Bridge Blog 392: Small fish, big pond

          No longer do I need to hold my breath waiting for the ACBL to post the new monthly totals for the unit (Buffalo), district (Buffalo, Cleveland, Pittsburgh) and national masterpoint races, both for Ace of Clubs (club play only) and the Mini-McKenney (club play plus tournaments). I’m in a tougher division now (1,000 to 2,500 points) and the ACBL has pulled the plug on the triple points that the Airport Bridge Club offered in 2009 and part of 2010.

          Still, it’s always enlightening to take a peek. Let’s start with Ace of Clubs. On the unit level, only the top ten are listed and, happily, I’m there in sixth place with 25.73. The list looks like this:

          Elizabeth Clark, 33.51

          Mike Kisiel 33.03

          John Ziemer 29.86

          Carlton Stone 27.12

          Vince Pesce 26.11

          Dale Anderson 25.73

          Judy Padgug 17.15

          Luke Danielson 15.07

          Carolyn Siracuse 14.71

          Janet Frisch 13.28

          And here’s the unit Mini-McKenney:

Elizabeth Clark 35.30

Judy Padgug 34.58

Mike Kisiel 33.72

John Ziemer 32.20

Dian Petrov 31.74

Dale Anderson 29.67

Carlton Stone 27.12

Vince Pesce 26.80

Mike Ryan 25.91

Joanne Kelley 18.92

For the district, Ace of Clubs looks like this:

Francine Feldman, Boca Raton, Fla. 40.08

Elizabeth Clark 33.51

Mike Kisiel 33.03

John Ziemer 29.86

Gary Montain, Westlake, Ohio 27.93

Carlton Stone 27.12

Vince Pesce 26.11

Dale Anderson 25.73

David Norris, Rocky River, Ohio 25.07

Nancy Steele, Bridgeport, W.Va. 24.60

In the Mini-McKenney, I’m not in the top ten. I’m 19th.

Leaders are Hao Ge of Bay Village, Ohio, with 71.18 and the aforementioned Francine Feldman with 41.59. The Unit 116 leader, Elizabeth Clark, is seventh.

Nationwide, forget about it. To crack the Top 100 in Ace of Clubs, you need 31.57 points. Leader is Ronald Andrews of Vero Beach, Fla., with 60.14, followed by Lita Lechter (any relation to Hannibal?) of Sunny Isles, Fla., with 56.05. Elizabeth Clark is 73rd.

To be among the chosen in the Mini-McKenney, the lowest rung is 67.77. Top of the heap is a person named Geeske Joel (not Joel Geeske?) of Palo Alto, Calif., with 208.77, followed closely by Louise Clark of Glencoe, Ill., with 207.03. Last year’s 500-1,000 Mini-McKenney leader, Allison Howard of Cookeville, Tenn., is third with 152.66.