[billw55]

Stefan_O, on 2016-September-07, 06:43, said:

And mostly, just lose and lose and lose and lose... you mean?

Sometimes, but not as reliably as at bridge or chess. Moneymaker won the WSOP in his first live tournament.

Poker has its nuances, but bridge and chess are clearly much more complex.

[Stefan_O]

billw55, on 2016-September-07, 08:31, said:

Sometimes, but not as reliably as at bridge or chess. Moneymaker won the WSOP in his first live tournament.

Seems like a smart -but not that representative- dude.

I agree, though, the odds of something similar happening in Bridge would be some quantum-physics event.

[Phil]

lcsmw, on 2016-September-03, 12:15, said:

I haven't played live bridge for 5 years. I'm retired but spending 4 hours playing in a club game isn't a good use of my time, so I play here. About 3 months I decided to play in the Santa Clara regional. I need 3.5 gold points to make life master. I added it to my bucket list.

Hope you struck a little gold.

I was also at Santa Clara over the last weekend. Two things stuck out:

1. On Saturday night they decided to move the 2nd session to 6:00 because Coldplay was at Levi's Stadium next door. This was a last minute change and the website (which used a .pdf for the schedule) was not updated. While this was a good idea, it was a good idea when the concert was announced too. My teammate was at the site so heard about the change but I can't help but think others were affected.

2. Way, way, WAY more infuriating was what happened on Monday. A final day swiss is frequently a play-through which means a very shortened lunch break, however the organizers provide pizza or sandwiches. They did have a play through but no lunch was provided. The announcement was made at 1:00 and we finished match 3 at 1:10. Play was to resume at 1:30. I have low blood sugar so there was no way I was going 8 hours without a meal so we went and picked up a sandwich to go.

We returned and the director of the event yanked a board which is a 3 IMP penalty. At the end of the day, we finished 2nd by one VP so that sandwich cost me 1st place.

[cynac]

I don't know if you guys recognise the name Albert Benjamin, who used to play at our club (Benjaminised Acol..... "Benji"?)
Anyways, he and his crowd started off making their money at poker, only later moving to bridge because "poker has no soul".

Meantime, to original poster....
.....I get the feeling you don't like playing bridge that much.
The animosity towards going along to the bridge club just doesn't sit right for a real enthusiast.
Is it maybe that you just want the points for your bucket-list?

[kuhchung]

Phil, on 2016-September-07, 14:09, said:

2. Way, way, WAY more infuriating was what happened on Monday. A final day swiss is frequently a play-through which means a very shortened lunch break, however the organizers provide pizza or sandwiches. They did have a play through but no lunch was provided. The announcement was made at 1:00 and we finished match 3 at 1:10. Play was to resume at 1:30. I have low blood sugar so there was no way I was going 8 hours without a meal so we went and picked up a sandwich to go.

We returned and the director of the event yanked a board which is a 3 IMP penalty. At the end of the day, we finished 2nd by one VP so that sandwich cost me 1st place.

I don't mean to be a pedant (well maybe I do) but it sounds like you would've played much worse without the sandwich, probably to a much larger tune than a 3 imp penalty!

Pedant mode off. That sucks.

[Rain]

post in newsfeed or bbf, you may get a response. Sometimes we can post it on BBO as a news too.

Alternatively, at some point it may be more enjoyable to hire a pro?