legony

Yeah! The clubs in my area get very decent turnouts - I’ve never seen less than 100 folks at games. That allows, I think, flexibility in coordinating a separate area for 0-20. Typically there are 5 tables devoted to the novices.

Thanks all! You are definitely right. The Saturday morning game gets a pretty decent turnout. About 160 people. The club manager/beginners coordinator said the level of play at the Saturday 0-500 game is a better learning experience than 0-20. His suggestion was not to abandon the 0-20 Thursday game, but to add the 0-500 game into my weekly routine whenever possible. Thankfully, all of the local clubs in my area post club game/board results in that way - I love going back and checking out how the others bid/played when I get home! :-)

My hope is that eventually I will be matched up with at least one or two individuals who I will click with on a partner basis. It would be terrific to play with at least one or two consistently and develop partnerships. I plan on attending the Saturday club game for this reason - plus, the Thursday club game too. Meeting more folks, socializing, etc. I thought so too! I can be self-deprecating many times, but the atmosphere when he said it at the table was tangibly uncomfortable. Ah well. :)

Thanks, Pete! :) 0-20 = an area reserved at club games for people/novices with 0-20 MPs. There is a beginner coordinator who is in charge of answering any questions and/or providing some minimal guidance, if needed.

Thanks all! You’re definitely right. The club manager who invited me to the Saturday 0-500 game told me that the best way to learn is to jump into the 0-500 games. At every table, my partner began by saying, “I’m Henry. This is L*** - she’s new to the game, just wanted to let you know.” No big deal to me. At one table, the opposing partners said I played well and will continue to learn. They said the man I was partnered up with was very good. I told them that I am semi-newish and am slowly but surely approaching a full year since I first began playing with coworkers who are really good and play often. My partner then said, “so you’re saying your coworkers are better than us.” It was an odd sarcastic comment. I said, no of course not. That is not at all what I meant - I was just sharing with the opponents after we completed the boards that I’m thankful to be able to play with bridge players during during the work week at lunch. Two hours later, when all was said and done, my partner reiterated that I really made a blunder by going down by 1 in the final board. He then said: “you really should come here again and play with your coworkers.” At the time, I didn’t realize he was making a passive-aggressive comment at me, so I just said: “I only play with my coworkers at lunch during the work week. They play at clubs in their local counties. They don’t live near here.” I think I understand why one of my coworkers is mentoring two new people at playing bridge at the moment. I think her hope is that if these two particular novices learn together and play duplicate together, they won’t have to go through the process of finding partners as a solo novice player.

Thanks to the two of you for your feedback! I won’t give up on the Saturday 0-500 morning game. I will go next week. When I send the club manager an email about needing a partner, I will be sure to mention I am open to playing with anyone who is ok that I am a newcomer to duplicate. I’d rather NOT play in 0-500 unless I have someone who is ok that I have only been playing for 8-9 months. I like to discuss hands and ask questions (re: post-mortem or during the mini break). It helps me better grasp the lessons I read about in Bridge 101 books. I will continue attending the 0-20 MP evening at the other club too.

Hi all, I am a novice bridge player. I’ve only been playing for 8-9 months. I play fairly often with intermediate/advanced players at work during lunchtime. It’s a very casual, encouraging environment. Two of those players play duplicate at clubs regularly. Even though I am a novice, my coworkers recommended that I give duplicate a shot since there are two 0-20 MP evening games the area. So, for the past 4-5 weeks, I’ve been attending, and enjoying myself! I honestly didn’t think I would like to play at a club. The 0-20 MP community is very encouraging and enjoyable; I find that other novices are just like me - they want to learn and become better. I’ve been arriving solo and get partnered up with another novice looking for a partner. So far so good! Recently, since there wasn’t an extra person to partner up with me, I played with the beginners coordinator at the club. He suggested I play on a Saturday morning at a club that he manages. I told him I have ZERO MPs, but he said it’s no problem because there’s a 0-500 game and he’ll pair me up with another person looking for a partner. So, I decided to give it a shot. I should probably mention that I am a 36 year old female and I was the youngest person by at least 15 years. I was paired up with an 80 year old man who was a really good player. I was told he was aware I am a novice. We had a chance to talk and he seemed to be encouraging. This was my first time playing with serious, advanced players. I think at some point my partner forgot that I am still extremely new and that this was my first time playing outside of a 0-20 MP table and he criticized me several times. In one instance, I didn’t even do anything - I paused briefly (30 seconds to a minute at most) to look at my cards and ended up passing. Afterwards, he said: “What were you thinking? You really didn’t have anything to contemplate anything! I would have been very upset had you done something. You had me worried as it is.” There were a couple other times that he criticized me. I made all my contracts except one where I went down by 1 (and I knew where I made the mistake). He later told me it was awful what I did and that the opposing players who also play at an advanced level looked at him in surprise. I don’t think we did terribly. We came in #5 overall with a few pairs below us. I felt awful when I left the club after everything was done. It ended on such discouraging note with my partner saying I made two major blunders. I wonder if I should just stay in 0-20 games and avoid 0-500. I don’t have a regular partner to play with, so I’m at the mercy of directors/coordinators to pair me up.