| NOTE that the ACBL has a non-refundable deposit cancellation policy on hotel reservations:
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 | Temperatures this week will plunge below zero - and stay there - for at least 48 hours. As cold snaps go, this won't be particularly long; just a couple of days. But what it lacks in staying power, it's making up in its swing of the pendulum. High temperatures this Friday - high temps - could be in the teens below zero across all of Minnesota. So if you were thinking about playing in a Friday game of bridge, you'll want to make sure your car will start after the game. . .and that there is plenty of cocoa or coffee at the game to keep everyone warm. Here's a list of Friday games across the state and the game time temperature that's expected:
Minn Grand Slam Club 6:30p Open Pairs (Roseville): -17F St Cloud DBC 12:30pm Open Pairs: -14F Edina 12:45pm Open Pairs: -11F Rochester DBC 12:30pm Online Open Pairs: 71F |
In addition to the double card, you might see some red around the 14th (Valentine's Day) - but lots of opportunities to get into some trouble abound. February is Education Foundation Fund month across the ACBL, so you'll see some big masterpoint games on the schedule - including the next ACBL-wide game on Saturday, February 7th. The top prize in D14 is 15.00 masterpoints - which was won by a pair right here in Minnesota during last month's ACBL-wide game. Here are the latest bridge calendars around Minnesota clubs for February (updated as they are issued):        |
 | A previous post on this blog documented the year-over-year drop in Minnesota's players (-6.31% for the October-December period) which is actually slightly better than the ACBL-wide drop from last month. There's not too much Minnesotans can do about what's happening across all of the ACBL (with the exception of putting on a good show at the NABC this July) - but locally, you won't hear it often enough - get involved, help mentor, encourage new players, volunteer when you can at your club or at a tournament. All of these things help with our membership and with our games, and they'll help keep Minnesota's player losses to a minimum. |
Now, Keith Thompson [St Paul] is putting together a list of non-sanctioned games so that he can contact players and invite them to participate in the upcoming NABC. The plan is to have players attend the NABC that might not normally either know about it or think they'd have fun at it. (Because let's face it, of course they'd have fun.) Players who would be new to the ACBL with less than 5 masterpoints will play for free on the first Friday, and there are free lessons and a free reception with lunch the first weekend for advancing and newcomer players. It's a great opportunity to allow non-sanctioned game players to experience a tournament atmosphere - and expand Minnesota's player base, as some of these players will no doubt take to playing in sanctioned games. If you know of a church, or a community center, a senior center, any neighborhood non-sanctioned bridge game, let Keith know about it (along with the appropriate contact information). Even if you know someone that does some teaching of bridge! It's not as if Keith doesn't have enough to do already - but he'll compile all the information and reach out to these players in the next few months. Hopefully the result will be the achievement of our goal to see more players in regular club games as well as providing newer players with a terrific tournament experience. |
   | Will it always be good news here? Not likely. But for now - we are holding our own. And remember that every club game you support, every advancing player you mentor, every time you volunteer to help at a tournament, all of these things add up. Heading into 2026 (and the hosting of the Summer NABC), this is news of which all Minnesota bridge players can be proud. |
 | The Prairie Room is on the second floor, just off the elevator at the front of the building; this is where the cards happen. Their Wednesday games will continue to be played in North St Paul at the American Legion, and everything else is now back at Central Park. The Woodbury BC website is located here; and the Prairie Room (pictured, left) has a capacity for 18 tables of players - so you're invited to play in a Woodbury game and see if we can max the new space out. |
Following the sub-committee's agreement, all that remained was for the larger 178 board to approve the plan and get everything in motion. But this week the 178 board decided the decision to approve the plan (and become one unit) was "too major for the board to decide". Instead, they plan to put the decision to their membership, and that is not scheduled until the end of this year. As a result, the issue of unit unification is back off the table. It's not all bad news, of course - operating as two units and behaving as if we are one has worked pretty well to date. Having worked so well in the past, the mutual cooperation between 103 and 178 won't change heading into the upcoming NABC (or beyond). (And let's face it, Minnesota's bridge community would be doing great even if we had TEN units in the state.) A huge shout-out goes out to Todd Flowerday [Coon Rapids], Matt Belau [Rochester], Sue Sanger [Bloomington], Warren Nelson [Cloquet], Susie Greenberg [Byron], and Keith Thompson [St Paul] for their efforts of the past 14 months to even get this far (considerably farther than any past efforts at unit unification). They did everything that they could. With the topic of unit unification behind us for now, we can all concentrate on the other gazillion bridge-related things going on, and there are a gazillion, and we're lucky to have that much happening with bridge in Minnesota. |
 | This is all being set up by Norrie Thomas [Plymouth], whose flyer with all of the details is just to your left. (You can click on it to open it in a new window, or just click here.) The cost for each lesson is $17; partners are guaranteed; Norrie asks that you RSVP for each Monday you'd like to attend; and you can sign up for one or all of the lessons individually. Steve knows a few things about bridge and we're glad he's willing to share some of that knowledge - here's your chance to let Norrie know you're coming and learn a few tips for tricks. |
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| Roger Anderson [St Paul] and Sharon Anderson [St Paul] appear to have taken the first place prize of 15.00 masterpoints in the game yesterday morning. (Nothing's official until the ACBL says it is, and they won't make it official until roughly 48 hours after the event.) William Voedisch [Marine] and Joseph Browan [Maplewood] came in 2nd place for 11.25 masterpoints. Nice work for "a day at office!" Click here to find the top masterpoint leaders across the entire ACBL and click here for the big masterpoint winners and scores for D14. The top MP winners here in Minnesota are listed on the chart to your left. The next ACBL-wide game to be held will be on Saturday February 7th, to benefit the ACBL International Fund (and also to benefit those that play in it and score big masterpoints!). Check with your local club manager or director to see if they're running this game - and then sign up with a partner to compete against everyone in North America for another shot at big, big masterpoints. |
 | How did this major milestone happen to take place? David played with Richard Trachy [Golden Valley] in one of the ACBL's gold point online Centennial games. They scored well enough to come in 1st in their direction with a 59.58% score - good enough for 1.92 gold points and the gold he needed to cross the line. Be sure to tell David "well done" when you see him next at the club (or if he's online). And if there isn't a celebratory cake prior to the Winter Sectional Tournament at the end of the month, well, believe us, we'll be inquiring as to his preferred flavor. |
 | We looked at three different events. One, a random three-week period in 2025 (August 1st to 22nd); another, a random non-tournament special event (the Unit 103/178 NAP Final on September 5th last year); and a third, the BCSP's Holiday Sectional Tournament in December. During regular club play (August), Unit 103 members made up 132 of the 221 players during the three-week period (59.7%). Unit 178 players were about half that (67 players, or 30.3%) and there were 22 players that didn't belong to either unit (Wisconsin players, for example). So the ratio of 103 players to 178 players was still about 2:1. The Multi-Unit NAP Final also showed predominantly East Metro players at the event (39 of 64 players, or 60.9%). Finally, the Holiday Sectional Tournament brought 205 players out for some silver points. Over the four-day sectional, a lot more Minneapolis players came to play, composing 92 of the 205 (almost half, at 44.9%), with East Metro players composing 52.7% of the crowd. That more Minneapolis players show up for tournament play isn't a surprise; these are more experienced players who love to play in tournaments. And with Unit 178 scheduling the majority of their tournaments at this Roseville club, it's becoming a more familiar place for everyone in the Metro area. That's got to help both the Roseville club and bridge in the Metro area as a whole in the long run. |
 | You'll see this flyer in your local club in another month or two - but we always like to promote these events just as soon as we're able to. |
 | This past Thursday (January 8) was his first lesson, with central Minnesota area players enjoying the lesson at 5pm and then sticking around to play in the 6pm Thursday evening game. John will be teaching his lessons each Thursday at 5pm - and Connie Nelson [Avon] is alerting (!) that all are welcome to come by and partake in the fun. Connie adds this past Thursday was the first 9-table Thursday evening game in the middle of winter since at least prior to the COVID pandemic - and we would add the St Cloud club has room for several more tables of players, if you'd like to "Get Smart" with some help from John Koch and join in on the fun. Here's a look at John's inaugural class from this week.  |
As of press time, there's just one club in Minnesota registered for this game, and that's the 10am Open game at the Bridge Center of St Paul. (There are a few other Minnesota clubs that hold Tuesday games - if they're late entries to the party you can view all the clubs that have registered for this game by clicking here.) These ACBL-wide games come around once every two or three months - so you won't want to miss out! |
 | This was an interesting month for local players, as the holidays and the Bridge Center of St Paul's Holiday tournament took quite a bite out of available games in which to score some club game points. As it turns out, the top three Minnesota players for December all had more points than Joe did - but they all play somewhere else (where local Minnesotans don't have the chance to compete). Paul Meerschaert [Long Lake] has been playing all month in Naples, Florida; Gloria Georger [Rochester] has been playing in Ft Myers, FL; and Scott Krupke [Little Falls] is busy turning cards down in Mesa, AZ. They'll be back in a few months - but for now, your top ten Minnesota club players are listed to your left. |
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They do ask that you RSVP either by emailing MGSCbridgeclub-at-gmail-dot-com or you can make a reservation by clicking here. |
This month we have new information, and a couple of reminders, to pass along. Hotels Hotel reservations open open on January 21st. The host hotels are the Hyatt ($229+tax/night), Hilton ($229+tax/night), and the Sheraton ($179+tax/night). All three are within easy walking distance from the playing site at the Minneapolis Convention Center. To book a room through the ACBL contact ConferenceDirect Mon-Fri, 9am-8pm Eastern, by phone at 855-956-0776 or email acbl@conferencedirect.com. Players who stay at the host hotels are entitled to a $10 discount on entries purchased through EntryExpress. (Players who are members of District 14, the host District, are also entitled to the $10 entry discount.) Local Activities During the Tournament To find information about sports and theater events, shopping, dining, museums and other attractions, visit the local tournament web page on line. To find it, enter 2026 MN Summer Nationals into your browser. Why Attend A National Tournament? The tournament committee put together a list of reasons: Newer Players Take lessons from some of the best players and teachers in North America. Enjoy the great bridge community we have in Minnesota. Experience large-scale tournament bridge with big, friendly events. Win more masterpoints! More Experienced Players Enter events not offered at Regional or Sectional tournaments. Compete against the top players in the world. Become a Life Master at their home NABC. Win a National Championship without leaving town. All Players Meet and become friends with bridge players from everywhere. Test their bridge skills against their peers from all over the world. Attend an NABC close to home. Engage in, play, and promote both goodwill and the game we all love! Name a Game There is still time to Name a Game at the NABC. The deadline is January 15th. Honor your teacher, partner, or friend. The cost is $100 for a one-session event, $200 for a two-session Pair or Team Game. The submission form [can be found by clicking here]. Donate Directly Consider a donation directly to the Summer Nationals. Any amount is appreciated. This donation form [can be found by clicking here]. The Summer Nationals will be here sooner than we think. Mark your calendar July 9-19, 2026. Best Wishes for a Safe, Healthy, and Productive (masterpoint-wise) 2026. -- 2026 Summer NABC PR Committee |
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| This tournament will feature 499er pairs each day at 10am and 230pm, and for the Open crowd, there will be Pair/Team games Thursday and Friday - a two-session Open Pairs on Saturday - and Bracketed Teams coming up on Sunday. For the real newbies out there, 0-20 masterpoint players pay half-price when it comes to entry fees, and 0-5 masterpoint players play absolutely free. (These reduced entry fees are thanks to the Minnesota Bridge Education Fund, who does really stellar work for bridge in Minnesota. You can learn more about the Fund and even make a donation by clicking here.) And don't forget about all the free plays for the upcoming NABC that will be handed out during the four-day tournament. It should be quite the party. What will the weather hold? There's no way to know for sure, but right now the plan is for the cards to be hot hot hot - and the fun to be limitless. Make your plans to partner up and play at the Bridge Center of St Paul's Roseville location for the upcoming Minnesota Winter Tournament at the end of this month. |
Julie Morrison [Excelsior] Nanette Nys [Edina] Ed Timek [Minneapolis] Barry Dobson [Vadnais Heights] Karl Knight [South St Paul] Kathleen Olsen [Maplewood] Laura Vandal [Cold Spring] |
 | Later this month, Unit 103 is sponsoring the Minnesota Winter Tournament which will be held at the Bridge Center of St Paul. This year, Unit 103 is giving away ten (10!) free plays to the NABC in July during the Winter Tournament. All you have to do is show up and play (and if you're reading this now, chances are good you were planning to play in it anyway). Here's how it will work: each session of each day of the Winter Tournament, one person at the session will have their name drawn from everyone in the room for a FREE play at the NABC. The more days you play in Roseville later this month, the more chances you'll have to win one (or more!) of the free plays. Then - at the end of the tournament - one more drawing among all players during the week will take place for an additional two free plays at the Summer NABC. It's their way of saying "thanks" for supporting your local bridge tournament - and of saying when it comes to getting players to the NABC "we are here to help". So what about Unit 178? TBH, they kicked off this friendly competition with a successful NABC fundraising drive featuring free plays with some of their local pros late last year. And they'll have a chance to respond in March, when their Aquatennial Sectional is hosted over at the Bridge Center of St Paul location. Stay tuned - and plan to play at the end of the month! |
 | Through the first four months of six in which you can play in a GNT game at your club, Minnesota's clubs have run 189 GNT tables. That's 255.4% of the GNT tables played in Minnesota one year ago during this same month period. Where's the GNT action this year? It's all Unit 178. Last year, the Maple Grove game saw zero GNT tables during the entire six-month qualifying season. This time around, already 27 tables have been played - and that's with two months to go. The Edina game has played 81 GNT tables so far this season, compared to 35 tables all of last year - another huge increase. You've got two more months to play and earn some red and black points - and whether or not you're interested in playing in the D14 GNT Finals, team games are always fun. The Minneapolis Grand Slam Club is running a couple of online GNT games this month, on Tuesday January 6th and Tuesday January 20th, so if you're an online bridge player, there's a local option for you. Their games are at 6:30pm. Perhaps most important - don't forget that this year, you could represent D14 (and Minnesota) playing in the GNT at our local NABC in July! So there's even more incentive to get in on the action. |
 | Once again, the Wednesday Metro BC game is at the top of the heap, with 13.62 tables per game on average in 2025. Right behind them is the Monday game in Edina, with 13.11 tables per game in 2025. It can't be much of a surprise that all ten of these games are in largely populated areas (that's where the majority of the bridge players are located). But the cumulative average tables per game for these ten games each week has been on the increase - from 91.04 tables in 2023 to 95.71 tables in 2024 to 96.60 tables last year. It's another sign bridge players are playing more bridge as time goes on, and more of it in Minnesota. |
The ACBL's monthly December Unit President meeting (held online) featured Bronia Jenkins [ACBL Mothership] indicating that despite the general disgruntlement with the 5-5-5 program across the ACBL, there would be no changes to the 5-5-5 program in the upcoming quarter. So we're stuck with what we've got.    This most recent quarter ending 12/31 found both of Minnesota's units very close to each other's performance in the program. Both had membership declines from 12 months ago by a bit more than 6%, and each saw the percent of active members drop by around 10.5%. There is one difference this time around, and that is that Unit 178 did better than Unit 103 in terms of new membership reimbursement by the ACBL. Unit 178's 81.8% of their old 11% reimbursement figure is slightly better than the ACBL's average reimbursement for this quarter of 81.2%, while Unit 103's 75.0% is their worst number so far in the seven-quarter history of the 5-5-5 program. Since the program's inception, Unit 103 is still doing far better than most ACBL units - so we will see if this quarter's number was simply a blip or possibly something more troublesome. All of the ACBL's 5-5-5 data is available thanks to the good people at BridgeFinesse, and you can check out the data for yourself by clicking here. If you are wondering how Minnesota's units are doing with this program compared to the other bridge units across the upper Midwest, all of the data on the 5-5-5 program across D14's clubs can be found by clicking here. |
 | Click on the list to your left to enlarge it and open it in a new window - and find your name on it perhaps! The ACBL lists about 1,200 Minnesota players to look at, but 300 is as many as we could compare before needing some aspirin and a nap. (And you can get started on your movement on the 2026 list this week.) |
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 | Your Top 25 Masterpoint Earners for 2025 are listed on the chart to your left. Congratulations to Jackson on his impressive total, to everyone else on the list, and those many players who aren't on it but did well enough to "get some scratch" of any amount during 2025! NOTE: These masterpoint totals are based on December 6th to December 6th MP cycles. The ACBL's masterpoint races for 2025 are based on a different masterpoint schedule, February 6th to February 6th. So their (official) results may be different than what is posted here - it's just that we don't like to wait that long. |
  | (L: That's Cindy Heins [Rochester] and Dennis Schroeder [Rochester] as this year's winners, with Georgia Prosser [Rochester] and Tom Grigoleit [Rochester] (right) as your runners-up.) |
We asked our local unit board presidents, Sue Greenberg [Byron] (of Unit 103) and Keith Thompson [St Paul] (of Unit 178) to weigh in on 2025, their expectations of the new year, and what they'd like to see coming up in 2026. |
I want to thank all those that make it happen - club managers, directors, teachers, staff, volunteers, dealers, social committees, tournament coordinators, local boards, mentors, drivers that pick up people who no longer drive, and every person that attends a game or two at their local club. I especially want to thank the Unit 103 board for their thoughtful discussions and advice to me throughout the year. We are in transition after losing Lance Chamberlain, our longtime financial advisor, but I think we are on track to fill that position. Happy New Year! --Sue Greenberg, Unit 103 President | More exciting news is coming from the western suburbs, where the West Metro Social Duplicate club has found an innovative learning model, and an eager crowd looking to improve their game with lessons and play combined. This model has excited Norrie Thomas to expand the number of days this learning program will be offered. Expect an announcement within the month about her new club, and the different ways she envisions bringing learning opportunities to the west metro area. Besides these projects, we also have the work of the Minnesota Merger Committee to discuss. With the days already getting longer, there is a lot of work ahead for all of us. Many threads are coming together, with the focus on July, and the Summer Nationals. I sense a lot of energy and excitement within the bridge community. This is the year that Minnesota shines! New Years Greetings --Keith Thompson, Unit 178 President |
 | Almost all of this year's extra tables in December came from Outstate Minnesota clubs. The metro area saw 389 tables in December (vs 384 in 2024, or +1.3%), while outstate Minnesota had 294 tables in play during last month (vs 261 in 2024, or +12.6%). The overall increase in December tables from one year ago is another indicator that the health of bridge in our state right now is doing well. . .and we can't have too many indications of that. |