Bridge Blog 885: Out like a lamb

        What with the press of work and my significant other’s health crisis, I needed this Sunday night off to finally get a belated look at the ACBL master point races, which were updated to the end of March in the middle of last week. So how do I measure up against the rest of the bridge world at the finish of the first quarter? Let’s see.

        Unit 116 (Buffalo only). Ace of Clubs. Club play only. I have 30 points even, good for fourth place among Ruby Life Masters (1,500 to 2,500 points) and ninth among all players in the unit. Here are the leaders:

        Mike Silverman, 39.14 (second among all players in the unit); Gene Finton (who’s listed with a hometown of Delray Beach, Fla.), 33.04; Ken Meier, 31.02; me, 30; Bill Finkelstein, 25.47; Allen Beroza, 24.77; Fred Yellen, 23.72; Vince Pesce, 16.87; Chuck Schorr, 14.08; Anne Watkins, 13.50; Sue Bergman, 12.29; and Claire Gareleck, 11.77.

        Among all Unit 116 players, it’s an interesting leaderboard.  It looks like this:

        Meg Klamp, 52.63 (with a Fort Myers, Fla., hometown – she hasn’t come north yet this year); Mike Silverman, 39.14; Gene Finton, 33.04; John Ziemer, 32.82; Mike Ryan, 32.26; Ken Meier, 31.02; Martin Pieterse and Liz Clark, tied with 30.03; me with 30; Judy Padgug, 28.89; Jerry Geiger, 28.26; Ron Henrikson, 28.14; Bill Boardman, 28.12; Judi Marshall, 27.79; and John Welte, 27.29 (ahead of wife Martha, who’s 16th with 26.34).

        Unit 116 Mini-McKenney. All points earned everywhere. My grand total for the year so far is 34.90, good for fourth on this list of Ruby Life Masters, too, and 22nd among all local players. Here are the leaders:

        David Hemmer, 48.95; Fred Yellen, 40.17; Mike Silverman, 39.92; me, 34.90; Ken Meier, 33.36; Gene Finton, 33.04 (no tournaments down there in Florida, eh?); Allen Beroza, 32.56; Bill Finkelstein, 25.47; Sharon Gerstman, 21.61; Art Morth, 18.84.

        Among all Unit 116 players, the leader is Saleh Fetouh with a pretty amazing 173.99. Meg Klamp is next with 87.24, followed by John Welte (enhanced by his good showing in the Toronto Regional) with 67.79; Jay Levy, 67.39; Martha Welte, 66.84; Mike Ryan, 64.34; Ron Henrikson, 59.15; Davis Heussler, 56.56; Linda Burroughsford, 55.37; and David Hemmer, 48.95 (no club play for him).

        District 5 (Buffalo, Cleveland, Pittsburgh). Ace of Clubs. Ruby Life Masters. I’m eighth, 39th among all players in the district. Unit 116 players take half of the top ten positions. Mike Silverman leads the list and is seventh overall. Gene Finton is third. Ken Meier is seventh. Bill Finkelstein is tenth.

        Overall Ace of Clubs leaders are Patricia Katz of Pittsburgh, 61.27; Richard Katz of North Versailles, Pa., 55.32; W. Tordella of Bemus Point, N.Y., 53.68; then Meg Klamp. Former Buffalonian Bev Cohen, now a Clevelander, is tenth with 37.97.

        District 5 Mini-McKenney. Leading the Ruby Life Masters are Sue Lan Ma of Kirtland Hills, Ohio, with 89.79; Barry Boyd, Wheeling, W.VA., 84.59; Jean Picone, Pittsburgh, 68.09; Harvey Cohen, Winter Haven, Fla., 61.83; and Chantal Whitney, Shaker Heights, Ohio, 53.38. David Hemmer is seventh. Fred Yellen is 12th. I’m 106th.

        Overall leader is good old Reanette Frobouck from Pittsburgh with 285.69. Saleh Fetouh is second. Ohio players fill out the rest of the top 10. Meg Klamp is 17th.

        Nationwide? I don’t make the Ace of Clubs Top 500 for Ruby Life Masters. It cuts off at 31.97. Top dog here is Ed Rauch of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., with 80.69; followed by Babs Dippell of Bay Harbor, Fla., with 76.49; and Michael Rosen of Freehold, N.J., with 76.44. Six other players have more than 70 club points. Mike Silverman is 232nd.  

        Ace of Clubs nationwide? Topping all players is Bill Kulbersh of Atlanta with 199.31 (wow!). Then Sean Ganness of Miami, 145.74. And Bella Ionis-Sorren of Fort Lauderdale, 143.52. In all, 21 players have more than 100 club points.

        Mini-McKenney nationwide? Tops among Ruby Life Masters are Mary Jane and Michael Gladfelter of Columbus, Ohio, both with 239.96; followed by Oren Kriegel of Chicago with 227.65; Cookie Potter of Boca Grande, Fla., with 225.33; and Joan Cremin of Paradise Valley, Ariz., with 220.65. District 5 leader Sue Lan Ma is 122nd. No Unit 116 players on this list, which ends at 57.61.

        Among all players, it’s Kevin Dwyer of Melbourne, Fla., with 863.45, which will give him 3,400-plus if he keeps up the pace all year. Next is a familiar face, Jeff Meckstroth of Clearwater Beach, Fla., with 841.38. Then it’s Chris Compton of Dallas with 820.89. District 5 leader Reanette Frobouck is 92nd. Unit 116 leader Saleh Fetouh is 285th.