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For the first time in nearly two and a half years, I'm off to play the Nationals. The ACBL Spring 2022 Nationals start tomorrow in Reno. Time for me to pack and hop in the car. Wish me luck! Preferably of the good variety. --Bob

Bob78164 wrote: ↑

Tue Mar 08, 2022 2:11 pm

For the first time in nearly two and a half years, I'm off to play the Nationals. The ACBL Spring 2022 Nationals start tomorrow in Reno. Time for me to pack and hop in the car. Wish me luck! Preferably of the good variety. --Bob

Bring a warm coat. It gets below freezing every night.

Break a trump!

Good luck.

Good luck. And stay away from guys dressed in black.

So you’re not going to Beeb’s house? I hear that’s where the Reno action is.

Vandal wrote: ↑

Tue Mar 08, 2022 3:52 pm

So you’re not going to Beeb’s house? I hear that’s where the Reno action is.

You are such an ....

Thanks, everyone. We did not get off to a good start. In fact, it was such a bad session for us that it would take a miracle for us to qualify for the second (and final) day of today’s national event. And we’re not talking minor three-of-these-are-enough-to-canonize-someone miracles. We’ll need a parting-of-the-Red-Sea miracle to make it through.

But maybe I’ll be able to add to my lifetime collection of platinum points by doing reasonably well in this evening’s second session. I’ve got a little over 150 so far and getting to 200 lifetime will make me permanently eligible for the Platinum Pairs. I’m eligible this year and for another year or two because my huge tournament in Fall 2019 means that I’ve earned more than 50 platinum points in the last three years (extended by the cancellations forced by the pandemic). —Bob

No miracles and not much of a game. Both sessions were considerably below average, so no points for my first day. Tomorrow will be a couple of one-session pair events, followed Friday by the first day of my first Platinum Pairs. —Bob

The bridge went better this afternoon. We had a solid but not spectacular game, good for 13th overall and 1.31 red points, so I know I’m not going 0 for the tournament. Another one-session pair event this evening, which I hope will warm us up for my inaugural Platinum Pairs. —Bob

The evening game was okay, but nothing to write home about. We finished fifth in our section, out of the overalls, for another 0.67 red points and a cumulative total of 1.98 points. Tomorrow (we’ll, later today), the first day of the Platinum Pairs. —Bob

Why is it that every time I see this thread, I think of the Johnny Cash lyrics "I shot a man in Reno"?

silverscreenselect wrote: ↑

Fri Mar 11, 2022 8:09 am

Why is it that every time I see this thread, I think of the Johnny Cash lyrics "I shot a man in Reno"?

Because I referenced that song in my "Good luck" post earlier in the thread?

Very slightly below average in the first session, further below average for the second. If our second session had matched our first, we’d still be in the event. But it wasn’t to be.

Tomorrow we’ll play a “daylight” regional pair event. That way we’ll finish early so I can go to sleep early in preparation for the time change. —Bob

We had a pair of okay sessions today. Each session was good enough to finish in the money in our section, but the combined scores weren’t good enough to get us into the overalls. We added another 1.53 red points to my tournament, for a cumulative total of 3.51 points.

Tomorrow will be the first day of the Lebhar IMP Pairs. I hate IMP Pairs — it’s way too random — but it’s the only unlimited national event available tomorrow. Maybe I’ll be able to add some platinum points to my lifetime total.

And happy Daylight Savings Time to (almost) everyone! —Bob

We were a little above average our first session, though not enough to scratch. If we’d matched our first session in the evening, we’d have qualified for the second day. Alas, we simply didn’t play well enough. No master points for the day, either, and I still haven’t added to my lifetime total of platinum.

We will most likely play a “daylight” regional pair event tomorrow. The alternative would be the 0-10,000 Knockout Teams event, but we’ll only do that if we can find suitable teammates. No more open national events we can play until Thursday. —Bob

As expected, we played daylight pairs today. I was still playing very sloppy bridge this morning, and we had another below-average session. However, the afternoon session featured a seemingly unending series of opponents who simply couldn’t do anything right against us, and for once we managed to play solid bridge and avoid returning the gifts we were receiving. We had a genuinely big game to finish 4th overall, good for 17.64 gold points. That makes my tournament total at the halfway mark a somewhat more respectable 21.15 points to date.

More daylight pairs tomorrow. I’ll sleep much better tonight, knowing that I’m not going to have an utterly dreadful tournament. —Bob

I’m actually in Reno too. Where are y’all playing?

wbtravis007 wrote: ↑

Tue Mar 15, 2022 11:39 am

I’m actually in Reno too. Where are y’all playing?

Google is my friend. They're at The Reno Ballroom and Silver Legacy.

wbtravis007 wrote: ↑

Tue Mar 15, 2022 11:39 am

I’m actually in Reno too. Where are y’all playing?

Today and tomorrow I’m in the Expo Ballroom at the Silver Legacy. Thursday I’ll be down the street at the Reno Ballroom. —Bob

We didn’t have much of a morning session today. We were dealt an okay game but didn’t collect anywhere near everything we were dealt. The afternoon session was much better and we collected pretty much everything we had coming to us. That was good for second in our section and 2.45 red points.

My tournament tournament total is 23.60 points. One more daylight pairs game tomorrow in the Expo Ballroom at the Silver Legacy, and then we return to national events with the National Open Pairs championship. —Bob

We finally put together a pair of solid sessions. We weren’t dealt a whole lot our morning session, but we collected what we could. We stayed solid the afternoon session and it scored considerably better. A section second and a section top combined for 10th overall, good for 7.45 gold points. That brings my tournament total up to 31.05 points. It’s starting to resemble a respectable tournament.

Next up is the Silidor Open Pairs, a national event and another chance to add more platinum to my lifetime total. Game times are 1 and 7:30 in the Reno Ballroom. —Bob

We felt like we played well in the afternoon session, but the game did not score at all well, leaving us with some work to do. And on the very first board of the evening session, I dug the whole a little deeper by making a bad bid that led directly to a poor result. Fortunately, partner played inspired bridge for the rest of the session and we had some good luck, so our evening game scored nearly 56%. That was enough to qualify us for the second and final day of the event, as well as picking up 1.75 platinum points, my first platinum of the tournament. My cumulative total for the tournament is now 32.80 points.

Tomorrow, the finals of the Silidor Open Pairs. Hopefully we’ll make the overalls and add a hefty chunk of platinum to my collection. —Bob

Edited to reflect a score correction that impacted our master point award.

Two below-average sessions meant another empty day. We will probably play the National Fast Pairs event tomorrow, unless we find teammates for the National Open Swiss. Either way, back to the Reno Ballroom. —Bob

We were below average in the first session of the Fast Pairs, but pulled it together just well enough in the second session to sneak in just above the cut line for the second day. The second session also was good enough to add another 1.22 platinum points to my record, giving me a tournament total to date of 34.02 points.

Busy day tomorrow. Pack, check out of my hotel, play two sessions of bridge at an accelerated pace, and then drive back to Los Angeles and the real world. I’m glad I got this break. I think I needed it. —Bob

Bob78164 wrote: ↑

Sat Mar 19, 2022 9:44 pm

We were below average in the first session of the Fast Pairs, but pulled it together just well enough in the second session to sneak in just above the cut line for the second day. The second session also was good enough to add another 1.28 platinum points to my record, giving me a tournament total to date of 34.08 points.

Busy day tomorrow. Pack, check out of my hotel, play two sessions of bridge at an accelerated pace, and then drive back to Los Angeles and the real world. I’m glad I got this break. I think I needed it. —Bob

Happy trails.