Pasadena Bridge Club 649 N. Fair Oaks Ave #201
Upstairs above the pizza shop
Mojo Jones 626 247-4457 Zach Vedro 626 215-5080
Full Schedule Open Games Mon-Sat
11:00 AM M-F 1:00 PM Saturday
Regency Bridge Club 201 E. Colorado St, Glendale
Adam Barron 323 318-4308
Thursday 12:30
Social Duplicate Game Arcadia Community Center
Marie Nimmrich 626 448-3304
Wednesday 9:30 - 50¢ Friday 1:00 - 50¢
Mojo Jones 626 247-4457 Unit Game Director
1st & 3rd Sunday 12:30 Pasadena Bridge CLub
Bridge Lessons Mojo 626 247-4457
Unit Game - Jul 20
Unit Game - Aug 3
Unit Game - Aug 17
Waken Sectional AUG 23-24
Unit Game - Sept 7
Unit Game - Sept 21
Our unit games are held twice a month, usually on
the first and third Sundays, and both games are held
at the Pasadena Bridge Club. - Game time is 12:30
Be sure to call Miriam Harrington for a reservation: 626 232-0558
Roy Wilson 626 340-9575 -- unit559Webmaster@gmail.com
If you use Text Messaging...TEXT ME! Roy
You will learn more by losing to good players
than you will by winning against poor players
Stray Words of Wisdom Smolen
Suppose your partner opens 1NT and you hold a hand similar to this one...
Sometime back in the 1980's Mike Smolen created an agreement to describe this hand so that the notrump bidder becomes
the declarer. Start with 2!c, Stayman, and if partner bids either suit you have found a fit and the strong hand
is the declarer with the lead coming up to his hand.
Hmmm... but what if declarer bds 2!d? Mike suggested that you jump a level, but jump in your 4-card suit. This
bid promises that the other suit is a 5+card suit. All ya gotta do is remember it!
Do you have a a favorite bidding or defensive agreement that you would share with the rest of us? Send it to me!
Roy Wilson
Unit559webmaster@gmail.com
Not Guilty
I was accused of cheating by three ACBL officials who told me that EDGAR, which is their software that examines hands
played on BBO, reported three hands they said I played about five years ago.
They decided I was guilty and suspended me, and told me that I had two options, either plead guilty and accept their
punishment or file a $900 request for a hearing. I was also told I would need an advocate, at a cost of about $1000 a day,
if I wanted to appeal.
It took several months for me to discover how this happened, and now that I know, I will not present it to my accusers, so
although innocent, I will remain "guilty."
For about five years my patio was a place where a couple of generations of my relatives came together wth friends and often
played bridge. Out of perhaps 12-15 of them only two were ACBL members, and one was a rookie while the other had perhaps
20 masterpoints. Kimberly and Pat. My son gave them the password to my BBO account and they used it to play
together. They never told me! For some reason they thought there was a membership fee to belong to BBO. They sat next to each other
and played on an iPad and a laptop, and often asked others about the best bid or play. I have no idea what kind of
advice they received from the others, but since everyone could see both hands I can only imagine what they were told to
either bid or lead. In any event, EDGAR, the software app that looks at suspicious hands and reports cheating, reported
me as being suspect. Three people at ACBL headquarters accused me of cheating five years ago. I had no
explanation for the few hands they showed me! The three accusers also became my three judges, and were a jury of
three as well. They suspended me.
When I told the family I had been suspended, Kimberly and Pat said it might have been them. they said they would be
glad to offer the ACBL an explanation for whatever they might remember of hands from years back.
After some thought, I have decided to drop it. There is a $900 filing fee for a hearing, plus a $1000 a day cost for
an advocate. There's also the cost of flying three of us to Mississippi. But... most important of all, they might
exonerate me but then punish Kimberly and Pat. Nope. No chance. It's over. I quit. They win.
(I also believe I would not have much chance of convincing three people who have already made up their minds.)
Winners!
Folks, anyone who wins 26 gold points is a champion forever, right? Lisa Walker went down to Long Beach
and came home with a ton of gold. Congratulations, my friend! Also, Richard Halverstadt is probably
walking about three feet off the ground - He won more than the two gold points he needed to become a Life Master and
immediately a Bronze Life Master, too!
(Richard, that's certainly not the highest rank in the ACBL, but it is one of the most difficult to achieve. Well done!)
Rank Updates
I just finished the quarterly update of our player's ranks. Unfortunately, the ACBL records are not well maintained in
the files available for this, so please check your rank and let me know if there is an error. (Ranks are below,
on the right.)
THe Top 30 players have also been updated, as well as the Ace of Clubs and the Mini-McKenney.
STaC Games - All This Week
The Pasadena Club will be participating in the district STaC games, which means extra masterpoints.
A STaC game is a Sectional Tournament at Clubs game... The same hands are played in all of the clubs in the district, so it's
possible to win 20+ masterpoints.
HIDDEN TEXT
Unit Historian:
Do you have an old photo or other memorbilia from our past that you can share with us? Please contact Mike and
let him make a copy.
Mike Marcucci
818 903-2471
nstarmgm@att.net
Pasadena-San Gabriel Unit 559
Our unit is one of nine in District 23 and we are sanctioned by the American Contract Bridge League.
We have an elected board of 12 members that meets monthly and is responsible for unit games, our Holiday party
and the annual John Waken sectional.
How to Find Our Virtual Club on the BBO Website
Our unit members can play in a virtual club game set up by Mojo and Paula...
When you log on, you are at the Home screen. Click on Competitive and then click on All Tournaments.
There's a Search Box at the top, on the right. Simply type in a few letters or numbers that will help identify
what you are looking for: 23 is sufficient for District 23, and 559 is enough for Unit 559.
You can use either the abbreviated Pasa or 559 for our virtual club.
Use this link if you would like to see the convention card used by the BBO robots.
Unit 559 Membership Report
Ranks are updated quarterly after the 7th of the month.
Unit 559 Active Members
Click the rank below for a list
Master Points
0-5
No color points needed
5-20
No color points needed
20-50+
No color points needed
50+ 5+ silver points
100+ 15+ silver points
and 5+ gold points
200+ 25+ silver
and 20+ red/gold/platinum
(5 must be gold or platinum)
300+ 50+ silver
and 50+ red/gold/platinum
(25 must be gold or platinum)
500+ 75+ silver
and 100+ red/gold/platinum
(50 must be gold or platinum)
750+ Life Master with
at least 750 points
1000+ Life Master with
at least 1000 points
(200+ must be silver/red/gold/platinum)
1500+ Life Master with
at least 1500 points
(300+ must be silver/red/gold/platinum)
2500+ Life Master with
at least 2500 points
(500+ must be silver/red/gold/platinum)
3500+ Life Master with
at least 3500 points
700+ silver/red/gold/platinum (350+ must be gold or platinum)
5000+ Life Master with
at least 5000 points
1000+ silver/red/gold/platinum (500+ must be gold or platinum)
7500+ Life Master with
at least 7500 points
1500+ silver/red/gold/platinum (750+ must be gold or platinum)
10,000+ Life Master with
at least 10,000 points
2000+ silver/red/gold/platinum (1000+ must be gold or platinum)
10,000+ Life Master with
at least 10,000 points
2000+ silver/red/gold/platinum (1000+ must be gold or platinum)
Must have a victory in an eligble event
July Total Membership 340
July, 2025
Status Change for our Members updated each month in the first week
New Member
Transferred In
Transferred Out
Advanced in Rank - 6
David Foos
Junior Master
Sherna Foucher
Junior Master
Lina Saossian
Junior Master
Wayne Fang
Bronze Life Master
Angela Peters
Bronze Life Master
Nina Huang
Silver Life Master
Since June 16, 2016 --
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This website was established in 1999 by Roy Wilson
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