Bridge Blog 929: Closing out 2016

Despite the big winter storm that shut down the ACBL offices south of Memphis on Friday, they’ve managed to get the year-end master point race results posted. And thanks to Bill Finkelstein submitting his Airport Bridge Club numbers comfortably ahead of the deadline, we know what we got and where we stand.

For me, no surprises. Ace of Clubs total (club play only) is 140.73. Mini McKenney total (all points collected everywhere) is 185.17, slightly surpassing my goal of 15 points per month. Lifetime total is now 2,144.42. Continuing at this pace, Gold Life Master will come along somewhere around Christmas 2018. So what’s my place in the big picture? Let’s see.

Unit 116 (Buffalo) Ace of Clubs Ruby Life Masters (1,500 to 2,500 points). I’m a lonely third. Ken Meier’s on top with 177.78, then it’s Mike Silverman, 170.20; me, 140.73; Fred Yellen, 115.04; Gene Finton, 103.59; Allen Beroza, 97.48; Vince Pesce, 86.89; Bill Finkelstein, 59.48; Anne Watkins, 55.55.

Unit 116 Ace of Clubs (all players). I’m ninth. First, as expected, is Jerry Geiger, 242.96. Then it’s Judi Marshall, 178.31; Ken Meier, 177.78; Ron Henrikson, 174.63; Tom Koralewski, 170.29; Mike Silverman, 170.20; Liz Clark, 164.40; John Ziemer, 153.07; me, 140.73; Martin Pieterse, 140.27; Mike Ryan, 139.04.

Unit 116 Mini McKenney Ruby Life Masters. I’m fifth in a cluster of players bunched second to fifth. Way out ahead is Ken Meier with 283.84. Then it’s Fred Yellen, 194.06; David Hemmer, 189.99; Mike Silverman, 185.75; me, 185.17; Allen Beroza, 129.01; Gene Finton, 122.56; Vince Pesce, 102.63; Art Morth, 90.64; Chongmin Zhang, 62.39.

Unit 116 Mini McKenney (all players). I’m 22nd. Leader is Saleh Fetouh with 459.70. Then it’s John Welte, 393.09; wife and partner Martha Welte, 384.18; Jerry Geiger, 374.25; Tom Koralewski, 333.86; Mike Ryan, 324.78; Dian Petrov, 311.01; John Ziemer, 298.35; Ken Meier, 283.84; and Jay Levy, 279.21. Fred Yellen, David Hemmer, Mike Silverman and I hold down 19th to 22nd spots. In 23rd, the eminent Dan Gerstman with 184.25.

District 5 (Buffalo, Cleveland, Pittsburgh) Ace of Clubs Ruby Life Masters. We Buffalonians hold the top three spots. Overall, against all District 5 club players, we’re 10th, 14th and 30th. Then it’s Sue Lan Ma of Kirtland Hills, Ohio, with 124.81, and Doris Kirsch from East Springville, Pa., with 123.71. Fred Yellen is seventh. Gene Finton is 12th. Allen Beroza is 15th.

Leader among all District 5 Ace of Clubs players is our Jerry Geiger, with 242.96. He’s followed by Arlene Port of Pittsburgh with 236.66; Charles Smith of Erie, Pa., with 207.60; Robert Alexander of Mentor, Ohio, with 207.10; and Patricia Katz of Pittsburgh with 205.58. Judi Marhsall is ninth with her 178.31. Ken Meier is 10th with 177.78. Ron Henrikson is 11th with 174.63. Tom Koralewski is 13th with 170.29. Mike Silverman is 14th with 170.20. Liz Clark is 164.40 and 16th.

District 5 Mini McKenney Ruby Life Masters. Ken Meier is second, I’m 11th. Here’s the lineup: Sue Lan Ma of Kirtland Hills, Ohio, 544.98; Ken Meier, 283.84; Charles Ladiha of Vermillion, Ohio, 247.85; Peter Merker of Mentor, Ohio, 237.89; Craig Biddle of Pittsburgh; 219.42; Unit 116’s Fred Yellen, 194.06; Ami Ellis of Pittsburgh, 192.46; Martin Kumer of Monroeville, Pa., 190.95; then three Buffalonians in a row, David Hemmer, 189.99; Mike Silverman, 185.75; and me, 185.17.

Ken Meier is 37th among all District 5 players. Sue Lan Ma is sixth. I’m 96th. Here’s how they line up: Reanette Frobouck of Pittsburgh, 926.07; Philip Becker of Beachwood, Ohio, 715.21; Robert and Stephanie Alexander of Mentor, Ohio, 613.89 and 586.99, respectively; Kathleen Sulgrove of Twinsburg, Ohio, 550.42; Sue Lan Ma, 544.98; Don Sulgrove, also of Twinsburg, 474.42; Unit 116 overall leader Saleh Fetouh, 459.70; Mary Chilcote of Cleveland, 459 even; and Jan Assini, formerly of Cleveland, now of Pittsburgh, 443.74. Buffalo’s John Welte is 14th. His wife Martha is 17th. Jerry Geiger is 19th.

Now let’s go nationwide. Ruby Life Master Ace of Clubs leader is Robert Shearer of Diberville, Miss., with 348.07. Then come Billie Brown of Evansville, Ind., with 314.45; Ariel Libovitz of Houston with 314.23; Ricky Dashefsky of Delray Beach, Fla., with 306.14; Edward Rauch of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., with 305.46; and Ben Franz of Edgewood, N.M., with 304.34.

Ken  Meier is 132nd. Mike Silverman is 158th. I’m tied for 383rd with Wayne Kooiker of Sun City, Ariz.

Get to the overall Ace of Clubs list nationwide and the point counts are astounding at the top. Bill Kulbersh of Atlanta leads with 744.20. Then come Bella Ionis-Sorren of Fort Lauderdale, 617.73; Kay Schulle of Purchase, NY, with 574.31; Sheila Gabay of Newton, Mass., with 522.70; and Gail Wells of Dallas with 508.56. The top Ruby Life Master guy from Mississippi is 47th. None of us Unit 116 people are on the list. Wait, there’s Jerry Geiger at 306. You need at least 213.10 points to make the Top 500.

And (drum roll, please) here are the really big guys, the nationwide Mini McKenney players. Amongst Ruby Life Masters, leader is Oren Kriegel of Chicago with 1,294.90. Won’t stay Ruby for long. He’s 46th overall. Then come Mary Jane and Michael Gladfelter of Columbus, Ohio, with 791.22, both 174th overall, followed by Sherman Gao of Laguna Woods, Calif., 706.75; and Jay Segarra of Ocean Springs, Miss., with 644.23.

Topping all players nationwide is Chris Compton of Dallas, who racked up 3,420.55 points in 2016. Following are Kevin Dwyer of Melbourne, Fla., 3,145.22; Mark Itabashi of Murrieta, Calif., 2,680.31; Eddie Wold of Houston, 2,608.26; and Mike Passell of Plano, Texas, with 2,572.66. The legendary Jeff Meckstroth is eighth with 2,385.91. Buffalo native Joel Wooldridge, who currently hangs his coat in Astoria, Queens, is 29th with 1,665.96. District 5 champ Reanette Frobouck is 115th. You need 503.66 to make this Top 500 list. No Unit 116 players are on it.