Our lease is up in November 2023 and we are in a conversation with the City of Orlando (the lessor) about what comes next.  We have asked you for your zip code as the “City” has asked for that.  We are submitting that and the conversation will go on from there.  We are not going anywhere soon.  The City of Orlando Real Estate Division has stated we will stay through the lease so we have approximately 21 months with which to prepare for whatever happens.

  At the start of April, we upped the price of a game of Bridge from $7.00 to $8.00 with the extra $1.00 going to paying off the bonds.  We have paid off about $7,000.00 and have $16,000 left of bonds outstanding.  $5,000.00 of that came from cash on hand.  We have more than enough cash left to meet anticipated needs. 

  We are starting up Easy Bridge which is a class to introduce people of Bridge and duplicate bridge particularly.  The Course is free and there is a book that goes along with that.  If you have any questions, please contact Dave Hoyle at dave@onlinebridgecenter.com or call at 407-529-4621.  If you know of anyone who might be interested please let Dave know.

  We have cancelled the Sectionals we were to have through the summer.  We are uncertain that there would be enough attendance to justify the expense.  We will readdress this issue after the summer.  We expect more clarity about Covid and what people are willing to do in regards to attending Bridge tournaments.

  We have a Wednesday night game Directed by Andrew Wilkin.  The game starts at 6:30 PM.    If you know of anyone who might be interested tell them about the game.  It starts at 6:30 PM and gets done around 9:30 PM.  This game is for people who work but would like an opportunity to play duplicate bridge during the week.  If you have any questions, please call Andy at 407-765-8544 or email him at aswilkin@hotmail.com. 

  David & Maureen Loeb will be giving bridge lessons on Thursday and Sunday starting on January 20^th.  These lessons are aimed at the Intermediate Player but anyone can benefit from them.  I took a couple of his lessons on 2/1 bidding and found them very useful.  See the website for further information.

  Big games-A shoutout to Flo Sena and Yvonne Cobb for a 74.58% game on 12/16, Gloria McCain and Eileen Easterly scoring 72.50% on 12/14, and last but not least Judy Hasan and our Treasurer Chet Harmon for a 70.83% game on 12/9.

Bob Buhrmann
1/17/2022

Begining January 17th, the next 12 non-STaC weeks are Club Championship games.  Extra points at no extra cost.

The city of Orlando has informed the Board that they will not renew our lease which expires in November of 2023. This means our Club will need to find a new home. We are in discussions with the city about other possible venues for our games and are confident we can make a smooth transition to a new location.  The good news is we have plenty of time to work out the details!  The Board welcomes all suggestions and will keep our players informed as we proceed.  Until then, let’s continue to play bridge and enjoy the remaining time in our much-loved center.

January - February Lessons at the OMBC
David and Maureen Loeb are offering lessons at the OMBC on Thursdays at 10:30 AM and on Sundays at 11:30 AM.  Lessons are $10 per session.  The lessons are primarily targeted at intermediate players, but all levels of players will benefit from the lessons.  

Thursday Lessons
January 20:  The 1NT Highway: Learn why you should open 1NT as often as feasible and how to find the best contract after a 1NT opening. Lesson 1 of 3 focuses on the majors.
January 27:  The 1NT Highway: Lesson 2 of 3 focuses on how to respond with balanced hands and how to proceed with a long minor.
February 3:  The 1NT Highway: Lesson 3 of 3 focuses on how to get to the right game when responder has a game forcing hand and both minors.

Sunday Lessons
January 23:  Takeout Doubles: Responding to a takeout double is very different than responding to an opening bid. Learn how high to play takeout doubles and how to respond to them.
January 30:  Negative Doubles: Learn the most important convention when defending against overcalls, how to use them, how to respond, and how to penalize your opponents.
February 6:  Loser on Loser Plays: Guard against bad breaks by adding loser on loser plays to your arsenal as declarer.

After a successful first session of Easybridge that produced a number of enthusiastic new players, we are looking to start again on January 22^nd at 9:00 AM. Easybridge is a program designed to create enthusiastic participants in the Duplicate Universe.

Please tell anyone you know who might be interested to drop me, Dave Hoyle, an email at dave@onlinebridgecenter.com to be added to my list of Participants. Players receive a complimentary Easybridge Book and weekly emails with “Homework” for the next class. We are making extensive use of the Karen Walker Bridge Library, https://kwbridge.com/ to assist our program.