JoAnneM

I would say 1/2 Standard American and 1/2 2/1 with the odd few playing precision. Most play 15-17 (I don't understand the reference to France), but weak is growing in popularity, which I think is funny. Weak nt comes and goes and I have lived through several cycles of it being in "fashion". The big controversy is those opening nt with 5 card major, or not. I do, if the hand is right, and most of the better players do, but we have some players who haven't even got past needing every suit covered. It's all a matter of style and it's what makes looking at the results fun and interesting.

This is a similar situation with direct cuebids (michaels). Try telling an 80 year old Goren player that they have to alert if they play 1c-2c as showing a club suit. Lots of pairs in my club do not play michaels, and I have even had one player quit playing because "natural" bids have now become alertable.

If your child wants to pursue an education in the Arts please do not discourage them. There are wonderful careers available.

Just the consensus of this group with a positive repsonse (all but one), is a sign that this was an historical day. I just know that Obama will live up to the expectations.

BBO is a privately owned site, is it not? I don't think that the decisions made by management are very much our business. Discussing Bridge Law is one thing, expecting to make judgments, or even hear about, their management decisions is something far different. Maybe this is part of my history of spending a career in a privately held company, but I tend to not believe that everyone is entitled to know everything.

I wonder why this forum is even open to non-bbo directors. Surely there is a private forum where they can all discuss things like this. If not, there should be. Even on JBridge the director forums are private.

I don't get it. Inquiry made a very nice point (twice) that this person's case should not be presented on this forum - that it could only hurt him - and then in the very next post you ask him to do that very thing.

I call them "kitchen table directors", and they are a "pain-in-the-butt" for actual directors. Rules that you hear at the table are more often wrong than right, especially at my club.

I think the -620 should not even be considered in the equation. For one thing when you have a situation with a "director call/damage assessment" the NOS might be a little "unhinged" by the whole thing and not up to their best defense, and why penalize them for doing badly something they shouldn't even be doing? It just doesn't make sense. The score should be rolled back to 3D, making whatever the director determines.

Everyone must have missed my earlier post about the one attempt that was made to get bridge on TV. The biggest stumbling block, I seem to remember, was the lack of a commercial sponsor. This stuff isn't free, and Larry has good contacts in the sports world - he is a founder of World Team Tennis, among other things. Maybe PBS might be interested.

Larry King, a sports promoter who had the Pro Bridge Tour for several years, tried to get ESPN and a few other venues interested when his money bridge first started. It didn't work out and neither did the Pro Bridge Tour, which eventually evolved into Bridge University. But the setup was similar, everyone played the same card, the yellow card I think. Larry is a bridge player and was once married to Billie Jean King.

Unfortunately ACBL has to book most of its tournaments "offseason" to get the best prices, and a venue for 10 days. So, Boston and Pittsurgh in winter, D.C. in the summer, etc.

"b= had at least one post publicly digging for information as to the possible identity of the accused in an alleged cheating incident. " Publicly digging for information? Don't be ridiculous, I would be the last person to do that.

Conventions are alerted, treatments are not.

Even when the word anonymous is used?

Rename it and use it for something else?

Well, since no one objects to gossip I would like to know who was caught "cheating" in the bathroom in San Francisco - that resulted in the electronics ban we have now. But I suppose that is carrying the gossip thing too far. By the way, several studies have stated that men gossip more than women - around the water cooler. No harm intended, just having fun with y'all.

The whole thing just reminded me of "gossip", which is usually found is movie star magazines. I suppose I was just a little disappointed.

Can't believe this is being dragged through the mud again. It's over with. And, if you aren't on the team it's none of your business who is paying for it.

See you there, and you are going to love the registration gift!

Well right now I am going to put a plug in for the Spring 2010 Reno NABC (I am finance chair). Room rates will be $89 at the Grand Sierra (once the MGM, Hilton, etc). It was a very large NABC in 2004 (almost 15,000 tables) and we are hoping for a large turnout this time as well. It is one of the most affordable NABC's around. Parking is free!

At least the table count for 2008 NABC's was the highest since 2004. The economy, weather, and timing all play a part in a tournament's table count and predicting is nothing more than that - a guessing game. For instance, in 2007 the San Francisco NABC started on Thanksgiving day so it didn't really impact the tournament very much, but this year at Boston Thanksgiving was in the middle of the tournament and probably had a much larger impact on the attendance. I don't know why we need to have these national tournaments downtown in the cities. I am at the Regional Regional right now and talked to a couple from Houston today. They are getting ready for the Spring NABC that is to be held in downtown Houston. They said the parking is going to be so bad that many of the local players are not even planning on attending the tournament. The whole point of scattering these NABC's around is so that everyone has an opportunity to attend and then they are made convenient only if you arrive by airport shuttle. Anyway, I doubt if Las Vegas was a huge disappointment since it was the largest NABC since 1991.

I don't see it as different than any other kind of bribe.

I probably won't get my Bulletin till about the 8th. Congratulations!

You seem to know what you need, and that someone could be you. webmaster@acbl.org