POSTED JULY 5TH
*New* A Special Opportunity for MOBridge Players
Fifty audio-visual lessons designed and developed by Marty Bergen for the intermediate+ player are now available to MOBridge members at special discounted prices. Click here for further details.
A special private web site has been established for MOBridge. Members may click here to get detailed lesson and pricing information. On this site, members will interact directly with Marty to place and pay for their orders.
Our Virtual OPEN Games are suffering. If you are intending to play any of our Virtual OPEN Games, please register at least 20 minutes ahead of time. We can't stress this enough. These games are not as large as we would like but what we're seeing is players leaving registration 5 or 10 minutes before game start time when there are just 2 or 3 tables registered, and some players are maybe watching to see if the game is going to be large enough (before registering). Please know that if you register, and the game is cancelled, your BBO $ are returned to your account. We have options: (a) we can run a Howell with as few as 3 tables and (b) if we have 2.5 tables, we can sub a pair in. We hope this helps in getting our Virtual OPEN Games "populated".
We heard your requests for quicker games. In response, this past week we introduced two Speedball Games, Tuesday and Thursday. Unfortunately both games were cancelled due to not enough registrations. Let’s hope we can get these games going!
*New* 0-20 Supervised Game
As some of you may already know, MOBridge is starting a new 0-20 game on Friday morning, July 10th, 10:00 on BBO. This game will have supervised play with Danielle to answer your bidding questions. Martin will be directing the game.
If you want to play, make sure you have BBO $ in your account. Registration on BBO will be open 2 hours before game time, please get there in plenty of time (20-30 minutes before game start). If you have an ACBL number, make sure you add it to your profile.
You and your partner will have to register at the same time. Should you be looking for a partner, let Danielle or Martin know well in advance and they will try to find you one. Don't hesitate to contact Martin or Danielle if you have any questions or registration issues.
martinhunter@rogers.com (905-510-0411)
dsgosselin@gmail.com
If you are new to BBO and would like some assistance, just send an email to mail@mobridge.club. We have several volunteers who will be happy to show you the ropes.
*REMINDER* Annual General Meeting July 21, 2020
As announced last week, MOBridge will be conducting its Annual General Meeting on Tuesday July 21 at 6:30 pm. The following supporting documents have been posted to our website under the Members Only tab:
• Agenda
• 2020 Board of Directors Candidates
Please Note: The Annual Report and Proxy will be available soon.
MEMBER ACHIEVEMENTS JUNE 1 – 30, 2020
CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL!
| New Club Masters |
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New Sectional Masters |
| Marcia Baker |
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Brian Armstrong |
| Michael Kirsh |
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Audrey Farrell |
| Ruth MacBean |
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Joanne Lecker |
| Janice Papineau |
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Liz McNally |
| John Weber |
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New NABC Masters |
| New Regional Masters |
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Asit Nundy |
| John Altridge |
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| Susan Barreto |
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New Life Master |
| Mary Bradley |
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Maria Szyjkowski |
| Bonnie Dickson |
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| Dave Dickson |
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New Silver Life Master |
| Glen Hogg |
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Graham Dixon |
| Judi Hogg |
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| Helen Trillia |
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| Gail Znebel |
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POSTED JUNE 28TH
*It’s a Game Changer!*
Effective June 30, 2020
Introducing: Open Dinner Bell Speedball Games
When: Tuesday and Thursday 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
What: 12 Boards, 5 min/board
Cost: $4.00 USD
The Switcheroo: Tuesday Morning @ 9:30 a.m. Swapped the Open game for a 1000 MP Game
(Open game has been cancelled)
The Change Up: Sunday Games
New Open Game @ 12:30 p.m.
Followed by 500 MP Game @ 1:15p.m.
Thank you for your support.
We welcome your feedback and suggestions.
*NEW* - Hand Analysis & Discussion with Martin Hunter
Effective June 29, 2020
Martin has graciously offered to conduct a post-game analysis/discussion session following two bridge games each week, using BBO and/or Zoom Chat. This is a tremendous opportunity for MOBridge members to learn from one of our very own world-class bridge players, using real game examples that you’ve just played.
The two games are:
Monday’s 0-1000 MPs
Friday’s 0-499 MPs
This exciting new offering will start this week. Here’s how it will work:
1. During or following the game, you may send Martin the hand that you would like to discuss the bidding and/or play of. Martin will select the hands that can be covered in the time allowed.
2. Each session will commence at 3:45 and will run for an hour.
3. We will use the hand records available on the MOBridge website.
4. If you are interested in participating (feel free to attend as an observer!), send an email to Martin at martinhunter@rogers.com and you will receive further instructions, including an invitation to a Zoom Chat.
Annual General Meeting July 21, 2020
As announced last week, MOBridge will be conducting its Annual General Meeting on Tuesday July 21 at 6:30 pm. The following supporting documents have been posted to our website under the Members Only tab:
• Agenda
• 2020 Board of Directors Candidates
• Proxy
Online Game Reminders
It is not okay to announce to the Table, or explain to the Table, any bid/call. Players have to use the Alert option, or if an opponent asks privately they can respond privately to THAT opponent only. Do this by going to the Chat box in the bottom left corner and selecting Private and the opponent’s name (BBO ID). This will allow you to chat only to that one person. Others at the table will not see your discussion.
The Directors want you to know that they are aware of:
• DISCONNECTS immediately and will then work on getting a sufficient substitute player so that the round may continue in a timely fashion.
• BOARD ADJUSTMENTS that have been applied (when a board has not been completed) automatically by BBO or when director involvement is needed to determine a result. Please note, do not wait for the adjustment, players should proceed to the next board.
Please keep an eye on the clock. 7/6 minutes per board is plenty of time when we don't have to sort, shuffle before putting back … there are no bids out of turn, leads out of turn, insufficient bids, insufficient cards in hand, etc. These are the most common calls in a Club Game. Once all players are finished a round, we move to the next (so if you can claim, please do so). Also, if a bad claim is accepted, it can be adjusted … call the Director immediately.
And…remember we have the most compassionate Directors around. They’re here for us and on our side!
POSTED JUNE 21ST
Notice of Annual General Meeting
(AGM)
MOBridge will hold its Annual General Meeting on Tuesday July 21, 2020 at 6:30 pm, using ZOOM technology – details to be provided at a later date.
This meeting is open to all paid-up MOBridge members.
The plan for the evening is as follows:
- 6:30 to 7:00 pm Annual General Meeting
- 7:15 pm Bridge game on BBO
The following documents, in support of the meeting, will be posted on the website, in the coming week:
- Agenda
- Proxy form
- Minutes of the 2019 AGM
- 2019 Annual Report
- Call for Directors - qualifications posted
- 2019 Final Financial Results (in Financial Results Section)
In order to conduct our meeting, we require a quorum of 10% of members. If you cannot attend, we request that you complete the proxy form, to be made available later this week.
President’s Update
June 20, 2020
Fellow Members,
As I write this update, Mississauga is still in Stage 1 of the relaxing of Covid-19 restrictions. While we seem to have seen the worst, as new daily cases are decreasing, the current concern is for a “second wave” to occur. Even under Stage 2, we will not likely open given the restrictions on interpersonal contact. The ACBL has cancelled all in-person tournaments through the end of the year, and those clubs who have tried to open have found little success. As always, we continue to monitor the situation very closely to ensure no one is put at risk.
This week look for the announcement of our Club Annual General Meeting (AGM),– July 21st. We will hold a virtual AGM (Agenda on the website) using ZOOM at 6:30 pm. Our regular BBO virtual club game will follow and will be open to all for this date. We need a quorum of 50 members, so please make every effort to attend, and if you are not available, please complete the proxy form and return to our email box prior to the meeting.
With the real likelihood of a continuation of the suspension of Club operations, definitely through July, probably through August and maybe for the balance of the year, over half of our members have been playing online at the Bridgebase.com site. Our virtual club table count has consistently been above the 100 tables a week we need to remain financially stable. But, we are very concerned about the other half. We have not seen many of our friends from MOBridge in months. Please join us virtually. What’s holding you back? The pricing is similar to club rates. The games are fun and we offer more events than previous to our suspension of play. If you need help getting started, there is ample information available on our MOBridge website – BBO & ONLINE INFORMATION tab. And if that is still not enough, one of our members will coach you through the process. Come and enjoy your favorite game!
Last Thursday, the Board of Directors held our June virtual meeting. In addition to the above, key items decided were:
- Agreed to accept an extension to the current lease – we expect to have details at the AGM;
- Recommending a slate of 4 Board nominations to fill vacancies. (Any member may nominate someone at the AGM as well); and
- Agreed with Marty Bergen to provide access to his educational materials through our site. It will be available by the end of the month if all goes well.
Next weekend is the Endless Summer ACBL (2nd regional) tournament. We will continue to run our games in parallel, so you have multiple options.
STAY SAFE!
On behalf of the Board,
Paul Inglis
President
POSTED JUNE 21st
Online Game Reminders from the Directors
Robots & Substitutions
BBO/ACBL have introduced the use of robots for substitutions. We will try to get appropriate human subs whenever possible but sometimes this is difficult. The Director will announce to the game if there is robots playing. Adjustments will be made to the robots score so they will not win. Anyone playing against a robot will get their result or average whichever is better.
Looking for feedback
We are considering introducing an Open dinnertime speedball game on Tuesday and Thursday nights, 6 to 7 pm, 12 bds/5 minutes per board at $4/session. We would like to see a minimum of 5-6 tables. Please let us know if you are interested in such an offering.
Our Thursday 2500MP game is struggling. We are a long way away from the 20 tables we have been getting at many MOBridge games. What would you like to see? Please let us know.
Alerts & Announcements
Alerting is the method used to openly explain your partnership agreements to your opponents. It is a fundamental principle of how bridge is fairly conducted. There has been some confusion around, and in fact, absence of, alerts and announcements, particularly in the online world.
On BBO, when alerting a bid, type the ‘full’ explanation first and then select your bid. This way, both the bid and the explanation appear to the opponents at the same time. If you forget to alert your bid, click on your bid on the table display. A box is shown, into which you can now give an explanation. There are many online sources that show step by step instructions for alerting on BBO.
Please click here for a detailed explanation of ACBL’s Alert Procedure.
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