Bridge Blog 813: Answered e-mail prayers

When I didn’t find cumulative master point race totals for the District 5 Summer STaC, I was dismayed. They were in that dumb slick page format and nowhere were there overall totals.

So I e-mailed whoever it is that’s on the receiving end of the STaC e-mail address and – miracle! – they’ve got cumulative totals for the Winter STaC on the District 5 page. So to whoever did it, thanks a million.

In all, 1,113 players earned 2,644.64 silver points in STaC play earlier this month in Buffalo, Cleveland, Pittsburgh and points in between. And five of the top six were from the Pittsburgh area, headed by Constance Hoechstetter of Moon Township, with 23.72, and Bernard Fodor of Murrysville with 20.84.

Top player from the Buffalo area turns out to be Shirley Cassety, who’s in 12th place with 13.34. Great player, but last I heard she isn’t a member of the ACBL. Shirley, you ought to be official. The other big winners from Western New York Unit 116 are:

Jerry Geiger, 12.68, 16th.

Marian Morber, 10.67, 26th.

Martin Pieterse, 8.34, 43rd.

Fred Yellen, 7.92, 49th.

Wilson McClaren, 7.87, 51st.

Allen Beroza, 7.86, tied for 52nd.

Ron Henrikson, 7.57, 57th.

Mike Silverman, 7.11, 64th.

Shakeel Ahmad and Manju Ceylony, 6.53, tied for 79th.

Joe Rooney, 6.51, 82nd.

Bert Hargeshimer, 6.47, 84th.

Linda Vasallo, 6.00, 97th.

Judy Padgug, 5.99, 98th.

Bud Seidenberg, 5.97, 99th.

Joan Rose, 5.92, 101st.

Where’s my name? Way-y-y-y down in a tie for 186th place with a guy named Roger Howey, no hometown listed, with 3.88 points. Far cry from the Summer STaC, when I earned 11.50.  

Bridge Blog 812: Milestone!

According to the ACBL, I finished November with a career total of 1,796.41 master points and I’ve had a pretty good month so far, beginning with that 71.53% game with Marilyn Sultz on Dec. 1. Have I hit my goal of 1,800 before Christmas? Here’s the roundup:

Dec. 1 w/Marilyn Sultz, 71.53%, 0.90 point.

Dec. 2 w/June Feuerstein, 46.39%.

Dec. 3 w/Celine Murray, 63%, 0.42 point.

Dec. 4 w/Nancy Kessler (!), 52.24%, 0.48 point.

Dec. 5 w/Selina Volpatti in St. Catharines, 43.60%.

Dec. 6 w/Marietta Kalman at Unit 116 annual meeting, 51.90%, 0.26 point. (Something also should be said about the meeting itself, but I’m not up for it at the moment.)

And now for STaC (Sectional Tournament at the Clubs) week with silver points and double sessions:

Dec. 8 a.m. w/Usha Khurana, 57.17%, 0.91 point.

Dec. 8 p.m. w/Usha, 43.52%.

Dec. 9 a.m. w/Celine Murray, 51.10% (a tenth of percent out of winning points).

Dec. 9 p.m. w/Ron Henrikson, 58.13%, 0.84 point. Hooray! That nailed it!

Of course, the STaC awards extra points on a district level. Was Monday morning good enough to win some? Nope, not quite. We needed at least 58%. 

Bridge Blog 811: Attenuated November

Between the Thanksgiving holiday, the big snowstorm and the layoff due to my medical procedure, I missed a lot of bridge in November. I played only 12 days out of 30 and my point count shows it. Just 7.66 for the month.

How did that affect my standing in the ACBL master point races? Let’s see. In the Unit 116 Ace of Clubs (Buffalo only, points earned only in club play), hey, I’m still in fifth place in the 1,000- to 2,500-point division with 105.41.

John Ziemer continues on top, now with 189.34. Mike Silverman has moved into second with 153.63, passing Ken Meier, who has 142.09. Fred Yellen is fourth with 113.89. Can I catch him in December? Probably not. I’m going in for another procedure next week and will likely be out until January.

With luck, I’ll stay ahead of Chuck Schorr, who’s sixth with 102.91. The rest of the list includes Vince Pesce, 83.29; Barbara Pieterse, 83.18; Gene Finton, 74.82; and Dotty May, 58.58.

In the Unit 116 Mini-McKenney, which includes all points earned everywhere, I’m still sixth, now with 139.66. John Ziemer leads the list with 270.35, followed by Ken Meier, 178.05; Fred Yellen, 169.67; Mike Silverman, 168.07; and David Hemmer, 145.89. After me, there’s Chongmin Zhang, 125.38; Chuck Schorr, 109.81; Barbara Pieterse, 101.79; and Gene Finton, 97.58.

John Ziemer now has the most overall points of anyone in the unit. He’s passed Jerry Geiger (5,000 to 7,500), who has 260.48; and Saleh Fetouh, who has 254.02. Only two other players have more than 200 – Chris Urbanek (7,500 to 10,000), with 226.58; and Bud Seidenberg (5,000 to 7,500) with 209.90.

Moving on to the District 5 level, which includes Buffalo, Cleveland and Pittsburgh, the Ace of Clubs list in the 1,000- to 2,500-point division continues to be dominated by Buffalonians. We hold down the top six positions. Our only other representative is Vince Pesce, who brings up the rear in 25th place.

Ohioans rule in the District 5 Mini-McKenney – Fleur Howard of Gates Mills, 394.86; Michael Creager of Brecksville, 388.53; and Peter Merker of Mentor, 364.66. John Ziemer is fourth. Ken Meier, Fred Yellen and Mike Silverman are eighth, ninth and tenth, respectively. David Hemmer is 16th, I’m still 17th and Chongmin Zhang is 21st. The list cuts off at 121.10.