Bridge Blog 646: Wrapping up January

It’s the seventh day of the month and we point hounds know what that means. The ACBL has posted the monthly updates on the master point races. Let’s see how January treated us.

With nearly 1,500 master points, I’m in the 1,000 to 2,500 point division. We'll start with the standings for Western New York Unit 116, which is just Buffalo.

In the Ace of Clubs race, which counts only points earned in club play, I have that 15.85 (see Blog 645), which puts me second to John Ziemer, who earned a few points at other clubs and has 19.54. The others in the Top 10 are Liz Clark, 12.54; Mike Silverman, 11.78; Ken Meier, 9.38; Fred Yellen, 8.94; Carlton Stone, 8.86; Vince Pesce, 8.79; Paul Libby, 8.60; and Elaine Kurasiewicz, 8.56.

In the Mini-McKenney race, which includes club points and tournament winnings, I have 17.91, which places me fifth. Leader is David Hemmer with 73.46 (!), followed by Judy Padgug, 30.78; John Ziemer, 23.87; Fred Yellen, 20.04; me; Ken Meier, 16.80; Liz Clark, 15.92; Bill Rushmore, 14.11; Mike Silverman, 13 even; and Warren O’Connell Jr., 12.40. Hemmer has the most points of anybody in the unit so far.

Moving on to the District 5 level (Buffalo, Cleveland, Pittsburgh and parts of Maryland and West Virginia), John Ziemer and I are still one-two in the Ace of Clubs race. Unit 116 players hold four of the top five places on the list of 25 (exception is third-place John Ferry of West Parkersburg, W. Va., with 14 even). We continue to have a good presence in the Top 25, holding 12 places (adding Dorothy May with 8.29 in 19th place and Gene Finton with 7.86 in 22nd).

Over in the District 5 Mini-McKenney, David Hemmer outdistances last year’s district Mini-McKenney champ, Michael Craeger of Brecksville, Ohio, who has 54.94; and Fleur Howard of Gates Mills, Ohio, with 52.22. Judy Padgug is 11th, John Ziemer is 17th, Fred Yellen is 19th and I’m 22nd. The list cuts off at 17.20 points.

Nationally, the Ace of Clubs leader is Scott Donaldson of Scottsdale, Ariz., with 32.97, followed by Gary Zlot of West Palm Beach, Fla., with 32.60. Perennial leader Charlie Christmas of Tallahassee, Fla., is seventh with 28.59. John Ziemer is 59th and I’m not on the list. You need at least 17.83 to be on it.

Leading the national Mini-McKenney list is Shan Huang of Toronto with 192.45 (wow!), followed by Jim Johnson of San Diego with 136.12 and Denis Murphy of Port Williams, Nova Scotia, with 133.27. David Hemmer is 17th and is the only Unit 116 player present. Michael Craeger is 53rd. Fleur Howard is 63rd. The list cuts off at 46.08.

Most January master points of all belong to a pair of 10,000-point plus players from Las Vegas – Mike Passell with a towering 371.74 and Geoff Hampson with 333.38.