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LobowolfXXX Inner circle La Famiglia 1196 Posts 
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Just got back from Vegas. While I was there, I saw a longtime friend of mine I hadn't seen in a while, and we took in a game at the local bridge club. One of the players there was Bobby Wolff, a longtime pro and former world and national champion (multiple times each). One of the great things about bridge is that you can compete with the best players around - the competitions are generally open. And on a good day, you can do well against them. In a more familiar perspective, this was like the equivalent of signing up for a local tennis tournament and getting to play against Jimmy Connors (the 2014 version) one round. I hasn't played against Wolff in a long time. His team killed mine in a regional tournament about 15 years ago. This time, he got the best of us, but it was closer. In three hands, we had an above-average result, a below-average result, and a really bad result (three hands against each opposing pair you come across).
"Torture doesn't work" lol
Guess they forgot to tell Bill Buckley. "...as we reason and love, we are able to hope. And hope enables us to resist those things that would enslave us." |
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stoneunhinged Inner circle 3067 Posts
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I've always thought the same thing about playing the banjo. (Strange comparison, I know.) Fellow-banjo players are accessible, even when they are famous, because their fame is rather relative. Unless you become a legend, like the late Earl Scruggs, you just aren't in the same category as, say, Madonna. I jammed with Bill Keith once, for example. And I've written fairly famous banjo players emails to ask them questions, and they wrote back instantly, as if they just sit around all day waiting on emails from unhinged people.
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landmark Inner circle within a triangle 5194 Posts
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See any magic while in Vegas?
Click here to get Gerald Deutsch's Perverse Magic: The First Sixteen Years
All proceeds to Open Heart Magic charity. |
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tommy Eternal Order Devil's Island 16543 Posts
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Another open thing where it's just amazing how many famous people you get to meet is an open prison. It's like being sent to an Hollywood studio, where the stars sit around playing Bridge and Chess.
If there is a single truth about Magic, it is that nothing on earth so efficiently evades it.
Tommy |
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Magnus Eisengrim Inner circle Sulla placed heads on 1053 Posts
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Great thread. All four of you--you're why I come here!
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned; The best lack all conviction, while the worst Are full of passionate intensity.--Yeats |
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LobowolfXXX Inner circle La Famiglia 1196 Posts
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Quote:
On 2014-01-17 08:02, landmark wrote: Nope...we had time for one show, and we opted for Rock of Ages, which we enjoyed thoroughly.
"Torture doesn't work" lol
Guess they forgot to tell Bill Buckley. "...as we reason and love, we are able to hope. And hope enables us to resist those things that would enslave us." |
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LobowolfXXX Inner circle La Famiglia 1196 Posts
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Quote:
On 2014-01-17 09:16, Magnus Eisengrim wrote: Thanks, Magnus! You're on my short list, too.
"Torture doesn't work" lol
Guess they forgot to tell Bill Buckley. "...as we reason and love, we are able to hope. And hope enables us to resist those things that would enslave us." |
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S2000magician Inner circle Yorba Linda, CA 3465 Posts
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Does Wolfie live in Las Vegas, or was this a serendipitous convergence of . . . well . . . wolves?
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S2000magician Inner circle Yorba Linda, CA 3465 Posts
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I've had the pleasure of playing against a couple of Canadian champions, but never against an American champion.
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LobowolfXXX Inner circle La Famiglia 1196 Posts
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He lives there. There's a pretty good local club-level scene there. My partner and I were in the lowest strat, and we have about 3,500 masterpoints between us.
"Torture doesn't work" lol
Guess they forgot to tell Bill Buckley. "...as we reason and love, we are able to hope. And hope enables us to resist those things that would enslave us." |
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LobowolfXXX Inner circle La Famiglia 1196 Posts
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Quote:
On 2014-01-17 20:18, S2000magician wrote: Which Canadians did you play against?
"Torture doesn't work" lol
Guess they forgot to tell Bill Buckley. "...as we reason and love, we are able to hope. And hope enables us to resist those things that would enslave us." |
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mastermindreader 1949 - 2017 Seattle, WA 12586 Posts
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Good thing Chris Christie didn't show up. He would have shut it down.
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LobowolfXXX Inner circle La Famiglia 1196 Posts
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Quote:
On 2014-01-17 20:56, mastermindreader wrote: [rimshot]!
"Torture doesn't work" lol
Guess they forgot to tell Bill Buckley. "...as we reason and love, we are able to hope. And hope enables us to resist those things that would enslave us." |
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S2000magician Inner circle Yorba Linda, CA 3465 Posts
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Quote:
On 2014-01-17 20:52, LobowolfXXX wrote: I'd have to hunt through some boxes to get the names of opponents, but I've partnered a couple of times with Hazel Wolpert (NPC, 2013 Canadian World Championship (Open) team). |
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magicfish Inner circle 7016 Posts
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Is Bridge a tough game to learn? What is the appeal? I play poker, cribbage, Euchre.
People seem to really enjoy bridge. Am I missing out on something good? |
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S2000magician Inner circle Yorba Linda, CA 3465 Posts
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Quote:
On 2014-01-18 13:05, magicfish wrote: Years ago I was in a B Dalton book store, looking through the books on games. One categorized the difficulty of games with a 1 - 5 star scale. When I looked up contract bridge, they had given it five stars, and wrote that you should expect to have to play regularly for at least six months just to get to the point where you could avoid embarrassing yourself at the table. It's a tough game to learn. The appeal is that there is more strategy than virtually any other card game, and there is as much scope for bluffing, deviousness, and treachery as poker (though it is a lot more subtle); furthermore, you occasionally have a third opponent at the table (your partner). I've never played Euchre, but I've played poker, blackjack, and cribbage quite a bit; bridge is far and away more interesting, fun, fascinating, infuriating, and humbling. |
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magicfish Inner circle 7016 Posts
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Wow, thanks S2000, that's what I suspected.
Maybe I'll look into it a little further. |
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LobowolfXXX Inner circle La Famiglia 1196 Posts
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With respect to non-card games as well, bridge has the elements that make chess appealing, but many more that chess doesn't have. I know a number of people who are good at both chess and bridge; without exception, all prefer bridge.
If you're interested in looking into it, I strongly recommend Harry Lampert's book "The Fun Way to Serious Bridge." I have a fairly extensive bridge library, used to own a bridge club, and directed tournaments up to the national level for the American Contract Bridge League. Lampert's book is the shortest, most enjoyable route to nailing down the basics (and going beyond them into the intermediate realm) I know of.
"Torture doesn't work" lol
Guess they forgot to tell Bill Buckley. "...as we reason and love, we are able to hope. And hope enables us to resist those things that would enslave us." |
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S2000magician Inner circle Yorba Linda, CA 3465 Posts
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Quote:
On 2014-01-18 13:37, LobowolfXXX wrote: I'm unfamiliar with Lampert's book. How would you say it compares with Reese's Bridge for Bright Beginners? |
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Magnus Eisengrim Inner circle Sulla placed heads on 1053 Posts
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Quote:
On 2014-01-18 13:37, LobowolfXXX wrote: I learned to play bridge with my family. My bridge is like coffee-house chess--good enough to play but not nearly good enough to be good. How hard is it to unlearn family bridge?
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned; The best lack all conviction, while the worst Are full of passionate intensity.--Yeats |
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Posted: Jan 17, 2014 04:37 am 
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