(Pickup

ABTA top of page

QUARTERLY PAGE 1 Summer 2012
from Pg. 1, last
issue, EDIT &
change 2nd color
to PMS 193 Red)

Q
THE AMERICAN
THE AMERICAN

Q
THE AMERICAN
BRIDGE TEACHERS’
BRIDGE TEACHERS’
BRIDGE TEACHERS’
REPORT
REPORT NO.
NO.
REPORT ASSOCIATION
NO. ASSOCIATION
194 204
204
194 ASSOCIATION
Winter
Summer
Summer
2010
2012Winter
2012
2010
UART E R LY
UARTERLY
MAGAZ I NE
MAGAZINE

ABTA Regional Directors

at the Regionals
At Regionals
in Maryland
(Keep
(Keep and Florida,
Linda Green and
This
This Terry Jones
Space
Space hosted two different
types of events
Open
Open promoting ABTA.
For
For
Label)
Label) DUES ARE DUE!
(Check your label and see the center insert.)
Also In This Issue —
Bridge in Paradise
Book and Software Reviews
The Classroom Numbers Game
More 2012 Applebasket Entries
Two Regional Directors’ Reports
 AB

E
th
P

A
lik
D
J
v
B
th

28541_
 ABTA QUARTERLY PAGE 3 Spring
Fall 2011
2011
A MAGAZINE OF VALUE TO BOTH STUDENTS AND TEACHERS
BIDDING: Dealer: West Pass
Vul: Both N
Pass W E Pass
S

?
♥AKJ4
♠—
♦AJ84
♣AKQ75
1. What’s your call?
(Pickup page 3 from 27266
27841 [last is-
2. What would your students call?
3. What would Andrew Robson do with this hand?
sue] and change 2nd color to PMS
Every issue of AUDREY GRANT’S BETTER BRIDGE MAGAZINE brings the opinions of
355
321Green)
Blue)
the experts for teachers to share with their students.
PLAY: As South, you’re the declarer after this auction:
WEST NORTH EAST SOUTH
1NT
Pass Page 3
2♣ Pass 2♠
Pass 4♠ All Pass
Baron Barclay
♠ K 10 9 7
♥K43
Ad
♦73
♣KQJ7
Lead: ♥2 ♥ J
♠AJ86
♥Q65
♦AJ8
♣A94
West leads the ♥2, you play low from dummy, and East plays the ♥J.
1. Which player holds the ♥A?
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 GRANT’S BETTER BRIDGE MAGAZINE guides you through the play in deals
like this in the regular Playing Detective feature.
DEFENSE: Is it better to lead away from a king, 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 B RIDGE MAGAZINE.
BIDDING, 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!
To order magazines contact Baron Barclay:
1-800-274-2221
www.baronbarclay.com

28541_ABTAx.indd 3 3/16/12 3:30 PM

ABTA QUARTERLY PAGE 4 Summer 2012 AB

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 P.O. Box
232, Greenwood, MO 64034-0232. Annual subscription of $30 is included in $35 annual
membership dues paid to The American Bridge Teachers’ Association. Periodical postage
is paid at Kansas City, MO and additional mailing offices.
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to the American Bridge Teachers’ Association
Quarterly Magazine, P.O. Box 232, Greenwood, MO 64034-0232.

ABTA OFFICERS & REGIONAL DIRECTORS

Officers
President New England South Pacific
BRENDA SIMPSON CT ME MA NH RI VT AZ CA HI NV NM UT
11725 East Glenview Circle BRENDA MONTAGUE MARY ANGELA JOSEPH
Spokane, WA 99206-5716 14 Capstan Way 77440 Calle Ensenada
bsbridge@aol.com Swampscott, MA 01907-1231 La Quinta, CA 92253
bestbridgeteacher@yahoo.com bridgemary@aol.com
Vice President
CHUCK HODEL
North Pacific South Central
1901 Dayton Road, Apt. 120
AK CO ID MT OR WA AL LA MS TN
Chico, CA 95928-6955
DEE BERRY REBA JERNIGAN
cchodel@sbcglobal.net
7211 Harrow Place 3107 Colyar Drive
Recording Secretary Arlington, WA 98223 Chattanooga, TN 37404
SARAH SENTMAN deeandduane.berry@comcast.net rejern@aol.com
141 Hidden Valley Estates B
Scott Depot, WV 25560-9300 South Atlantic Southwest e
charlestondbc@gmail.com FL GA NC SC Caribbean AR MO OK TX
LINDA GREEN SANDY STEVENS
G
Immediate Past President Ja
JOYCE PENN 40 Bosun Way 22111 Crossbrook Drive
2800 Squires Ridge Delray Beach, FL 33483 Katy, TX 77450-8637 M
Columbus, OH 43220-6201 irwinlinda@bellsouth.net dabbler885@aol.com
jpenn@columbus.rr.com
North Atlantic West Canada

Special Officer DE DC MD NJ NY PA VA AB BC SK P
Business Secretary/Treasurer TERRY JONES DELMA MURRAY T
KATHY ROLFE 5977 Jan Mar Drive 1297 Ocean View Road t
P.O. Box 232 Falls Church, VA 22041-2414 Victoria, BC V8P 1J6 Canada E
Greenwood, MO 64034-0232 terry@fallschurchbridgeclub.com delmabridge@live.ca
kathyrolfe@gmail.com
North Central Midwest
Regional Directors IL IN KY MI OH WV WI IA KS MN NE ND SD WY
East Canada ROSALIND HACK TED APPLEGATE
MB ON PQ NB NL NS PEI 200 East Ravine Drive 309 West 21st Street
KATHIE MACNAB Mequon, WI 53092 Hays, KS 67601
5 Wren Street roshack@gmail.com frapple@ruraltel.net AB
Halifax, NS B3M 2R1 Canada
kmacnab@eastlink.ca
m
2 ABTA QUARTERLY PAGE 5 Summer 2012

TABLE OF CONTENTS
) is President’s Message Simpson 6
Box
ual Discounts for Junior Players? Tucker 7
age New Members Rolfe 8
ABTA Online Activities Sparrow 9
ion Bridge in Paradise Walsh 12
The Classroom Numbers Game Shafer 14
Call for Applebasket Entries Montague 16
Regional Workshop Report Green 18
Teachers’ Brown Bag Lunch
UT
PH at the Bethesda, Maryland, Regional Jones 20
Software Review Simpson 22
Book Reviews Berry 24
More 2012 Applebasket Entries Montague 28
Annual Membership Survey/Dues Bill Rolfe Center Insert

ADVERTISERS EDITOR & PUBLISHER

Baron Barclay 2&3 CHARLIE WILLIAMS
e-Bridge Workshops 19 331 Market Street East #154
Great Game Products 10 & 11 Gaithersburg, MD 20878-6410
Jannersten Forlag 23 slamhand@verizon.net
Master Point Press 31 & 32

      

Please send your submissions to Charlie Williams or Leslie Shafer.
Their email is slamhand@verizon.net or they can be reached by
telephone at 301-977-0314. The mailing address is 331 Market Street
anada East #154, Gaithersburg, MD 20878-6410.

FUTURE ABTA QUARTERLY PUBLICATION DEADLINES

D WY Fall: October 3, 2012 Winter: January 16, 2013
Spring: April 17, 2013 Summer: August 7, 2013
ABTA’s motto is to help those who teach bridge to do it better -
more effectively - more knowledgeably - more professionally.
ABTA QUARTERLY PAGE 6
President’s Message
Brenda Simpson
I’m still in withdrawal from not
going to our normal summer Confer-
ence. It’s the first time
in 12 years that I have-
n’t gone to an ABTA
Conference in July. So
now, we have a whole
year so get ready for
Atlanta in 2013.
I’m happy to announce that Linda
Green will be our Program Chair-
man. She is very re-
ceptive to any sugges-
tions for speakers or if
any of our members
would like to do a
presentation. Patty
Tucker lives in Atlanta and will re-
ceive any parcels we need to send. I
still need a Hostess for Atlanta to
plan activities and restaurants for us
to attend.
This has been a very hopeful year
for ABTA as our membership con-
tinues to grow. There are a number
of factors that have helped our or-
ganization.
Summer 2012
Our website has a new face and
continues to change in order to help
our teachers. Sandy Stevens is the
chairman who works
with Master Point Press
to keep our site up to
date. There will be a new
feature that will spotlight our Master
Teachers. We also have PayPal on the
site to make it easier to pay dues, etc.
By the way, there is still time to
pay your dues before October 1 when
the new increase will take place. Dues
will go up $10; this is the first time in
17 years they have been raised. We
were long overdue for this increase
with expenses going up for postage,
materials, etc.
Another reason for our member-
ship increase is the teachers’ seminars
that two of our Regional Directors put
on at Regionals this summer. Kudos
to Terry Jones and
Linda Green for going
the extra mile to pro-
mote ABTA. ACBL
helped us get mem-
bers in Memphis by offering the TAP
course for free if attendees joined
ABTA. This was in celebration of
their 75th anniversary.
Members who are interested in
becoming a Master Teacher can con-
tact Betty Starzec for an
application and informa-
tion. Teacher of the Year
nominations can be sent
to Joyce Penn. Book and Software of
the Year entries should be submitted
to Maggie Sparrow. Brenda Montague
2 ABTA QUARTERLY PAGE 7 Summer 2012

nd is in charge of the Applebasket sub-

elp missions. Deadlines for most of these Discounts for
he will be around June 1, 2013. Junior Players?
I need a few good men or women At the Memphis Junior re-
to step up and be chairperson for the ception, many juniors expressed
Historian, Parliamentarian, a desire to continue learning.
or Convention Hostess posi- Some learn through the internet,
ter
tions. As such, you will be a
he some with books, but many said
board member and have vot-
c.
ing rights at our board meetings at the
that they learn best in an inter-
to Conference in Atlanta, July 30- active/hands-on setting. Unfor-
en August 2, 2013. tunately for many of those in
es college, money is tight and
Nancy Abbott is ABTA’s Publicity
in bridge classes expensive.
Chairman and is very helpful in pro-
We moting any accomplishment any of Patty Tucker was at the
se our members achieve,
ge,
meeting and volunteered to see
by contacting their local if any ABTA teachers would be
newspapers. Her article willing to offer discounted
er- to my local newspaper
classes to students.
ars was instrumental in get-
put ting new students for me. Let her Are you willing to talk
os know any news you would like pub- to some students and
lished. offer classes either:
I’ll close with condolences to the 1) For barter; or
families of Richard Fokes of London,
Ontario and Howard Reed of Clovis, 2) At a discount?
California. They both passed away in Are you interested in the
AP the last few months.
ed
ABTA talking with the ACBL
of Education Foundation and with
ABTA web site: the ACBL District and Unit of-
www.abtahome.com ficials to see if they might be
in willing to subsidize the class for
n- Stay updated by checking
students?
an our site regularly. If you would
ma- like your name to be linked to Reply with your thoughts
ear email on the members page, and suggestions on this to Patty
ent please send your permission to Tucker at:
of our web master, Luise Lee at: wimsey@mindspring.com
ed and put Junior Classes in the
ue webmaster@
abtahome.com subject line.
ABTA QUARTERLY PAGE 8 Summer 2012 AB

New Members
Christie Bendickson Dennisann Nichols
3088 Sawmill Lane 1500 Cormier Road

Welcome!
Spring Hill, FL 34606 Green Bay, WI 54313 AB
christiebee@tampabay.rr.com dennien1@aol.com lar
lis
Cassandra Blume Elizabeth von Riesenfelder spe
1748 NE 50th Court P.O. Box 1116
AB
Pampano, FL 33064 Manchester, VT 05254-1116
sio
bridgebasics@comcast.net elizabethvr777@comcast.net
co
Carol Bongard Address Changes wa
328 Manor Road East Constance Bartlett oth
Toronto, ON M4S 1S2 52 Croasdale Street oth
Canada Moncton, NB E1B 0A8 On
carol_bongard@hotmail.com Canada ca
we
John Bortins Mary Ellen Zaske sio
5287 Inwood Drive 2084 Thames View Street thi
Delray Beach, FL 33484-1101 Henderson, NV 89044
john.bortins@gmail.com mezaske@gmail.com
Email Change AB
Thomas Cheng
mo
6 Lillico Drive Ann Zorn ev
Ottawa, ON K1V 0E4 annzorn@hotmail.com Do
Canada pro
tom.cheng.tong@gmail.com
Spread the Word!!
Medhat Fawzy To
18 Price Street Recruitment of new members
an
Richmond Hill, ON L4S 1C8 should be a priority for everyone va
Canada in our organization. thr
medhatfawzy@hotmail.com You can download a member- ho
ship form for your friends from ha
Thomas Hinkle our website. There is a supply of of
P.O. Box 22506 back issues of the Quarterly avail- top
Chattanooga, TN 37422 able if you are planning a teacher’s Su
tkh@cpatkh.com workshop in your area. sta
Patti McCallum an
10616 Meridian Ave. North #300
Make it your goal to Ho
Seattle, WA 98133-9567 recruit at least one new of
pattimcbridge@gmail.com member this year! wh
 2 ABTA QUARTERLY PAGE 9
ABTA Online Activities
By Maggie Sparrow, Ontario
Be sure to stay connected
with other teachers through
our online activities.
Welcome!
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
comments 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 messages, and
we’ve had some interesting discus-
sions. There are also some very useful
things for you to find in the files.
http://games.groups.yahoo.com/
group/ABTAdiscuss
ABTAchat. Come to our once-a-
month chat (usually the fourth Sunday
evening) at Bridge Base Online.
Download the windows-based BBO
program ahead of time from
www.bridgebase.com
Topics are pre-set and you will receive
an email reminder a few days in ad-
vance. 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 pressing question. Here’s a list
of the next few months’ Chat dates and
topics:
Sunday, August 26, 2012. As you
start planning your Fall lessons, come
and discuss marketing your classes.
How do you attract new players? Word
of mouth, emailing, newspaper ads,
what works best for you?
Summer 2012
Sunday, September 23,
2012. What courses are
you running this year?
Do you have the whole year planned out
so that students can find some continu-
ity? Are you responding to their needs?
Come and discuss how it works for you
in your community.
Sunday, October 28, 2012. How are the
Fall classes going? Do you have any
problem students or situations? How do
you handle them? Come and discuss any
current concerns with fellow teachers.
Sunday, November 25, 2012. When
you first started teaching, were you able
to find a mentor to advise you? What
mistakes did you make at the beginning?
Do you work with other teachers? Are
you in a position now to help new teach-
ers yourself? How do we pass on the
good advice to others?
No Chat in December.
Happy holidays everyone!
If you are NOT receiving regular
monthly reminders by email about the
Chats it’s probably because Maggie
Sparrow doesn’t have your correct email
address. Send it to her if you would like
to receive reminders.
Many of the reminders are bounced
back because Maggie’s email is not al-
lowed by the recipients (mostly AOL
users). If you believe this applies to you,
putting Maggie’s email in your address
book will often solve the problem.
If you miss a Chat you are particu-
larly interested in, you can email Maggie
for the transcript at:
msparrow@csolve.net
ABTA QUARTERLY PAGE 10 Summer 2012 AB

THE MORE YOUR STUDENTS PLAY OR LEARN, M

THE MORE YOU CAN TEACH
Visit www.GreatGameProducts.com or www.GGP.co
Call 800-426-3748 for ordering information.

Introduction to Bridge - Play & Learn

with Pat Harrington
Learn from your iPad—see website for details
(Lessons 1-6) / (Lessons 7-13)
Windows only 2000 / XP / Vista / 7
Special Intro- Mac OS X 10.5 or later
ductory Price
• Software of the Year: 2009-Lessons 1-6;
Retail: 2010-Lessons 7-13.
$34.95 • Teaches both bidding, play and is paced
appropriately for beginners.
ABTA Price:
• Lessons teach the mechanics, trick taking, and
$17.50
provide the background for bidding.
• Lessons teach opening bids and their responses.

Learn and Practice Bidding Conventions

Basic Conventions (#2) / More Basic Conventions (#3)

Based on the
WINNER OF THE 2007 ABTA
SOFTWARE OF THE YEAR
Windows 2000 / XP /
Vista / 7
Retail: Not available for the Macintosh
$29.95 • Help your students learn up to 7 different
conventions.
ABTA Price:
• Ideal for students looking to learn a new convention.
$15.00

To Order
Call Cindy: 1-800-426-3748 or Fax Cindy: 301-765-8004
Email: sales@ggp.co or sales@bridgebaron.com
12 ABTA QUARTERLY PAGE 11 Summer 2012


Many of these
Some available
available on
on these
a PC, Mac or
mobile devices
an iPad
 

Learn to Play Bridge

With Audrey Grant
Bridge Basics 1

Available in English only

(Now available for Macintosh)

Retail:
$34.95 Windows Vista / XP / 7

ABTA Price Mac OS X 10.4 or later

$17.50

Learn to Play Bridge with Audrey Grant - Bridge Basics 1

has a host of features, including these:
• This program is designed for the absolute beginner. The material is pre-
sented in a clear, well-organized format, moving smoothly from one topic
to the next. It's based on the most up-to-date information the game has to
offer.
• A sound track accompanies the lesson material, allowing you to focus on
the hands and the graphics.

Bridge Baron 22

Bridge Baron is now available for the
iPhone/iPod ($19.99)

Available in English (Windows/Mac),

Français (Windows/Mac), and
Deutsch (Windows/Mac).
Retail: $64.95
ABTA Price: $32.45 Windows Vista / XP / 2000 / 7
Mac OS X 10.5 or later

Website: www.GreatGameProducts.com
or www.ggp.co
ABTA QUARTERLY PAGE 12 Summer 2012 AB

Bridge in Paradise or
By Kathy Walsh, South Carolina er
ing
sp
Following is a write-up about a Swimming with
week of bridge in “paradise” that in- ma
the dolphins … hot
cia
cluded 16 players from our Hilton stone massages … morning yoga
bo
Head Island Bridge Club. … afternoon bridge workshops …
bo
evening duplicate bridge … could
The trip turned out to be a won- one ask for anything more?
derful advertising and marketing
an
ploy. When we returned, the local The sixteen members of the
su
paper printed our picture and a story Hilton Head Island Bridge Club
about the trip—this article, plus the who visited Aven-
rave reviews of the players who went tura Spa in the
on the trip, resulted in a data base of Riviera Maya this
59 players interested in such a trip month could find no
next year. flaws with this daily
ya
schedule.
This week-long bond- stu
ing keeps people excited Each day began with a rigor- fo
about our classes and our ous yoga class; next came a quick wo
games, something all trip to the smoothie bar for a
bridge teachers love. “Good Morning” drink. Breakfast
re
followed with omelets made to
th
to
br

sig
cru
wo
an
wo
br
on
ha
wo
fro
ne
am
wo
int
12 ABTA QUARTERLY PAGE 13 Summer 2012

order, pancakes, waffles and sev- This trip was organized by

eral Mexican specialties. Follow- Kathie Walsh, who teaches bridge
ing breakfast we hurried to our at the Hilton Head Island club and
spa appointments: writes a column for the Bluffton
manis, pedis, fa- Sun. Walsh, named
cials, massages, the Ame rica n
ga
body scrubs and Bridge Teachers’
…
body wraps. Association’s teacher of the year
uld
in July of 2011, also teaches
Then came walking, reading bridge on cruise ships.
and relaxing in a beautiful cove
he
surrounded by exotic-looking fish. Upcoming ABTA
ub
Some took time
n-
to dance with
Conferences
he Atlanta GA; July 30-Aug. 2, 2013
and kiss the dol-
his Las Vegas NV; July 16-19, 2014
phins; some vis-
no Chicago IL; August 5-8, 2015
ited a nearby Ma-
ily Washington DC; July 20-23, 2016
yan ruin; but most of the guests
studied their bridge in preparation Toronto ON; July 19-22, 2017
or- for the day’s highlight: a bridge
ck workshop on doubles.
a
Following dinner at one of the
ast
resort’s many themed restaurants,
to
these bridge aficionados returned
to the bridge room for duplicate
bridge playing. ABTA members can order a
magnetic name badge with the
A diverse group of players ABTA logo in black and red on a
signed up for this week-long “land white background by contacting:
cruise”—we had a 92 year old John McGillivary
woman who was as spunky as Marsden’s Trophies
any 30 year old 4 Alliance Blvd., Unit 6
woman (maybe Barrie, ON L4M 5J1 Canada
bridge keeps
Phone: 705-726-1101
one spunky); we Fax: 705-726-1103
had working
women, retired women, women Price is approximately $15 US, in-
from three different states, begin- cluding shipping. Pay by credit card
ner players and Life Masters. The to avoid currency problems, either
by phone or fax. Fax is preferred to
amazing part was that all of these
ensure your name is spelled cor-
women bonded over a common rectly. Allow at least 7 days for
interest: bridge. processing and 10 days for shipping.
ABTA QUARTERLY PAGE 14 Summer 2012 AB

The Classroom Numbers Game 3.

By Leslie Shafer, Maryland

In your class today, 22 students to be the empty

(five and a half tables) show up. chair. After the
Since your lesson protocol calls for opening lead, let the dummy ta- Th
everyone in class to be declarer at ble their hand and then move to pr
least once, what will the seating plan fill in the empty position, leaving or
be? Here are some of the variations the dummy seat empty. ha
I’ve tried and a list of pros and cons
The Good News: Late comers are Th
for each.
easily accommodated and the teacher ar
1. Leave the half table intact, with does not have to fill in (as the three so
the teacher filling in as a third students can help turn the dummy’s fif
person when the play portion of cards). co
the lesson begins. The Bad News: The eventual dummy, sib
after tabling their hand, has to physi- wi
The Good News: You’ll have table pla
space available if someone arrives cally shift to a new chair, mentally
shift to evaluating a totally different th
late.
hand, try to remember that they are Gr
The Bad News: Most students are now a defender and are attempting to de
very intimidated when the teacher is set their ex-partner, etc. Also, the de- tha
actually sitting at their table. They fenders are focusing so th
make crazy mistakes simply because much on turning dummy’s gr
the teacher is there. We cards that they have trouble lis
should be protecting our concentrating on their own gr
students, not putting them defensive plan. As in Example #1, the fe
in potentially humiliating students are being put in a situation
situations. Also, the teacher that interferes with their ability to
is unavailable to help if there are dif- concentrate. Since the teacher must in
ficulties at any of the other tables. tell a three-person table before each
hand the position (N/E/S/W) of the I’l
Grade: F. Our students have a hard
empty chair, another distraction (both ne
enough time concentrating in class
for the students and the teacher) is th
without the teacher adding to the
manufactured. Imagine the confusion de
problem.
with TWO tables of th
2. Have a student from a full table three? Prepare for a (a
move to the half table (thus creat- Keyst one K ops stu
ing two tables with three students bridge lesson. tak
each). If possible, arrange for the Grade: C─. This is still a very dis- tab
position that is passing during the tracting situation for both the students at
auction (and not on opening lead) and the teacher. thr
ABTA QUARTERLY PAGE 15
3. Have each of the students at the
half table become the fifth person
at two separate full tables. Ex-
plain the logistics for the rotation
of the sit-out [given below].
The Good News: There is no extra
pressure on the students from the
original half-table. The teacher also
has fewer distractions.
The Bad News: If the full tables you
are expanding are set four-
somes, you’d hate for your
fifth chair to be given the
cold shoulder. It’s also pos-
sible that the fifth student
will timidly sit down and refuse to
play a hand, not wanting to poach on
the rightful heirs to the table throne.
Grade: B. I usually seat an extra stu-
dent immediately as a fifth, telling her
that I want her to sit there because
these four ladies are the friendliest
group in the bunch. If other tables are
listening, I send them a wink and a
grin to make sure they are not of-
fended by my remark.
Here are my new classroom seat-
ing protocols:
If 23 students arrive in my class,
I’ll explain to everyone that we might
need to rearrange the seating before
they start playing the
deals. When we finish
the 15-minute lesson
(assuming no additional
students arrive late), I
take the three-person
table and seat each of those students
at a different table, thereby creating
three five-person tables.
Summer 2012
After almost two months of imple-
menting this type of seating arrange-
ment, I have noted many positive
changes compared to having partial
tables:
• Students are less confused (both
during the bidding and when on
defense);
• No one else has to turn the
dummy’s cards;
• Students arriving late understand
that they might end up as a fifth
at a table (promoting timely arri-
vals);
• Many newer students enjoy meet-
ing and making new
friends in class and
discovering opportu-
nities for play dates;
• The teacher is able to concentrate
on the entire class instead of fo-
cusing on just one problem table.
The logistics of running a table
with five students:
If your deals have a rotating de-
clarer, here is the magic formula. The
fifth sits out the first deal. Whoever is
the declarer on the first
deal switches chairs
with the fifth and sits
out. The fifth stays in
that new seat until she is
declarer. Once the second deal is fin-
ished, the person who just sat out
changes seats with that declarer. Af-
ter every deal, two students will
change seats. If you make sure that at
least five deals are played in a class
session, everyone will be the declarer
(Continued on page 16)
ABTA QUARTERLY PAGE 16
(Continued from page 15)
at least once. (You may need to moni-
tor that the original sit-out is declarer
on the fifth deal.)
At the beginning of the first deal, I
explain the logistics to a table of five
students to make sure they understand
how they move. If the added fifth stu-
dent tries to bow out (“Oh, no, I’d just
prefer to watch ... I have a headache
anyway.”) I kindly inform them that
they must play at least
one deal in every class,
if they want to take les-
sons from me. “I would
be doing you a great
disservice if you were not just as in-
volved in the lesson as the rest of my
students.”
The big lesson I have learned as
a teacher:
Avoid at all costs personally filling
an empty seat. The students do not
enjoy the added pressure of having
the teacher sitting at their table.
I would like to thank my friend
and former student, Dolores Svec,
who pointed out to
me the advantages of
a five-person table
over a three-person
table.
Dolores graciously acts as my as-
sistant at my larger classes (think 22
tables and a microphone). She noticed
the lowering of stress and increase in
camaraderie when there were no two-
or three-person tables and thought that
we should avoid having them.
Summer 2012 AB
Attention
All Teachers!!
Our popular Applebasket con-
test will take place again at our
Conference in Atlanta in July.
Please submit the method you use
to interest your
students in a par-
ticular concept,
hand or a dilemma
that they frequently encounter. An
entry may be a way that you pre-
sent a concept, things you do in
class to hold their interest, or any
other way that you make their
learning experience memorable.
Remember that your successful
techniques may be of great use to
other teachers, so please send in
you best teaching tip. We request
your discretion in not speaking
about your submission until the
voting process is finished. The
final day of the convention, we
would ask the winner and top
place finishers to showcase their
entries. Bring your own props, if
needed, to our annual meeting in
Atlanta!
Submissions may be made by
regular mail to:
Brenda Montague
14 Capstan Way
Swampscott MA 01907
or you can email your submission
to Brenda at :
bestbridgeteacher@yahoo.com
Deadline for submissions
is July 1, 2013.
12 ABTA QUARTERLY PAGE 17 Summer 2012

Dues Are Due!!

-
r
The address label on this ABTA
y.
e Quarterly issue shows your expiration date.
If your label indicates you are expiring soon,
please send in your membership dues in US Funds:
$45 for one year; $120 for three years;
n
-
or $70 per year for a household membership.
n
y
Non-US members please add $5 (per year) to
r your dues to pay for additional mailing costs.
Canadian members may pay in Canadian funds.
l
o
If you have any questions, please email Kathy Rolfe at:
n kathyrolfe@gmail.com
t
g Your check or money order should be
e
made out to ABTA and mailed to:
e
e Kathy Rolfe, P.O. Box 232, Greenwood, MO 64034-0232.
p
r
f
n Do you need an updated 2012 Membership Roster?
Have you recently moved?
y Do you know if it’s time to renew your membership?
Please send questions and updates via email to our
Business Secretary:
Kathy Rolfe
n
P.O. Box 232
Greenwood, MO 64034-0232
Home: 816-237-0519
Email: kathyrolfe@gmail.com
ABTA QUARTERLY PAGE 18 Summer 2012 AB

Regional Workshop Report jo

By Linda Green, Florida, Southern Regional Director mo
to
On July 5, 2012, I ran an ABTA photos and an album
Teacher Workshop during a Regional showing her success an
Tournament held at the Hilton Hotel, with the children. me
Deerfield Beach, Florida. no
Ted Dunn was a guest speaker and
The workshop was FREE and talked about his revised bidding prac- sta
lasted three hours. The ACBL kindly tice program. It was a different con- we
sent out emails at my cept for the teachers and, as we had no
request with a link to overhead projector, the participants Ka
my flyer. That was a were given printouts on his demon-
great way to help get the word out stration. Si
and I had 32 people register.
I gave away 10 CDs Li
The actual attendance number was donated by Great Game AB
24. I provided all the homemade food Products in a lucky num- So
for breakfast and tea time. All the ber draw to add some fun
attendees were given folders with a to the morning.
copy of the Quarterly, a copy of
Bridge Students ‘R Us from Leslie All went off extremely well and
Shafer, blank paper sheets and a pen hopefully will have about six new
and pad from Great Game Products. I members, if not more, signed up in the
also enclosed many flyers of interest not too distant future.
pertaining to the workshop.
I have since received emails and
phone calls complimenting us on such
Jeanni Blume kindly assisted me.
a well thought out, organized and en-
We both gave our input, which nicely
complemented each
other, and greatly en-
hanced the pacing of
the presentation. Jeanni
also brought her com-
puter and we demonstrated the
DMPRO program to everyone.

Cassie Blume gave an enlighten-

ing talk on her achievement as a
bridge teacher to
children in a Charter
school in Ft. Lauder-
Linda Green and Jeanni Blume
dale. She brought us under the ABTA banner
ABTA QUARTERLY PAGE 19 Summer 2012

joyable workshop. They said it was

most informative and a great benefit
to them.
I want to thank Brenda Simpson
and Pat Harrington for encouraging
me to go ahead even at such short
notice, due to problems with new
staff members at ACBL, which
were resolved in a timely manner.
A financial report will follow to
Kathy Rolfe.
Sincerely,
Linda J. Green
ABTA Regional Director
Southern Region
2013 ABTA/MPP
Teacher of the Year
Nominees for the Teacher of
the Year award for 2013, to be
presented in Atlanta, are now be-
ing accepted.
Have your students e-mail the
committee, video a sample lesson
and submit some sample materials.
This prestigious honor is open to
all bridge teachers. It is necessary
to be a member of ABTA.
To join, go to abtahome.com
or TeachBridge.com to get a copy
of the membership application.
Dues can be paid through PayPal.



$92.50* per session for a two-part Workshop

 








        
          






ABTA QUARTERLY PAGE 20
Teachers’ Brown Bag Lunch
at the Bethesda, Maryland, Regional
By Terry Jones, Virginia, N. Atlantic Regional Director
An informal brown bag lunch get-
together for teachers and those inter-
ested in teaching was held at the Be-
thesda, Maryland, Regional on July
7, 2012. Hosted by Terry Jones,
ABTA North Atlantic Regional Di-
rector, the gathering had 10 people in
attendance for a networking and
brainstorming session.
We had a very interactive group,
including ABTA members Leslie
Shafer, Charlie Williams and Frank
Shull III. We discussed
the resources for teachers
that are available through
the ACBL and ABTA
websites, along with the many bene-
fits of ABTA membership.
At least one of the attendees indi-
cated that he would be submitting a
membership application. Leslie of-
fered to provide two goodies to any-
one from the group who signed up to
join ABTA—a 10-page list-
ing of her bridge jokes as
well as a listing of teaching
materials currently available on the
market that she has compiled.
Several of the teachers who at-
tended are involved in collaborative
volunteer work teaching bridge to
young people in several local schools
and churches. The programs are ac-
tive and growing. The northern Vir-
ginia school program is on track to
grow to 10 schools with 100 volun-
Summer 2012 AB
•
teers over the next three years. Also. a
new program is being started in Wash-
ington, D.C., in conjunction with law
firms who are involved in
a partnership with local M
schools. Great ideas were na
suggested, including ask- ap
ing the ACBL to allow occasional wi
sanctioned games in school programs ho
to be run by volunteers without having
them pay for an official sanction or
table fees. sio
ide
We reviewed some of the main
ma
teacher training programs currently
available, including the ma
me
ACBL Teacher Accredi-
tation Program (TAP), Te
Audrey Grant’s teacher AB
certification and the N
EasyBridge! certification. We also NV
discussed the opportunity for experi-
enced teachers to apply for ABTA’s
ou
Master Teacher credential. by
co
Each teacher was asked to bring
their best teaching tip. We had some on
bri
great tips, including:
do
• Find a place to teach that does not wit
charge you;
• When a student answers a ques-
tion, say “Thank you;”
• Keep it fun!
• Minors work underground, Ma-
jors rule the world!
• Ask every teacher to talk about
one bridge etiquette idea at each
lesson, e.g., North’s responsibili- J
12 ABTA QUARTERLY PAGE 21 Summer 2012

ties, when to call the director, or Submission Requirements

being nice; By the Editor
• For schools, get what you can
from ACBL: books, tee-shirts, If you would like to submit an
tr ophies, teaching stipend, article to the Quarterly or send a
.a teacher’s manual, etc. letter to the Editor, we have some
h- suggestions for you:
aw Great ideas!
in
• Please include your name and
A door prize was donated by the telephone number, email and
cal Mid-Atlantic Bridge Conference tour- snail mail address (we solicit
ere nament chair, Shawn Stringer. We from ABTA members only);
k- appreciate her support in providing us
nal • Electronic submissions are
with soft drinks and the use of the greatly encouraged (either as
ms hospitality room for our meeting.
ng files attached to an email or in
or All in all, a great networking ses- the body of the email);
sion with many new • We are especially looking for
ideas presented and articles about how to teach
in bridge (methodology, market-
many new contacts
tly ing, advertising, humor, etc.);
made. I hope to repeat this type of
meeting at other Regionals in the area. • See page 5 of this magazine
for where to send your sub-
Terry Jones missions.
ABTA Regional Director,
North Atlantic Region Thank you, 
so NVBA Education Chair
ri-
A’s [Later the afternoon of the meeting,
our beauteous co-editor was approached
Can You Add to the
by an active member of the local bridge Discussion?
ng community. She asked if Leslie knew any- One of the best reasons to be a
me one she could talk to concerning teaching member of the ABTA is the op-
bridge in schools in the area! The moral: portunity to network with other
don’t pass up any opportunity to network bridge teachers.
not with other teachers. —Editor]
Do you take advantage of our
ABTAdiscuss or join us for the
es- Come Join the Fun! ABTAchat? Maggie Sparrow does
a wonderful job making sure these
Meet Us in resources are readily available.
Ma- Atlanta! (See page 9.)
ABTA Our Applebasket contest is al-
out ways looking for entries. Do you
ch Conference have something to share with the
li- July 30--August 2, 2013 rest of us? We think you might.
ABTA QUARTERLY
Software Review
By Brenda Simpson, Washington
Defense
with Bernard Magee
By Bernard Magee
Bernard Magee is called Mr.
Bridge in Britain where he is one of
England’s most popular teachers.
His two latest interactive Bridge
Programs are on the Play of the
hand and Defense. This review will
cover his Defense software.
It seems different to have a soft-
ware program from Germany doing
the programming and not the ones
I’m used to using in the U.S. It was
very helpful to have his booklet in-
cluded for clarification. As with
other interactive programs, the
teacher seems to be looking over
your shoulder to explain any mis-
takes and put you on the right track.
With Bernard’s English accent giv-
ing you praise or guidance, I en-
joyed his novel terminology.
There are two introductory chap-
ters with 20 exercises and ten chap-
ters with 120 deals. Here are the 10
chapters:
• Lead vs. Notrump Contracts
• Lead vs. Suit Contracts
PAGE 22 Summer 2012 AB
ke
wh
sta
• Partner of Leader
vs. Notrump pr
Contracts wa
• Partner of Leader vs. at
Suit Contracts
inc
• Count Signals tea
• Attitude Signals
alw
• Discarding wi
• Defensive Plan
• Stopping Declarer on
• Counting the Hand
The first two deals of each chapter,
you get over-the-shoulder
advice. The remaining
deals you do by yourself
with Bernard’s explana- of
tion at the end. During thi
the play, you cannot continue if you
•
don’t play the suggested card. There is
a Hint button to use and a Solution but-
•
ton that shows the best card. Then you
•
have a choice if you want to repeat a
deal or press the button to get the ex-
planation. The status line at the very
bottom of the program displays the
word “Quiz” if the card you are going
to select will be given immediate feed-
back.
The Statistics window can be
opened at any time using the menus at
the top of the screen. This window
shows a list of all the hands played. It
contains the following
information: Chapter
Number; Hand Num-
ber; Score; Date and
Time last played. Individual scores are
ABTA QUARTERLY PAGE 23 Summer 2012

kept for each member of household • Ducking a finesse to cause declarer

who logs in with their name at the to have to get to his hand to finesse
start. again
• To kill entries
I especially liked the ability to
print the hands and additions if I One of the main principles of giving
want the explanation count is to make it a habit to show
at the end of the play count whenever the de-
included. For all clarer is on lead. The
teachers who are weaker hand is usually
always looking for great deals, this the one who signals and
will be your favorite feature. must help the stronger
partner. It’s important to be able to
One of my favorite chapters was know how to distinguish the difference
on count. Bernard has some great between count and attitude signals.
deals to demonstrate Find this out when you purchase this
these concepts. For software.
count, he uses the
acronym “HeLo” for You can order online at:
High for Even and www.bridgesoftware.com
Low for Odd number if you wish to purchase this software
of cards. Some of the main uses for for $145 (includes shipping). His other
this signal are: programs are advertised on the back of
• Cutting off the declarer from a the latest ACBL Bridge Bulletins. They
long suit are published by Qplus
• Showing a doubleton Software. System require-
• Timing of taking an ace before a ments are Windows XP,
ruff Vista or 7.

Help wanted
We are looking for a technical
minded sales person who is
capable of selling and sup-
porting our duplication and
scoring equipment.
Please send application, or
request for more information,
to per@jannersten.com.

www.jannersten.com
ABTA QUARTERLY PAGE 24
Book Reviews
By Dee Berry, Washington
Bridge for Dummies
(3rd Edition)
By Eddie Kantar, © 2012
Coming in at more than 400
pages, this close to letter size vol-
ume covers everything from open-
ing bids through competitive bid-
ding, declarer play, defense and
“must-know” conventions. Two
chapters cover “Feeding Your Ad-
diction to Bridge” (joining bridge
clubs and the tournament world, and
playing bridge on your computer
and online). An appendix even cov-
ers the Acol Bidding System.
Kantar, a prolific bridge writer,
world-class player and member of
the Bridge Hall of Fame, has up-
dated this all-inclusive volume
while retaining that sense
of humor which makes all
of his books very readable.
The book is dedicated to his par-
ents, “who stuck with me even when
all the relatives were telling them
Summer 2012 AB
jo
re
tha
tu
I’d come to no good or
end being a card player ha
and asking why I didn’t find a ‘regular’ W
job like everybody else.” sh
Icons are used to highlight impor- Te
tant topics: “Bridge Talks” points out
key terms in the language of bridge; ma
“Remember” spotlights items you lis
should be sure to keep in Ri
mind; “Tips” (the icon is a
target with an arrow point- It
ing to the center) focuses on se
helpful hints “that make you a smarter po
player, faster;” and “Warning!” (the 27
icon has a bomb with the fuse ignited) CA
reminds readers that many tricks can be au
lost if these items are ignored. These ch
icons are a terrific way to break up and
highlight critical points.
Each chapter’s first page is a de-
lightful cartoon by Rich Tennant. My
favorite shows a couple standing at the
altar with the minister intoning, “And
do you promise to love,
honor and always lead the
highest card from the short
side?” Many chapters have
sidebar stories of a few paragraphs,
such as: “Signals create scandals;” “A
Sam Stayman story;” “The expert and
his watch;” “How do you tell a double
from a double?” and “Do you know
who I am?” Some of the stories are
Kantar’s own confessions.
fo
Kantar’s presentations are so enter- pr
taining that intermediates as well as an
beginners will profit from them, and Co
far more experienced players will en- ab
12 ABTA QUARTERLY PAGE 25 Summer 2012

joy the wit and the anecdotes. (This The 8 x 11" softcover volume of
reviewer, for example, did not know only 56 pages (all in large type) is
that Kantar taught bridge to pay his extremely readable, especially with
tuition at the University of Minnesota Larry’s sense of humor. (Who else
or that he’s the only person known to would always refer to the opener as
have played in both a “she” and the responder as “he” and
ar’ World Bridge Champion- explain that hopefully this won’t
ship and a World Table raise any complaints about political
or- Tennis Championship.) correctness?)
out The book retails for $22.99 and Cohen starts with “When is 2/1 in
ge; may be purchased through the pub- Effect?” and continues through:
ou lisher: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 “What Happens After the
River Street, Hoboken, NJ, 2/1 Response;” “Other
www.wiley.com Responses to 1♦, 1♥ and
It is available in most bookstores—or 1♠;” “Responding to a
send Eddie a check for $25.99 (includes One-of-a-Major Opening;” “Jumps
ter postage and handling) to: Eddie Kantar, to 3-of-a-Lower Suit After 1♦, 1♥ or
he 2700 Neilson Way #334, Santa Monica, 1♠ (Cohen strongly recommends
ed) CA 90405. Eddie will be happy to these as natural and invitational);”
be autograph and/or inscribe your pur- “First Up, 2♣;” “Jumps by Opener;”
ese chase if desired. His website is: “Bidding After a 2♦ or 2♥ Re-
nd www.kantarbridge.com sponse;” “2/1 Responses in a Minor
Instead of in a 4-Card Major;”
de-
Larry Teaches “Principle of Fast Arrival;” and “The
My 2 Over 1 Game Forcing 1NT Response.”
he By Larry Cohen, © 2012
Most chapters contain short quiz-
nd zes and answers, with explanations.
ve, Especially useful are the Appendices,
he covering: Rebids of a Major
ort “Promising” 6+; Responder’s 2nd-
ve Round Jump to 3NT; Semi-Forcing
hs, Notrump and Other Variations on
“A 2/1 GF. The latter important chapter
nd discusses “reverses,” what bids show
ble extras and when (or not!) rebids
ow promise “stoppers” in unbid suits.
are
Larry Cohen, one of the world’s The self-published book retails
foremost players and teachers, has for $12.95. For details and discounts,
er- produced a delightfully easy-to-read contact:
as and use workbook on 2/1, the system www.larryco.com
nd Cohen believes should be taught to
en- absolute beginners. (Continued on page 26)
ABTA QUARTERLY PAGE 26 Summer 2012 AB

(Continued from page 25) Alive” theme with this deal: After
LHO opened 2♠, partner overcalled
Losing Trick Count, Vol. II 2NT and RHO bid 3♥, Jennifer, hold-
By Jennifer Jones, © 2012 ing:
♠K2 / ♥void / ♦J108732 / ♣QJ842
first advanced 4♦, and then, when her
partner doubled LHO’s 4♥ raise,
pulled the double to 5♣. Her partner
corrected to 5♦, which was doubled.
The complete auction was:
LHO Partner RHO Jennifer
2♠ 2NT 3♥ 4♦
4♥ Dbl Pass 5♣
Pass 5♦ Dbl All Pass

Since the 2NT overcaller held:

This pamphlet contains the
Bridge Bulletin articles (published
December, 2011 through May, 2012)
about Losing Trick Count (LTC)
with new material and new hands.
Jones is a Diamond Life Master from
Santa Rosa, California.
“Move to Mastery from Mys-
tery!” through LTC is Jones’ mantra
throughout the 28-page
pamphlet. The new
material includes: a
“Summary of Bergen
Raises with LTC;” a “Bidding Chart,
Opening 1NT and 2♣;” “Reverse
Drury and Passed Hand Bidding”
and “Inverted Minors,” useful infor-
mation for LTC devotees and new-
comers to this approach.
The Great Hands section spot-
lights Grant Baze’s “Six-Five, Come
♠A865 / ♥Q764 / ♦AQ4 / ♣A9
and the diamond finesse worked, the
hand rolled for six.
This reviewer wishes the hands ad
were presented in a more unified fash- for
ion. Having to look back and forth tea
between one page and the next (on the
overleaf) was very disconcerting.
me
There is a brief discussion of cover on
cards and some added adjustments to “o
LTC. The booklet is aimed at interme- co
diate- to advanced-level players. vir
Losing Trick Count, Vol. II retails bid
for $9.95 (plus $3 shipping and han- ne
dling). Teachers can purchase the ca
books for $5 each in quantities of 15 op
or more. For more information or to tio
order copies, go to: au
an
http://jennbridge.blogspot.com
Checks may be mailed to: Jennifer
Jones, 1275 4th Street #175, Santa an
Rosa, CA 95404. To contact the au-
thor, email:
jennife574@aol.com
12 ABTA QUARTERLY PAGE 27 Summer 2012

ter Getting into the Bidding one chooses to play them or not.
ed A Bridge Toolkit These include: OBAR bids; support
ld- By Bill Treble, © 2012 doubles; unusual versus unusual; and
leaping Michaels.
2
The 224-page softcover book is
her divided into nine chapters: “Principles
se, of Competing and Basic Tools;”
ner “How High Can You Fly?” “Two!
ed. Two! Two Suits in One Bid!”
“Bidding as the Auction Progresses;”
er “Notrump Auctions”—divided into
“The Simple Option
(Landy), The Popular
ss Option (Cappelletti)
and The Aggressive
Option (DONT);”
“ C la imin g Y ou r
he Share of the Turf;” “Navigating in the
Stratosphere—High Level Decisions;”
What a delightful and insightful “Partnership Discussions;” and
ds addition to useful bridge information “Extras and Refinements.”
sh- for intermediate students and their
rth teachers alike! Each chapter has a two-page quiz,
he followed by two pages of answers,
Treble, a Canadian Bronze and the book’s final chapter is a re-
medalist in team champi- view quiz—all useful for teachers.
ver onships, has produced a
to “one-stop shopping” soft- Getting into the Bidding is pub-
me- cover book that covers lished by Master Point Press
virtually every aspect of competitive info@masterpointpress.com
ils bidding, including: takeout and
and retails for $19.95 both US and
an- negative doubles; preempts; over-
CDN. Quantity discounts are avail-
he calls; competing over their notrump
able.
15 openings and dealing with competi-
to tion over your own; forcing pass
auctions; the Law of Total Tricks;
and more.
fer In Memoriam
A number of useful conventions
nta and gadgets are discussed from the Howard Reed
au- standpoint that one Clovis, California
needs to be familiar
with them whether
ABTA QUARTERLY PAGE 28 Summer 2012 AB

More 2012 Applebasket Entries

By Brenda Montague, Massachusetts

Judi Shulman mum hand, jumping

Delmar, New York
The “Threefer” Bid
We spend a lot of time teaching
our students the rules for responding
to partner’s opening bid, and over and
over we hammer in the idea that “a
new suit by an unpassed responder is
forcing.” This is a vital
concept for them to grasp,
but it makes it very hard
when we need to teach
responding to partner’s
takeout double, where a new suit isn’t
forcing and responder needs to jump
to show a good hand. I’ve found an
approach that seems to make sense to
my students.
I tell my students that
when making a takeout dou-
ble it is equivalent to opening
the bidding in the other three
suits at the same time—
bidding three suits for the
price of one.
This “threefer” concept changes
responder’s approach, because I can
now tell them that rather than bidding
a new suit, they are really raising a
suit partner has promised, so the
guideline is “when raising partner’s
suit, the more you
have the higher you
bid.” Bidding a suit
as cheaply as possi-
ble shows a mini-
in a suit shows a me-
dium hand or “limit raise,” and jump- *c
ing to game in a suit shows opening
hand opposite opening hand and sp
length in a suit the takeout doubler ori
promised. Of course there are ifs, ga
ands and buts, but this covers the Yo
main points in a logical manner and try
helps them remember the need to
jump with a good hand. You still
have to deal with the 0-5 point re-
sponder who isn’t allowed to pass,
but hopefully most of the
time the next player will
have bid and they will be rem
off the hook. fir
tw
Obviously there is a lot more to
ph
teaching takeout doubles, but if you
ing
can get across this main idea that re-
sponder is really raising an inferred
suit, the rest seems to fall easily into
place. Try it—I think you’ll like it.
Pam Farrar
Richmond, Virginia so
You, the Stock Market de
us
and Your Bridge Game; ne
or, the Enigmatic ev
Reverse in Action
Just as a modest investor should an
not indulge in hedge funds and oil the
wells, so a minimum bridge hand (12- tic
14 HCP) should not, even innocently, co
make a reverse. The following ditty no
may help to avoid disaster. gif
12 ABTA QUARTERLY PAGE 29 Summer 2012

A minimum purse lot of enthusiasm and did get them to

Should be risk averse. start using a new lesson right away.
And not bid past two
Of her original clue* Barbara Rees
Or risk a reverse. Island View, Nebraska
*clue=bid
p- Easing into Duplicate
ng Moral of the ditty: If your re-
nd sponder wants to go back to your As part of your lessons, use bid-
ler original clue* she will have to bid, ding boxes and duplicate boards to
fs, gasp, not two, but THREE diamonds! ease the “new” player from “social”
he Your partnership may well go broke bridge to duplicate bridge.
nd trying to honor that contract. When I teach an eight-week set of
to lessons on conventions, I make the
ill Linda Westerfield last lesson a “duplicate” game. I do
re- Charlotte, North Carolina this by making up deals in duplicate
ss, boards—and each deal has a conven-
he High 5 tion in it.
ill Students usually have problems
be I score the 12-board
remembering which suit to mention duplicate game using
first when holding two 5-card suits or ACBLScore. The students
two 4-card suits. I give them the catch play 12 boards in two
to
phrase “high 5” your partner, mean- hours. They love it … no
ou
ing mention the higher suit first. pressure, no intimidation
re-
ed and they see that there is
nto Freda Thornbrough no big deal to playing
Omaha, Nebraska duplicate bridge.
Basket of Gifts I have a two-hour 0-49 masterpoint
game at my club and this provides a
Realizing that whenever I teach
smooth transition into duplicate play.
something new, many of the students
It works. ☺
t decide they will try it … after we get
used to what we do now … maybe
e; next month … which may or may not Carolyn Pinto
ever get here. Fort Worth, Texas
So I fixed up a basket of little gifts Enjoy!
uld and when I teach something new, if I have found that the more you use
oil they have a chance to put it into prac- the cards and the less you use the
2- tice that night and they do—then they whiteboard, the more the students en-
ly, come and tell me (a few hands later so joy learning.
tty no one knows) and they can take a
gift out of the basket. This created a (Continued on page 30)
ABTA QUARTERLY PAGE 30
(Continued from page 29)
Sally Veauthier
Columbiana, Ohio
Random Free Entries
In our area, some clubs give re-
bates to games for winning pairs. I
thought about doing this and then
decided:
At the beginning of each session,
we draw door prize winners. I have
made up free entry coupons, and
have written the play-
ers’ seating positions
(for example: 7 N) on
face-down tickets. I
then have someone
select a ticket and the winners are
given a free entry.
They love it!! (Everyone has a
chance at a free entry.)
Pam Farrar
Richmond, Virginia
The Social Hierarchy
of Bridge Suits
Do your students (or you) ever
have trouble remember-
ing just exactly how good
your suit must be in order
for you to do what you
want to do? (For example,
is it okay to open your hand with a
weak two bid in 2nd seat, red versus
white, or are you just too weak?)
Knowing the social hierarchy of
bridge suits can help, especially
when things rhyme.
Summer 2012
Here is the class system of bridge
suits.
1. Marty Bergen says that any suit
with FOUR of the top four hon-
ors plays as well as if it
had one more card in
the suit. So any suit
with FOUR of the top
four honors is a FOUR
GALORE suit. Or, if
you want to be even more em-
phatic, a FOUR GALORE EM-
PEROR suit.
2. Marty Bergen calls any suit with
THREE of the top
four honors a qual-
ity suit. Just change
this to any suit with
THREE of the top
four honors is a QUALITEEE
suit. And pronounce the word as
QUALITEEE.
3. Any suit with only two of the top
honors qualifies as a GENTEEL
suit just as long as the two honors
are accompanied by a
near relative (a high
spot card, a 9 or an 8).
For example: KQ984.
4. Anything less than genteel is
trash.
Of course, you can further subdi-
vide these categories, but you get the
idea. I hope this helps. It helped me. I
could never re-
member exactly
what Marty’s qual-
ity suit was.
011 ABTA QUARTERLY PAGE 31 Fall 2011

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