Bridge Blog 1005: Auld Lang 2017

A good year in many ways personally, but not so great at the bridge tables, I thought. Then I opened up the year-end master point race tabulations on the ACBL website and was pleasantly surprised. My goal was 180 points. I wound up with 176.90 overall (14.41 in December), 136.39 of them in club play (11.42 in December). So let's see how 2017 settled out.

Unit 116 Ace of Clubs (Buffalo only, club play only), Ruby Life Masters (1,500 to 2,500 points).

Here's the Top 10: Mike Silverman, 193.41, also first among all Unit 116 players in club play; Ken Meier, 163.44, fourth in the unit; Allen Beroza, 162.77, fifth in the unit; me, 136.39, 15th. Last of the Rubies in triple figures is Fred Yellen, fifth with 123.28 and 18th overall.

Then it’s Dorothy May, 94.69, 28th; and Gene Finton, 81.22, 35th; and a big step down to Art Morth with 44.94, 82nd; followed by Carolyn Siracuse, 40.27, 95th overall; and Claire Garelek, 34.84, 106th overall.

Unit 116 Ace of Clubs overall. The Top 10 looks like this: Mike Silverman, 193.41; John Ziemer, 187.30; Denise Slattery, 171.83; Ken Meier, 163.44; Allen Beroza, 162.77; Liz Clark, 156.56; Judi Marshall, 156.28; her frequent partner, the late Jerry Geiger, who died Nov. 5, but is still on the list with 153.42, which is what he had at the end of September; Ron Henrikson, 148.26; and Meg Klamp, who’s permanently moved to Florida, I believe, 146.08.

Close behind are Martin Pieterse, 143.99; Martha and John Welte, both 141.70; Mike Ryan, 137.05; then me and my 136.39, edging past Bud Seidenberg, 135.88. There are 26 players in the unit above the century mark, including Joyce Greenspan, Bob Sommerstein and Gay Simpson.

Unit 116 Mini-McKenney (all points everywhere), Ruby Life Masters. Here's how the leaders look: Ken Meier, 288.77 (eighth among all Unit 116 players); Mike Silverman, 206.76 (14th); Fred Yellen, 201.46 (19th); Allen Beroza, 197.63 (21st), me, 176.90 (26th); Gene Finton, 113.20 (47th); Dorothy May, 103.59 (53rd); Art Morth, 80.93 (67th); Chongmin Zhang, 79.81 (70th) and Bill Rushmore, 63.63 (88th).

 Unit 116 Mini-McKenney overall. Martha and John Welte, tied for first place, didn't hit the 400 mark after all. They both have 382.29. Then it's Davis Heussler with 354.97; John Ziemer, 321.32; Mike Ryan, 314.06; Jay Levy, 304.46; Chris Urbanek, 291.89; Ken Meier, 288.77; Saleh Fetouh, 287.01; Linda Burroughsford, 264.70; Bud Seidenberg, 264.38; and Judi Marshall, 214.05.

District 5 (Buffalo, Cleveland, Pittsburgh) Ace of Clubs. Ruby Life Masters. We Buffalo players occupy the top four rungs on the ladder.

Mike Silverman, 193.41 (sixth among all District 5 Mini-McKenney players); Ken Meier, 163.44 (14th overall); Allen Beroza, 162.77 (15th); and me, 136.39 (34th). Susan Konig of The Villages, Fla., slips in with 125.87 (48 th), ahead of Fred Yellen, 123.28 (49th). Next Unit 116 player, Dorothy May, with 94.69 points, is tied with Susan Bussan of Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, for 15th, 100th overall.

District 5 Ace of Clubs overall.  It's Arlene Port of Pittsburgh with 245.15; followed by Asim Ulke of Monroeville, Pa., with 213.30; Richard Katz of North Versailles, Pa., with 203.62; Robert Alexander of Mentor, Ohio, 202.10, followed by Patricia Katz of Pittsburgh, 194.07; and Unit 116 leader Mike Silverman, 193.41. John Ziemer is seventh with his 187.30 and Denise Slattery is tenth with 171.83.

District 5 Mini-McKenney. Ruby Life Masters.  Way out in front is Sue Lan Ma of Kirtland Hills, Ohio, with 836.84. Next is Craig Biddle of Pittsburgh, with 460.83. She’s also first in the district. He’s tenth overall. 

The rest of the Top 10: William Lindgren of Slippery Rock, Pa., 330.05 (21st); Ken Meier, 288.77 (37th); Russell Sheldon of Pittsburgh, 238.27 (56th); Charles Ladiha of Vermillion, Ohio, 226.84 (60th); Mike Silverman, 206.76 (72nd); Fred Yellen, 201.46 (78th); Allen Beroza, 197.63 (81st); and me! 176.90 (98th overall).

         District 5 Mini-McKenney overall. No Unit 116 players in the Top 10 here. It’s Sue Lan Ma, 836.84; Reanette Frobouck of Pittsburgh, 703.86; Phillip Becker of Beachwood, Ohio, 644.41; and

Philip Goulding of Wexford, Pa., 611.63.

Then it's Robert and Stephanie Alexander of Mentor, Ohio, 574.17 and 557.60, respectively; Bernie Greenspan of Beachwood, Ohio, 502.87; sandwiched between Kathleen and Don Sulgrove of Twinsburg, Ohio, with 520.70 and 486.28; and Craig Biddle of Pittsburgh, 460.83. The Unit 116 leaders, Martha and John Welte, are tied for 13th with 382.29.

Nationwide. Ace of Clubs. Ruby Life Masters. Barry Nish of Little Neck, L.I., with 344.19, edges out Thomas Roberg, of Raleigh, N.C., with 344.12. They're 53rd and 54th among all Ace of Clubs players in the country. They're followed by Ben Franz, of Edgewood, N.M., with 331.25; Ricky Dashefsky of Delray Beach, Fla., with 311.24; and Robert Shearer of Diberville, Miss., with 307.02.

Mike Silverman is 94th. Ken Meier is 185th. Allen Beroza is nearby at 194th. I'm way down in 416th place. The list cuts off at 129.35.

Nationwide. Ace of Clubs overall. Bill Kulbersh of Atlanta tops the list with 716.21. (Wow!) Then it's Bella Ionis-Sorren of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., with 598.43, slipping ahead of Gail Wells of Dallas with 579.85. Sheila Gabay of Newton, Mass., with 569.78, slips ahead of Kay Schulle of Purchase, N.Y., with 550.71.  

No Unit 116 players here and only one from District 5 – Arlene Port, 293rd. The list cuts off at 213.99.  

Nationwide. Mini-McKenney. Ruby Life Masters. G Sudhakar Divakaruni, of Scottsdale, Ariz., with 1,149.36, overtakes Gillian Miniter, of New York City, with 1,133.85. After that it's District 5's Sue Lan Ma, 836.84; followed by Robert McClendon of Ponte Vedra, Fla., 783.66; Jeff Edelstein of Riverview, Fla., 756.79; and Mark Blanchard of Bay Shore, L.I., 720.59. Unit 116's Ken Meier is 161st and he’s the only one here from Buffalo. The list cuts off at 207.23.

Nationwide. Mini-McKenney overall.  Fourteen players surpass the double-millennium mark. Chris Compton of Dallas keeps lead with 2,746.50. Then it's Kevin Dwyer of Melbourne, Fla., 2,618.70; Mark Itabashi of Murrieta, Calif., who we played against in Niagara Falls, Ont., 2,524.21; Greg Hinze of San Antonio, Texas, 2,390.49; Shan Huang of Melbourne, Fla.; and the legendary Jeff Meckstroth of Clearwater Beach, Fla., 2,215.10.

Former Buffalonian Joel Wooldridge is 23rd, with 1,658.29. Sue Lan Ma is 134th. Reanette Frobouck is 222nd. Phillip Becker is 275th. Philip Goulding is 312th. Seven District 5 players make the list before it ends at 507.80.