Welcome to Denver Bridge

10/12/2021

TableTalk

The 2021 edition of TableTalk has been published. Click here for a list of recent TableTalks, including this one.

9/30/2021

No exemptions

Just in from the Area Manager of the ACBL: Proof of vaccination required; no exemptions. If a person cannot provide proof of vaccination, he or she will not be admitted to the tournament.

So forget everything that we said earlier about exemption request forms.

9/20/2021

Tournament update
As of now (September 18, 2021), the fall tournament (November 5-7, 2021) is a go. The ACBL has sanctioned it and the board is busy getting things together. Click here for more details, and the flyer.
 
HOWEVER, the ACBL is looking at tournaments on a month-to-month basis. There is a possibility that between now and November the COVID rate in our area will rise enough that the ACBL is not willing to staff the tournament with ACBL directors. If that happens, we will run the tournament anyway, as a Unit tournament. This tournament is still sanctioned by the ACBL, but it is staffed by local directors and the masterpoint awards are lower. In either case, we’d love to see you.
 
(And, it has to be said, there is a remote possibility that the COVID rate will rise so high that public events in Colorado are cancelled. We hope not, but we have to acknowledge the possibility. If that happens, we will inform you of the tournament cancellation as soon as possible.)
 
COVID procedures
Click here to see the COVID procedures that are in place for this tournament.
 
Payment options
It is possible that we will be able to accept payment for entries via credit card, as well as the usual cash and check. If you are paying by credit card, you must purchase the entry for your pair or your team – no charging more than one credit card.  We also suggest bringing cash just in case there’s a problem with the credit card processing.
 
Arrive early, PLEASE
There will be a line for submitting proof of vaccination, and another line for buying your entry. Credit card processing takes longer than cash or check. You will be able to purchase your entry starting 45 minutes before game time. We can’t start the game until everybody has an entry, so please arrive early and avoid the traffic jam.

And please know that even if it turns out to be a Unit game, players from other units are welcome – we’d love to see you.

Directories

New directories, for the years 2021-2022, have been printed. They will be available at tournaments and at local clubs. Be sure to pick one up.

The latest on elections

The annual membership meeting will be held at the November tournament on Saturday, beginning at 2:45 pm. Board members for the 2022-2023 term are elected at this meeting. Feel free to come to the membership meeting even if you are not playing that day.

9/15/2021

Elections and all that

Election procedures will depend on whether or not we are able to hold the November tournament face to face. Click here for a little more information on that, and we’ll keep that page updated.

And click here for candidate bios.

8/25/2021

Candidates
The nominating committee has announced the slate of candidates for the 2022-2023 term. The candidates are:

 

 

 

 

 

  • Rick Gardner (standing for re-election)
  • Ed Yosses (standing for re-election)
  • Carol Gumpert (standing for re-election)
  • Eric Mead 
  • Vivian Heggie

If you want to run, or to nominate someone, there is still time. Contact the head of the nominating committee, Julie Clark.

8/6/2021

Tournament and club news
As you probably know, the ACBL has cancelled all tournaments through August. We are still hoping to hold our I/N tournament in October and our open sectional in November. Additionally, planning is continuing for the Rocky Mountain Regional in May 2022, and you can see a tentative schedule here.
 
IMPORTANT: The November sectional will be held at the Summit Conference and Event Center, 411 Sable Blvd. in Aurora. This is just a block or two south and east of the I-225/Sixth Avenue interchange. It’s easy access from I-70 or I-25. There’s parking and the area has quite a few restaurants. Here’s a map.
 
The Denver clubs are still open, as far as we know, but it might be best to contact the clubs directly if you’re looking for a face-to-face game.
 
BridgeWhiz
In other news, the ACBL has launched an innovative new program called BridgeWhiz. It’s an online introduction to bridge that has people playing immediately, without having to get everybody together in the same place. And it doesn’t rely on school approval, which has been a stumbling block in the past. Click here to see the flyer.
 
Elections
Elections for the 2022-2023 terms on the Unit 361 board are coming up soon. If you’d like to serve on the board, or if you’d like to nominate someone, contact the head of the nominating committee, Julie Clark.
 
And that’s it for today. Check back every now and then to see what’s happening in Unit 361.
 

6/24/2021

Live bridge is back!!

Three area clubs – Heather Gardens (Merrily Van Zevern), Castle Rock (Scott Kelly), and Denver Country Club (Bill Fry) – have new club managers and have reopened or are opening soon.  Also, Warren Garrett has restarted his Monday morning game in Arvada, and Sue Bauer has reopened the Lone Tree club.

With the daily venue that’s been in place since early May at Denver Metro Bridge, you should be able to find a nearby club to play in.

We encourage you to come and play in the clubs once you’ve been vaccinated.  Check out our Clubs page for more information.

Mentor program

We are pleased to announce the expansion of our Mentorship Program for face-to-face play in addition to Metro’s popular Friday online game.

Players with less than 200 masterpoints can be paired with a Mentor for a series of four games with the Unit paying the Mentor’s card fees. Mentor-Mentee pairs may play in any game in which they are eligible, including team games. Complete rules are posted here.

We encourage our newer members to take advantage of this great opportunity to play and learn from a Mentor. We also encourage prospective Mentors (players with approximately 1500 masterpoints or more) to view the page in order to find out how you can be a part of this very rewarding program.

Upcoming tournaments

The Denver Unit is planning to host our Fall 299er – October 9-10 (at Denver Metro) followed by our Fall Open Sectional – November 5-7 (at a NEW location –  The Aurora Summit Events Center – near 6th Avenue and I-225).

Mark these dates on your calendar, and look in these pages for updates as the tournament dates approach.

Printed directory

Due to demand from some of our members, the Unit will create a new printed directory to be available for the November tournament.  Unlike the Online Directory (which will never list addresses), the printed directory will contain addresses of individuals who have given the ACBL permission to share them.

If you want to withhold your address (or other information) from the printed list, please go to the ACBL website (if this link doesn’t take you directly there, click Membership on the left, then click on Privacy Settings) and change your privacy settings prior to August 1, 2021.  If you have issues or questions about how your information is displayed online, look here.

3/6/2021 – Tournament Updates, More Media Coverage

As you may have read, the ACBL has cancelled all sanctioned bridge tournaments through the end of August.  With an abundance of caution, most people feel this was an appropriate decision, and our Unit Board agrees.

This means that our May Regional and our July Sectional will not be held on a face-to-face basis.  The sequence of reopening face-to-face games will start with club games, then Sectionals, Regionals and finally Nationals, based on the successful draw of these events.

The very successful Denver Regional Pro/Am will be held online (May 25th at 1:00PM MDT) again this year.  Please visit the Pro/Am page for more information or to sign-up.  We are continuing to look into offering other special games which may be held online.

Denver Bridge Facebook

A menu link has been added to access the Denver Unit Facebook page.  We encourage Unit Members and Friends of the Unit to “follow” this page, and to post items of interest to other readers.  Also, if you feel that you could help by moderating this page, contact the webmaster.

More media coverage

Denver Unit Members Elly Larson, Shelbie Bastiaans, and Sheryl Siegel were interviewed March 5th on the anniversary of the first COVID deaths in Colorado.  The FOX31 article and video are available here.

2/5/2021 – Bridge thrives despite COVID !!

9 News Next had an interview with Denver players Kathy McMahon and Sheryl Siegel this evening.

A brief description of the game, how it was affected by coronavirus, and some of the things that the community has done to compensate for face-to-face shutdowns.

The article is linked here.

1/12/2021 – Happy New Year !!

See below for new information below for information on the Denver Silver Linings tournament and the new Jan Janitschke Award.

 

Jan Janitschke Award

As indicated in the Fall edition of Table Talk, this new honor to be awarded annually in memory of the late Jan Janitschke, a bridge legend and member of our Unit.  This award to recognizes a Unit Member for  “Outstanding teaching or mentoring contributions to the membership of Denver Bridge Unit 361.” 

Please consider nominating a Unit member you feel is deserving of this honor based on contributions during 2020.  Answers to the following questions will be considered by the award Committee to establish the winner:

    • What has this person done for advancing bridge education and mentoring in the Denver area?
    • How has this person impacted you and/or the bridge community?
    • Who has contributed time and energy to help less-experienced Unit members become better, more confident bridge players?

To make a nomination, please use the form at DenverBridge.org > Members > Janitschke Award Nomination.  Submissions will be accepted through January 31, 2021.

Thanks for your participation!

11/16/2020 – Unit Status

Email ‘Phishing’

You may have received an email from ACBL reporting a ‘phishing’ scam that happened to some of their members’ emails.  Additionally, our Unit President, Rick Gardner, was informed that someone recently sent emails using his name which requested that the recipient purchase gift cards for charity.

    • Please know that Rick and other Unit #361 Board Members will NEVER use their position to solicit money or charitable contributions or ask you to spend money on their behalf with an email.
    • When receiving questionable emails, please check the sender’s address as a clue to its real source. Please contact us if you have questions about any solicitation message you receive from a Board Member.
Unit Facebook Page

Use this link to access the Unit Facebook page.  You may use the page to post items of interest to Unit Members.  Please use courteous and reasonable discretion.