Reno regional
Next year (not this year) will apparently be the last year that D20 runs the Reno winter regional per the transfer agreement a few years ago that moved the Reno unit to D21. One of the TDs I spoke to said he thought it would continue on past that. I am dubious, and certain that it in any case it will not continue in the Xmas/New Year's week, because Monterey is the following week (in fact they overlapped this year) and seems to be cannibalizing attendance.
Friday afternoon: picked up teammates for what turned into a 1-bracket handicapped KO[1]. Down by 40 at the half after we had a bidding disaster for -16 (100% not my fault :-) ) and a 6m we didn't bid (seems tough, other table playing some form of Polish Club and got there vs. our +630). We actually won the second half 38-19, including +12 when we set a game the other table made, +12 on a slam that we bid that they didn't, and +11 on a Lightner double, but even with the +5.14 handicap not nearly enough to win.
Friday evening: one-session side hosers. 6 tables. I pick up 86 AQJ972 Q972 J and open 2H in 1st Vul. Partner bids 2NT, and after my Ogust response, she bids 7NT, clown college![2] She has the proverbial world's fair with AKQJ K86 A8 AKQ5 and we have 15 top tricks. The other results were +2210, 2x +1470, +1460, and -100 (???) we later found out what the -100 was when someone told us their opps managed to block the heart suit. In the 2-session open pairs game going on alongside us only 7 of 13 pairs bid the grand, with two pairs not even in slam. We also had this board:
AKQT8 5432
AKT83 J2
Q73 AKT8654
--- ---
yes, matching voids! At our table the auction went 1S-(3C)-4S-(5C); 5H-(P)-6D-(P); 6H-(P)-6S. North led CA and I got the rare (and useless on this hand) ruff-and-sluff on the opening lead. I don't think I like partner's bidding. 4S is practical but buries the diamond suit. 4C probably shouldn't be a splinter, but may still help figure things out later? On the actual auction we had, would 6H cause you to bid the grand? With the ultra-randomness of a 6-table side pairs event, we came out 1st overall with a 65% game :-)
Saturday afternoon: picked up different teammates, hosed out of a KO (theme). We kinda felt like they let us down, as the results at our table seemed normal. We did bid one bad slam but the other table did as well; just in general they brought back a disappointing scorecard.
Saturday evening: still, we figured a random one-session Swiss was preferable to a random one-session pairs. Our running VP total reads 8-27-27-40 for exactly average, heh.
Sunday: we played in a 2-session open pairs. In the afternoon we felt like we played decently but were only at 52%. In the evening we didn't feel like we did anything special but had almost 57% going into the last round, dropping down to ~55 but still good for 2nd overall in B and 5th in A (the event winners were ahead by a lot, but there was a logjam after that, so different decisions on any number of individual boards could have propelled us into 2nd in A...). This goes amusingly with Friday evening where we thought we played average-ly and had the 65%er. In conclusion, random pairs are random.
[1] my other experience playing in a handicapped KO was with Bill, ultrapower, and alohamike. We joked whether we should complain when none of the other teams had a guy in a wheelchair.
[2] "I don't think any of us expected him to say that"
Between nationals, two sessions in Baltimore, and this long weekend, I have played a fuckload of bridge this month. I've also spent more nights in December away from home than at home. We were originally going to stay through Jan 1 but between the burnout effect and a casino promotion not being nearly as lucrative as hoped, I'm happy to be back at home and vegging.
Friday afternoon: picked up teammates for what turned into a 1-bracket handicapped KO[1]. Down by 40 at the half after we had a bidding disaster for -16 (100% not my fault :-) ) and a 6m we didn't bid (seems tough, other table playing some form of Polish Club and got there vs. our +630). We actually won the second half 38-19, including +12 when we set a game the other table made, +12 on a slam that we bid that they didn't, and +11 on a Lightner double, but even with the +5.14 handicap not nearly enough to win.
Friday evening: one-session side hosers. 6 tables. I pick up 86 AQJ972 Q972 J and open 2H in 1st Vul. Partner bids 2NT, and after my Ogust response, she bids 7NT, clown college![2] She has the proverbial world's fair with AKQJ K86 A8 AKQ5 and we have 15 top tricks. The other results were +2210, 2x +1470, +1460, and -100 (???) we later found out what the -100 was when someone told us their opps managed to block the heart suit. In the 2-session open pairs game going on alongside us only 7 of 13 pairs bid the grand, with two pairs not even in slam. We also had this board:
AKQT8 5432
AKT83 J2
Q73 AKT8654
--- ---
yes, matching voids! At our table the auction went 1S-(3C)-4S-(5C); 5H-(P)-6D-(P); 6H-(P)-6S. North led CA and I got the rare (and useless on this hand) ruff-and-sluff on the opening lead. I don't think I like partner's bidding. 4S is practical but buries the diamond suit. 4C probably shouldn't be a splinter, but may still help figure things out later? On the actual auction we had, would 6H cause you to bid the grand? With the ultra-randomness of a 6-table side pairs event, we came out 1st overall with a 65% game :-)
Saturday afternoon: picked up different teammates, hosed out of a KO (theme). We kinda felt like they let us down, as the results at our table seemed normal. We did bid one bad slam but the other table did as well; just in general they brought back a disappointing scorecard.
Saturday evening: still, we figured a random one-session Swiss was preferable to a random one-session pairs. Our running VP total reads 8-27-27-40 for exactly average, heh.
Sunday: we played in a 2-session open pairs. In the afternoon we felt like we played decently but were only at 52%. In the evening we didn't feel like we did anything special but had almost 57% going into the last round, dropping down to ~55 but still good for 2nd overall in B and 5th in A (the event winners were ahead by a lot, but there was a logjam after that, so different decisions on any number of individual boards could have propelled us into 2nd in A...). This goes amusingly with Friday evening where we thought we played average-ly and had the 65%er. In conclusion, random pairs are random.
[1] my other experience playing in a handicapped KO was with Bill, ultrapower, and alohamike. We joked whether we should complain when none of the other teams had a guy in a wheelchair.
[2] "I don't think any of us expected him to say that"
Between nationals, two sessions in Baltimore, and this long weekend, I have played a fuckload of bridge this month. I've also spent more nights in December away from home than at home. We were originally going to stay through Jan 1 but between the burnout effect and a casino promotion not being nearly as lucrative as hoped, I'm happy to be back at home and vegging.