Also this year in Rochester - if you are one of the many, many players playing in the St Paul Bridge Center's Team League, you're welcome to use the tables and bidding boxes for any Team League match you would like to set up.  An RSVP is required for Fall Team League play - you can find out more information about that from Matt Belau [Rochester], he's the Tournament Chair, at medcitybridge-at-gmail-dot-com.

August 30 2026
24 TEAMS SIGN UP TO PLAY
 More than one hundred Minnesota bridge players have signed up to play in Unit 103's sanctioned St Paul Bridge Center Fall Team League.  The 24 teams that are signed up can be found by clicking here.

The 24 teams are broken down in to three different brackets, with 8 teams per bracket.  That means 7 matches for each team in each bracket - with two weeks to play each match.  Jackson Wahl [Minneapolis] is the big cheese on this project, and his logistics email has been sent to all team captains.

"Start your engines" as they say, and have a great time - we will be monitoring match results and hope to have them posted here.

August 30 2026
THAT IS A WRAP FROM ROSEVILLE

  The third and final day of the I/N tournament at Unit 103's St Paul Bridge Center is in the books, with another 18 tables of players hauling out the silver points.  The first half of the final day saw Eric Sumner [Minneapolis] and Jane Hess [St Paul] take 1st place overall with their 64.88% outing, followed closely by Linus Bendel-Stenzel [Richfield] and Ross Anderson [Woodbury], who played a 62.80% game.  Then in the afternoon, it was David Klevan [St Paul] and James Lair [St Paul] who had a 60.42% game to take the contest among the seven tables in play.  They were followed closely - really closely - with a tie for second place in the afternoon among Roger Andre [Edina] and Chris Hadland [Minneapolis] and Jane Hess and partner Eric Sumner, the morning winners.  Each of these two pairs scored 59.58%.

The big winner of this tournament was Richard Trachy [Golden Valley], who scored 9.50 silver points - and he did it just in the first two days of the tournament.  Your top 20 masterpoint winners are to your left; the ACBL's posted masterpoint winner totals will catch up in a few days to be accurate.  All of the results from the I/N Sectional can be found by clicking here.

Then there's a few words on attendance at this I/N Sectional; 66 total tables over the three days is a small drop from last year's 71½ tables at the tournament.  This drop of -7.7% isn't exactly an apples-to-apples comparison to last year, since every previous year this tournament was held Wednesday through Friday.  This is the first time it's a Thursday through Saturday affair.  As you likely know, nobody likes change (least of all, bridge players), so even something like this drop isn't completely unexpected.  It's a great turnout, and more important, lots of players had lots of fun, whatever the other metrics of success might show.

August 29 2026
ROSEVILLE 749ers - DAY 2

 We're now two days down and one to go at Unit 103's St Paul Bridge Center 749er Sectional.  On Friday, there were 21 tables in play, with 78 players earning some silver masterpoints.  In the morning session of play, Kristine Verdin [St Paul] and Richard Trachy [Golden Valley] came in 1st overall with their 67.39% morning game.  Second place when to Ethan Lynch [Blaine] and Terese Lynch [Minneapolis], who earned a 64.84% game.  After lunch, it was an exceptionally close competition.  Of the 24 boards played, just 1 single board separated the top 5 pairs Friday afternoon.  But it was Lars Christensen [St Paul] and Maclore Christensen [St Paul] with their 58.33% game in the afternoon that came out on top.

With these pair team games, don't forget that you do not get both masterpoint awards for a pairs event and a teams event if it's the same bridge session.  You are only awarded the higher of the two awards.  What's listed on the ACBL's site is not correct (it's a long story, but trust us).  Your Top 20 masterpoint earners in St Paul through Friday are listed to your left.  There's one more day of action to be had!

August 29 2026
WHO'S CLOSED FOR LABOR DAY
 The Edina Senior Center is closed for Labor Day, Monday, September 7.  The Woodbury Bridge Club will also be taking the day off on Labor Day, as their facility is closed.  The Duluth Duplicate Bridge Club will not be holding their regular Monday games on Labor Day.  

August 28 2026
I/N PLAYER PARTY IS UNDERWAY
 Day one at Unit 103's Bridge Center of St Paul 749er Sectional is in the books, and already some wild bridge action has taken place.  Right out of the gate, Richard Trachy [Golden Valley] and David Lui [Roseville] scored a very impressive 70.03% game on Thursday morning.  These two players are both recent Life Masters, and it certainly would appear that they are playing as such.  Their nearest competitors coming in second place overall for the morning were Ellen Kluz [Minneapolis] and Joan Thomas [St Paul], at 59.40%.  After the lunch break, Roger Andre [Edina] and James Muecke [Eden Prairie] took 1st overall with their 64.29% score.

Tables to kick off this tournament compared to last year were up.  An apples-to-apples comparison is difficult, as one year ago this tournament was held Wednesday through Friday.  This year, the Thursday through Saturday calendar isn't quite the same, but regardless - tables were up no matter how you look at it.  Opening day tables of the I/N Sectional in Roseville were up +42.1% compared to day one last year, and if you are looking strictly at Thursday (day 1 here) to Thursday (day 2 in 2025), they're also up, even if only slightly.  27 tables yesterday, compared to 26½ tables on Thursday last year.

All of the results of the tournament in Roseville can be found by clicking here; all of the masterpoints that players have scored this week (and those points are silver!) can be found by clicking here.  There are two more days of play at this tournament, so if you've got less than 750 masterpoints, get a partner and get playing in Roseville.

August 28 2026
OVERALL HEALTH OF THE LOCAL CLUB: IT'S GOOD
 A previous blog post this month showed that the ACBL is making lots of money, but there's more to the health of the game of bridge than that.  Overall, that health report on the ACBL's local clubs is pretty good.  To your left is a chart showing the weekly 12-week rolling average of face-to-face club tables across the ACBL in North America.  Every year since the re-opening in 2021, this metric has shown an increase in local club tables, including here in 2026 (currently, that number is at +3.1% compared to 2025 at this point).  Given the shrinking membership of the ACBL (down -6.9% Y-O-Y this month), that's terrific.

This chart doesn't include any online or tournament tables, and the health of those categories is not as sound.  With BBO adding a paywall this year, a bit of an uptake with the fractured nature of new and many more online options for ACBL players, and ChatGPT allowing another avenue for online cheating, online ACBL tables are still not what they were even a year ago.  And many tournaments, even regionals, are seeing a drop in participation (locally, see: Omaha's and Eau Claire's recent tournaments).  The ACBL-wide regional table count is off -2.5% from last year at this point.  But it's hard to deny that without your local club, and the efforts to make the local club playing experience successful, online and tournament tables would be in a much more difficult position.  It's another reason why it's good to help at the local level when you can, and keep our local club health in good shape.

August 27 2026
NORTH AMERICAN PAIRS UPDATE

 There are just a couple of opportunities left for Minnesota players to qualify for the upcoming D14 NAP Finals in October.  But while the qualifying period ends on Monday, the past few months have seen a lot of Minnesota bridge players make that qualification.  574 local players are eligible to go on to the next level of competition.  That's an increase of +0.9% (or 5 more than last year's 569 eligible Minnesota players).

Having a look at the year-over-year change by flight in Minnesota, the Flight C players eligible to go on have increased from 294 to 298 (or up +1.4%).  It's interesting in that Minnesota has a lot of players who have just crossed the 3,000 masterpoint mark this past year - that means that while the eligible Flight B players in our state this year have seen a dip from 224 players last year to 212 this year (or down -5.4%), their transition into the Flight A category (3,000 to 6,000 masterpoints) has resulted in a huge increase in the Flight A and Championship group (up from 51 players to 64 in 2026, or +25.5%).  It all spells a good competition when the NAP Finals take place in October.

August 27 2026
SILVER POINTS-O-RAMA
 If you're looking for silver points in what's commonly known as "shark-free waters", you're in luck over the next three days as Unit 103's Bridge Center of St Paul's three-day 749er tournament gets underway today.  The details for this tournament are listed in the flyer to your left; click on the image to your left to open it in a new window for printing or better examination - or just click here for more information.  It should be lots of fun.

August 26 2026
LOCAL REACTIONS TO THE SUMMER NABC
The NABC last month was pretty much everything that it was advertised; so many volunteers and so much effort was made to make it a success, and it was all that and more.  Here are a few of the local reactions to how things went, and you can guess that our local reactions are also overwhelmingly positive:

PATTI STUHLMAN [Minneapolis]:  It was a huge success from the host city point of view.  I heard hundreds of positive comments about home much people enjoyed playing in Minneapolis.  They especially mentioned how friendly and helpful everyone was.  They loved the Convention Center and they loved Minneapolis.
DAVE NEIMAN [Minneapolis]:  [It was] so well organized, and then so well operated during the NABC.  I never heard a single complaint from anyone.  Many of the people I spoke with were very complimentary of both the event and the city.  Let's do it again!
MARSHA DEVINE [Minneapolis]:  People told me that they loved the playing site, the City, how organized the tournament was and how they wish that another National could be scheduled here again!
MIKE CASSEL [Roseville]:  I don't know what the budget was for treats/snacks but I heard any number of people saying very positive things about them.  Thanks to the major sponsors which probably allowed for this and also to them for raising the funds to further reduce entry fees for the volunteers.  The kids' comments in the bulletin were priceless!  Never have I felt so good about winning so few masterpoints! LOL
MATTHEW BRIBITZER-STULL [Bloomington]:  From beginning to end, competing, volunteering, getting kids to/from the YNABC, and from every vantage point, it was an unqualified success!
ANNIE SCHAEFFER [Lakeville]:  As partnership co-chair, I received many emails and text messages.  There was one theme among the many partnership requests: "I play better than my points indicate."
SUE GREENBERG [Byron]:  What a great tournament!  On behalf of unit 103, thanks to Patty and all the Minnesota volunteers!
CINDY BALDERSON [Eden Prairie]:  My experience with players around the world was amazing.  Without any prompting, their overall response was “We love Minneapolis!”  I never heard any complaints.  Everyone seemed proud of who and what we are.

It was a lot of work by a lot of people - and a lot of fun for a great deal more.  But yes, we should definitely do it again some time.

August 26 2026
MIGHT IT BE ANOTHER SUB-OPTIMAL D14 NAP FINAL?
 So far over 500 Minnesota players have qualified to play in the upcoming D14 NAP Finals, which will take place late September.  This year, once again, those players who have qualified at the club level will have the chance to play in the D14 Finals from the comfort of their own bathroom.  The Finals this year will be held on BBO, rather than in person.

We've made no seceret of our advocating for in-person NAP and GNT Finals for several years now, as the face-to-face competition can't be beat, and you pretty much know there's no cheating taking place.  But it's not just our opinion - there are plenty of Minnesota players who feel the same way.  And 19 of the other 24 ACBL districts feel that same way as well, having moved their NAP Finals in-person.  That list (and their locations) for the 2026 NAP Season are to your left.  Many of the in-person NAP Finals are being held at local tournaments, such as a regional, and there has been a standing offer now for three years running to hold our NAP Finals at the Rochester Regional in September (the timing is perfect and the location not bad for the district's participating players).  But it's not happening.

Of the 5 other ACBL districts that are holding NAP Finals online, 3 of them are on RealBridge, where you can see the players and interact with them - having a better sense that they are not using ChatGPT to cheat as to how to bid or play the hand.  With the vast majority of NAP D14 players made up of Minnesotans, one can only imagine what the turnout would be for an in-person D14 NAP Final.  This year, again, one can only imagine.

August 25 2026
TOURNAMENT PLANNER
 The state of tournaments in and around Minnesota moves at a rather frenetic pace; which is a good thing (don't get us wrong!).  Options for players is what you want, and right now, Minnesota players have plenty of options.

Periodcally Steve Gaynor [Arden Hills] will take the time from his other couple-of-dozen-or-so bridge duties and issue an updated calendar with tournaments you might be interested in.  One of those times was this week, and you can click on the image to your left or just click here to check out what's happening for local bridge players in terms of tournaments.  Get your bridge calendar out and fill it in, as there's a tournament for every player (actually, several for every player) on Steve's list this time around.

August 25 2026
WE'RE IN THE MONEY  

 Ok, well, "we're" is doing some heavy lifting here, as it is the ACBL who is "in the money" and doing quite well right now.  Despite lower membership figures, the ACBL Mothership made a profit this last year of $1.269 million.  You can get a look at the official ACBL documentation by clicking here.

Your blog editor is the Unit Tournament Coordinator for Minnesota's Unit 103; a wise older woman (who had been the UTC previously) told him "it's okay to make some money, but you don't want to make too much", as that means you're not providing enough to the players.  It's a very good thing that the ACBL is not losing money at this point, but if they keep making this kind of dough, maybe a re-visit to that 5-5-5 program business is in order.  (Spoiler alert: that re-visit is overdue.)

August 24 2026
THIRD TIME THE CHARM?
A quick shout-out to Roger Melaas [St Cloud], who is recovering from surgery due to a return of cancer.  This is his "third cancer rodeo", as he put it, and he's in good spirits.  He's let us know if all goes well, he will be back at the bridge table today - which is awesome news.  We've offered to bring some bidding boxes and boards right to him to speed up that recovery, but so far he doesn't sound like he needs it - as he's doing great on his own.  We're not the only ones who will be happy to see him back at the bridge table, but by all means, count us among them!

[Ed.:  The Minnesota Bridge Blog would never post personal information such as anything do with a health issue in such a public forum without first clearing it with the principal involved; in this case, Roger gave us the "ok".]

August 24 2026
GRAND NATIONAL TEAMS KICKS OFF NEXT WEEK
 One week from tomorrow, there'll be six months worth of club-qualifying games available to Minnesota players.  Through February 28 of next year, clubs can once again run GNT qualifying games that pay extra masterpoints and provide 50% red points in the comfort of your local club setting.  You're familiar with this year's ACBL Grand National Teams Flight A Champions, as they are from Minnesota - our GNT Flight C team was the runner-up to the championship this summer as well.  This is how it all starts - by qualifying in a team game at the club level.  And you can get started by playing in one of these games at your local club as of September 1st.

August 23 2026
WHEN THE PLANETS ALIGN
The only ticket harder to get in Minnesota than a season ticket to the State High School Boys' Hockey Tournament is an opportunity to play in the St Cloud Bridge Club's annual Kory Solarz Knockdown Tournament.  This is the St Cloud club's once-a-year game to honor their former club manager and good friend Kory Solarz while having a great time at the bridge table.  The format of this game limits the number of pairs that can play, and because this is such a great time - and is a chance to honor Kory, someone that is dear to the heart of bridge players everywhere - it's a tough ticket to score.

This week you might be in luck.  Scott Krupke [Little Falls] has expanded the format of this game to allow for more pairs to play in it - and they do have a few good seats still available.

The celebration is this Wednesday, August 26.  It starts with a pot luck at 5pm and then the big game follows.  If you're interested in participating in this year's Kory Solarz Knockdown Tournament, contact Scott Krupke at krupkebridge-at-gmail-dot-com ASAP!  On top of everything else, it's a great time.

August 23 2026
RAMBLIN' RIVER RIDES AGAIN
 Mankato will be the site of the Ramblin' River Sectional again this year, with two days of sectionally-rated points available for bridge players.  They're planning to play pairs on Friday, October 3rd, and teams on Saturday, October 4th - with separate events for Open players and Non-Life Masters.  The flyer for this tournament was just issued within the last 24 hours, so here it is, hot off of the press!

August 22 2026
YOU DO NOT WANT TO MISS OUT
 Unit 103 has sanctioned the Bridge Center of St Paul's FALL TEAM LEAGUE, which gets going in less than a week.  This is something that will be really exciting, and as huge proponents of team play, we're pleased to see this idea come to fruition.

So far, there are 18 teams that have signed up to play in this fall team league, but they have plenty of room if you'd like to get in on the action.  And - dare we say - you won't want to miss out.  You have until Thursday of next week (August 27) to sign up your foursome to play.  And if you only have a pair, an inquiry to finding another pair and making a team couldn't hurt.

The details on the Fall Team League can be found here; and you can sign up through next Thursday by clicking here.

August 22 2026
ACBL ISSUES FIRST LOOK AT THE NEW NABCS
 The ACBL this week issued their first press release on the new NABCs coming to Fall and Spring starting in 2028.  The document they issued has a lot of highlights about their new program, but also leaves some questions unanswered.  Like an airline that is devaluing its frequent-flyer program by making it sound like it's the best thing for you, the ACBL's press release uses plenty of superlatives as it provides various highlights of the new program.

We do have a few comments and questions on the new NABC program, and those comments and questions can be found along with the press release itself by clicking here.  (The comments and questions that we have are highlighted in yellow.)

August 21 2026
GOPHERS GO FOR BADGERING BADGERS
 This week wrapped up several days of regional play over in Eau Claire WI at the annual Eau Claire Regional, and Minnesota players made the trek to get some gold points.  To your left is the list of your top local masterpoint earners from this week's action, with twenty-nine Minnesotans getting some gold and red points in Eau Claire!  If you happened to miss this year's Eau Claire Regional, you'll have another opportunity to get some red and gold points in just a few weeks.  Rochester's Med City Regional will be taking place starting September 14th, with "good seats still available".

The list of all masterpoint winners from this tournament can be found by clicking here, and all of the results from the Eau Claire Regional this week can be found by clicking here.

August 21 2026
ONE DOES WHAT ONE CAN

 Total tables at the Eau Claire Regional that just wrapped up were down -29.3% from last year; that's the fifth consecutive year that this tournament has gotten smaller (and not by an insignificant number of tables).  One never likes to see an event like this at the risk of being taken off the calendar, and although we're not privy to D13's financials, at some point a discussion will take place.  If we could just be selfish for a moment, this tournament is a great opportunity for local Minnesota players - and that's another reason why we'd sure like to see it keep going (and on the calendar) next August.

But sometimes showing up to play is all you can do, really, and Minnesota players did make the trek to western Wisconsin to play this week.  Looking at the number of entries purchased over the four days of this tournament, Minnesota bridge players were responsible for 63 entries this past week (with a two-session event counting as two entries).  Coincidentally, that's the same number of Minnesota player entries (63) purchased at Eau Claire's Regional last year.  On the flip side, local Wisconsin player entries were off sharply (-40.3%) from one year ago, as the number of local Wisconsin players at this regional this year was down by quite a bit.

This is another example of the strength and deep bench of Minnesota's bridge community.  The game of duplicate bridge can always be doing better, no matter where you are, but when you are able to export support for out-of-state tournaments, that's good for every bridge player everywhere.  Here is proof that Minnesota players are exporting that support, doing what one can to help make this out-of-state regional successful.  (Or at least successful enough to be back on the calendar next August.)

August 20 2026
CLUB CALENDARS FOR THE MONTH OF SEPTEMBER
Although the North American Pairs season at your local club will wrap up in the next ten days, the month of September marks the six month period where team games come into play.  Grand National Teams, that is, and your local club will be scheduling team games left and right to help players qualify for the GNT finals next spring.  (And possibly representing Minnesota and D14 at the 2027 Spring NABC in Dallas TX.)

Minnesota's only open regional in 2026 is also being held in September, as the Med City Regional in Rochester will get underway.  Six days of gold (and red) points will be had from the 14th to the 19th of the month.  Here are the latest bridge calendars around Minnesota clubs for September that have been submitted for publication:


    
  

August 20 2026
SUMMER ACBL MANAGEMENT REPORT ISSUED
 The ACBL's 2026 Summer Management Report was issued this week; it details all of the meetings that were held during the Minneapolis NABC and the outcome of those get-togethers.  It covers everything bridge:  The ACBL's financial situation, membership, details on the communications committee, appeals and charges committee, the new masterpoint formula, overall governance and more.  Click on the image to your left to read all about it.

August 19 2026
A LOOK AT THE ACBL'S NEW MATH
The ACBL Masterpoint Committee made their presentation last month at the Minneapolis NABC of the new changes as to how masterpoints will get awarded at future tournaments.  Among the changes:
     Stronger events will award more
     Larger events will award more
     Events will be masterpointed independently*
     Majority of awards increase or stay the same
*This is something really new.  Previously, if you had 12 tables in the Open crowd, and a concurrent 7 table NLM game, the Open crowd would get credit for the 7 table limited masterpoint game and be scored as if there were 19 tables.  (When you see the results for a regional tournament now, you'll see something like "12 tables/based on 19 tables".)  The proposal that was made now would eliminate any concurrent tables in the new formula.

The new formula is below.  If you'd like examples of how this would impact masterpoint awards, all those details can be found by clicking here.  All of these new formulas and masterpoint award rules will take effect on January 1, 2027, so you'll see these in action at next year's Gopher Regional in May.  Masterpoint awards at tournaments will not be going down in any cases - and in the majority of them, they'll be increased under this new math.  Masterpoint inflation is real, and it is spectacular.


August 19 2026
DOES ANYONE REALLY STILL WEAR A HAT?
 Smart-looking bridge players do on occasion.  Another "Hat Day" was held at the Rochester DBC this week - and these players looked sharp.

August 18 2026
EAU CLAIRE REGIONAL KICKS OFF

 Lots of Minnesota players have made the trip east to get some gold points in the Eau Claire Regional this week, and in the first session of day 1 of this tournament, Florian Lauer [St Paul] and Jerry Bartlett [Lindstrom] finished 3rd overall of the 19 pairs with a 58.33% game.  Tom Grue [Roseville] and Barry Purrington [Eagan] came in 5th before the break with their 56.84% score; and Michael Wilson [Minneapolis] and Firoz Nilam [Lakeville] were in 6th place at 55.66%.  After the break, Tom and Barry's 56.02% game moved them into 2nd place overall for the day.  That's 6.56 gold points, the best showing of our local players on day 1.  Minnesota masterpoint winners at the Eau Claire Regional are listed to your left.

Much like D14's Omaha NE Regional one week ago, this D13 Regional is having a bit of a tough start.  Day 1 tables at the Eau Claire Regional came to 19½ tables, that's down 9½ tables from last year's day 1 (or -32.8%).  It's never easy to report on a tournament whose tables are down significantly year-over-year, but it's especially difficult when it's a tournament so close to Minnesota's playing community.  Minnesota's bridge community is pretty strong at the moment, and that's evident even by looking at the tables in Eau Claire this week - at least so far.

Of the 58 different players on day 1 last year in Eau Claire, 13 of those players were from Minnesota.  That's 22.4%.  This year on day 1 in Eau Claire, there again were 13 Minnesota players at the table; but this year, these Minnesota players accounted for 32.5% of all Eau Claire Regional attendees.  What does this show?  It shows that while the total number of participants is down sharply at this tournament, it's not because Minnesota players are not showing up - they are showing up.  It's far more Wisconsin players that are missing on day 1 at the Eau Claire Regional this year.  The good news is that there are three more days of tournament action to be had - hopefully more of the locals will make an appearance - as we all share in hoping for a successful tournament on every front.

August 17 2026
MED CITY REGIONAL: FOUR WEEKS OUT
 Although the NABC was fun (and quite a hit with the locals!), we still missed having the Gopher Regional this year.  Thankfully it's back on the schedule for 2027.  But the only Open Regional in Minnesota for 2026 is coming up - and in just four weeks.

The Med City Regional in Rochester kicks off four weeks from today; it'll feature team games and pair games each day of the tournament.  A couple of upgrades to the tournament this year, including the host facility allowing food to be served, so that's great news for everyone.  The flyer is just to your left - click on it to open it in a new window - and get those partnerships going.

Player labels have been printed and will be ready for distribution next month - these labels don't get done unless everything is a "go" for the regional, so when you mark it on your calendar, go ahead and use a pen.

August 17 2026
TEN DAYS TO REGISTER YOUR TEAM!
 There are eleven thirteen teams that have signed up so far to be part of Unit 103's Bridge Center of St Paul's Fall Team League.  And there is still time to get in on the action.  You can register your team of 4, 5, or 6 players up until ten days from now, or August 27.

Teams are where it's at!  Be part of the fun this fall by checking out the rules for the Fall Team League by clicking here; and then you can register your team to play by August 27 by clicking here.  If you've got any questions, contact Jackson Wahl [Minneapolis], Sarah Wahl [Minneapolis], or Kimberly Hayward [Bayport].  (They might also be able to help in forming a team if you only have a partner - it never hurts to ask.)

August 16 2026
FREE INTRO TO BRIDGE FOR YOUR FRIENDS
 TrickStarter is the name of the game that the ACBL is using to promote bridge to card players who do not know bridge (yet).  They have a free one-hour ZOOM course available for your bridge-playing friends, including next Wednesday, August 19, at 2pm Minnesota time.  The details are on the informative pamphlet to your left; no bridge experience is necessary, there's nothing to buy, and you're not obligated to take lessons afterwards.  The ACBL is expecting ZOOM attendees to find that they're very interested in bridge, and will encourage them to take lessons if the game of bridge is for them.

We all know card players who don't know bridge - chances are they'd love the game.  Here's a great way to get them a free introduction to the game, with area lessons available to follow.  Frankly, the ACBL does have its problems, but this is not one of those - it's a terrific idea, and neither you nor your not-yet-bridge-playing friends have anything to lose.

August 16 2026
YOU COULD LEARN A THING OR TWO
 Teri Blu [Bloomington] used to operate the old Twin City Bridge Center for many years, and she knows a thing or two about the game.  Again this fall, she's teaching an 8-week course for newcomers to the game at the Edina Senior Center.  The course cost is $100, and the details are on the flyer to your left.  Education is always a good thing, especially when it comes to this game.  (Oh, and if it's not already clear, by all means, feel free to bring a friend.)

August 15 2026
MINNESOTA'S TOURNAMENT TRAIL
The Rochester one-day NLM tournament is the latest to be in the rear-view mirror, after their successful effort this week.  But 749ers will not have to wait long to get to their next I/N-player-only tournament, with Unit 103's Bridge Center of St Paul having their annual I/N Sectional starting on August 25th.  And then it's the big one - the Med City Regional down in Rochester!  Options are good - and you've got 'em - so don't waste them.  Get out there and have some fun.

749er
Sectional

August 27-29
Roseville
  OPEN
REGIONAL

Sep 14-19
Rochester
 749er
Sectional

Sat October 10
St Cloud
  Open
Sectional

October 22-24
St Paul
  Open
Sectional

November 4-6
Duluth
  749er
Sectional

November 6-7
Plymouth

August 14 2026
ROCHESTER I/N INTEREST UP +14.6%

 The Rochester DBC held their one-day sectional yesterday for advancing players, and it was a good indication that there is no shortage of I/N interest in silver points (or fun) for such an event.  A post-covid record-setting 23½ tables showed up, with players from all over Minnesota (and beyond).  This represents an increase in tables over last August's one-day event in Rochester of +14.6%.

In the morning session yesterday, Doris Hertsgaard [Mankato] and Joyce Hoelmer [Mankato] earned 2.65 silver points with their 62.02% outing.  Second place went to locals Steve He [Rochester] and Pari Pew [Rochester], who scored 60.52%.  After lunch, it was Connie Falkenstein [Rochester] and Gary Falkenstein [Rochester] winning with a sparkling 68.75% game.  They were followed by Janet Munson [La Crescent] and John Munson [La Crescent], who earned a 61.22% score.

The Top 20 list of masterpoint winners from yesterday's big events in Rochester can be found on the list to your left; all of the masterpoints winners and all the results from the day's fun at the bridge table can be found by clicking here.

For non-Life masters that may have missed the one-day tournament in Rochester this week, you won't have to wait long to try and earn some silver points at the next I/N sectional.  Unit 103's Bridge Center of St Paul will have their annual three-day I/N tournament in just two weeks.

August 13 2026
LATEST MEMBERSHIP NUMBERS
 The August figure for membership across the ACBL is at 113,086.  This represents a drop of -6.9% from one year ago.

If this rate of loss in membership were to continue, 40 years from now the ACBL would have ~6,477 members (113,086 x [0.931]^40).  All things being equal, the entire state of Minnesota would have only 78 ACBL members in 2066.  You might not be playing bridge in 40 years, but there are plenty of bridge players right now who plan to.  Do what you can to help save the game!  Mentoring, teaching, volunteering, encouragement, every little action helps.

August 13 2026
GRRRRRR...
 Nothing invites hackers and more spam than has ever been produced in Austin, Minnesota, than getting an email from someone with your email address as one of 389 email addresses in the CC: line for everyone's computer listed to see.  (Blurred here for privacy.)  This one came from an ACBL employee.  You'd like to think at this level of business they'd be familiar with the BCC: line which doesn't show everyone everyone else's address, but then you'd be wrong.  Three hundred and eighty-nine.

August 12 2026
GOOD GOODS FOR THE GOPHER?
 There were a quite a few local bridge players who were unhappy that the Gopher was cancelled this year, but that's what the ACBL does when you host an NABC.  (There are several reasons why, and they're not bad reasons, TBH.)  But having a year off from the big tournament, how might attendance be impacted once the Gopher returns in May of 2027?  There's one metric that says attendance will be good - maybe great.

Lately, open regional attendance has been up or down, depending on the tournament.  Across the ACBL so far in 2026, table counts are off by a few percentage points overall.  But when you look at these cities that have hosted a Summer NABC - having taken the year off to do so - and then return to open regional action - table counts are up.  Granted, we don't have a lot of data points to look at; anything pre-COVID can't really be counted, and Providence RI did not have a regional prior to their 2022 Summer NABC.

But the three data points that are available are all positive.  Chicago IL (+7.4%), Toronto ON (+24.7%), and Philadelphia PA (+7.7%) have all seen an increase in table counts the year after they hosted the NABC.  It's very possible that having the NABC encouraged tournament play (especially for newer players).  We will see when the Gopher is held next May what's what; but what small amount of evidence we have to look at so far shows it might be good news.

August 11 2026
EAU CLAIRE REGIONAL STARTS MONDAY
 Many Minnesota bridge players will be making the under-two-hour drive east to play in the Eau Claire Regional which starts on Monday.  George Bleskachek [Eau Claire] is a regular at Minnesota's tournaments, and you know a few people at your local club will be returning the favor next week by playing in western Wisconsin.

The flyer for this event is to your left; click on it to open it in a new window for better viewing (or printing) - and keep tournament play going strong in our neck of the woods!

August 10 2026
YOUR KING OF CLUBS
 July was an interesting month for club action in Minnesota, as the Metro area clubs closed for 11 days during the NABC.  And yet - a determined Metro area player is your King of Clubs for this month.

Terry Beckman [Brooklyn Park] played in 16 club games during July, even with the local club closures.  Eight in-person games in St Paul, six in-person games in Plymouth, and two in-person games in Edina netted Terry 28.96 points at the club level*, which is tops among Minnesota players for the past four weeks.  Over the course of these 16 club games, Terry's score averaged 62.68%.  Yikes.

Following your King of Clubs this month was a half-dozen Rochester players (whose club remained mostly open during the NABC), but with fewer playing options than in the Metro area, they were quite a distance from this month's leader.  Congratulations to Terry as your King of Clubs!  Exit question:  Is Kathy giving up any of her closet space for all these crowns Terry is amassing?

*(Note that these points listed are for in-club play only, and don't include any additional points awarded across larger competitions.  In other words, the overall Instant Matchpoint Game awards aren't included here, nor are the overall STaC awards.  Only those masterpoints awarded in the local club.  And for those keeping track at home, even if these overall awards had been included in the totals, that guy at the top of the heap would still be there.)

August 9 2026
WELCOME NEW ACBL MEMBERS!
New members of the ACBL here in Minnesota include:
    Ann Jones [Rochester]
    Jim Groskpf [St Paul]
    Tom Nash [Farmington]
    Michael Sharpe [North Oaks]
    Brad Ballinger [St Paul]
    Kari Hurley [Eagan]
    Allen Trempe [Roseville]
    Peggy Denenholz [Eagan]
    Ellie Lane [Eagan]
    Julie Joyce [Woodbury]
When you see these new faces at your local club, be sure to encourage them as they get going on their bridge journey.

August 9 2026
YOU CAN FUN, BUT YOU CAN'T HIDE
 There were two big regionals this week that have come to a close this weekend, the Omaha NE Regional and the King of Prussia PA Regional in Philadelphia.  Several local players made the trip either southwest or a little south of east to attend one of these events, and for many it wasn't just fun but profitable, too.  On your left is a list of Minnesota players and their masterpoint hauls from Omaha and Philadelphia; neither city has issued anything from their resepective police blotters, so we're assuming you can congratulate these players next week when you see them at home.

August 8 2026
MINNESOTA MONTHLY PLAYER RANK ACHIEVEMENTS
 Sixty-three - yes, sixty-three - Minnesota players advanced in their quest of the next player rank this month.  That is three times (!) the normal number of Minnesota players that make their next rank achievement each month, and to be fair, this is what hosting an NABC will do for the locals.

In addition to the six new Life Masters (each of them interviewed for the Minnesota Bridge Blog on the July, 2026 blog page), there is pretty much every color of the rainbow to celebrate here.  A new emerald LM, sapphire LM, ruby, gold, silver, etc.  The only rank achievement missing this month to complete the circuit is no diamond LM.  Every other rank is noted here, including twenty-one new Junior Masters, which is terrific.  They are on their way, and be sure to encourage them along!  Congratulations to these sixty-three players.

A previous post queried if treadmills and rowing machines might be needed for all of the celebratory cakes with the new Life Masters coming one after another in July, but if we had sixty-three Costco cakes in 31 days (two a day?), some sort of exercise side-hustle might really be required.  Click on the image to your left to expand it and open it in a new window to see the more than five dozen Minnesota players celebrating this month.

August 8 2026
A CHANGING BRIDGE MARKET

 There is something happening in west central Minnesota's bridge market, where some players that have been Fargo DBC regulars are shifting their playing habits to the Detroit Lakes DBC about 40 miles east.  During the month of July one year ago, the Fargo DBC held 15 games and had 49 tables in play.  This past July that just concluded, Fargo's monthly club tables came in at 19.  That's a drop of -61.2% in just one year.

The decline in the Fargo DBC attendance might be attributed to a few different factors, but with the Detroit Lakes Bridge Club under new management, and a July table count up +14.7%, there's little question that DL is picking up the slack for some of those in the Fargo-Moorhead area that want to get a game in and don't mind the 40-minute drive.  Of all the duplicate bridge tables played in the Fargo-Moorhead-DL market, Detroit Lakes held slightly more than half of those one year ago in July, or about 57% (pie chart on your left).  This past month, DL now has more than 4 out of 5 bridge tables in this market.  It's quite a shift.

There's another six weeks of action at the Detroit Lakes club before they shutter for the season again in mid-September.  But if this shift in player's playing habits continues through August, DL organizers might re-think closing up at the lake even that late in the season.

August 7 2026
METRO AREA TEAM LEAGUE TAKES OFF
 Over on the ACBL Tables page of this website, there's a graph that shows last year, for the first time, there were more teams tables than pairs tables at the ACBL's regional tournaments.  Teams are more popular than ever, and it's unfortunate that more local bridge clubs don't run team games as a regular thing.  The Grand National Teams starts next month, and that'll help get a few on the calendar.  But if you're a big fan of International Matchpoint Play (teams), what's to be done?  Good news, everyone!  Now Unit 103's St Paul Bridge Center is taking the team concept to a new level with their Fall Team League.

These are matches that will be held in person, and not online - so if you'd like to be part of this team league fun, you'll want to live in or very near the Metro area.  With enough teams, this will be a bracketed team event (all of the players under 1,500 masterpoints for example will be in one bracket) - and the whole thing has been sanctioned by Unit 103 as one of their annual extended team games. . .so it will be paying sectionally-rated masterpoints when everything gets tallied up.  Each match has a period of two weeks to get the three-hour 24- or 28-boards played, so if someone's out of town there's plenty of time to play the match when everyone can.  It's a great idea and should be lots of fun.  Get your team together and signed up by August 27th - the details are available on the flyer to your left.

Here is the link to their sign-up page.  When you've got your team together and are ready to have fun, sign up!

August 7 2026
TOURNAMENT CHANGES AHEAD
There are some high-level meetings that take place during an NABC, and they took place last month at the Minneapolis Convention Center.  These meetings include changes in all kinds of things ACBL, and a few of those changes might interest you.  These are predominantly tournament-related changes that were approved and will take place effective January 1, 2027.
     I/N Regional Awards:  Up until now, the overall awards at I/N Regionals were 33% Gold and 67% Red.  The ACBL has made the change so that starting next year, the awards will be 50% Gold and 50% Red.  (Who doesn't like more gold!?)

     Overall Awards for Team Events:  There will be an additional overall award in many team events, including bracketed teams.  In a bracketed or Swiss team event where you have six teams, there's currently two overall awards.  That's changing to three.  With eight teams in a bracketed or Swiss team event, the current three overall awards will go to four.  Finally, a twelve-team event is going from four overall places awarded now to five.

     Local Sectionals:  We don't have a lot of Local Sectionals run in Minnesota, but there are a few, and while they used to be allowed to be just one day long, that's no longer the case.  They'll be two or three days in length now, with 100% sectionally rated silver points.  That's an increase in the silver from the current 80% silver/20% black.
There are more changes on the way - and you can check out the new details on all of it by clicking here.

August 6 2026
BBO ADDS A PAYWALL
 Bridge Base Online has seen fewer and fewer bridge tables from the ACBL over the years, due primarily to the return to face-to-face play.  But other options (such as RealBridge, with audio and video, IntoBridge, OKBridge, etc.) have also taken a bite out of their action.  So what is a company to do?  Change their business model, and that's what BBO is doing this month.  Later here in August, they'll be going to a monthly subscription service.  In addition to whatever you're paying to play on BBO, now there will be an additional monthly fee.  So-called "premium" BBO users will end up paying $10 per month for the option of starting teaching tables and competitive matches, eliminating ads, and having video chat available.  They'll still have a "basic" membership available for no additional monthly cost (at least not yet), but you'll get lots of ads and not be able to do anything but pay card fees for existing games.  The details are in the graphic on your left.  Will it make any difference in how many players are using BBO?  That may not be the primary goal here - the goal will be to make money.  Charging everyone a monthly subscription fee is likely to bring in some dough for the business, but we'll have to wait to see what impact it has (if any) on the general playing public.  In general, though, providing something for free for decades - and then putting it behind a paywall - doesn't sit too well with users who have never had to pay for it.

August 6 2026
CALLING ALL NON-LIFE MASTERS!
 You're just one week out from Rochester's one-day Non-Life Master sectional.  Wheelbarrows will be on hand to wheel out all the silver points next Thursday!  Click on the flyer to your left to expand it and open it in a new window for viewing or printing - and if you think it's too late to get a partner for the fun next Thursday, you're mistaken.  It will be quite the party next Thursday in Rochester - we'll hope to see lots of NLM players there.

August 5 2026
OMAHA REGIONAL OFF TO A SLOW START
 Day 1 at the Omaha Regional this week saw an opening day with 87 tables in play - that's a drop from last year of 20 tables or -18.7%.  The trend of fewer tables is not new to the Omaha Regional, as table counts at this tournament have been declining each of the past five years.  Then on day 2, the 90 tables in play were off -20.3% from last year's day 2.  There are several days left of this tournament, and anything can happen of course - but right now it's looking as though their total tables will be well under 600.  The chart on your left shows the total tables in play for the first two days of the tournament for the past four years, with each successive year seeing fewer tables at this Omaha Regional.  It's unfortunate, as this is a fun tournament (and has been HUGE for years).  We'll keep an eye on what's happening there, as several Minnesota players have made the trip to get into trouble at the table.

Among those Minnesotans in on the Cornhusker action (and their masterpoints so far):
33.66   Matthew Bribitzer-Stull [Bloomington]
33.66   Jason Bribitzer-Stull [Bloomington]
20.54   Lynne Castoldi [Minnetonka]
  4.02   Bonnie Lervik [Excelsior]
  1.26   Kathryn Aliotta [St Paul]
  1.18   Kathleen Fortney [St Paul]
  1.18   Charles Fortney [St Paul]

All of the results from this regional in Omaha NE can be found by clicking here.

August 5 2026
MORE PIGMENT THAN A SHERWIN-WILLIAMS STORE
 Seven days of multi-pigmented points were played last week, with Terry Beckman [Brooklyn Park] at the top of the (local) heap.  Your Minnesota Top 50 Royal STaC earners are listed to your left; you can get all of the results from last week's STaC events by clicking here.

August 4 2026
MINNESOTA ROYALTY
  King Terry I, from Brooklyn Park, is your King of the Royal STaC this time around.  All hail King T-Rex!

Terry Beckman [Brooklyn Park] played in eight STaC games this week, averaging 61.95% over those eight games and accumulating 31.74 total points (broken down by the four pigmented colors to 7.94 each, none of which he really needs on his way to 20,000).  If you're thinking of taking on the king, there's another Royal STaC towards the end of the year - but for now, congratulations to Terry who oversees the Minnesota Bridge Kingdom by occupying the throne.

August 4 2026
UNIT MASTERPOINT RACES TO DATE
  Six months from now, your respective Minnesota bridge units will have an award party for those players who made the list for most points earned in a club - and most points earned at tournaments and clubs combined.  You're a bit over halfway to whomever will be the big winners for that awards game and not only get a certificate (or award medallion!) but also a free play and lunch.  And a few pats on the back.

To your left are the lists through today for both Units 103 and 178.  The far left table includes those top three earners of masterpoints at your local club; the near left table is those top three earners of masterpoints in both clubs and tournaments.  We should say "top three earners so far", as you still have several months to get going and get in the chase!

August 3 2026
EDGAR RUNS ITS COURSE


 EDGAR has run its course, assisting in snaring cheating online players across the ACBL online.  The ACBL has now wrapped up their first run of all 80,521 online ACBL players during the four-and-a-half year period of 2020 to 2024.  2,097 players were found to have cheated online (1,183 from either requested player memos that were filed or from players EDGAR caught independently, and 914 that were partners of those players).  Locally, five players from Minnesota's Unit 178 and one player from Unit 103 were caught up among the 2,097 players that were found guilty of cheating.  One cheating player is one too many, but the rate of cheating players among our local clubs appears to be far, far less than the ACBL average.

The overall rate of cheating players across the ACBL's online community came out to 2.60% during this run; details are on the chart to your left.  While EDGAR has gone through everyone that played online during that 2020-2024 period, the program is not being put out to pasture.  The ACBL plans to use EDGAR for the following:
     Start running "new" online players that started playing after February 1, 2024

     Revisit previously suspended and warned players who are now off suspension

     Revisit "yellow" categorized players, who have been heavily flagged for suspicious behavior

     Continue to run ACBL members who are proposed for high-level committees, such as the Advisory Council, Board of Directors, and Hall of Fame
EDGAR has helped clean up the game, but there is one kind of cheating that EDGAR may not be able to stop.  Online players who take a photo of a hand and enter it into some AI program can easily find out the best way to bid or play the hand.  It's another reason face-to-face bridge is the best bridge (and should be used whenever possible, including district NAP and GNT finals, but that's another blog post).

August 3 2026
NORTH AMERICAN PAIRS UPDATE

 The North American Pairs qualifying season runs for three months, June, July, and August.  You are now ⅔ of the way through this year's North American Pairs competition - how are Minnesota clubs and their players doing so far?

July provided fewer NAP tables this year, as the total number of NAP tables held in Minnesota bridge clubs (224) was off considerably from last year's July total (288).  That's a steep drop of -22.2% from last year.  Some of the blame here goes to the STaC that's taken place during the last week of the month, but a bigger chunk of the reason why is, of course, the NABC, which closed several metro area clubs - and disallowed any NAP games at clubs that were open during the big tournament.

This isn't to say the season itself is any sort of washout, as NAP tables for the first two months of the three this year are 573 (vs 578 in June and July 2025).  That's off just -0.8%, thanks to a robust June this year.  And players who have qualified in 2026 so far (511) are several more than in 2025 by this time (503), or up +1.6%.  That's great news.  The notable shift in player dynamics this year is that the Flight "A" qualifiers are up quite a bit (35 this year vs 21 at this time last year, or +66.7%).  Quite a few Flight "B" players from last year went over 3,000 masterpoints in the past 12 months, and this accounts for the big surge in Flight "A" qualifiers now.  Will they show up when we get to the D14 NAP Finals?  That remains to be seen.

There's still one month to go, and plenty of red and black points to be dished out at your local club.  Check your local calendars (posted below) for when they're happening and keep earning big masterpoints.

August 2 2026
MIGHT TREADMILLS BE NEXT?
 As advocated for in previous posts on this blog, we don't think there can be too many celebrations for everyone that marked a milestone at the very likely one-and-only NABC we'll see in Minnesota going forward.  Sure enough, another celebration was held this week at Unit 103's Bridge Center of St Paul, as Jim Essex [St Louis Park] made a couple of incredible cakes to serve as part of that celebration effort.

Standing next to Jim in the photo on your left is Rick Trachy [Golden Valley], Marcia Figus [Shoreview], and Grant Duffrin [Roseville].  Upstaging everyone would be Jim's contribution to the party, and without confirmation needed, we're sure there were no leftovers.  In any event, if these celebrations do keep up, we are left wondering if the side room at the Roseville club will have treadmills or rowing machines installed for players between rounds of bridge - because - well - they might be needed.

August 2 2026
MINNESOTA JULY CLUB TABLES OFF -5.7%

 Several Metro area bridge clubs opted to close their doors during the 12-day NABC this past month; that helped July's club tables across Minnesota take something of a hit this year.  Overall, the drop in tables may be nothing more than an asterisk down the road, as there aren't any future such club closures on the way (certainly not for another NABC).  But here is the info for the month:

Overall, July tables were down by -5.7% (1,095 vs 1,161 last July).  The drop was entirely due to the aforementioned Metro area clubs (down -11.2%), as Outstate clubs in Minnesota saw a small rise in club tables during the past four weeks (up +2.0%).

This isn't any real surprise, as the NABC was expected to take a huge bite out of our local clubs.  Those clubs that closed during the NABC saw the biggest drops, as expected, but even one-day closures on big game days hurt attendance (see the Rochester DBC, -5.5% for the month, closing on Wednesday of the tournament during "Sue Greenberg Day" at the NABC.  Wednesday is now their largest open game of the week).  Spades and Company in Plymouth opened up in mid-July last year, so we're finally going to have some table comparisons for the new club going forward (and you'll see real growth there, as was the case here in July).  The run-up to the NABC saw record numbers of club tables in the Metro area, so the figures could have been much worse than they are.  August tables around Minnesota are once again expected to shoot up into positive territory, but you can help meet expectations by getting out there and getting into trouble at the table.

August 1 2026
HERE IS MINNESOTA'S NEWEST LIFE MASTER

 The NABC may have come and gone, but the opportunities for Minnesota players to make those rank achievements keep on churning at the bridge table!

Here's Miriam Larson [Minneapolis], who is Minnesota's Newest Life Master.  Miriam played in the big tourmament in July at the Minneapolis Convention Center, where her 9.34 gold points at the NABC helped get her a lot closer to the finish line; but she still needed 0.82 gold points to make her Life Master.  Enter the Royal STaC tournament, which is being held through Sunday evening, where every point that's earned ends up being 25% gold (along with 25% silver, red, and black).  She played Tuesday night in Unit 103's Bridge Center of St Paul's 0-3,000 game with Mary McIntyre [St Paul], coming in 1st overall with a 59.38% game.  That got her closer, but not over the line.  Then there's her Thursday Mentor pairs partner Catherine Wehrman [Shoreview], with whom she played this week in another Royal STaC game.  Needing 0.29 gold points heading into that game and coming in 2nd at 57.51% was all that was needed for the party planning to get underway.

August 1 2026
A GRANITE CITY "UNICORN EVENT"

 Here's a new one.  When was the last time you saw three pairs in a bridge game tie for 1st in their section?  It happened in St Cloud on Monday, when three pairs ended up scoring 113½ matchpoints for a 60.05% game - each.  It wasn't enough for these pairs to come in 1st overall, but we threw the question as to how often this happens to the Interweb's AI cloud. . .and AI called this a "unicorn event".  (Keep in mind, AI isn't perfect, and YMMV.)  But one thing is for sure - everything has to come together perfectly for this to happen.  Through eight of nine rounds, the pair in the lead (see chart on your left) had to have a sub-par round and drop down just a bit - while the other two pairs beneath them must both have had good (or great) rounds to catch them at the exact same score point.

This section-top trifecta of the same score with half-matchpoints in a 9-table game apparently happens once in every 2,500 to 3,000 bridge games.  Since the great re-opening in 2021, the St Cloud Bridge Club has held 1,168 bridge games as of Monday, so there's that.  With 7,755 club games across Minnesota's clubs since 2021, how has this not happened before?  (Or has it?)

On your left is the barometer scoring for the three pairs in question, all sitting in the same direction, all of them with good rounds and bad.  But in the end, all three pairs sitting in the same direction all settled on the same score for first in their direction, and that's something you're not likely to see again for some time.


Looking for more?  Check out the Minnesota Bridge Blog Archive page by clicking here.