Bridge Blog 656: Feb's in

The latest master point race totals have been posted on the ACBL website. Let’s take a look.

Ace of Clubs for Unit 116 (Buffalo, just club play) in my division (1,000 to 2,500 points) finds me in second place with 32.57 behind the excellent John Ziemer, who’s way out front with 44.95. The rest of the Top 10:

Mike Silverman, 29.41; Ken Meier, 26.87; Liz Clark, 25.41; Elaine Kurasiewicz, 18.86; Gene Finton, 18.39; Vince Pesce, 17.92; Fred Yellen, 16.05; and Judy Padgug, 14.12.

Heading the other Unit 116 Ace of Clubs races are:

0-5, Robert Farwell, 3.40; 5-20, Judith Bailey (not Judie Bailey), 3.14; 20-50, Joel Brownstein, 5.90; 50-100, Jim Tao, 8.33; 100-200, Dave Donaldson, 28.69; 200-300, Larry Soong, 13.85; 300-500, Art Matthies, 21.18; 500-1,000, Bill Boardman, 25.39; 2,500-5,000, Jerry Geiger, 46.23; 5,000-7,500, Bud Seidenberg, 14.84; 7,500-10,000, Meg Klamp (who’s down in Florida), 44.90; and 10,000 plus, only one name, Jim Mathis, 25.89.

Mini-McKenney for Unit 116 (all points from all sources) shows me fourth with 35.07. The Top 10: David Hemmer, 75.46; John Ziemer, 49.28; Judy Padgug, 40.46; me; Ken Meier, 34.29; Mike Silverman, 30.63; Liz Clark, 28.79; Fred Yellen, 27.15; Elaine Kurasiewicz, 21.04; and Gene Finton, 18.39.

Moving up to District 5, which includes Buffalo, Cleveland, Pittsburgh and parts of West Virginia and Maryland, I’m still second in the Ace of Clubs. Unit 116 players hold down the top five places. In all, nine of us are on that Top 25 list. It cuts off at 14.35.

As for the District 5 Mini-McKenney, perennial top dog Michael Creager of Brecksville, Ohio, leads the list with 77.24, with David Hemmer right on his heels. Fleur Howard of Gates Mills, Ohio, is right behind him with 73.99. John Ziemer is seventh. Judy Padgug is 10th. I’m 15th. Ken Meier is 17th. Mike Silverman is 21st. Liz Clark is 23rd. Fred Yellen is 25th.

Do any of us make the big nationwide Top 100s? In my division, in the Ace of Clubs, leader is Judy Zhu of Naperville, Ill., with 57.02, followed by Paul Harris of Phoenix, Ariz., with 56.12, and good old Charlie Christmas of Tallahassee, Fla., with 53.16. John Ziemer is 12th. I’m 86th. The list cuts off at 31.78.

Tougher still is the Mini-McKenney. Leader there in the 1,000 to 2,500 bracket is Jim Johnsen of San Diego, Calif., with 266.29, followed at a distance by Shan Huang of Toronto with 205.51 and Sylvia Shi of Baltimore with 156.05. District 5 leader Michael Creager is 71st. David Hemmer is 81st. Fleur Howard is 88th. The list stops at 72.09.

Most points of all this year belong to a 10,000-points-plus guy named Jacek Pszczola of Chapel Hill, N.C., who has 500.15.