Mary Ann and I were making plans to go to Orlando for the tournament. We were only going for 3 days (2 nights) so we decided to splurge and stay at the tournament site. It was being held at the Buena Vista Resort and Spa. I looked it up on the Internet and booked a room with one bedroom, kitchen and living room with balcony.

In his book, Competitive Auctions, Mike Lawrence illustrates the futility of getting into a bidding war when most of your values are in the minor suits. Opt out as soon as feasible, it’s a battle you can’t win.

When MaryAnn Dufresne and Marion Ellingsen run the Wednesday morning 299er game, they have a motto that reads, “We Love The Majors.”

Amen to that.  Don’t bring a yo-yo to a gunfight as the following hands demonstrate.

Here are some photos taken by astronaut Sunita Williams, presum­ably in 2006 or 2007, as detailed in a circulating e-mail.  Millie Dabbs received the e-mail and thought you might like to see some of them.  (Of course, the e-mail claims that you can somehow help the space program by circulating it further.)

The small ones were not taken by her, but were included in the e-mail, as were some composite images of the entire earth at night.  Very cool.

You need a Powerpoint Viewer to see the original PPS presentation, but I'm sure we can help you see the pictures if you want to request Millie to send the e-mail to you.

Poor Hearts.  Mom always liked Spades best.

Yesterday, Rich and Marj Talbott rolled out a new wrinkle to even the playing field a little.  Playing 2/1, and holding 5 Hearts and a game forcing hand, Marj bid 2C over Rich's 1D opening, which Rich alerted.  Neither I nor Jim Somma had ever seen this bid, and were at a loss what to do.  I'd like Marj or Rich to comment on it.

But it got me to thinking.  Why do the bridge gods so favor Spades over Hearts, and to a lesser extent Diamonds over Clubs?  Is this "fair" to Hearts and Clubs?  They're just as good looking, and work just as hard, but no matter what they do, they're always second class to Spades and Diamonds.

NT gets an even better deal, but at least NT has to work harder.   And of course Diamonds and Clubs, being minors, don't score as well as the adults.

and Why I'm Thankful

I know Charlie White is a knowledgeable sports fan (even if he roots for the Mets) and a good bridge player.  Until recently, I didn’t realize what a philosopher he was.

Against Mike Miller and me, Charlie made a rather dubious overcall, was doubled, and rang up a big minus number.  After apologizing to his partner, Pat Clark, we ended the round with a discussion about the modern game of duplicate bridge.