PMH Bridge Club - Port Macquarie

PMH Bridge Club
March Newsletter 2014
PRESIDENT’S PONDERINGS
And here we are – the middle of March and much has
happened since our last AGM. Welcome on board to
the committee are new members Warwick Kempster
and Ann Rutter, and of course welcome back to “old”
members Ray, Chris, Neil, Jan and Judi.
We have had a great Christmas Party – much thanks to
the Elfs and Santa and of course again to the organisers
and decorators.
In January another successful Pro-Am session was
followed by the popular BBQ. It was great to see the
BBQ cooks “manning” away amidst the fumes and
smoke.
We have sadly said goodbye to Allana Stevens, June
Broomhill , Gerri Uptin and last but not least Bob
Hamilton.
All great friends and to me personally, Allana was an
inspiration and very much a support person when I first
became a director. I know that Gerri and June were
long standing members of the club and had many
friends here. And of course, Bob as a founding member
of the Club has been a great teacher to me and to many
other players as well. He was always ready with advice
and had a pocketful of handy tips. Our thoughts are
very much with Pat.
After Allana passed away I did some “pondering”
about the Allana I knew and decided that she was an A
– Z of life, so for what it is worth, I’d like to share
them with you.
A
ALLANA,
D
DEDICATED
B
BRAVE,
E
ELEGANT.
C
COURAGIOUS ,
F
FRIEND ,
G
GENEROUS
[Date]
H
HELPFUL
I
IMPARTIAL,
J
JOYFUL,
K
KIND,
L
LOYAL
M
MODEST,
N
NATURAL,
O
OUTGOING,
P
PRACTICAL
Q
QUINTESSENTIAL,
R
RELIABLE, to the first
Welcome
S
SENSIBLE
newsletter of 2014
T
THOROUGH,
U
UNSELFISH,
V
VALIANT
W
WARM
X
EXTRA SPECIAL
Y
TOO YOUNG TO DIE
Z
ZADLY MISSED
The committee has decided to inaugurate an
Allana Stevens Memorial Shield, to be held
annually during Leukemia week, with donations
and table money to go to the Leukemia
Foundation. We will have a raffle and there will
be the opportunity for donations as well. This
year the event will take place on Saturday 15th
March. We have some exciting events coming
up, congresses, pro-ams, our 25th Anniversary of
the Clubhouse, so all in all I hope it will be a
great year. Freya
DIRECTOR’S RANT
by Len Pascoe
An insufficient bid
Supposing North is the dealer and opens the bidding
with 1 S and East then bids 1 H, which is an
insufficient bid - THE DIRECTOR IS CALLED.
Regrettably, most players tend to make their own
rulings with a comment such as "You can't do that."
Then it is either crossed out or changed to 2 H.
However, the first option is for the next player (in this
case South) to accept the bid, or not. If South bids
before noticing the insufficient bid South has
inadvertently accepted the bid!
A REQUEST FROM MARGARET
If you are ringing to find a Bridge partner,
could you please ring my home phone (listed in
back of book) in the first instance.
If I'm not home there is a reliable answering
machine to take messages.
If I'm not home and you need to contact me
urgently, by all means use the mobile number
on the front of the book. I don't always hear my
mobile phone ring when I'm at home, or don't
get to it in time.
When the bid has not been accepted East has three
options:
•
make the bid sufficient at the lowest possible
level and bidding continues, provided that the
insufficient bid and the new bid are not
artificial.
•
the bid may be changed to any bid that would
have the same meaning as the insufficient bid,
then bidding continues. ( East would be
allowed to change their call to DOUBLE, if the
double guaranteed a Heart suit. )
•
make any other legal bid, but West must then
PASS when it is their turn to bid.
Sue, Arthur and Anne accept their prizes at
the Christmas Party/Annual Awards Night
EDITOR’S NOTE
With celebrations of a landmark year in our
club’s history occurring this year, I have
included a brief summary of some its history.
Some of our newer members will perhaps be
unaware of the work undertaken to make this
wonderful building we call home a reality.
Many of the names of those involved in the
early days of our club are well known to us –
they are active members still! We owe all
who were involved in the development of our
club such a great vote of thanks.
Expect further installments in future editions.
A HISTORY OF THE PORT MACQUARIEHASTINGS BRIDGE ASSN. INC.
granted in the foreseeable future due to opposition
by the Arts Society, who held a current lease on the
land.
Our Bridge Club came into being with the assistance
of the RSL Sports Council and helpful advice of
Keith Glover in March 1976, under the initiative of
Charles Klassen. A small group of players broke
away from the Port Macquarie Bridge Club, which
played at the Country Comfort Motel on Thursday
nights attracting 2-5 tables. Sergio Da Col was
elected President, a position he held for 10 years.
The first Teams Congress, held in Port Macquarie on
19-20 November 1977, with Charles Klassen as
Tournament Director, attracted 20 teams. First prize
was $120 and second prize $60 – not bad when the
entry fee was only $10 for the 2-day event.
The inaugural meeting of the Port MacquarieHastings Bridge Association was held in the
Lachlan Room of the Macquarie Hotel on 11
February 1986 with Sergio Da Col elected as
President, with Peter Briscoe as Vice-President and
Sue Lindner Secretary, John Roach Treasurer.
Committee members were Arthur Lindner, Chris
Manser and Vera Laycock. The aim of the
Association was to build our own premises where
bridge could be played six days a week and always
with the intention that the other two clubs in the
town could join us in this endeavour.
By 1979, through the dedication and hard work of its
members, the Club had grown steadily at around
25% a year and was recognised as a well-run club
attracting both beginning and experienced players.
There was just one session a week (Thursday
evening) which attracted on average ten tables.
Through various teaching classes and annual
congresses, the club was gaining State-wide
recognition as a progressive club.
Many venues and parcels of land were considered
for the clubhouse over the next few years. Finally,
after many negotiations by several members with
the Council, our present site was at last selected in
1988. Over this time fundraising was always in
our thoughts. Having accumulated $5,000 in the
first couple of years ($2,000 of which was a
Bicentennial Grant), we were always keen to take
any opportunity that came our way to make money.
Fundraising days were held with ongoing raffles
and competitions being run. A Crazy Day sale and
Monster Auction were two of our most successful
fundraisers.
In 1980 Charles invited Ron Klinger to Port
Macquarie to conduct a series of lessons and in 1983
John Newman gave a series of lessons to members.
Also in 1983 Sergio made representations to the
Council for discussions regarding rebuilding of
premises next to Oxley oval. This proposal was
rejected. 1985 saw another approach by Sergio to
Council, this time with a view to leasing land in
Fernhill Road, also rejected.
Peter and Sergio swapped positions in 1987 but
otherwise the committee remained the same.
Bridge was being played on Tuesday nights and
Friday daytime. Eventually the Friday game was
cancelled through lack of numbers, but Monday
bridge had its beginning with classes being run.
These evolved into supervised duplicate, and
eventually ended up as our now regular restricted
game. Leon Kline, Doug Kerr and Jill Heffernan
shared the teaching responsibilities, with Sue
Lindner taking over the supervised play and
directing the restricted sessions with the help of
Bob Hamilton. When in the clubhouse Sue
continued on with a lesson before the start of play
and then darted from table to table as “Help!” was
called for on the bidding and play from several
tables at once. Wednesday bridge was now being
played in the Lachlan Room, which greatly
contributed to the building fund and Leon Kline
was running advanced classes.
On 15 August it was resolved that our Committee
liaise with the Port Macquarie Bridge Club to form
one club in the town. Sergio proposed that it be
named the Port Macquarie Bridge Club, that a
president suitable to both clubs be elected, and
premises in Bridge Street be purchased for
$115,000. The building was an old church, and to
many an answer to our prayers – to get together and
have this wonderful building in the heart of town.
However, it was not to be. Later in the year Sergio
again approached Council to obtain permission to
build on Hamilton Green. Once again Council
considered the application but noted that there was
not real hope of the application being
3
Honour
Traditional
Reality
Ace
4
4½
King
3
3
Queen
2
1½
Jack
1
¾
Ten
0
¼
Note that the total for each suit is still 10.
YVONNE’S CONVENTION CORNER
Assessment of hand, or hand evaluation
(a very important part of bridge.)
Some Terms Worth Knowing:
Hand Evaluation - Judging the strengths and
weaknesses of your hand to determine its tricktaking capability.
Hand Re-evaluation – Re-evaluating your hand
based on the bidding by any of the other three
players.
Working Cards (Proven Values) = Honour cards
which are “known” to be useful when evaluating
your hand.
Prime Cards – Aces and kings.
Minor Honours (Soft Values) – Queens and Jacks.
Quick Tricks – AK = 2, AQ = 1½, A = 1, KQ = 1,
Kx = ½
Spot Card – Any card from two to nine.
Intermediates – Tens and nines (and even 8s!)
Downgrading a Hand – When you determine that a
hand is worth less than its point count would
suggest.
Upgrading a Hand – When you determine that a
hand is worth more than its point count would
suggest.
Source of Tricks – A long or strong suit which is
expected to produce several extra tricks.
Playing Tricks – The number of tricks you expect
to win in your own hand. Only relevant if you have
a long and strong suit, and you become declarer.
Playing Strength – A hand’s trick-taking potential.
Hands with good playing strength should be
upgraded.
Marty Bergen suggests you use the following whole
numbers to evaluate your hands (and avoid trying to
work out addition of fractions):
2 aces = 9 points
2 queens = 3 points
4 jacks = 3 points.
Also note: 1 ace has the same value as 3 queens, or
the same as 1 queen + 1 king.
Quick Tricks
Counting quick tricks is essential for good hand
evaluation.
For each suit:
AK = 2 AQ – 1½ A = 1 KQ = 1 Kx = ½
(Note that Jacks are never “quick tricks”)
Counting quick tricks helps you appreciate the fact
that all honour cards have more potential when they
are in combination with other honours.
These hands have identical distribution and 12 HCP:
♠ 63 ♥ KQ42
♠ AJ ♥ K642
♦ AQJ4
♦ Q643
♣ 752
♣ Q52
With the first hand, open 1D. You have 2½ quick
tricks, with all 5 honours in your 2 longest suits. But
don’t open the second hand. You have only 1½
quick tricks, and the suits with isolated honours
aren’t worth much.
Always count your quick tricks. It helps you to
know if you have “good” points, or merely a handful
of “schmoints”.
Quick tricks are especially relevant when
considering:
1
a penalty double. Avoid doubles based just on
points.
2
a 2C opening on an unbalanced hand. You
need at least as many quick tricks as losers.
By the way: Most hands that open one of a suit in
first or second position have at least two quick
tricks.
The True Value of Honour Cards:
The 4-3-2-1 point count is not completely accurate.
Aces are greatly underrated, while queens and jacks
are definitely overrated.
Do not despair. Nobody is suggesting that you
need to find another way to count your points.
However, while 4-3-2-1 gets an A+ for easy-to-use,
it rates only a B- for accuracy.
Can we do better? Bridge theorists, after years of
study, have devised a new scale with the help of
computers:
4
1
2
Upgrade these Honours
Here are the least effective honours in short
suits. I strongly recommend subtracting one
point for these:
Honours in your long suit(s) are far more valuable than
honours in shorter suits.
Singleton: King, Queen or Jack
Doubleton: AJ, KQ, KJ
Hands with “strong” long suits are excellent.
Hands with “weak” long suits are often disappointing.
By the way: If your partner bids your short suit
containing one or two honours, everything
changes. And if he happens to be both long and
strong in your short suit, your “liability” could
turn into an asset.
YVONNE’S CONVENTION CORNER (cont)
West
South
-1♥
Pass
???
North
East
--
Pass
2♥
Pass
♠ 64
♥ AK764
♦8
♣ AK653
Bid 4♥. You need very little from partner, and you
have enough playing strength to insist on game. Once
partner promises heart support, you can expect to set up
clubs and eventually win at least 4 club tricks.
♠ K4
♥ A7642
♦8
♣ AK653
Bid 3♣ to invite game. If responder has a minimum
raise and bids 3♥, you will be content to play in a part
score.
Suppose you pick up a hand with ♥Jx. You
subtract one point, treating your ♥J as no better
than a useless doubleton, and await
developments. If partner’s bidding promises
four hearts, you restore the ♥J to 1 HCP. And if
partner opens 1♥, promising five hearts
(probably with some heart strength), you can
upgrade your jack to 2 HCP.
(Extract from new library book Hand
Evaluation: Points, Schmoints! by Marty
Bergen.)
New resources in our Library
♠ K4
♥ A7642
♦A
♣ K7653
Bid 3C. This hand is weaker than the previous one,
because your singleton ♦A will not develop anything.
Even so, game is still possible.
Here is a list of new books – worth checking out!
Bergen, M
♠ AK
♥ 76432
♦A
♣ K7653
Pass. This hand is clearly the weakest of the four.
With only one honour in your two long suits, you don’t
have enough playing strength to make 4♥.
Seagram & Bird
Take All Your Chances at Bridge
O'Connor, Patrick
Problems
Downgrade these Honours
Honours in short suits (singleton or doubleton) should
be devalued.
Sometimes honours in your short suits are not very
useful. A doubleton AK won’t build as many tricks as
AKxxx, or even AKxx or AKx, but you can be sure of
winning both honours. However, when you have a
doubleton such as QJ, no one is surprised if your
honours turn out to be worthless.
5
Defensive Play at Bridge
Thompson, M Bid More, Play More, Win More
Kantar, E
When in doubt, take a good look at the quality and
quantity of your trumps.
Hand Evaluation: Points, Schmoints!
Bergen, M
Vol.1
A First Book of Bridge
Marty Bergen's Best Bridge Quizzes
A BRIDGE DEFINITION!
Silent partner - At the bridge table, a purely
imaginary character
SOCIAL HAPPENINGS AT THE CLUB
Book Review
The Pilot's Wife by
Anita Shreve
This book explores the
question: How well can
we ever really know another
person?
It is written from the viewpoint of Kathryn
Lyons. She opens the door to find she is a widow.
Jack, her husband, was the pilot of a plane that
went down off the coast of Ireland. One hundred
and three lives were lost. There were no
survivors.
Just as the news of Jack's death sinks in, Kathryn
receives horrible news. Based on the cockpit
voice recordings, initial investigators think Jack
committed suicide, bringing a bomb on the plane
that killed everyone on board. Kathryn is
adamant that he didn't kill himself and all those
aboard, but there are still nagging questions mysterious notes, poetry on scraps of paper,
highly unusual behavior from a man she thought
she knew. She embarks on a transcontinental
journey to find the truth about her husband, her
marriage, her life.
The underlying question posed by Shreve is an
intriguing one. I also found the characters
genuine and believable. I enjoyed this book- it is
quite short, well written and easy to read. The
plane crash with talk of pilot involvement is quite
topical, too!
Jan Campbell
SANTA AND HELPERS
As a committee we are comittted to trying to make our
club a happy place that members enjoy. One of the steps
we have undertaken to that end is to have a number of
social activities throughout the year. Much thanks is
owed to Judi who organises these events wonderfully,
along with a number of tireless helpers too many to note
here. We all owe a debt of gratitude to these amazing
club members.
Here is a brief summary of some of those events held
since publication of our last newsletter.
CHRISTMAS
PARTY
7th December
The Christmas Party
with its naughty elves
and Santa - what a
hoot! - attracted over
150 members and
guests.
Thanks to all the
wonderful cooks and
helpers who helped
make this festive
occasion such a
success. There was a
wonderful spread of
ham, chicken, pork
and countless salads, followed by amazing desserts
including Kay’s delicious puddings! Earlier in the day
we enjoyed Margaret’s beautiful Christmas cake, and
drinks and nibbles were fantastic!
PRO –AM 11TH January
After the fun bridge afternoon, members enjoyed a
selection of gourmet sausages, ably cooked by chefs
with beers in hand. Another great occasion to socialise
with other club members.
LEUKEMIA FOUNDATION DAY – 15th March
Last but certainly not least was the inaugural Leukemia
Foundation Day dedicated to the memory of Allana
Stevens. The day raised over $1,700, so congratulations
to all who participated in the raffles and donated for
Silent Auction. The Auction raised $600, and much of
what was auction was donated by former member
Minako, prior to her leaving. Once again there was a
successful BBQ following the game.
6
To Open or Not to Open
That is the Question by Rowan
Positive Features
‘Quacks’ can be particularly useless. ‘Quacks’
are too many Q and J. These are overvalued by
our high point count. As you will know when
you are declarer are sitting with Qxx; the A is
lead followed by the K and the third lead of that
suit is ruffed. Happens all too frequently!
If Q and J make up more than 50% of the high
card points take off a point.
Shapeless hands are also suspect. One of my
partners always takes off a point for the 4-3-3-3
shape.
I was playing with Yvonne the other day and we had
a hand that didn’t go well. We play “2 over 1” which
enables the responder to show an opening hand. This
I did and when we went down Yvonne said that I had
over bid and that she wouldn’t have opened if she’d
had that hand. I hadn’t taken enough notice of the
negative features of the hand
When I started playing bridge it was generally
accepted that you needed 13 pts to open a suit at the
first level (in 1st or 2nd seat). Nowadays, people can
open with 9 points if the hand shape is good enough.
So always open with 13, sometimes with 12 and
occasionally with less.
But WHEN?
One way to decide is o use the RULE 20 (or 22).
Add up all your high card points and and the length in
your two longest suits and if they come to 20 then
open.
Example Hand
AQxxx
KQxx
‘xx
‘xx
11 high card points plus 9 in the two longest suits (S
and H) equals 20. Yes Open 1S. Some people add
another little proviso - you need 2 quick tricks (hence
the 22) if vulnerable or 1½ if not vulnerable.
Table of quick tricks
1. A or KQ in same suit is 1.
2. AK in same suit is 2.
3. AQ in same suit is 1½.
4. Kx is ½.
Another way to value your hand is to use the
losing trick count.
With 7 losers open; 8 pass
Each suit is counted individually Supported A,K,Q
are not regarded as losers neither is any card in that
suit that follows . So:
Axx is 2 losers so is Axxx.
KQx is one loser so is KQxxxx.
Jx is 2 losers, Jxx is 3.
Loser count in the example hand would be
S 1 loser
H 1 loser
D 2 loser
C 2 loser.
Total of 6 losers. Yes open.
Unsupported Q or J - take off 1 point.
Unsupported K take off ½ .
Singleton K,Q,J - take off a point but you can
add distribution points later if you have a fit.
No A’s - take off a point.
Doubleton KQ,KJ,QJ - take off a point.
Negative Features
2 suits with tens in a 4-card suit headed by an
honour – add 1 point.
A suit with 4 honours – add 1 point.
A good 6-card suit and a 4-card suit – add 1
point.
A solid 7 card suit – add 1 point.
(don’t forget to count length points)
Bob Munro organized a special ‘awards’ section
in the short concert before the Christmas
dinner. There were many great ‘awards’
handed out – and well earned, too! Here, Ruth
receives her award.
7
Meet Florence Lillian Roberta Gibbons
I was born in Taree and lived there until I was
22. My name, which is a mouthful, was
picked by my father who was quite
inebriated at the time - Florence after my
mother and grandmother, Lillian after the
lady next door and Roberta, well if I had
been a boy I was to be called Robert.
I did my high school certificate at Taree High
and received a scholarship to Waverly Day
Nursery College - it's called Early Childhood
these days. My father had a stroke at 53 and
could not speak or use his right side so I
stayed at home and joined the Bank of New
South Wales so I could help with him.
Florence does so much for our club, decorating
the clubhouse with artistic flair whenever a
special event is held. Here is a chance to get to
know her a little better.
When I married we moved to Port Macquarie
and I worked another 6 years at the Port
Branch. I left to have my children and when
they were at school I worked for Jenny Craig
as a counselor, then made lasagna, quiches
and specialty cakes for Cassergrain’s. Finally
when they went to university I worked 8
years for St. Agnes Parish Administration
Centre as a Communications Networking
Officer.
My elderly mother then needed looking after,
so for 6 years I cared for her full time. She
was immobile for 3 of those - she lived to be
94.
On my 50th Birthday my sister took me to
America and Los Vegas, so wonderful for
someone who up until that time had not
been anywhere. We saw Michael Crawford
in his show at the MGM Grand, Siegfried and
Roy at the Mirage, and 4 other shows
including the Follies at the Flamingo Hilton. I
really thought are all those feathers really me
- it was so amazing.
After my mothers passing I was at a loss in
my life so I took up bridge - yah! It is my
Agony and Ecstasy. The greatest form of
escapism there is. I have made a lot of
wonderful friends at bridge and I am so
grateful to this great organisation.
Other recipients of an ‘award’ included Shirley Ross
and Yvonne Cains.
8

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