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Welcome to Denver Bridge

November 2, 2025

Bridge Buzz

The November issue of the D17 Bridge Buzz is out. If you didn’t get it in your email, you can see it here.

Previous issues of the Buzz are available on the D17 website: https://www.d17acbl.org/d17-buzz-newsletter/

October 30, 2025

Front Range Challenge report

The Front Range Challenge was contested last Sunday in Colorado Springs. Twenty-two teams from the Colorado Front Range units – Colorado Springs, Denver, Boulder, and northern Colorado – competed. The overall winner was Denver. Congratulations!

Click here to see the scores.

Here’s the traveling trophy. It hasn’t been updated since 2017, but it’s a handsome piece of granite nonetheless.

October 2, 2025

Table Talk is out

If you missed it, click here for a look. 

Want to sponsor a day in the 2026 Denver Regional?

Name a day after your favorite teacher, mentor, partner. Days Wednesday through Sunday are available for naming. Your designee will be featured on a poster, in an article in the Daily Bulletin, and in the flyer. Contact the regional co-chairs for more information.

August 27, 2025

New site for winter sectional

January 9–11, 2026
Jefferson County Fairgrounds
15200 W. 6th, Golden, CO

We’ve been to Jeffco before. The fairgrounds are near Sixth and Indiana. Free parking and lots of lunch options. Click here for a flyer, and click here for a map for the Jeffco Fairgrounds.

Please note that this is not a permanent site. We’re looking for a long-term solution but we don’t have it yet.

August 21, 2025

Update to criteria for Jan Janitschke Award

The Jan Janitschke Award, originally designed to recognize outstanding contributions to teaching and mentoring, has been updated as follows:

• • Any Unit 361 player who has fewer than 500 masterpoints at the beginning of the calendar year is eligible.
  • The award goes to the player who has won the most masterpoints in open games at any tournament, excluding team games and side pairs.

Bonnie Smith, who was married to Jan for many years, and who is the sponsor of the award, explains: “Jan was very interested in helping players develop. I want to recognize players who are actively working on improving their game by playing in the most difficult events.”

July 28, 2025

Grand National Teams in Philadelphia

Unit 361 cut checks for the unit players representing D17 at the National GNTs at the Philadelphia NABC. Here they are in Philly:

Alas, it wasn’t D17’s year, but there’s always next year.

Upcoming board meetings

Dates of the board meetings for the next several months:

• • Saturday September 20
  • Saturday October 11
  • Saturday November 15

All board meetings are open to any member of Unit 361. Unless otherwise announced, board meetings will take place at 9:00 am at Denver Metro Bridge Studio. Email the unit president to add an item to agenda.

June 1, 2025

More regional pix

Here are the winners, except for the GNT winners. (To see the GNT winners and various other photos from the regional, scroll down.)

(If we got anything wrong, send an email to the webmaster.)

	Longs Peak Bracketed Teams, Bracket 3 Gail Overgaard, Amy Hillenbrand, Laura Brice, Betsy Ludlow
	Summit Peak Charity Pairs, 1st Overall Flo Newlin, Paul Ossip
	Kit Carson Open Pairs, 1st Overall Linda Sundbye, Don Boyarsky
	La Plata Peak Open Pairs, 1st Overall Val Kovachev, Dave Schouweiler
	Mt Ouray Soloway KO, Bracket 1 Mount Lincoln Swiss Teams, 1st Alex Hudson, Jonathan Steinberg, Carole Liss, Daniel Korbel
	Wednesday PM Gold Rush Pairs, 1st EW Randall Van Pelt, Liz Van Pelt
	Wednesday AM and PM Gold Rush Pairs, 2nd Overall Laurie Gaspar, Lanette Guthmann
	Culebra Peak Bracketed Teams, Bracket 2 Mindy Smith, Thad Smith, Ann Gruidel, Tim Niebauer
	Longs Peak Bracketed Teams, Bracket 6 Maureen Sabo, Valerie Hever, Ana Law, Sally Kneser
	Longs Peak Bracketed Teams, Bracket 4 (Tie for 1st) Sunny Rhodes, Thad Smith, Mindy Smith, Sandra-Leigh Serio
	Longs Peak Bracketed Teams, Bracket 2 Gary Yant, Nancy Oliveira, Jeffrey Rapp, Rande Short
	Blanca Peak, Wednesday AM Side Game, 1st Overall Louise Forsythe, Wally Erbes
	I/N Pairs, Wednesday AM and PM, 1st Overall Vic Maroni, Jack Owczarczak

Jonathan Steinberg’s photos

Jonathan Steinberg, roving bridge photographer, came to Denver and brought his camera. Click here to see his snapshots, including some additional winners.

May 29, 2025

Regional numbers

The 2025 Rocky Mountain Regional clocked in at 1134 tables, with 694 players winning masterpoints.

For comparison:

• • 2024: 1213 tables, 742 players winning masterpoints
  • 2023: 1260 tables, 738 players winning masterpoints

Don Boyarsky, regional co-chair, commented that the overall trend of tournament bridge is downward, as we all know, but Denver is doing a good job of minimizing the effect.

Overall, the tournament ran smoothly, with many players commenting that they were happy to be back at the Renaissance.

So thanks for playing and we’ll see you next year!

Regional pictures

We have a lot of pictures. I’ll be getting them posted over the next few days, so be sure to come back in a week or so to see the whole set.

Pro/Am

Kathy Terry and Linda Endicott 1st Overall	Richard Blumberg and Curt Soloff 2nd Overall	John Grossman and Bob Wyman Section J, 1st Overall	Thomas Thomas and Flo Newlin Section K, 1st Overall
	Curt Soloff, Richard Blumberg, Linda Endicott, Kathy Terry, Flo Newlin, Thomas Thomas, John Grossman, Bob Wyman

Jan Janitschke Award winners

Ed Yosses Bonnie Smith Jennifer O'Neill

Carol Bertz Jennifer O'Neill

GNT winners

	Championship Flight Geoff Hampson, Billy Miller, Bobby Levin, Alain Schreiber, Roger Lee, Brad Moss
	Flight A Jared Boulds, Kyle Rockoff, Perry Van Hook, Ron Vickery
	Flight B 1st Place Daphne Davenport, Jim Johnson, Sally Ann Rhea, Robin Elliott
	Flight B 2nd Place Kristi Fjare, Greg Smith, Fiona Freeseman, Douglas Watt
	Flight C 1st Place Hans Hansen, Jonathan Dings, Jill Barker, Chris Watson
	Flight C 2nd Place Meg Gross, Karin Vannett, Sandy Thwaites, Tim Hurley

GNT in progress

New Life Masters

Michelle Stansbury	Nancy Oliveira

Volunteers

Poor tired label maker	Hospitality and Partnership volunteers getting set up	Donna Marino, Photographer, with Mary Lynn Darcy
Bert Solomon, labels	Susan Grauer, Partnership Chair	Alice Klesinger and Joan Curran, Hospitality
Pro/Am volunteers (there were others)	Mark Benford and Margaret Devere, Bulletin Editor and Webmaster	Rita Simas, Julie Clark, Jay Silberberg

Note that there were more volunteers. These are the ones we managed to capture for photographs.

Hawaiian Shirt Day

Roving Photographer

Linda Sundbye and the quick pick-me-up	Cian Moss and Brad Moss	Eli Zwonitzer, possibly the youngest player in the room	Molly Walsh and Jenny Cox take a break
	Steamboat came to play

Directors

Brandon Sheumaker, Ken Horwedel, Kevin Perkins	Director in Training Jim Johnson (right), with Thad Smith and Rita Simas

April 29, 2025

Expanded mentor program

If you’re a newer player (5–500 masterpoints) and are looking to get some coaching, check into the Unit 361 Mentor program.

There are two options for mentoring:

• • Play with your Mentor. (Same as previous years)
  • (New) Play with your partner, and arrange for your Mentor to play in the same game, sitting the same direction. After the game, you (and your partner, if he or she chooses) review the boards with your Mentor. You and your partner must be an established partnership and have at least 200 masterpoints each.

And if you’re a more experienced player and would like to help a newer player develop his/her game, why not be a Mentor?

Click here for more information.

February 19, 2025

Member Appreciation Game report

Last Sunday’s Member Appreciation Game saw 32 tables in play. People liked the playing site, and the food was outstanding.

Evergreen

Sam’s Game

Email ‘phishing’

Kibitzing regulations – a synopsis

If you need to review the regulations regarding kibitzing during a bridge game, there’s a quick look available here, with pointers to the complete ACBL regulations.