Bridge Blog 1140: April trickles

 

No shower of points for me in April. Just the 6-point drizzle I’ve gotten used to since I began playing online all the time a year ago.

          Ace of Clubs (club play only). Unit 116 (just Buffalo). Gold Life Masters (2,500 to 3,500 points).

          Slowest month yet for the Weltes. John and Martha accumulated only 56.16 points, bringing their unit and district-leading total to 295.95.

          Ken Meier is still second, up 15.83 points to 83.16. He’s sixth overall among Buffalo players. Allen Beroza added only 7.29, putting him at 69.84. He’s ninth overall.

          Parachuting onto the list is snowbird David Millward, who’s accumulated many of his 61.11 points from Florida. He’s tenth overall.

          David’s arrival drops me to sixth place with 25.80, 6.59 more than I had a month ago. I’m #35 overall, down from #33. Bill Rushmore has just 18.88. He’s #48, up from #51. Then it’s Davis Heussler with 16.58, 8.23 more than in March. He used to be #84, now he’s #48. Fred Yellen is unchanged at 10.48, but that drops him from eighth to tenth on this list and to #83 from #64 overall.

          Bringing up the rear are Art Morth with 4.26 and Pat Rasmus with 3.06. They’re #133 and #145 overall, respectively.

          Ace of Clubs. Unit 116. All players.

          The Weltes’ 295.95 would probably be tops for the unit if they never earned another point all year. But we know they will.

          Meanwhile, nobody else is in triple digits for club player. Here’s how they shake out: Barbara Libby, 87.11; Vic Bergsten, 84.26; Jim Lanzo, 83.82; Ken Meier, 83.16; Martha Townson, 77.98; Sandi England, 73.72; Allen Beroza, 59.84; David Millward, 61.11.

          Bubbling in the teens are Larry Himelein, 58.07; Sharon Benz, 57.81; Gay Simpson, 55.71; Judi Marshall, 54.89; Violet Makhija, 49.16; Amita Arora, 49.10; Bram and Terry Hamovitch, 45.67; Jasbeer Makhija, 41.43; and Chris Urbanek, 39.47, sliding into #20 just ahead of the team of Jim Easton and Marilyn Wortzman, who have 39.25.

          Mini-McKenney (club points plus tournament points). Unit 116. Gold Life Masters.

          Once again, not much difference from the Ace of Clubs, but a couple of important distinctions. For one thing, Davis Heussler’s tournament winnings have doubled his point count. On this list, he’s ahead of me.

          John and Martha Welte, 323.21, also tied for first overall. Ken Meier, 83.16 (seventh). Allen Beroza, 69.84 (ninth). David Millward, 61.11 (#11). Davis Heussler, 32.82 (#27). Moi, 25.80 (#39). Bill Rushmore, 18.88 (#51). Fred Yellen, 10.48 (#85). Art Morth, 4.26 (#134). Pat Rasmus, 3.06 (#146).

          Mini-McKenney. Unit 116. All players.

          The surprise here isn’t the Weltes. It’s the relatively inexperienced players in third and fourth place.

          John and Martha Welte, 323.21. Jim Lanzo, 107.81. Martha Townson, 94.17. Barbara Libby, 87.11. Vic Bergsten, 85.24. Ken Meier, 83.16. Sandi England, 73.72. Allen Beroza, 69.84. Amita Arora, 67.28.

          And the second tier: David Millward, 61.11. Larry Himelein, 58.07. Sharon Benz, 57.81. Gay Simpson, 55.71. Judi Marshall, 54.89. Violet Makhija, 49.16. Bram and Terry Hamovitch, 46.20. Dian Petrov, 44.23. Jim Easton and Marilyn Wortzman, 42.56.

          Ace of Clubs. District 5 (Buffalo, Cleveland, Pittsburgh). Gold Life Masters.

          Buffalo holds down half of the Top 10 here, Cleveland has four. Here’s the lineup:

          John and Martha Welte, 295.95 (also first among all players in the district). Monica Early of Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, 102.97 (sixth overall). Ken Meier, 83.16 (#18). Peter Merker of Mentor, Ohio, 73.73 (#28). Allen Beroza, 69.84 (#32). Doug Snyder of Shaker Heights, Ohio, 67.34 (#36). David Millward, 61.11 (#44). David Norris of Rocky River, Ohio, 58.77 (#48). And finally a Pennsylvanian, Jack Hawthorne of Valencia, 51.85 (#64 overall).

          Second ten: Gary Sikon of Cleveland proper, 42.96 (#100). Barry Boyd of Wheeling, W.Va., 38.23 (#122). Harvey Cohen of Sagamore Hills, Ohio, 36.26 (#130); Jayne Stahr of Stow, Ohio, 36.03 (#134). Vicki Goodykoontz of Morgantown, W.Va., 28.04 (#179).

          Here I am at #16, demoted from #14, with 25.80, also down to #201 from #198 overall.

          Then we have Ronald Sain of Indiana, Pa., 24.59 (#216). Leroy Hackenberg of Pittsburgh, 23.64 (#225). Kenneth Eichler of Murrysville, Pa., 23.49 (#226). And Carolyn Sullivan of Richfield, Ohio, 22.96 (#238).

          Ace of Clubs. District 5. All players.

          John and Martha Welte again with 295.95. Then it’s Davis Bonner of Mentor, Ohio, 112.16, and Reanette Frobouck of Pittsburgh with 112.14. After that, a herd of Ohioans – Richard and Monica Early of Cuyahoga Falls, 109.87 and 102.97, respectively; Gary Cole of Norwalk, 96.97; Barbara Kotton of Beachwood, 94.16; Bruce Cahoon of Silver Lake, 93.40; Sue Becker of Canton, 92.17; and Chris Murphy of North Canton, 87.53.

          Next Unit 116 representative shows up at #12. It’s Barbara Libby with 87.11. Vic Bergsten is #15 with 84.26. Jim Lanzo is #16 with 83.82. Ken Meier is #18 with 83.16. And Martha Townson is #21 with 77.98.

          Mini-McKenney. District 5. Gold Life Masters.

          The Weltes have triple the points of the next contenders. And then some.

          John and Martha Welte, 323.21 (also tied for first among all District 5 players). Monica Early of Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, 102.97 (#12). Ken Meier, 83.16 (#24). Peter Merker of Mentor, Ohio, 73.73 (#31). David Norris of Rocky River, Ohio, 69.88 (#35). Allen Beroza, 69.84 (#36). Doug Snyder of Shaker Heights, Ohio, 69.14 (#39). David Millward, 61.11 (#50). Jack Hawthorne of Valencia, Pa., 52.60 (#69).

          I’m in the second ten: Gary Sikon of Cleveland, 42.96 (#106). Barry Boyd of Wheeling, 38.23 (#133). Harvey Cohen of Sagamore Hills, Ohio, 36.26 (#141). Jayne Stahr of Stow, Ohio, 36.03 (#144). Davis Heussler, 32.82 (#156). Vicki Goodykoontz of Morgantown, W.Va., 28.04 (#196). Moi, 25.80 (#214). Robert Sain of Indiana, Pa., 24.59 (#229). Robert Zimmerman of Pittsburgh, 23.73 (#238). And Leroy Hackenberg of Pittsburgh, 23.64 (#239).

          Mini-McKenney. District 5. All players.

          The Weltes, 323.21. Davis Bonner of Mentor, Ohio, 112.16. Reanette Frobouck of Pittsburgh, 112.14. Bruce Cahoon of Silver Lake, Ohio, 111.81. Richard Early of Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, 109.87. Jim Lanzo, 107.81. Erin Gonzalez of Mars, Pa., 106.25. Amy Goddard of Hartville, Ohio, 105.47. And Barbara Kotton of Beachwood, Ohio, 105.27.

          Next Buffalo player on this list is Martha Townson at #15 with 94.17. Then we find Barbara Libby at #18 with 87.11, Vic Bergsten at #23 with 85.24, Ken Meier at #24 with 83.16 and Sandi England at #32 with 73.72.      

          Ace of Clubs. Nationwide. Gold Life Masters.

          The Weltes hold onto their tie for fourth place nationwide. Ahead of them are last month’s top three – Piotr Olszewski of Hackettstown, N.J., 419.98, up 80.10 points; Hal Jones Jr. of Lorton, Va., 380.04, up 99.87; and Stephen Donahue of Riverwoods, Ill., 351.01, up 80.87.

          Right behind the Weltes in sixth place again is June Patton of Brevard, N.C., with 282.25, an increase of 55.31. Seventh again is Yacob (Jacob) Rubenstien of Holland, Pa., with 279.71, 59.70 points better. Still eighth is Jim Loffree of Naples, Fla., 262.64. Remaining ninth is Judy Hansen of Eagan, Minn., 248.54. Taking tenth place away from Mark Crumrine of Ocala, Fla., is Krzysztof Jarosz of Grantham, N.H. Krzysztof has 234.52. Mark has 232.21. Buffalo’s Ken Meier is #170 with 83.16. Allen Beroza is #262 with 69.84. David Millward is #344 with 61.11. The list ends at 49.02.

          Ace of Clubs. Nationwide. All players.

          Judy Rothstein of Livingston, N.J., again, now with 472.03, up 87.86. Still second is Irva Neyhart of Portland, Ore., with 449.98, having collected a remarkable 106.81. Gold leader Piotr Olszewski is third with 419.98.

          Stephen Gladyszak of Chelsea, Mass., moves up to fourth from seventh with 406.63, having added 108.87. Mel Norton of Burlington, Ont., advances to fifth from ninth with 393.86, 105.62 better.

          After that, we have David Rosenblatt of Palmetto Bay, Fla., fallen to sixth from fourth with 386.17, having added only 74.34. Sundaresan Ram of Tucson is right behind him with 384.44, up 80.28. Milton Neher of Richardson, Texas, is on his heels with 383.78, up 81.80. Then it’s Hal Jones Jr. of Lorton, Va., up to ninth from #11 with 380.04 and John Brady of Jacksonville, Fla., with 377.32.

Sitting eleventh is our old friend Vera Carpenter from York, Ont., with 367.52. Her husband/partner Rashid Khan is #27 with 311.56, which puts him ahead of the Weltes, who drop from #27 to a tie for #30 with their 295.95. Nobody else from Unit 116 is on the list. It ends at 124.08.

Mini-McKenney. Nationwide. Gold Life Masters.

Looks a lot like Ace of Clubs – Piotr Olszewski, 433.69; Stephen Donahue, 384.37; Hal Jones, 380.04; John and Martha Welte, 323.21; June Patton, 284.63; Yacob (Jacob) Rubinstien, 280.70; Mark Crumrine, 272.54; Jim Loffree, 262.64; and Judy Hansen, 248.54.

Ken Meier is here at #188 with 83.16. Allen Beroza checks in at #281 with 69.84. And there’s David Millward at #367 with his 61.11. The list stops at 51.06.

Mini-McKenney. Nationwide. All Players.

Last year’s winner Mark Itabashi of Murrieta, Calif., regains the top with 481.74, following a 144.39 point effort in April. He demotes Judy Rothstein of Livingston, N.J., to second place. Her 473.93 is only 87.66 better. Irva Neyhart is down a notch to third with 470.53, having added 106.81.

Fourth is Stephen Gladyszak of Chelsea, Mass., with 456.57, having accumulated 139.24 points. He passes Gold champ Piotr Olszewski, who has 433.69. Then it’s Sundaresan Ram with 404.49, Mel Norton with 393.86; Milton Neher with 386.80; David Rosenblatt with 386.17; and Steven Donahue with 384.37.

Right behind them at #11 is Vera Carpenter with 382.44. Rashid Khan is #25 with 329.78. The Weltes are tied from #28 with 323.21. The legendary Jeff Meckstroth collected no points at all in April and has dropped to #70 from #32, standing pat at 245.41. The list cuts off at 131.98.