REPORT Is) THEAMERICAN BRIDGE TEACHERS’ NO. ASSOCIATION Ee MOUS MAGAZINE Bridge Made Easy in the Big Easy ABTA Seminar & Convention July 20—23, 2010 Also In This Issue — What are eBoo! EM iee te tas Teacher Activities in New Orleans ABTA MPP Teacher of the Year UpdateA NOTE FROM AUDREY Presenting Two-Over-One Game Force in a manner that informs and excites our students is important. Many come to this course because they think they have to; everyone seems to be playing this new system, and they feel they might be left behind. Since they think it's a large revision to what they’ve been playing, there is apprehension that there will be a lot to digest. As teachers, we have to focus on general concepts, and deliver material that has the potential to empower and amuse players the next time they play bridge. This book will bring you just that! “) GAME <1 FO CE For Teachers’ Ma kathy @ betterbridgg / Audrey Grant and Eric Rodwell nner) Cogan] To order books contact Baron Barclay: 7 [DS ARON 1-800-274-2221 {a HS DARCLAY www.baronbarclay.com BRIDGE SUPA MAGAZINE OF VALUE TO BOTH STUDENTS AND TEACHERS BIDDING: Dealer: West P Pass Vuk Both 7 » Pass jw | Pass vAKJ4 a— *AJ84 *&AKQTS 1. What’s your call? 2. What would your students call? 3. What would Andrew Robson do with this hana? Every issue of AUDREY GRANT’S BETTER BRIDGE MAGAZINE brings the opinions of the experts for teachers to share with their students. Pay: As South, you're the declarer after this auction: West NortH East SOUTH ANT Pass 2m Pass 2a Pass 4a All Pass aK1097 vK43 73 #KQJU7 Lead: ¥2 vd aAJ86 vQ6s +AJ8 #AQ4 West leads the ¥2, you play low from dummy, and East plays the ¥J. 1, Which player holds the vA? 2, How do you plan to avoid losing two heart tricks? 3. Which defender is dangerous? 4. How do you plan to handle the trump suit? AUDREY GRAN7’S BETTER BRIDGE MAGAZINE guides you through the play in deals like this in the regular Playing Detective feature. DEFENSE: |s it better to lead away from aking, a queen, or a jack? Jerry Helms discusses the advantages and disadvantages of leading away from various honors in his regular article in the BETTER BRIDGE MAGAZINE, BippinG, PLay, DEFENSE...a well-balanced diet of tips ready for your students in the Better Bridge Magazine. It’s worth its weight in gold...and it’s only $29 a year! (~ ” ARON To order magazines contact Baron Barclay: (S ARCL AY 1-800-274-2221 BRIDGE SUPPLY www. baronbarclay.comPAGE 4 Spring 2010 ABTA QUARTERLY The American Bridge Teachers’ Association Quarterly Magazine The American Bridge Teachers’ Association Quarterly Magazine (ISSN 0891-6462) is published quarterly by The American Bridge Teachers’ Association. Office is 5712 Ainsley Avenue, Columbus, OH 43230-8334. Annual subscription of $30 is included in $35 annual membership dues paid to The American Bridge Teachers’ Association. Periodical postage is paid at San Francisco, California and at additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to the American Bridge Teachers’ Association Quarterly Magazine, 2800 Squires Ridge, Columbus, OH 43220-6201. ABTA OFFICERS & REGIONAL DIRECTO Officers President JOYCE PENN 2800 Squires Ridge Columbus, OH 43220-6201 jpenn@columbus.rr.com Vice President BRENDA SIMPSON 11725 East Glenview Circle Spokane, WA 99206-5716 bsbridge@ aol.com Recording Secretary KATHY ROLFE 490 North Winnebago Drive Lake Winnebago, MO 64034 krolfeS @comceast.net Immediate Past President KRISTINE MOTOYOSHI 1524 East Beacon Lane Spokane, WA 99217-8747 dkmoto@ mindspring.com Regional Directors East Canada MB ON PQ NB NL NS PEI KATHIE MACNAB 5 Wren Street Halifax, NS_B3M 2R1 Canada kmacnab @eastlink.ca New England CT ME MA NH RI VT BRENDA MONTAGUE 14 Capstan Way Swampscott, MA 01907-1231 montagues@comeast.net North Pacific AK CO ID MT OR WA WY DEE BERRY 7211 Harrow Place Arlington, WA 98223 deeandduane.berry @ comcast.net South Atlantic FL GA NC SC Caribbean LINDA GREEN 40 Bosun Way Delray Beach, FL 33483 irwinlinda@ bellsouth.net North Atlantic DE DC MD NI NY PA VA AMY NELLISSEN 7 Sun Watch Court Ramsey, NJ 07446 amynellisen@ yahoo.com North Central IL IN KY MI OH WV WI MARSHA REALL 5712 Ainsley Avenue Columbus, OH 43230-8334 mdreall@columbus.rr.com South Pacific AZ CA HI NV NM UT MARY ANGELA JOSEPH 77-203 Iroquois Drive Indian Wells, CA 92210-9028 bridgemary @ aol.com South Central AL LA MS IN REBA JERNIGAN 3107 Colyar Drive Chattanooga, TN 37404 rejern@aol.com Southwest AR MO OK TX SANDY STEVENS. 22111 Crossbrook Drive Katy, TX 77450-8637 dabbler8885@ aol.com West Canada AB BC Sk DELMA MURRAY 1297 Ocean View Road Victoria, BC V8P 1J6 Canada delma_murray@telus.net Midwest JA KS MN NE ND SD TED APPLEGATE 309 West 21st Street Hays, KS 67601 frapple@ruraltel.netABTA QUARTERLY PAGE 5 Spring 2010, President’s Message Penn New Members Reall ABTA Online Activities Sparrow Book Reviews Berry Playing in a Suit Contract Richardson An Update on the ABTA Master Point Press Teacher of the Year Award Seagram What are eBooks? Shafer eBook Review Shannahan Changes in Latitude, Changes in Attitude Shafer & Williams Other Teacher Activities in New Orleans — Williams 2010 ABTA Convention & Seminar in New Orleans Seminar & Convention Schedule Other Seminar & Convention Information Early Bird Seminar & Convention Registration Form ADVERTISERS EDITOR & PUBLISHER Baron/Barclay 2&3 RALPH “CHARLIE” WILLIAMS Great Games Products 10& 11 331 Market Street East #154 Masterpoint Press 31 & 32 Gaithersburg, MD 20878-6410 slamhand @ verizon.net Note to advertisers, columnists and regular contributors: Please send your submissions to Charlie Williams or Leslie Shafer. Their email is slamhand@verizon.net or they can be reached by tele- phone at 301-977-0314. Their mailing address is 331 Market Street East #154, Gaithersburg, MD 20878-6410. FUTURE ABTA QUARTERLY PUBLICATION DEADLINES Summer: July 15,2010 Fall: October 15, 2010 Winter: January 15,2011 Spring: April 15, 2011 FU ey OSCR CORSO Ne rmOR OM Mtoe ly - more knowledgeably - more pro’ PituamoiccullABTA QUARTERLY. President’s Message Joyce Penn Update-New Orleans: Because of limited meeting space in the Marriott, the ACBL has assigned us meeting rooms at the Sheraton, across the street from the Marriott. Both are host hotels and are very close to each other. If your teaching needs a fresh perspective, join us at our meetings from July 20, 2010 to July 23, 2010. A star-studded lineup of bridge nota- bles is planned to offer you a memo- rable event. (See schedule on pages 24 and 25). | wish that all of you could attend our wonderful meetings and then stay to enjoy a few days of bridge at the NABC. All national events will be held at the Marriott and the overflow events at the Sheraton Wednesday Evening, July 21: Our teachers’ dinner (originally at the ACME Restaurant) has been moved to The Palace Cafe, a few steps from the front door of the Marriott. The complete menu is listed for you on page 7 of this issue. Both the chicken and fish entrees will be available that evening and you need only tell the waiter which one you want. The cost PAGE 6 Spring 2010 is $40 and should be submitted with your registration form (see pages 28 and 29). Teacher Of The Year: New this year, Barbara Seagram, Teacher of the Year Award Chairman, will pre- a cash award and_ beautiful plaque to the first year’s winner. Nearly 70 nominations were re- ceived. You can read about some of our teaching stars on www.masteringbridge.com a website originated by and main- tained by Linda Lee. Those teachers nominated who are not members of the ABTA have been mailed mem- bership applications and summer meeting registration forms. sent In response to the “we'll miss you” notices for non-renewals, fif- teen persons sent in their dues to continue membership. T hope that each of you will invite a non-member teacher in your com- munity to join the ABTA this year. Helping teachers accomplish their goals, having access to the latest published bridge material plus the opportunity to join us at a fact-filled fun annual meeting are reasons enough to join up, During my thir- teen years of ABTA member- ship, I’ve learned that ['m = much more than a bridge educator to my students. Vve acquired tech- niques to motivate them, build their confidence, and set an example of how enjoyable the game of bridgeABTA QUARTERLY can be. My continuing education has come about through this wonderful organization where tips for recruiting and retaining students have been plentiful and useful to me. I sincerely wish that all of our members could hear the abundance of material pre- sented each summer at our meetings. Outstanding Member: Taking advantage of the many opportunities to learn in the ABTA will lead you straight to Maggie Sparrow, one of our valued members. Many of you know Maggie through ABTAdiscuss, an online ABTA teacher’s message board — available through — yahoo groups. She ably moderates our group of about 200 who belong to ABTAdiscuss. Maggie also runs the monthly Chats, available through Bridge Base Online. Any ABTA member can at- tend these preset topics of interest. She maintains an email distribution list of all our members and sends those who wish, monthly reminders of the date and topic of discussion. She’s a busy lady who is much ap- preciated for all her efforts in helping our members. Final Reminder: If you are a Re- gional Director or Chairman of a Committee this year, feel free to send me your written report, to be given to all Board Members at our July 20, 2010 meeting. Better yet, bring it with you (© the 7:00 pm Pre- Convention Board Meeting, and pre- sent it to our Board. PAGE7 ___ Spring 2010 Palace Café Dinner Menu July 21, 2010 Café Spinach Salad Spinach tossed with candied housemade bacon, red onion, boiled chopped egg ina sherry cane vinaigrette Choice of one Roasted Chicken Pontalba Roasted chicken, house seasoned and served on a bed of sautéed green onions, ham, mushrooms, garlic and brabant potatoes, topped with béarnaise sauce Grilled Gulf Fish Fresh fillet of Gulf fish, grilled over an open flame, served with sour cream new potato mash and steamed seasonal vegetables finished with a lemon butter White Chocolate Bread Pudding White chocolate baked inside bread pudding, smothered with warm white chocolate ganache and garnished with chocolate sprinkles Robert Carey, Ontario bobbarb425@rogers.com Joan Johnson, California joanjj@cox.net Marilyn Kalbfleish, Ontario emkalb@gmail.com Mary Olsky, Wisconsin maryolsky@ gmail.com Barbara Rosenthal, Arizona barbarasunshine88@ gmail.comABTA QUARTERLY Korey Baumbach 2308 West Raymond Stockton, CA 95203 tokayflames@ gmail.com Rosemary E. Boden 3415 Galt Ocean Drive, #144 Fort Lauderdale, FL_ 33308 rosboden@aol.com Betty W. Cox 7 Tulip Lane Randolph, NJ_ 07869 Deborah W. Crisfield 138 Canoe Brook Parkway Summit, NJ 07901-1516 dwickcris@yahoo.com Robert Crossley P.O. Box 233 Corte Madera, CA 94976 bebridge @ comcast.net Arnold Fisher 27 View Drive Miller Place, NY 11764-1936 Lois C. Geer 616 Manor Brook Drive Silver Spring, MD 20905 lgeer @verizon.net David R. Glandorf 15530 Saint Cloud Drive Houston, TX 77062-3523 drglandorf@sbeglobal.net Richard Glass 4503 Hiko Springs Drive St. George, UT 84790-4445 PAGE 8 Spring 2010 New Members TU Gail H. Greenberg New York, NY 10065 Carolyn Heyn 2216 Paseo del Mar Palos Verdes Estates, CA 90274 cheyn@cox.net _. Laurie A. Levin 14302 Shavano Place San Antonio, TX 78249 laurie-anne@satx.rr.com Terry D. Macaulay P.O. Box 1747 Antigonish, NS_- B2G 2M5 Canada terry.macaulay @ns.sympatico.ca Hank B. Meyer 26 Woodland Way Greenbelt, MD 20770-1774. hankmeyer@hotmail.com Tina E. Radding 4290 Club Course Drive North Charleston, SC 29420-7506 trading@aol.com Daisy B. Smith 1215 Appleby Drive Silver Spring, MD 20904-3220 clayvette@ hotmail.com Sally A. Veauthier 1804 Timberline Drive Columbiana, OH 44408-8451 sallyy@localnet.com Adele P. Verkamp 4508 East Kiowa Street Phoenix, AZ 85044-1268 addiev3@ cox.netABTA QUARTERLY PAGE 9 Spring 2010 ABTA Online Activities By Maggie Sparrow, Ontario Be sure to stay connected with other teachers through our online activities. ABTAhome. Check our website regu- larly at www.abtahome.com. Are you listed on the teacher page, so that pro- spective new students may find you? ABTAdiscuss, Join our email discus- sion list and send in questions and com- ments by email, This is a great way to discuss bridge teaching with others. Sometimes the list is very quiet, other times there is a flurry of activity. Once you have joined the group you can read all the past me: and we've had some interesting discussions. There are also some very useful things for you to find in the file: http://games.groups.yahoo.con/ group/ABT Adiscuss ABTAchat. Come to our once-a-month chat (usually the 4" Sunday evening) at Bridge Base Online. Download the win- dows based BBO program ahead of time from www.bridgebase.com. Top- ics are pre-set, and you will receive an email reminder a few days in advance. But don’t be fooled, we get through a surprising amount in just one hour, so feel free to jump in if you have a pres ing question. (IF you're not receiving the monthly reminder, let Maggie Spar- row know at msparrow@esolve.net, we may not have your correct email address.) Those unable to attend the chat in person may request a saved copy by email attachment as a Word docu- ment. Here’s a list of the next’ few months’ Chat dates and topics June 27, 2010. Summer classes anyone? Do you take the summer off? Or do you arrange special classes for different groups? Grandchild and grandparent classes? Or short courses with drop-in lessons? No online Chat in July. We hope to see you at the ABTA Seminar and Conven- tion in New Orleans, July 20"-23". August 22, 2010. Time to plan for your fall and winter classes. Are you going to try anything new this year? Drop-in sses? One day workshops? Weekend seminars? Come and discuss your plans. September 26, 2010. Has any event or new book or seminar changed the way you are teaching this fall? What new ideas have you embraced? October 24, 2010. Do you find your beginners are progressing at a faster rate now that we have so many new com- puter programs available for them; les- son reviews, play programs to work on, online internet lessons and online play with others? Is our role as teacher chang- ing? November 28, 2010. You are probably bringing your brand new beginners to the end of their first course. What do you have in store for them next? You have thought about it, haven't you? Or will you just let them sink or swim out in the big wide world of bridge? No_online_chat_in December. Happy Holidays everyone.Great companion for students taking a bridge course, but detailed enough to stand alone !! Introduction to Bridge - Play & Learn Windows only with Pat Harrington 2000/XP/ (Lessons 1-6) / (Lessons 7-13) Vista /7 Special Introductory Price Retail $34.95 (ABTA Price $21.00) * Teaches both bidding and play Paced appropriately for beginners * Lessons teach the mechanics, trick taking, and provide the background for bidding Lessons teach opening bids and their responses. Quizzes to reinforce your understanding Provides an extensive glossary and reference section Includes carefully crafted instructional deals, and BONUS practice hands Presented in an eas e, interactive format. LEARN AND PRACTICE BIDDING CONVENTIONS Based on the WINNER OF THE 2007 ABTA SOFTWARE OF THE YEAR Help your students learn up to 7 different convention * — Ideal for students looking to learn a new convention * Perfect for students to help refine and practice their understanding of a convention they already know Student will learn both the introductory aspects of a convention and its complicated subtleties and Windows continuations 95/98/2000/Me/ Volume 2— Basic Conventions __ XP/Vista Only Blackwood * Takeout Doubles * Strong 2C + Preempts Notavatlable for the Stayman * Jacoby Transfers * Weak Two-Bids Macintosh . Volume 3 — More Basic Conventions Retail: $29.95 Unusual 2NT + Splinters + Michaels + Limit Major Raises corcing INT « Ja QNT « Negative . ABTA Price: $15.00 Forcing INT + Jacoby 2NT « Negative Double To Order Call Cindy: 1-800-426-3748 or Fax Cindy: 301-765-8004 Email: sales@greatgameproducts.comBridge Baron 20 — Bridge Baron is now available for the iPhone ($19.99) Available in English (Windows/Mac) (Windows/Mac), and h (Windows only) ista/ XP / 2000/7 Macintosh/iMac/MacOS : Universal Mac OS X application, requires OS 10.4 or later Retail: $64.95 Bridge Baron 20 has a host of NEW features, including these: Greatly expanded the defensive lead and signal agreements Added 26 new play problems from the bridge book entitled A Computer's Twist Improved the bidding and play Added 3 new bidding conventions: Soloway Jump Shifts, Mechwell, Lebensohl after Reverses We have added seven new Bridge Tournaments for free: the 2009 Cavendish (with cross-IMPs scoring), the 2009 NSWBA ANC Butler Open Selection (with Butler IMPs scoring), the Winter 2009 Blue Hen Sectional, the Winter 2008 Dave Treadwell Sectional, the Fall 2008 Delaware Open Pairs, the Fall 2008 Diamond State Sectional, and the Spring 2008 Wilmington Sectional We have added 24 new challenging problem deals for a total of 288 Challenges We have improved the graphical user interface Buy 1-10 copies: $39.60 cach Buy 11-20 copies: $38.50 each Buy 21-35 copies: $37.40 each Buy 36-50 copies: $36.30 each Buy 50+ copies: $35.20 each **Plus Shipping Have your students get more out of Bridge Baron !! Bridge Baron Companion Book Retail $24.95 (ABTA Price $12.50) This book attempts to lift that veil and demonstrate how Bridge Baron can be used by both beginning and advanced players not only to play bridge, but also to learn the game, study the game, practice with partners, compete in tournaments, and more. Websi : www.GreatGameProducts.comABTA QUARTERLY Book Reviews By Dee Berry, Washington A Special Note from Dee: Last issue, in my review of Eddie Kantar’s great new book, Take All Your Chances at Bridge I failed to mention that it can be purchased from Eddie's website: kantarbridge.com or (autographed and inscribed upon request) by writing directly to: Eddie Kantar 2700 Neilson Way #334 Santa Monica, CA 90405 My apologies to Mr. Kantar for this omission. WIN AT DUPLICATE BRIDGE Bid Difficult Hands Like An Expert By Fred Parker (© 2009) Fred Parker, “whose lifelong in- terest in bridge led him to his 2nd career as a bridge writer and player,” has written an extremely compre- hensive book, WIN AT DUPLICATE BRIDGE (subtitled Bid Difficult Hands Like An Expert). Bridge teachers planning a class on this sub- ject should find this softcover 208 page book an invaluable aid The first dozen chap cover hand evaluation, conventions, open- ing bids, preempts, responses. over- Ils, responding to overcalls, bal- ig, rebids, doubles, competitive auctions and slam bidding. While teachers may not find 1/2 point addi- tions and subtractions fit their teach- ing style, Parker offers some con- structive suggestions. PAGE 12 pring 2010 His lists of catego- ries of conventions (such as "Category 1: Highly recommended for intermediate players who want io improve their duplicate winning per- centages") might not be everyone's cup of tea, either, but certainly offer concrete suggestions about adopting 2/\, negative and responsive dou- bles, support doubles and redoubles, defenses against NT, Roman Key- card, Gerber, Jacoby 2NT, Jordan, responses to opening NT bids, splin- ters, 24 as strong, artificial and fore- ing, new minor forcing, unusual NT, weak jump shifts and Smolen. Each of the other three categories (Frequent occurrences, but well worth learning and playing; Conven- tions that do not offer a lot of advan- tages; and Not worth considering, let alone playing) would find teachers who agree and disagree with some of the placements. This reviewer found it intriguing that Roman Key- card was listed as Category | while Roman Keycard Gerber was in the “not worth considering” bracket along with minor suit Stayman and Bergen raises. Perhaps the most controversial subject. area would be regarding takeout doubles. Parker suggests takeout doubles of I& with 9+ points (QJ98/K 1084/75/A 109) of Le and Iw with 10+ points and of la with 11+ points. The same chapter includes an overcall of 1# with la holding J8732/Q762/J9/A10. whichis just too chintzy for this teacher to want to teach. Nonetheless, all the material is well presented and ac- companied by detailed quizzes. The second half of the book pro- vides chapters on 2/1, defenses against NT, Jacoby 2NT, New Minor Forcing. inverted minors, help suit game tries, puppet Stayman, Leben- sohl, Namyats and broken minor, defenses against unusual NT, leads and signals and card combinations. The author's explanations are clear and concise and reflect modern up- dates. Rarely are complete hands offered so teachers would have to use other resources for those or make up their own. The book is available from ViviSphere Publishing (800)724- 1100, www.vivisphere.com, with quantity discounts for more than five books of 40%. An Introduction to THE ART OF TAKING TRICKS (Bridge with Brian, book two) By Brian Richardson Designed as “both a self-teaching manual for the individual and a well- organized text for the teacher,” Brian Richardson’s newest book offers teachers lesson hands and analyses illustrating planning, learning about winners, learning about lose: rate- gies for increasing winners, strate- gies for eliminating losers, commu- nication between the two hands, managing the trump suit, being de- clarer in a notrump contract, and choosing the opening lead on de- fense. Each chapter in the 248 page softcover book concludes with four hands illustrating the chapter's topic. These are for students to bid and play. Richardson, who is an ABTA Master Teacher and an ACBL tour- nament director, uses the “PLAN” approach popularized in the ACBL’s lesson series to help advancing play- ers become more successful declar- ers. I was disappointed that the very first deal in the book misplays the card combination of J92 opposite AQ106 by leading the jack instead of the technically correct nine. Luckily the deal includes enough entries so the finesse may be repeated, but it seems a shame to teach a concept incorrectly. Many of Richardson's bidding tips would be very useful for advane- ing players. Especially valuable is a section about when to raise partner's INT to 2NT with eight points and when to pass. Other excellent sec- tions include combining chances and when not to use a holdup play. Better proofreading would have helped the quality of the book. “South, with a balanced 15 count, should make an opening bid of 3NT” is not what the author intended, Also, the first deal of chapter eight has the wrong hand making the opening lead. Teachers may or may not agree with opening | club with an 18 point hand with 4-4 in the minors so one can reverse by bidding diamonds the second time around. The book was published by Xlibris Corporation, and orders may be made through www.Xlibris.com. Quantity discounts are available.Playing a Suit Contra AM UCTm CUir TREC Pee Playing in a suit contract can very often be more complicated than play- ing in Notrump. To start with, the matter of count- ing Losers, which needs to be done in a suit contract, is a little more dif- ficult than counting Winners, which needs to be done in a Notrump con- tract. A simplified form of counting Losers is to consider that each suit can have three Losers - the Ace, the King and the Queen. If you have at least three cards in the suit in any one hand and you do not have those three cards you have one or more Loser(s). It should be stressed that this is a fairly simple method of counting Losers — and is one with which rela- lively inexperienced players can gen- erally cope. It is generally reasonably accurate. One of the very important deci- sions that Declarer has to make is that of when to draw trumps. Inexpe- rienced players often tend to make one of three mistake: 1. Drawing trumps too soon; 2. Drawing trumps too late; or 3. Using up the trumps in Declarer’s hand by ruffing. The basic question about the tim- ing of drawing trumps can usually be decided by the answers to the follow- in: EVI CY) 1. Do I have any “Quick” — Losers that I need to eliminate first? (Quick Losers are tricks I can lose the moment the opponents gain the lead.) Do I need Dummy’s trumps to rulf some of Declarer’s Losers? 3. Do I need Dummy’s trumps as the entry to establish and access a long suit in Dummy, or to en- able a finesse to be played? N If the answers to all three ques- tions are in the negative then De- clarer should draw trumps immedi- ately. If the answer to even one of the questions is in the affirmative then Declarer needs to plan even more carefully. | Another key issue in relation to the question of drawing trumps is that of whether or not you have a trump Loser. Here are some trump contract deals in which the timing of the play of the trump suit is of paramount importance, (1) In this first deal, with East-West silent throughout the auction, and with North the opening bidder, the auction has probably proceeded as follows: lm -1v,2v -3¥, 4y - Pass. [See top of next page.]North a43 v9543 #AKQ & AITO West East aQIT962 as7 vAJT v¥KQ 65 @JT987 #42 #8765 South aAKS v¥8762 0432 #KQ3 West has made the opening lead of the #Q, and Declarer needs to count his Losers. Not too difficult an exercise on this hand — zero in the spade, diamond and club suits, and three in the heart suit. Nothing can go wrong UNLESS you have some unexpected Losers. The trump suit is Declarer’s weakness and his prior- ity has to be to play trumps immedi- ately, and again a second time as soon as he regains the lead. Leading a trump at trick two is the ONLY way to guarantee this contract. As- suming that the missing trumps break all Declarer will lose are three tricks. If, for instance, Declarer decides to ruff a spade in Dummy before he plays two rounds of trumps, the contract will be defeated. Declarer does indeed have a spade Loser but he does NOT need to at- tempt to ruff it in Dummy until he has played two rounds of trumps. (2) Bearing in mind that Declarer’s objective is to make the contract, he may at times have to decline to play = the trump finesse IF that finesse could lead to the contract being defeated. Consider the following deal in which North has a balanced hand with too many points to open INT. Therefore the correct opening bid is 1. South is likely to be the Declarer in a 4¥ con- tract with West having made a spade overcall. North alT6 vAQIT #AKQJ #64 West East &AQYST 432 v4 vK7 032 #T74 *&KQI2 *&T98753 South ak54 998632 09865 aA With the #K being led, Declarer should count three Losers — one heart and two in the spade suit. However, if after winning the opening lead, De- clarer decides to take a heart finesse he will be defeated, because East, who can have no more than a double- ton spade, will be able to get a spade ruff, This is what will happen if De- clarer takes a heart finesse and it loses. To guard against that possibility declarer should play the wA and a second heart. Now his contract is safe UNLESS East started with a three- card heart suit, including the King. It is important for Declarer to re- member that he can afford to have one (Continued on page 16)ABTA QUARTERLY (Continued from page 15) heart Loser and still make his con- tract. He CANNOT afford to have two spade Losers, one heart Loser AND a spade ruff. (3) Sometimes Declarer has to use Dummy’s trumps for ruffing some Losers from his own hand, and this needs to be done before he embarks on drawing trumps. Consider the following deal in which South is the Declarer in a 4@ contract, after an opening bid of 14 and a 2¢ response by North. This response creates a rebid problem for South who now has to choose between 2NT and 2a. No matter which choice South makes, North will almost certainly jump to the 4@ game. North 4765 vK @A9654 e ATS3 West East 4983 a42 vAT42 ¥QI653 #32 @#QsT7 eKQI8 ROT South 4AKQIT v9O8T7 ¢K8 #642 When West leads the #K De- clarer should see that he has a total of five Losers — three in the heart suit and two in the club suit. Declarer can do nothing about the club Losers, they are QUICK Losers which the opponents will take as soon as they PAGE 16. Spring 2010 regain the lead. Declarer must there- fore focus on the heart Losers and try to eliminate two of them. This can be achieved by Declarer winning the opening lead with the #A from Dummy and then playing the wK. Declarer will then be able to ruff two heart Losers with the small trumps in Dummy. If Declarer plays even one trump BEFORE he plays the ¥K, he will be defeated, because West will win the wA and play a trump to fur- ther reduce the ruffing power of Dummy. The contract will now be defeated with two club Losers and two heart Losers. By playing the ¥K at Trick Two Declarer will lose two club tricks and only one heart trick. Before looking at the next deal some further clarification of the Quick/Slow Loser categorization is desirable. A Quick Loser is a trick you will lose the moment the oppo- nents get the lead. For example if, in a 4¢ contract, the opponents have led a club and Dummy has #532, while Declarer has #A64, it is clear that once the #A has been taken De- clarer has two Quick club Losers. In contrast a “Slow” Loser is one that MAY be a Loser later on, but it is not an immediate Loser. If the opponents lead a club and Dummy has #532, with Declarer having #AK4, it should be clear that the #4 is a Loser but it is NOT a Quick Loser. Declarer will possibly lose a club trick - later. As it is a Slow Loser you may have a little more time available to decide how to eliminate it. If it was a Quick Loser, time is definitely not on your side!ABTA QUARTERLY. (4) Sometimes, in order to ruff a Loser in Dummy, it may be neces- sary to lose more than one trick in that suit, before you can get that ruff in Dummy. This may seem danger- ous but, as you will see, there is of- ten no reasonable alternative line of play available. North aQs4 v764 #AQ4 A852 West East as a983 vKI85 ¥QT ©5983 #KT72 #KQI9 #1643 South @#AKT762 v A932 065 a7 On this deal South is the Declarer in a 4@ contract and West has led the #K. This hand looks as though it may have three Losers — one dia- mond and two hearts. Such an as- sumption is only valid if the missing hearts are split 3-3. Probability sug- gests that a 3-3 split occurs 38% of the time. If the missing hearts are split 4-2 then Declarer has to find another strategy. Declarer should recognize that he has high trumps tn Dummy and, be- fore playing even one round of trumps, he should play a heart to his Ace and then a second heart. Now Declarer will be able to ruff his fourth heart in Dummy with one of Dummy’s top trumps. Again, if De- PAGE 17, Spring 2010 clarer played even one round of the trump suit he would have no trumps left in Dummy to ruff his last heart and will be defeated. (5) Question #3 was about the possi- bility of needing Dummy’s trumps in order to enable Declarer to establish a long suit in Dummy, BEFORE commencing to draw trumps. This next deal shows an extreme example of the importance of that situation — in a Grand Slam contract! Look carefully at the hands below and see if you can find the way of taking all 13 tricks, before you look at the text below the hands. North oT vAK762 oI54 West * A642 East 4653 a42 vJ3 vQT94 ¢QT32 @K9876 #QJT9 453 South #AKQI987 v85 oA &KS7 In a contract of 74, South re- ceives the lead of the #Q and should proceed to count his Losers. One Loser in the club suit Id be the result. of that count Now South needs to look for a strategy to enable him to eliminate tha club Loser. The only real possibility would appear to be that of establishing Dummy’s (Continued on page 18)ABTA QUARTERLY PAGE 18 Spring 2010 (Continued from page 17) long heart suit to enable the losing club in Declarer’s hand to be dis- carded. With six cards missing in the heart suit, Declarer has to hope that they split no worse than 4-2. If that is so Declarer can make his contract IF he commences establishing the heart suit BEFORE playing any trumps. Declarer should win the opening lead in his own hand and play three rounds of the heart suit, ruffing the third heart. Next he should go to Dummy by playing a small spade to the 10. He should then ruff Dummy’s fourth heart and draw trumps. Once that has. been done Declarer can play a small club to Dummy’s Ace and dis- card his losing club on Dummy’s fifth heart. It is worth noting that the lead of a trump at Trick One would have de- feated this contract. This shows just how important the opening lead can be! (6) There are times when Declarer has a two-suited hand and Dummy is short in either one or both of those suits! In such situations Declarer may have to take chances to establish his first-bid suit’ by ruffing in Dummy, BEFORE drawing trumps. Here is such an example in which South has shown a hand that has five cards in each major suit, and has ended up as Declarer in 4@, with a 5- 2 fit. North 437 vKS ¢K763 West *QT732 East 4642 aT53 vT4 ¥ 1976 ¢QsT9 A854 &K965 eAJ South #AKQI9 vAQ832 o2 484 In his 4@ contract South has three Losers in the minor suits and one in the heart suit. With the lead of the ¢Q, Declarer needs to make his plan. He can do NOTHING about the three minor-suit losers so he must focus on trying to eliminate the heart loser. His only hope is that if the heart suit splits 4-2. as expected, then the hand with the doubleton heart does NOT have the #10. As soon as possible Declarer needs to play a heart to the King in Dummy, a small heart back to his Ace and then at- tempt to ruff a small heart in Dummy, breathing a sigh of relief when West discards. Declarer should now play a spade back to his hand, draw trumps, and claim. His ten tricks are four heart tricks, one heart ruff in Dummy and five spade tricks. Of course if West had the 410 then Declarer was never going to make this contract! Part two of this article will continue to explore strategies in playing a trump contract, looking at techniques other than deciding WHEN to draw trumps!ABTA QUARTERLY PAGE 19 Spring 201 FaUiSsIoss IoD coIpso loss Ibco psoas 9 ODO In Memoriam Mabel Edmonson (Goldsboro, NC) Mary Alice Osborn (Dayton, OH) [ABTA Recording Secretary, 1983-1989] Steve Sidell (Seattle, WA) STEMS TEMES TSM TESTES IEIEM ABTA web site: www.abtahome.com Stay updated by checking our site regularly. If you would like your name to be linked to email on the mem- bers page, please send your permission to our web mas- ter, Michael Nistler, at: nistler@ bridgehands.com Spread the Word!! Recruitment of new members should be a priority for everyone in our or- ganization. You can download a membership form for your friends from our website. There is a supply of back issues of the Quarterly avail- able if you are planning a teacher's workshop in your area. Make it your goal to recruit at least one new member this year! ABTA Quarterly Submission Requirements By the Editor If you would like to submit an article to the Quarterly or send a let- ter to the Editor, we have some suggestions for you: Please include your name and telephone number, email and snail mail address (we solicit from ABTA members only): Electronic subm: ons are greatly encouraged (either as files at- tached to an email or in the body of the email); We are especially looking for articles about how to teach bridge (methodology, marketing, advertising, humor, etc.); See page 5 of this magazine for where to send your submissions. Thank you. — Charlie WilliamsABTA QUARTERLY An Update on the ABTA Master Point Press Teacher of the Year Award By Barbara Seagram, Ontario The outpouring of love has amazed us all. In the inaugural year for the ABTA Master Point Press Bridge Teacher of the Year Award, the num- ber of nominations and the passion of the student nominators has surprised the entire committee. The committee consists of five ABTA members: Jo-Ann Damato, Brenda Simpson, Joyce Penn, Marti Ronemus, Linda Lee (Vice President, Master Point Pre: and chairperson Barbara Seagram. The first job was to put together the award criteria, and start to get the word out. On September 4 we issued our first press release, which began: “Not every bridge teacher has au- thored a bestseller, written a newspa- per column, or become well-known enough to receive an entry in the En- cyclopedia of Bridge. “Nevertheless, there are many teachers who continue to inspire their students day in and day out, promot- ing the game in their community and answering any question clearly, con- cisely and without judgment, whether it’s about Roman Keycard Blackwood or simply, “What's a finesse?’. Their work too often goes unrecognized, yet itis vital to the future of the game. “This is really for the unsung he- roes of the bridge world. At fast there is an award for those in the trenches.” The committee worked hard to get the word out, and we were especially delighted when Brent Manley pub- lished our story in the ACBL Bridge Bulletin. After that the nominations started to pour in. The students sent painstak- ingly crafted albums, wonderful let- ters of support for their teachers, and in two cases, even a video! Several sets of students wanted to know when the award would be presented because they intended to come with their teacher to accept her award! What kind of people are these teachers? In one word, inspirational. As a group they work long hours, put in a lot of time in preparation, come early, stay late, and love what they do. We have talked to several of the student nominators, and some of the teachers. We have been thrilled, amazed, and in one case saddened, We heard from a teacher who really wanted to nominate an area bridge teacher who had recently passed away. She talked about what an inspi~ ration this teacher had been. While all we could say was that although this teacher was not eligible, we could certainly understand the esteem with which she was held, and the great loss to her community. Spring 2010 |You will find a few of their stories as featured teachers on www.masteringbridge.com. And you can see the entire list of nominees and a short biography on Facebook on a page dedicated to the ABTA MPP Teacher of the Year. If you are a member of Facebook, you can become a fan by simply searching nd i “ABTA Master Press Teacher of the Year page. and clicking the Point Award” “Become A Fan” button next to the page tile. We were very happy with the re- sponse to this year's nomination proc- ess which closed on April 1. This leaves us with the hard job of select- ing the winner. This will be done by assigning marks in each of the follow- ing categories: Teaching Excellence Service to Bridge Service to the Community It will be hard to come up with a short list, and even harder to decide on a winner. The winning teacher will be announced at the annual meeting of the ABTA this summer in New Orleans and the winner will be invited to attend the meeting to receive their award. They will also be acknowl- edged during the harbor cruise. We will soon consider plans for the 2011 awards. One option is to ask current candidates if they wish to be considered, along with new entrants, among next year’s nominees. Either we do plan to acknowledge how much we appreciate their services to bridge. Update on Finalists Sponsored by Master Point Pre the ABTA is completing it's ye: long search for the Teacher of the Year. Sixty-eight outstanding candi- dates were nominated for this pres- tigious award, to be announced at the ABTA Convention in New Or- leans, July 21, 2010. The winner will receive a cash prize plus a com- memorative plaque. Teaching excel- lence, service to the bridge commu- nity and the candidate's community, as well as innovation in teaching are each evaluated to choose a winner. Chairman, Barbara Seagram, an- nounced this year's eight fi son May 15, 2010. They are as follows: Jo Bryan, Denton, TX ja Cochrane, Idaho Falls, ID David Glandorf, Houston, TX Linda Golumbia, West Bloomfield, MI Linda King, Hollister, CA Tina Radding, Charleston, SC Enid Roltman, Toronto, ONT Kathie Walsh, Hilton Head, SC View nominees and finalists on www.facebook.com. Search: ABTA MP Press Teacher of the Year Award. Additional nominees are listed on www.masteringbridge.com. Teacher of the Year Award Com- mittee members: Jo-Ann D'Amato, Brenda Simpson, Marti Ronemus, Linda Lee, Joyce Penn and Barbara Seagram, Chairman.ABTA QUARTERLY What are eBooks? By Leslie Shafer, Maryland Many of you have heard about the Amazon Kindle digital reader (and there are other brands, such as Sony). Downloading books directly from the publishers or book retailers can save a lot of money. Many downloaded digi- tized books sell for 50-60% less than their hardcopy versions. Often I found books that were even free, the seller hoping to get you hooked on his long- time series. | recently downloaded Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austin for free. I appreciate the opportunity to receive the first chapter of any book as a sample (for free) to see if | like it enough to purchase it. When finished, I return the book to my ar- chives which Amazon keeps on file for me to retrieve at any time in the future. I can change the font to large- type for easier reading and leave digi- tal bookmarks or highlighting of note- worthy passages to review later. There haven't been too many bridge books available through this venue ds there are logistical problems, ic., protecting a deal from being pulled apart and winding up on two pages: and the inability of most digital readers to show graphic interfaces such as suit symbols, tables, charts or even pictures. There is now a new option where you can purchase an EBOOK and download it to your PC or MAC computer in a pdf format. After reading, you can store them, print them or archive them just as you would any other computer file. PAGE 22 Spring 2010 Since downloading an electronic book eliminates the need for publishing houses to physically produce these books (hardback or paperback) not only are we being good ecological citizens by saving trees, but we get the financial discount of lower pro- duction costs from the publishers, I recently had a chance to discuss ebooks with Ray Lee and visit his Master Point Press website. The web- site contained thorough explanations of ebook: What they are: How to download them: How to pay for them; Getting the book back when your computer mysteriously loses it: and What graphic interface programs. you will need to open and view the files. Ray Lee has told me that Master Point Press is currently working on making ebooks compatible with digi- tal hand-held devices, but the process has not been perfected yet. | am look- ing forward to the day when my Kin- dle can download MPP’s book offer- ings directly. But for now, my con- puter will have to be what I use to download them. However, the money (and the storage space) saved will most probably influence me to take advantage of this new technology. (See next page for an ebook review)We Love the Majors By Mary Ann Dufresne and Marian Ellingsen An Honors eBook from Master Point Press for $11.95, Available at: www.eBooksBridge.com This book is composed of ten chapters of well-rounded, well organ- ized, comprehensive basic fundamen- tals of bridge that are easy for a new player to read and understand, Chapter One has the al getting started information, but includes two key topics that are not usually found in a beginner book. The most impor- tant topic is the introduction of the concept of where we want to play the hand — We Love the Majors, Tolerate Notrump and Hate the Minors. This very basic concept is difficult for stu- dents to comprehend, but using this one catchy phr seems to help stu- dents grasp the idea. Another topic included is the differences between social and duplicate bridge scoring. This offers the student a choice of scoring, which is important to new players who are afraid of duplicate and just want to play bridge. The second chapter consists of four hands, two on bidding and play and two on defense. Combining all three aspects of the game at the very beginning is one of my favorite fea- tures of the book. Giving students a good foundation and building on it in eBook Review By Glenna Shannahan, California each subsequent class gives then the confidence that they can play bridge. The remaining chapters cover ba- sic bidding. competitive bidding and high-level openers. The student is ex- posed to overcalls, takeout doubles and preemptive bidding. It is wonder- ful to have a very brief introduction to slam bidding. Students are always. anxious to bid slams and this gives them the basic information they need. to know whether or not to explore for a slam and how to do it. An Appendix has practice hands that reinforce the skills presented in each chapter. While those hands in- clude the bidding and the play, de- fense is given equal attention with opening leads, attitude signals and suit preference signals. A Teacher's Manual for We Love the Majors is available for $19.95. The manual contains six complete, detailed lesson plans that teachers can customize to their students’ skill and experience level. I think We Love the Majors is a book both teachers and students will enjoy using. We can never have enough teaching tips and this book has several that will benefit our teach- ing if we adopt them. Reviewer Glenna Shannahan can be reached via email at: gkshannahan@ gmail.comABTA QUARTERLY PAGE 24 _ Spring 2010 2010 ABTA Seminar & Convention Schedule Sheraton Hotel in New Orleans, LA Tuesday, July 20, 2010 Sheraton New Orleans Hotel 11:00 AM First-Timer’s Luncheon (See pre-registration info on page 29) 12:30 PM Registration — Southdown Ballroom, Sheraton New Orleans 1:00 PM Welcome and Instructions for Workshop Main Cony. Room Room A Room B Room C Computer| Marketing& | The Lighter Side |__ Professional Time Workshops Teaching Styles of Teaching | Bridge Teaching Marketing With What Do I Ask Your Prof’l Play Dates 1:15 - Mass Emails Teach Next? Questions With Students al With With With With Amy Nellissen Leslie Shafer Kris Motoyoshi_ | Charlie Wifliams. Upgrading Your | Best Teaching | Fun Visual Aids, | New Ways to 2:25-)| Teaching Skills Methodologies | Chants & Puns | Teach Old Stuff 325 With With With With Julie Greenberg Ginny Schuett Leslie & Charlie Betty Starzec Free Shareware | Jazzing Up Your | Good Teacher, | Writing Bridge: 3:35-| Available Lesson & Class | Bad Teacher | The Essentials 435 Online Titles With With With With Michael Nistler Leslie Shafer Sandy Stevens | Charlie Williams Tuesday, July 20, 2010 ABTA Seminar in New Orleans 4:45 PM Final Announcements for Evening Activities 5:00 PM Adjourn for Dinner PM Pre-Convention Board Meeting 30 PM Take it Easy with Cards and Socializing Wednesday, July 21 (Seminar Continued) Note: Balance of Seminar is on the 4th floor in the Rhythms Ballroom 8:00 AM Continental Breakfast with Teacher of the Year Award Media Show 200 AM. Michael Nistler: Dramatic Bridge Instruction in the New Millennium 10:30 AM Patty Tucker, Atlanta Junior Bridge 11:30 AM Announcements and AdjournmentABTA QUARTERLY PAGE 25 Spring Wednesday, July 21, 2010 (ABTA Convention) Convention is on the 4th floor of the Sheraton New Orleans in the Rhythms Ballroom 12:45 PM Convention Registration 1:00 PM Welcome and Announcements 1:15 PM Annual Membership Meeting and Election Judi Shulman and “Students”: The Language of Teaching Bridge ACBL Update Ray Lee: Master Point Press Update Teacher of the Year Presentation and Acceptance Speech 4:30 PM Announcements and Adjournment Optional Evening Activities: 5:15 PM An Easy Walking Tour of the French Quarter (Pre-Registration needed) 7:00 PM Ease on Over to the Palace Café for Teachers’ Group Dinner 9:00 PM. Take it Easy with Cards and Socializing Thursday, July 22, 2010 (ABTA Convention) 8:00 AM Breakfast Sponsored by Great Games Products (Media Show and Q & A) 9:00 AM Rick Beye: It’s Easy — No Your Laws 10:00 AM Michael Huston: Easy Guide to Teaching Finesses 10:40 AM Fred Gitelman: New Software Developments 11:30 AM Announcements, Adjournment & Break for Lunch 1:00 PM Jerry Helms: Easy as 1, 2, 3 2:00 PM Larry Cohen: My Pet Peeves 3:00 PM Julian Laderman: Easy Does It With Bridge Probability 4:30 PM Announcements, Adjournment & Break Before Awards Banquet Formal Evening Activity: ABTA Awards Banquet 6:45 PM Bus Pick Up at Hotel for Transport to Riverboat Cruise 7:00-10:00 PM Creole Queen Awards Banquet and Jazz Cruise Friday, July 23, 2010 (ABTA Convention) 8:30 AM Continental Breakfast with the Experts (Expert Panel Hosted by George Jacobs) 9:45 AM Introduction of New Master Teachers 10:00 AM Audrey Grant 12:00 AM Closing Announcements & Final AdjournmentABTA QUARTERLY PAGE 25 Sy Wednesday, July 21, 2010 (ABTA Convention) Convention is on the 4th floor of the Sheraton New Orlean 12:45 PM 1:00 PM 1:15 PM 2:00 PM 2: 5:15 PM 7:00 PM 9:00 PM 8:00 AM 9:00 AM 10:00 AM 10:40 AM 11:30 AM 1:00 PM 2:00 PM 3:00 PM 4:30 PM 6:45 PM in the Rhythms Ballroom Convention Registration Welcome and Announcements Annual Membership Meeting and Election Judi Shulman and “Students”: The Lang ACBL Update Ray Lee: Master Point Press Update Teacher of the Year Presentation and Acceptance Speech Announcements and Adjournment ¢ of Teaching Bri Optional Evening Activities: An Easy Walking Tour of the French Quarter (Pre-Registration needed) Ease on Over to the Palace Café for Teachers’ Group Dinner Take it Easy with Cards and Sa ru Thursday, July 22, 2010 (ABTA Convention) Breakfast Sponsored by Great Games Products (Media Show and Q & A) Rick Beye: It’s Easy — No Your Laws Michael Huston: Easy Guide to Teaching Finesses Fred Gitelman: New Software Developments Announcements, Adjournment & Break for Lunch Jerry Helms: Easy as 1, 2,3 Larry Cohen: My Pet Peeves Julian Laderman: Easy Does It With Bridge Probability Announcements, Adjournment & Break Before Awards Banc Formal Evening Activity: ABTA Awards Banquet Bus Pick Up at Hotel for Transport to Riverboat Cruise 7:00-10:00 PM Creole Queen Awards Banquet and Jazz Cruise 8:30 AM 9:45 AM 10:00 AM 12:00 AM Friday, July 23, 2010 (ABTA Convention) Continental Breakfast with the Experts (Expert Panel Hosted by George Jacobs) Introduction of New Master Teachers Audrey Grant Closing Announcements & Final AdjournmentABTA QUARTERLY The January elements in Maryland are not our idea of fun — many of our classes are cancelled at even a hint of impending snowfall. Not even a flake has to fall be- fore the run on groceries and school clos- ings begin. Having stayed in the south- west Florida area for two winters in a row, we decided to travel down the east coast this winter. We found the bridge decorum more and more genteel the fur- ther south we traveled. We arrived at the Myrtle Beach Regional on December 28th and were amazed at the hospitality and gentle mannerisms of the players there, Leslie playfully began to see just how far this these social graces went. She: “Welcome to our table! Now we saw you two over there kissing. How roman- tic!” Leslie: “Hello. thank you for having us. I’m Lesfie, this is Charlie. I wouldn’t have to be kissing strange men in hotels if my husband would learn to play bridge.” Charlie (softly): “Are you talking about the last hand?” He (patting Leslie on the hand): “Now, now, maybe he’!! come around and learn. He wouldn’t want to lose a lovely girl like you!” Charlie (softly): “Well, her husband is a nice guy.” She: “Yes, sweetie, he’s probably a won- derful man, but if he doesn’t play bridge, what’s your partner to do?” It was New Years Eve, and we arrived at our new table with two lovely women sitting North-South. We all introduced ourselves, politely played both boards and then resumed our chat. North: “So did you two have a nice day today?” PAGE 26 Changes in Latitude, Changes in Attitude By Charlie Williams & Leslie Shafer, Maryland Spring 2010. Charlie: “Well, I got to go out today for a haircut.” South: “Yes, you look very handsome. And Leslie, what did you do today?” Leslie (in her most pitiful voice): “Well, I did our laundry on the 2nd floor Laundro- mat.” : “Oh my, and on vacation, you poor “Well, it was still quite an adven- ture seeing as how I’ve never done it be- fore. Some people were actually separat- ing the colors—what’s that all about?” South: “Well, your nails are perfect, so I believe you.” Leslie (sighing): “Thank you. Can’t do any cooking or cleaning either if you want to keep your nails like this. 1 bet you’re wondering what I do all day?” North: “Certainly, now we are a bit curi- ous. What do you do?” Leslie: “Well ... I'm a sex slave. The pay is good and my husband here is very sup~ portive.” Charlie: “Yes, but honey, I think I owe you another dollar (pulling one out of his pocket and handing it to me).” South: “Isn’t that lovely? Good for you!” The next afternoon, our table finished a three-board round super fast and saw that they had added even more time to the clock to give everyone a break. Wow, 20 minutes. “Honey, we could run up to the room and fool around with a 20-minute break,” Charlie told me with a wink. | started laughing, “And what we would do with the other 19 minutes?” At the January 5th, Orlando Regional, I held the #KQJI03. When the declarer cashed the #A, I put my #K on it (as a signal to my partner). Declarer turned toABVA QUARTERLY PAC Spring 201 me with a smile and remarked, “Don’t _ pointingly, it was actually Happy Hock- you know you’re supposed to hold on to ers (a pawnshop). Time to hit the ATM. the big ones and throw little ones away?” : 7 “Of course I know that,” } replied. “In Other signs that made us look twice: fact, not only do I hold onto the big ones, Third Fifth Bank. We saw about 12 of I wind up marrying them!” them but they weren’t numbered in se- Studmuffin shot me a startled look. quence. Hmmppfff. God bless a husband with a sense of hu- mor. First Thrift Shop. How could they possibly prove Driving on I-95 toward Miami Beach, they were the first? (We dis- Leslie asked Charlie to take the next exit covered that it was actually a for a mini-quest. The sign she saw: part of the First Methodist Happy Hookers, Will Pay Cash. Disap- Church.) Other Seminar & Convention Information We encourage you to book your travel arrangements soon through Mega Housing Bureau as New Orleans is sure 9) to be a spectacular draw. The host hotel where ABTA will \¢é = be holding their activities is the Sheraton New Orleans, across wot the street from the Marriott. Both are host hotels and are very close to each other. Call Mega Travel for hotel reservations: 1-800-773-5069. For more information about the area, visit online: http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/msyla-new-orleans-marriott/ Luncheon for First Time Attendees! ABTA Vice President Brenda Simpson will host a luncheon for all first-timers at 11:15 a.m. on Tues- day, July 20. This is a chance for you to meet many of our Board Mem- bers and Officers. A special welcome gift is planned for all the new at- tendees. You may email Brenda at bsbridge@aol.com for more infor- mation on the costs and how to register for this event. Wednesday Night Activity. A walking tour of the French Quarter (US$25) will be offered from 5:30—7:00 p.m. From 7:00—9:00 p.m. there will be a group dinner at the Palace Café (US$40). ABTA Board meetings. A note to all officers, board members and committee chairpersons: the pre-convention board meeting is scheduled for Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. and a shortened post-convention meeting is scheduled for Friday morning (7:30 a.m.).ABTA QUARTERLY PAGE 28 _Spring 2010 OUacer yt] Page 1 of the Registration Form ____ Register me for the Seminar, Tuesday afternoon (7/20) thru Wednesday morning (7/21). Includes Tuesday Interactive Workshop and Continental Breakfast Wednesday morning. US Funds $45.50 Canadian Funds $49.00 We are so excited to have you participate in our Interactive Workshop! You may choose only 3 of the 12 offered activities (see page 24 for a description of each one). The time slots will be filled on a first come, first served basis using this advance registration. Onsite registrants will be placed in available sessions. Please list your first four choices of workshops in order of preference. Each session will be limited to a maximum of 25 participants, except for the computer workshops which will be held in the main meeting room. ____ Register me for the Convention, Wednesday afternoon (7/21) thru Friday noon (7/23). Includes Riverboat Dinner Jazz Cruise on Thursday evening and Thurs-Fri am hospitality. US Funds $185 ($210 after 6/30/10) Canadian Funds $196 ($223 after 6/30/10) T am unable to attend the Thursday evening banquet. I am deduct- ing from the above convention fee: $25 US or $27 Canadian Please register my guest(s) for the Thursday evening dinner cruise. US Funds Fee $75 Canadian Funds Fee $80Page 2 of the Registration Form ____ Yes, register me for the Little Easy Walk in the Big Easy, Wednes- day walking tour of the famous French Quarter by a licensed tour guide, highlighting famous landmarks. Time: 5:30 pm to 7:00 pm. US Funds Fee $25 Canadian Funds Fee $27 ____ Yes, register me for the Wednesday evening Palace Café Dinner. 7:00 — 9:00 pm, (Menu entrees are Grilled Gulf Fish entrée or Baked Chicken Pontalba.) US Funds Fee $40 Canadian Funds Fee $43 3 Total Amount enclosed. I will attend the luncheon for first time attendees. (Others are wel- come, too) You will be contacted and told the place, time and cost of the luncheon. My Name Address Phone Number. Email Check here if this is your first Convention and/or Seminar. Send your check (made payable to ABTA) and this registration form to: Joyce Penn Questions? Call or email Joyce: 2800 Squires Ridge 7 Columbus, OH 43220 Phone: 614-451-8680 Email: Jpenn@columbus.rr.com Please Note: The ABTA Seminar & Convention will be held at the Sheraton New Orleans Hotel 500 Canal Street New Orleans, LA 70130ABTA QUARTERLY PAGE 30 Spring 2010 Once the ABTA’s Seminar and Convention are finished, there will be other opportunities at the New Orleans NABC for you to upgrade your professional bridge activities. Here’s a brief listing of those activi- ties, as recently advertised by the ACBL. Bridge Teachers and Bridge Cruises. Friday, July 23, 1:30 — 4:30 p.m. ($25) Peg Cundiff, host of more than 100 bridge cruises, presents a course on what those interested in being a teacher and bridge host on cruises need to know. Reception for Teachers & Club Officials. Friday, July 23, 4:30— 6:00 p.m. (FREE) An ACBL reception for teachers and club officials. The “New” Teacher Accredita- tion Program (TAP). Saturday— Monday, July 24-26, 8:30 a.m. — noon daily. ($125) Betty Starzec (an ABTA Master Teacher) leads an interactive work- shop on teaching methodology, the business side of teaching, ete. ACBL Accredited Teachers _ can retake this course at no fee! [Editor's Note: Although accredited many years ago, Leslie and I re- cently attended the TAP again and were amazed at the new information and techniques presented to us. We highly recommend you retake this Other Teacher Activities in New Orleans USAGE Te CMAM ET Ce eM geticel course if possible. — Charlie] FREE Bridge Lessons Here’s a chance to observe two very popular bridge teachers in ac- tion. Jerry Helms (Saturday, July 24, 9:45 a.m. — noon) Barbara Seagram (Sunday, July 25, 10 a.m. — noon), Teaching Young People Bridge. Sunday, July 25, 5-7 p.m. (FREE) Julie Greenberg and Dana Norton will focus on the successful practices of teaching bridge to young people. Get Online with Bridge Base. Mon- day, July 26, 11 a.m. - noon. (FREE) Fred Gitelman will give you a guided tour of the Bridge Base site and its many teaching features. Marketing Matters. Monday, July 26, 11 a.m. — noon. (FREE) ACBL’s Marketing Director, Vicki Campbell, hosts a program focusing on the marketing of clubs, lessons, tournaments and more. Ex- plore your options. Also, there are celebrity speakers. in the I/N section twice daily, This is an opportunity to watch these profes- sionals in action and pick up some great tips on presentation. You can view a speaker fist as well as all other offerings on the ACBL’s web- _ www.acbLorgTHE BRIDGE SITE FOR TEACHERS AND STUDEN’ NAASTERING. BRIDGE sot Srctgel tw mama So ape sets nls Pr bigs cor WWW. MASTERINGBRIDGE.COM Includes: * Free downloads for teachers — handouts, quizzes, practice hands, etc. Orrer OF THE MONTH especially for teachers Teacher discussion forum Articles about bridge of interest to teachers Ideas for your lessons Suggested reading for teachers and students Q & A zones for students and teachers and much, much more Log in and help make this real community for the world’s bridge teachers and their students.New BRIDGE TITLES Master Point Press PLANNING THE PLAY MHS Malet oF A BRIDGE HAND SKIDGE HAND) by Barbara Seagram & David Bi For the play component of L a (v4 t | any novice bridge course. 9 OS US $19.95 Si e GUE. Take ALL Your CHANCES » . CHANCES AT BRIDGE Ay BRIDGE) |—_ by Eddie Kantar The perfect declarer play book for your more advanced students. US $18.95 ety ear. Hl Call your bookstore or bridge supplier, ee or Master Point Press, 331 Douglas Ave, aan Toronto, Ontario, MSM 1H2 416.781.0351 "VISA