![]() | (DISCLAIMER: There are a couple of Minnesota players who earned more in-person club masterpoints than Charles did last month - but they are snowbirds that are out-of-state right now. . .and afforded many more opportunities than those of us here at home. This list is strictly for those playing locally, supporting our local clubs.) |
![]() | Prior to the introduction of COVID to the bridge world, sanctioned Minnesota club tables were running at an average of 16,999 tables per year over a 16-year period (2004 to 2019). The most recent year (2024) saw 10,407 face-to-face tables in Minnesota clubs. . .that's 61.4% of what they used to be. That's actually slightly better than the overall ACBL average (57.0% of pre-COVID tables), but always room for improvement. Clubs do seem to come and go (Austin? Edina Women's Club? MacGregor? Hackensack??), but tables at our local clubs are slowly coming back. Without the many players that left the game during the COVID outbreak, it'll be near impossible to get back to 17,000 tables a year. And yet if even half the active 1,400 or so bridge players in Minnesota played just two extra games a month - you'd be in the ballpark. |
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() It's John Koch [St Cloud]. Rapidly approaching the 15,000 masterpoint mark, John played online quite a bit the past couple of weeks - and now is within 13.47 masterpoints of achieving this masterpoint milestone. Cake and celebratory atmosphere are imminent. |
FRI 14 Feb - 10:00am game at the BCSP SAT 15 Feb - 12:30pm game at the BCSP, hosted by Plymouth Bridge Club MON 17 Feb - 10:00am game at the BCSP TUE 18 Feb - 6:30pm game ONLINE (look for MGSC game) SUN 23 Feb - 5:00pm game at the BCSP MON 24 Feb - 12:00pm game in Duluth (it's an "8 is Enough Game", pre-register required) TUE 25 Feb - 6:30pm game ONLINE |
With the latest ACBL masterpoint engine update on February 6th, the 2024 Award winners for Unit 178 have been issued - including the Ace of Clubs (those that won the most masterpoints in 2024 playing in local clubs), the Mini-McKenney (those that won the most in clubs and tournaments), and the Virtual Ace of Clubs (those that spent the most time online!). Are you on our list? Click on the images below to open the file in a new window and whether you're on the list and playing for free on May 4th - or even if you didn't make the list this year - we hope to see you at the Awards Luncheon and Bridge game in May. |
![]() Ace of Clubs 2024 | ![]() Mini-McKenney 2024 | ![]() Virtual Ace of Clubs 2024 |
![]() | Their first get-together over the interweb was this week; details of the meeting's topics of discussion are not available for dissemination at this time. . .but these volunteers are working to try and find out whether or not reunification can happen - and how. |
The ACBL posts all of the masterpoints won at the tournament, then displays all of those won and who won them. That's not the same thing as the masterpoints awarded to the players at the tournament. Here's the explanation for the discrepancy: In a pair/team game, an individual has two chances to get masterpoints - the pairs part of the game and the team part of the game. Frequently, a player will win some masterpoints in each part of that pair/team game - but they only get the bigger award of the two. So if a player comes in 4th in the pairs (earning 1.55 masterpoints) but 1st in the teams (earning 7.00 masterpoints), they are awarded the 7.00 masterpoints. The ACBL, on the other hand, counts them as getting 8.55 in this example - which is not correct - but that is what they post on their website. That is why the masterpoint totals listed on the ACBL's website are different than they are here. It's also why if you're expecting the masterpoint total listed on the ACBL site next to your name - and it's not what you got - this is the reason. |
![]() | Warren provided an update on the Public Relations Committee work; Matt indicated the flyer and ad were done and up on the ACBL's website; Patti said the Gopher Ad in the Bridge Bulletin would be in the April issue; and Steve and Jean thought more emphasis on hand discussion for I/N players would be prudent. Patti also provided the latest hotel update, where we will have better lighting for the lounge area, among other player enhancements. Annie and Kurt Schaeffer are in charge of the partnership desk this year, adn are looking for standby players - especially for the I/N and Gold Rush events. Everyone (on the committee and reading this website) is encouraged to get people to come to the tournament and get the word out! It's a great group of people who are helping to put forth this tournament, helmed by Patti who is (of course) the glue for the whole thing. Another meeting of the Gopher Committee is expected in mid- to late-March, before things really start heating up for the 2025 Gopher in May. |
However, the number of players seated during these first five weeks of the year has only gone up +1.1%, from 3,529 to 3,567. That means that the tables per F2F game in Minnesota has averaged 5.68 tables per game to kick off 2025, or a drop of -7.9% over the same period last year. So if you're under the impression that your local club game has gotten a bit smaller of late - apparently it has. It's possible that players are being stretched a little thinner with the added games, but in time, everything should shake out (whether that's ultimately bigger games or whether that's fewer F2F games offered). Options are always welcome! But this could be a case of "less is more". Stay tuned. ![]() ![]() ![]() |
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Playing in just one day of the Minnesota Winter Tournament, it was just a dent in the masterpoints needed for this major milestone coming shortly. But the 11.70 masterpoints earned over the long tournament weekend has made that milestone just that much closer. |
![]() ![]() | This is the first Winter Tournament in more than twenty years to extend to a 4th day of bridge; the previous tournaments this time of year have all been three days in length. As a result, the 18 teams today helped push the paid table count to 184.5, with a 23.3 tables per session average that is just 2.5 tables off the 20-year average for the tournament. (It's probably not fair to compare as apples-to-apples since none of the previous ones had a fourth day.) Still - to be down just a couple of tables per session given the bridge-playing environment of the past 20 years, that could be much worse. Next up - the Leap Into Spring Sectional, coming up in less than four weeks. ![]() |
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The good news is they won't be competing against one another tomorrow, but the bad news for the rest of us is that they're combining to make a team for Sunday's Swiss. Congratulations to both these pairs for a hard fought battle royale today. |
![]() | Terrific to see them both at the bridge table today, and with Dad in tow, no less! |
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![]() | Remember, to play in the D14 GNT Finals online the weekend of March 28 and 29 this year, you must qualify at your local club first! So if you have not yet qualified, check with your local club (or the club calendars on this blog) for when a team game is scheduled - and get qualified! (And if you have qualified, by all means, enjoy the team play of these games.) |
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() When you need just over 56 masterpoints to hit a major milestone, tournament play is where to get them. But it's hard to see where even the eventual tournament champion this weekend at the Minnesota Winter Tournament can achieve that many masterpoints (when you're looking at mid- to upper-30s in these four-day events for the big winner). A healthy dent in that 56+ points needed is likely, however, and by this time next month - have we mentioned cake? |
![]() | For starters, there are games that provide "overall awards" and those that do not (regular "club" games). Tournaments provide many more masterpoints for the same tables as a club game would, and the more tables in your game, the more masterpoints are awarded. But just looking at one type of award - the 1st place "overall" award - requires you to know six things. The number of tables, the game's "rating" (according to ACBL codification), the number of sessions in the event, the masterpoint limit, whether it's an open game or limited to a certain group, and the type of game. No, really! It's all on the chart to your left. And that's just for the first place overall award. So please forgive your club director or manager if they stifle an eye-roll when you ask them about this sort of thing - the ACBL has a 36-page booklet on how to figure out masterpoint awards. It's got everything you would need to know about how masterpoints are determined, but let's just say it's not what one would call "a light read". This question almost always comes from an advancing player, and even if you don't want to peruse the ACBL's rulebook on masterpoints, there are two things to know. 1) Games that charge an extra $1 at your club do so because they pay extra masterpoints than regular club games - play in them if you want MPs! And 2) if there is a tournament with an Open section and a 499er section, the awards in the Open section even for 499er players are much higher than in the 499er section itself - frequently higher than 1st place in the 499er section. So don't be afraid to "play up", as you've got a better shot at more points (in addition to learning a few things by playing with the pros). |
![]() ![]() | The increase in tables for this month has slowed a bit over last year's rise, with tables Outstate tables rising a bit more so than in the Metro area. The chart on the lower left would be the "Big Six" clubs in Minnesota and their respective January table counts over the past four years. This is the 4th January in the post-COVID world of bridge tables, and each successive year is showing an overall statewide incease over the year before. . .and that could be more indicative of a trend. |
![]() ![]() | Approved Board minutes are posted on this site on the Minnesota Unit documents page; and remember that both Units 178 and 103 will have all of their published information (when available) posted on this website. 1(Apparently looking at condo renovation in another state, and nothing to do with the police blotter.) |
![]() | UPDATE (SUN 1/26): If anything, the forecast is improving. Now highs of 41° on Thursday and 42° expected - it's a bit of a "leap into spring" about four weeks early. |
The Plymouth Bridge Club's Tuesday limited masterpoint games have raised the ceiling over at 6000 Lyndale Avenue. Not the actual ceiling of Studio Time Out, where they're holding the games, but the masterpoint ceiling of their game! The previously 749er game is now a 999er game; so all players with under 1,000 masterpoints are welcome to show up at 12:15 for a lesson followed by bridge at 12:45. Minnesota's other Tuesday games are also on the rise, with rising table counts reported over the last 12 months. The Bridge Center of St Paul's Tuesday games (+8.5%), St Cloud's Tuesday game (+0.3%), and Rochester's Tuesday Pro/Am game (+26.9%) all have shown positive table count growth in 2024 compared to 2023. |
![]() | There's something new this year - Unit 103 is providing FREE GOPHER DAYS to some lucky 499er/NLM player in every session of this tournament. Any and all 499er and/or Flight "C" players will be eligible to get two free sessions of bridge at the upcoming Gopher Regional in May. It's our way of saying "thanks" for playing with us next week and hopefully increasing our NLM players at the big tournament in a few months. Remember - single-session entries will be accomodated as requested at the Winter Tournament next week and lunch is included on Sunday with every Swiss team entry. |