tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13570435940915342892024-03-20T17:54:41.085-04:00Gavin Wolpert's Bridge BlogThis blog is about my life as a bridge player, travelling the world playing tournaments, as well as my experiences with poker.Gavin Wolperthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11764201279602765938noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1357043594091534289.post-20987877691827286972010-08-19T16:05:00.001-04:002010-11-01T12:27:28.022-04:00This blog is expired, please visit my new <a href="http://www.bridgewinners.com">bridge website</a> <a href="http://www.bridgewinners.com">www.bridgewinners.com</a>Gavin Wolperthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11764201279602765938noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1357043594091534289.post-66671904091533618262009-06-09T07:08:00.003-04:002009-06-09T07:24:04.626-04:00USBC Quarter FinalsI've been trying to watch as much of the USBC as I can... theres nothing watching top level bridge to improve your game. Unfortunately it becomes much harder to learn when you can see all four hands, its very difficult to put yourself in someones shoes when you can see what the correct action is before you make your decision. There was a hand last night that watching double dummy prevented me from seeing a great discovery play in a vulnerable game.<div><br /></div><div>The contract was 4H after Chris Willenken opened 1H after two passes, Roy Welland bid 2C reverse drury (good heart raise), from there the partnership negotiated their way to game.</div><div><br /></div><div>the lead was the 7S: (the pair on lead would lead top of nothing from xxx or xx)</div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">DUMMY DECLARER</span></div><div>Q9xx A8</div><div>QJT98 A6xxx</div><div>J Qxxx</div><div>Qxx Kx</div><div><br /></div><div>when they lead the 7S, declarer made his first attempt to make the contract by going up king of spades, and when it got covered by the king he won the ace. Now came the key play... since his right hand opponent was a passed hand... and was already marked with KJ of spades, and likely the A or K of diamonds since the guy on lead didn't lead a diamond, so he doesn't rate to have both. Now if declarer would find north with the Ace of clubs, he would be sure that the King of Hearts is offside and will be able to play to drop the singleton king offside at no risk, because he knows its there. So the best play would be to play clubs to discover where the Ace is for his heart play. </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://usbf.org/docs/vugraphs/USBC2009/Bracket.php?stage=Roundof8">USA 1 Bracket Round of 8 Results</a></div><div><a href="http://usbf.org/docs/vugraphs/USBCUSA2/Bracket.php?stage=Roundof64">USA 2 Bracket Round of 64 Results</a></div><div><br /></div><div>There are the links to the current round results. Here is my attempt of explaining the format.</div><div>Everyone entered the event in the USA 1 bracket and as we've elminated teams from that bracket, they get a birth into the USA 2 bracket. </div><div><br /></div><div>The Nickell team will join the 3 winners in the USA 1 bracket, to play a semi finals and finals to decide who will represent USA on their first team. At any point should a team lose in that bracket, they will be put into the next round in the trials for USA 2. </div><div><br /></div><div>The trials in Canada are also going on right now where my brother is playing with his regular partner jurek, dan korbel and david grainger, kamel fergani and nick l'ecuyer. In 2002 the last time they held the trials in Penticton BC (where they are now) Vince and I played in place of Grainger and Korbel. I am so excited to see how they do, they are in my opinion the pre tournament favourites, but i know from experience a lot can happen in the CNTC-A, a lot of unknown players can play great and knock you out when you least expect it. My mom is also competing in the CWTC in an attempt to play on the Canadian Womens team, her team is Demme.</div><div><a href="http://www.cbf.ca/BWeek/09files/BWeek09_results.html">Canadian Results</a></div><div><br /></div><div>See you in the vugraph</div>Gavin Wolperthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11764201279602765938noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1357043594091534289.post-76152614644537658192009-06-03T04:22:00.007-04:002009-06-03T05:07:07.083-04:00Sweden FunOk so the last week has been quite busy. On Wednesday night I hung out with Swedish Bridge Superstars Fredrik Nystrom and Johan Upmark to watch the Premier League Championship game and to play some poker. Even though Upmark's apartment was very small, he had one of the best set ups for hanging out and playing poker that I've seen, it was very motivating. He plugged his laptop into his big screen TV, and connected a wireless keyboard and mouse, as if we were playing on a desktop with a huge monitor. We all sat around the TV and discussed all of our major decisions. <img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqSslFUyMnw1p18zPiQPyWpKj5stkREqWzBNQIAua_ZynaT0-65PQJvk46qP1Bmi25DKbCtk-tpb95W6Mmm5On_Js2ZTTBzumLtGpCTF1CsG34eu8w-KsLMR0qm1HFMVsMGsPmenFf-DE/s200/IMG_0132.JPG" style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 200px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5343017643924587266" /><div>On Thursday Jenny and I took the train for 3 hours to visit Sara Siveland in Ludvika, Sara is one of our closest friends and she just had a baby 2 months ago, so it was a chance for us to experience life with a newborn. It was so cool. The first 5 minutes were overwhelming! Screaming baby, diaper changes, feed me!!!! yikes! Then after a little while, when the negotiations with the baby ended and it was satisfied with food and a clean diaper, it became the most wonderfull experience ever. It is remarkably rewarding to settle an unhappy baby down. The baby is always crying for a reason, you just need to figure out what it is. Friday night we played some soccer (2 vs 2) which of course had me on the floor barely able to breathe after about 5 minutes. Quitting smoking is one </div><div>tough task, getting your body back to the shape its </div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvjjbsAl865qXLwPF5TBz7w9YM_YOpTdAHeEEsg_-fQIsdLqo-GD5PmmpUVUaUAGg2UWXDVtAb9gLYom1Y-Arc-TAVpnu-0-r2dhdfY1BBkW7-narXSgN5YFSmx8JgfFEy2t1wF-3eyeA/s200/IMG_0134.JPG" style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 200px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5343017643494648626" /><div>supposed to be in is another. After the Soccer we went back to the house to have a bbq. We sat outside in the beautiful clean summer country air and had a delicious meal. After dinner I walked over to Sara's brothers apartment to play some Nintendo Wii. He proved to be the perfect opponent for me in both Wii Tennis and Wii Bowling. That went on until very late in the night until he walked me home (it was still sunny!!). Saturday we woke up to have breakfast before our noon train, headed down to the train station and when we got there our day of delays began. I wonder what the odds are of having train delays on a perfect summer day. It turned out our first train had some defective part that caused a brutal domino affect that made our 3 hour trip into a 7 hour trip. Our plan when we got back to Stockholm was to meet Jenny's Mom, her husband Micke, Sofia (jennys sister), Jenny's grandparents and two family friends Inger and Rick (obv all bridge players) at the summer cottage. Well we did finally make it there after everyone had already started dinner. There was just enough time to have a few drinks and enjoy the end of the most beautiful day of the year. </div><div>Last night I played in a cool Summer Tournament at ST ERIK bridge club , the biggest bridge club in STockholm and I wouldnt be suprised if it was the biggest in the world. With over 100 tables plus 3 or 4 classrooms, it is capable of having a monster tournament. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr9xHUSxryyLp0qANiaoFn7Zf6nl4bxgDziXrfc2Ol_BE7tc-70KJ6rzQgFzHoxjhC4vW0GUQEhZbISZlZWwLQwda9watmoojcpjXErrxMlgmGamPuQSO0d1x0XlYD5dvXHupnWfpw4O8/s1600-h/IMG_0136.JPG"></a></div><div><br /></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr9xHUSxryyLp0qANiaoFn7Zf6nl4bxgDziXrfc2Ol_BE7tc-70KJ6rzQgFzHoxjhC4vW0GUQEhZbISZlZWwLQwda9watmoojcpjXErrxMlgmGamPuQSO0d1x0XlYD5dvXHupnWfpw4O8/s1600-h/IMG_0136.JPG"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr9xHUSxryyLp0qANiaoFn7Zf6nl4bxgDziXrfc2Ol_BE7tc-70KJ6rzQgFzHoxjhC4vW0GUQEhZbISZlZWwLQwda9watmoojcpjXErrxMlgmGamPuQSO0d1x0XlYD5dvXHupnWfpw4O8/s200/IMG_0136.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5343021441333386978" style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px; " /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwsdvahray-dHt4VOhSHqinzapI1JhQ-nlquWokD9hx_3CN2RtZll06oBm88leZn4efWsTk5aFPoo2EFHlCSkowdd9NJLnAWUrnoQkxCzbda71FeTU0D0q2o1RXfQGtLGZonszzncLeF0/s1600-h/IMG_0137.JPG"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwsdvahray-dHt4VOhSHqinzapI1JhQ-nlquWokD9hx_3CN2RtZll06oBm88leZn4efWsTk5aFPoo2EFHlCSkowdd9NJLnAWUrnoQkxCzbda71FeTU0D0q2o1RXfQGtLGZonszzncLeF0/s200/IMG_0137.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5343021452680933138" style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px; " /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH96KXnZM_P0gJ6x7-g2K73UETFo_r36TWxAu73B5XzAypmuxTbe1dqFo8lXAeMAJecHS2FPaJ8_qAb8MXQqshD2jyEVsoarOqC-RuLlp79D2CgVD4BgvnNqm8o97LNwfG-Gv9nwy07Ts/s1600-h/IMG_0144.JPG"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH96KXnZM_P0gJ6x7-g2K73UETFo_r36TWxAu73B5XzAypmuxTbe1dqFo8lXAeMAJecHS2FPaJ8_qAb8MXQqshD2jyEVsoarOqC-RuLlp79D2CgVD4BgvnNqm8o97LNwfG-Gv9nwy07Ts/s200/IMG_0144.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5343021448027481042" style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px; " /></a></div><div>The Summer League spans 3 straight Tuesday nights, starting at 6:30. The teams (preregistered) are divided into a groups of 6, where you play two 12 board matches each week, on the 3rd week , its one 12 board match and then a party / prize giving ceremony. The players in Sweden are far younger than in north america, so everyone likes to hang out after and have some drinks, its a great experience. Our first two matches saw my team win 16-14 both matches, putting us in 2nd with 32 VPs behind the leaders who have 36 VPs. I play with Jenny and her mom Mari plays with Micke. The 3rd Tuesday I will be at a regional in Penticton so I will be replaced by Grandpa. </div><div> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoE1ZvwQcDDXr-8I0Y3D7ZlqugUoy5UepKTp2DHHVgtwnaaB_lbm_6G2wfGgVNbT1ljMFxqzQFfiZ45FqQKvnr6FjPnLjidc2nl6gNMg8ylMSI0R60nY2PouNgWqB6HTNA6ZpfEJpsGO8/s1600-h/IMG_0140.JPG"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoE1ZvwQcDDXr-8I0Y3D7ZlqugUoy5UepKTp2DHHVgtwnaaB_lbm_6G2wfGgVNbT1ljMFxqzQFfiZ45FqQKvnr6FjPnLjidc2nl6gNMg8ylMSI0R60nY2PouNgWqB6HTNA6ZpfEJpsGO8/s200/IMG_0140.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5343022887137764946" style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px; " /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ83aNifU5_Jaro7vADKymAQIgBdKZ80tA7M3Igi9m8rpmibD8G4p87yTLLxkb9KAFo8Q-XngHhPJEnlChRVcFsLKo_8vdFKtqMQOSAE4md708dq4rQS96XtqgpE726cPrmK2kjc2FLPE/s1600-h/IMG_0142.JPG"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ83aNifU5_Jaro7vADKymAQIgBdKZ80tA7M3Igi9m8rpmibD8G4p87yTLLxkb9KAFo8Q-XngHhPJEnlChRVcFsLKo_8vdFKtqMQOSAE4md708dq4rQS96XtqgpE726cPrmK2kjc2FLPE/s200/IMG_0142.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5343022882087371762" style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px; " /></a></div><div>We had a few Very tough hands in the session. One that I thought was cool:</div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">DUMMY (N):</span></span></div><div>Jxx xxx KQT98 xx</div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">DELCARER (S):</span></span></div><div>AQxx AKTx Axx Qx</div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span> S<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"> N</span><br /></div><div>The bidding at our table, uncontested was 2D<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span> 2S</div><div> 2N<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span> 3N</div><div>2D = 18/19 BAL</div><div>2S = Transfer to 2N</div><div><br /></div><div>The lead was the QH, and you could see that you have 5D, 2H and a Spade, and the entire club suit was wide open assuming the defence could find it. You have the potential spade finesse for a 9th trick. However, at our table because Jenny and I play upside down carding, another oppertunity arose for declarer. When it went QH low , Jenny played her singleton 3 of hearts, (easily mistaken for encouraging). Even though declarer has a legitimate line of play by winning the Ace of hearts and eventually taking a spade finesse, it is so likely that when I see the 3 of hearts, that I will continue hearts. If he stops to ask what our carding is before making his decision, I will figure out that something is up. This is a key example why its important to know what your opponents carding is before you start playing.</div><div><br /></div><div>Thats that, today I have a 2 hour session of practise with my national team partner Bob Hampton on BBO and our other plans are to hang out with one of our close friends in Stockholm, bridge player Sandra Rimstedt. See you soon!<br /></div><div> </div>Gavin Wolperthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11764201279602765938noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1357043594091534289.post-10626315756057456752009-05-25T10:04:00.004-04:002009-05-25T11:02:16.803-04:00Stockholm Sun<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">June in Stockholm is a pretty amazing time of year. As I sat in a taxi cab at 4AM on my way back to my in-law's place</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">, after a night of video games and poker with Swedish Bridge Champion Peter Bertheau, the sun was shining. It's a very rare sight to see a major city, in nearly full daylight with completely empty streets. I've been searching for a while to find the motivation to restart my blog and for some reason, as the car crossed over a bridge between Gamla Stan (the old town) and Sodermalm (southern island), the peaceful image of the city made me want to write again.</span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">My wife Jenny is in her 26th week of pregnancy. Our little girl is expected on September 2nd. These three weeks between the New York regional and my next tournament in Penticton, BC, Canada were a perfect opertunity to come to Stockholm to visit her family. As the due date creeps closer and closer, the nervous feeling of how far away both of our families live is amplifying. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">One of the small costs of the baby is that I will be on the sidelines for my favorite bridge event of the year, one which I have only had the privilege of playing once because of my Canadian Citizenship is coming up in a week or two; The USBF Championships in White Plains, NY (<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">click here</span> for <a href="http://usbf.org/index.php?option=com_entries&task=list&event=14">Who's playing?</a> <a href="http://online.bridgebase.com/vugraph/schedule.php">Vugraph schedule</a>) . The event will crown two winning teams to represent the USA for the Bermuda Bowl in Brazil at the end of the summer. It is always the most exciting tournament of the year to watch, they play 120 board matches and somehow even if a team has the lead by 100 imps, the matches always seem to end with a single digit margin.</span></span></div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">A few other junior bridge players and I are in the process of creating a brand new modern bridge website and my blog will soon be moved over there, check back for more info. Thanks to anyone who still checks around here, I will soon be posting a lot more conventions and pictures. </span></div>Gavin Wolperthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11764201279602765938noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1357043594091534289.post-387515467461860992007-10-16T10:19:00.001-04:002007-10-16T10:34:35.613-04:00another life updateWell another few months go by, new world champions have been crowned, roger federer has won 2 more majors, a guy who grew up in a refugee camp in laos won the world series of poker, and I am still doing the same thing. The summer was fun, I spent all of june in las vegas for the world series of poker. I didn't do great in any live tournaments but I spent a lot of time with some of the best internet poker players in the world watching them play and having them watch my play and give me advice. I went on a huge poker rush and built my bankroll to the point where I can start flirting with the idea of playing high stakes. The highlight of the month in vegas was when my friend John Kranyak final tabled a 3000 person tournament at the w.s.o.p. finishing 4th for $180000. <br /><br />The summer nationals in Nashville were average. It was the first major tournament that Warren Spector and I played live together. We only managed to win 1 match, as our 2nd round (3rd round because of bye) opponents were the Strul team (Aubrey Strul, Mike Becker, Lew Stansby, Chip Martel, David Berkowitz, Larry Cohen) We left our team about even at the half and they didn't bring it home, which is understandable against that team of world champions. The 3/4 score was -7 and then the pros just put the lockdown and really gave us little chance to come back. I didnt play too much bridge as I was waiting for warren to finish playing the GNTs so we could practise for the spingold. He won the GNTs which left us with just 1 day to get some cards in. All in all it was a good first outing, we have now begun playing a strong club, which is fun but a lot of work.<br /><br />September, my 25th b-day, also known as the you dont have to pay a young renters fee when renting a car b-day. I had some of my poker friends fly into Toronto for an awesome outdoor Linkin Park concert. <br /><br />October started with a regional in Ottawa where I got to play a lot with Jenny which is nice, we haven't had too many oppertunities to play since the blue ribbons in 2005. The team was Beverly Perry , Justin Lall, John Kranyak, Jenny and Me. We played 2 events, and grinded out 2 wins. That tournament is really nice , I love Ottawa its one of my favorite places (obviously canadian regionals are way better!) <br /><br />Later this month I am going to play in Charlotte. I'm really excited i get to play an entire week with Steve Weinstein. Jenny will also be there playing. After that theres a couple weeks off, then lexington kentucky, then the nationals. <br /><br />Over the next week I will be playing a lot with Warren on BBO, look for us practising our strong club systemGavin Wolperthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11764201279602765938noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1357043594091534289.post-20013875565728839612007-06-01T13:28:00.000-04:002007-06-01T13:48:49.947-04:001 month is enough!<span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">OK</span> its time for me to return to my duties as a blogger. A lot has happened in the past month, we played our tournament down in <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Florida</span>, did quite well, we won a tough knockout and survived with an overall in the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">swiss</span> after losing the first 2 matches. From there I went to <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Vegas</span> and played the <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Cavendish</span> teams and pairs with John <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Kranyak</span>. John was an absolute pleasure to play with, I have never played with such a nice partner before. We meshed really well and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">grinded</span> our way to 6<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">th</span> place which had we owned ourselves would have paid $70000, maybe next year we will be able to afford it :) I have a ton of hands from the <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Cavendish</span>, including 3 occasions where we bid a grand slam, had our opponents sacrifice and then we bid 7NT making. Right now I am commentating on the Canadian National Team Championships Finals. Even though I have stopped playing for Canada, this event will always be important to me, as this is where it all started for my bridge career. Winning this is still one of my greatest bridge achievements and I will always remember the incredible feeling it felt to know I was going to play in the <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">Bermuda</span> Bowl, with my brother Darren as my teammate. One of the high points in my life. Since the <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">Cavendish</span>, I went to Quebec City which was beautiful and it caught me by <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">surprise</span>, I had no idea that it was such a great city. Anyone looking to have a nice vacation I highly suggest it as a destination. I played two pair games with <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">Beverly</span> Perry, we came 4<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">th</span> and 5<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">th</span> overall, and then each headed to our respective home towns. This past week has been spent relaxing at home, watching old episodes of <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">TV</span> and spending time with my family. Maybe you wont have to wait another month before my next blog :)Gavin Wolperthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11764201279602765938noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1357043594091534289.post-64592730013842508622007-04-22T01:15:00.000-04:002007-04-22T01:26:50.201-04:00Short drive down the coastAfter a week at my family's place... its time to make the move down towards the Ft. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Lauderdale</span> regional. We don't start playing until Friday, however we have taken advantage of my Uncle and Aunts hospitality for a week already. So tomorrow afternoon we are going down to my partner Warren's house right in center of Palm Beach... Jenny, Warren and I are going to play a cut-around bridge game with David and Lisa <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Berkowitz</span>. I will try to post some hands (I know I keep saying that) After that Warren heads back to New York to work until the weekend when he comes back to play the regional. He is very generously letting Jenny and me use his house down here for the next 4 days until he returns. I am anxious to see what Palm beach is like. Jenny and I are seriously considering buying a place down here in Florida as soon as we clear up immigration... We both like hot weather, this is really perfect (I imagine that a few days in August I wont be saying that) <br /><br />I am doing my best to answer all the questions you have to all my posts... I would really like input on the blog, tell me what you like to read about, what is boring... every bit of criticism will help me make this blog more interesting. <br /><br />On another good note, I had another monstrous day at poker, bringing my total for the week to +6000... a good weeks work!Gavin Wolperthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11764201279602765938noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1357043594091534289.post-78772880368820678692007-04-20T11:16:00.000-04:002007-04-20T11:40:34.083-04:00Singer Island, FloridaObviously within the first 24 hours of being in Palm Beach my shoulders and neck were terribly sunburned. So the last few days I've hidden from the sun, although I've tried to spend as much time as possible outside. Jenny and I are staying on Singer Island (just north of Palm Beach) with my uncle Les and aunt Sara. They are both bridge players and we played yesterday for my first Florida bridge club experience in 5 years. The people were nice and friendly.<br /><br />A lot of shopping being done... Being the genius that I am, no pairs of shorts managed to make their way into my suitcase even though I knew we were coming to Florida.<br /><br />The sunburn has forced me indoors and I've had a chance to play a bunch of poker. This week has been <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">swingy</span>, on Sunday I played the big Sunday tourneys and also some cash games and lost around $1500. Then 5 winning days in a row has gotten me that $1500 back plus a healthy profit of $2500 for the trip so far. To explain my poker situation... at the spring nationals in Dallas last year, I approached Steve <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Weinstein</span> who is a world class poker player (not to mention bridge) about training me to play. He agreed to it and staked me to play $1/$2 No Limit Hold em. The deal is he puts up the money and we split the profits. I have to build up my bankroll before I can move up stakes. I am now at $2/4 N.L. which is a huge step from 1/2. So far so good... its really fun and its a good filler of time when there is nothing else going on. There is more to our story which I will get to later...<br /><br />Just got the phone call, more shopping and sunburning err tanning to do.Gavin Wolperthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11764201279602765938noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1357043594091534289.post-82793816929880937722007-04-20T00:04:00.000-04:002007-04-20T00:18:05.928-04:00Documentary is up on You Tube<span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">OK</span> here goes nothing, I've thought for a while about what to say to you about the documentary, all I hope is that you watch it with the understanding that they took the most heated moments of <strong>2 YEARS</strong> of filming and made our story as dramatic as possible. Just to set the record straight... Vince and I are still great friends and he is still one of my favourite partners and hopefully now that he is back from Australia I will get the chance to play with him some again. No matter how much you like someone, or enjoy playing with someone, 5 years of tens of thousands of hands together can bring out the worst in anyone... and when you have cameras in your face after losing a big <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">spingold</span></span> match, you'd be <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">surprised</span> at what you say or do.<br /><br />I heard the numbers of viewers, the method in which they come up with this is unknown, however on Saturday when they aired the documentary in Canada, the hockey game had 2.1 million viewers, the documentary had 518000, a new record for W-five (the show that produced the documentary) I'm really proud of that.<br /><br />Lastly I want to thank Andy <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Pederson</span></span> (the evil producer) and Warren (the unlucky camera guy). I think these guys did a tremendous job in livening up bridge for the camera. They took an otherwise boring couple of guys and made us appeal to a large audience, now I just hope that people see the documentary and have a place nearby where they can learn the game, in the end if anyone learns bridge because of the documentary, it will be a success.<br /><br />Here are the links to the documentary, I'm not sure how long it will last on <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">youtube</span></span> because I think there may be <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">copyright </span>issues.<br /><a onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ccvPArUq18" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ccvPArUq18</a><br /><a onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2Xn6-yCh6U" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2Xn6-yCh6U</a><br /><a onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIbjS1DLmfA" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIbjS1DLmfA</a><br /><a onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C--FAcdtG2I" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C--FAcdtG2I</a><br /><a onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95Db-2ASnyA" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95Db-2ASnyA</a><br /><br />Parts 4 and 5 <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">arent</span> working yet but should be up there soon.<br /><br />Enjoy the show!Gavin Wolperthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11764201279602765938noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1357043594091534289.post-6292021635264901442007-04-14T02:36:00.000-04:002007-04-15T21:34:53.995-04:00End of the weekSo its Saturday and we finished playing tonight so that meant we could go out and have fun. We went over to the house that a lot of <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">American</span> juniors and their friends have rented for the week of the tournament. The house is really cool. 3 floors, 8 bedrooms, huge room on the bottom floor with a pool table and air hockey table.<br /><br />The night started by me betting Steve <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Weinstein</span> $100 that I could beat him in an air hockey match up to 7 points, but I had to spot him 4 points. So we started playing and i got 2 quick goals bringing the score to 4-2. Then he fired straight back with a straight shot beautifully placed making it 5-2. A long time rallying until we exchanged two more quick goals making it 6-3. At that point he got a little arrogant about his position and offered me to buy out of the bet for $75... my response "Hell No, lets play" So I tightened up my Defence and pulled out the match with a 7-6 victory. So sweet :)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUw6wc_wkJMpiU4Lyfqt9xm6rkUh54ji1zvKepTIgofeizOyy3geUZgQzyX728i7rt6KgyFoF1qP072FKxNnp-ikx-nel9CLWakpdnVU2vqO-CcLgrlybJcsg_wSM0mZxYvgM7mVRqslw/s1600-h/Gatlinburg_170.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5053785117038230082" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: pointer; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUw6wc_wkJMpiU4Lyfqt9xm6rkUh54ji1zvKepTIgofeizOyy3geUZgQzyX728i7rt6KgyFoF1qP072FKxNnp-ikx-nel9CLWakpdnVU2vqO-CcLgrlybJcsg_wSM0mZxYvgM7mVRqslw/s320/Gatlinburg_170.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjxMR-5Hd5ZTrQ22LCCslM5RhGBOQkidqu-T7DOFksq-qhNNOsCZEgBcZVyNZrel0btc2gtYI_Aof1ntjQzNsEtZWv1wGMhhqzuOX3kr7pInb1NJEc2JxywgBca-K9QdNwMbaVHFDezuo/s1600-h/Gatlinburg_164.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5053784472793135634" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; WIDTH: 268px; CURSOR: pointer; HEIGHT: 201px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjxMR-5Hd5ZTrQ22LCCslM5RhGBOQkidqu-T7DOFksq-qhNNOsCZEgBcZVyNZrel0btc2gtYI_Aof1ntjQzNsEtZWv1wGMhhqzuOX3kr7pInb1NJEc2JxywgBca-K9QdNwMbaVHFDezuo/s320/Gatlinburg_164.jpg" border="0" /></a>After the match we went upstairs just as the late NHL playoff game was ending and brought out a copy of the documentary. It was a real experience sitting in a room with like 20 of my friends watching a dramatized version of the last few years of my life. Everyone really enjoyed the show, we had a good laugh because everyone could relate to how i was feeling.<br /><br />(in pic from left to right, Charles Halasi, Daniel Lavee, John Barth, Joel Wooldridge, Steve Weinstein)<br /><br /><br />We hung out for a while, took some pictures then came back to our house and were just about to take a hot tub. Tomorrow is a travel day, Jenny and I head to Florida where we will spend some time with my uncles and aunts that live there. I thought the Ft Lauderdale regional was this coming week but there turned out to be an extra week off in there I didn't know about. So our ticket is booked for tomorrow and my mistake earned us a vacation in Florida. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMQW5WrQrCa4WJXvrkzQ9MPD4YmwG3bgyrgFKVt0MAzO8iGAh-T6A3_JSKCdCbnOzydchdGhZvV-1QEOEXy6PxxlfSbQebUGYWFrSfkkqO2Le-D52FheYjvaGe9_egf56l93V0yaiN45A/s1600-h/Gatlinburg_167.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5053785117038230050" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: pointer; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMQW5WrQrCa4WJXvrkzQ9MPD4YmwG3bgyrgFKVt0MAzO8iGAh-T6A3_JSKCdCbnOzydchdGhZvV-1QEOEXy6PxxlfSbQebUGYWFrSfkkqO2Le-D52FheYjvaGe9_egf56l93V0yaiN45A/s320/Gatlinburg_167.jpg" border="0" /></a> Left to Right: Kevin Bathurst, Me, Justin Lall, John Kranyak<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6JpjMSMwI39xY04ww2Ili1IvXYhkWjJObaDm3nLmEqqWaeeZM6HD02KfFk_i0Ev9YVQ9VIndqInCwfuLw1Kw5wKDz0WlWk5apNuCBc6sJgquBtjmmR4E7JGA0h2IdtZmKwsOUoMdpSBs/s1600-h/Gatlinburg_168.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5053785117038230066" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: pointer; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6JpjMSMwI39xY04ww2Ili1IvXYhkWjJObaDm3nLmEqqWaeeZM6HD02KfFk_i0Ev9YVQ9VIndqInCwfuLw1Kw5wKDz0WlWk5apNuCBc6sJgquBtjmmR4E7JGA0h2IdtZmKwsOUoMdpSBs/s320/Gatlinburg_168.jpg" border="0" /></a> Left to Right: Kevin Bathurst, Cata Robles, Me, JennyGavin Wolperthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11764201279602765938noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1357043594091534289.post-25992140950547680692007-04-13T11:28:00.000-04:002007-04-13T11:40:06.459-04:00Gruelling couple of weeksSo the last two weeks I've been playing a lot of bridge. Last week was in Toronto, I played the whole week with my mom, sometimes as teammates sometimes as partners. We won the fast pairs early in the week by getting 3 tops in the last round to win by 1 match point. Then in the main event of the regional, the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">SHEARDOWN</span> KNOCKOUT, we lost by 1 in the semi finals after I fought to make the matches 28 boards instead of 56... kind of ironic. The problem with the event was it was set as a 3 day event, but not enough teams entered. So what ended up happening was they scheduled a 56 board semi final for day 2, and a 56 board final on day 3. The issue was, it was only worth 22 master points for winning this really tough bracket that takes 3 days, so I got all of the teams in the semi finals to agree to shorten the event to 2 days.<br /><br />On the weekend, my documentary aired on Canadian National Television. It was so interesting looking back on a very important period of my life and having it all taped. They did a good job putting the documentary together so that it can be interesting for non-bridge players. Obviously when its a 44 minute documentary there are going to be lots of things I <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">don't</span> like about it. They got a lot of the bridge facts wrong, but that would go unnoticed to a non-bridge player. One issue was, I was the only one of us who talked about my mistakes in front of the camera... so when it came time to put the blame on someone, the only thing they could do was put it on me. It was very sentimental watching it, and it made me really miss playing with <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Vince</span> (I know that might <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">surprise</span> you if you've seen the documentary). He really is and was one of my best friends and even though we had rough times, we also had some awesome times. I look forward to the chance to play with him again later this year as he is back from Australia.<br /><br />This week in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Gatlinburg</span> has been one of the most <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">excruciating</span> weeks I can remember. We have a house rented in the mountains which is fantastic, but it means for an extra 10 minute commute 5 or 6 times a day. I've been playing on a 4 handed team in bracket 1, 3 sessions a day. So we have played a lot of tough opposition and really gotten drilled. Somehow we have about 60 points just from winning a couple 1 session board-a-<span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">match's</span> and making the semi finals of the first <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">KO</span>. We only planned on being here until Saturday so today there is nothing to play for us. I will play a side game with Melanie Tucker (my partner for the week) this afternoon and tonight we will try to win a 3rd B-A-M.<br /><br />I have lots of interesting hands to come from these 2 weeks, I just really have been too tired to post on here.Gavin Wolperthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11764201279602765938noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1357043594091534289.post-24651729927787136672007-04-01T11:41:00.000-04:002007-04-02T03:15:05.988-04:00Spiral Raises<span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">OK</span> there are many different versions of this convention, but one thing is for sure, if you are raising on 3 card support after you open 1m and your partner responds 1M, then having a forcing asking big is <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">crucial</span>.<br /><br />1m - 1H<br />2H - 2S* Asks partner what kind of raise do you have? then...<br /><br />2N = Balanced 3 card raise, minimum<br />3C = Balanced 4 card raise, any strength<br />3D = unbalanced 3 card raise, shortness in other minor<br />3H = unbalanced 3 card raise, shortness in other major<br />3S = Splinter, 4 card support<br />3N = Balanced 3 card raise, maximum<br />4om = splinter<br />4m = 5422 MAX<br />4H = 5422 MIN<br /><br />1m - 1S<br />2S - 2NT = same<br />3C = <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">BAL</span> 3S MIN<br />3D = <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">BAL</span> 4S ANY<br />3H = <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">UNBAL</span> 3S shortness in other minor<br />3S = <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">UNBAL</span> 3S shortness in other major<br />3N = <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">BAL</span> 3S MAX<br />4x = <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">SPL</span><br />4m = 5422 MAX<br />4M = 54<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">22</span> MIN<br /><br /><br />This system can also be used after 1H-1S-2S.<br /><br />NOTE: After <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">BAL</span> 3M MIN, going back to 3 of partners minor is NF<br />NOTE: After any response, 3M is NF<br /><br />Also its good to play 1x-1H-2H-2NT = 4S 4H forcing... so you can catch your spade fit when partner has raised on 3 card support.Gavin Wolperthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11764201279602765938noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1357043594091534289.post-47176921423920206692007-03-31T12:46:00.000-04:002007-03-31T12:57:38.480-04:00Two-Way New Minor ForcingThis is what i believe to be expert st<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">andard</span> two way new minor forcing.<br /><br />1m-1M-1NT<br /><br />2C = relay to 2D to show ALL invitational hands<br />2D = Game Forcing <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Checkback</span><br />2H = Natural to play<br />2S = (after 1S response) Natural to play, (after 1H response) 4S 4H invitational hand<br />2N = *Conventional<br />3C = Natural Slam Try<br />3D = Natural Slam Try<br />3H = Natural Slam Try<br />3S = Natural Slam Try<br />3N = Natural<br /><br /><br />after 1m-1M-1NT-2NT<br />2NT is a relay to 3C, <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">that's</span> how you sign off in clubs, then over 3C<br />Pass = Clubs<br />3D = 5 of my major, 4 of partners minor, low shortness<br />3H = 5 of my major, 4 of partners minor, high shortness<br />3S = 4 of my major, 5 of partners minor, low shortness<br />3N = 4 of my major, 5 of partners minor, high shortness<br /><br />SOME RULES:<br />1) Remember all invitational hands must start with 2C, after the 2C relay every bid invites something, if you bid 2C then over partners 2D bid 3NT, that is <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">invitational</span> to 4M, 5332 choice of games. Since we use 2NT for that gizmo, our NT invitation must start with 2C as well. <br />2) This system is on after 1H-1S-1NT, but not after 1C-1D-1NT<br />3) This system is off in competition<br />4) When we jump rebid our major over 1NT it sets trumps and asks partner to <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">cue bid</span> for slam<br /><br />Please post questions and I will update my posts based on your thoughts.Gavin Wolperthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11764201279602765938noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1357043594091534289.post-2096467906608551592007-03-30T14:25:00.000-04:002007-03-30T16:05:33.028-04:00Upcoming ScheduleAfter a couple days of posting about some bridge ideas, I think its time to post a little about where I'm going and what I plan to do with my blog.<br /><br />Saturday and Sunday afternoon at 2:30 New York time, I am practising with my partner Warren <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Spector</span></span> on <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">BBO</span></span>. Warren and I have planned to play the 2008 United States Bridge Championships together on a team with Joe Grue, Curtis Cheek, Fred <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Gitelman</span></span> and Brad Moss. Over the next 15 months we will do as much practising as we can to prepare our partnership to play at a top level. As of right now we play a pretty simple 2/1 system as Warren is a rubber bridge player trying to adjust to a common tournament system. We have discussed playing a strong club, however right now we have decided to play this system because Warren is also playing on a team with Mike Becker in the Grand National Teams and justifiably doesn't want to juggle two different systems. A copy of our system will be posted on the blog if I can figure out how to do it.<br /><br />Our match tomorrow (Saturday) will be against two young Israeli stars <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Eldad</span></span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Ginossar</span></span> and Ron <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Pachtman</span></span>. It should be fun and challenging for us, I will do my best to post hands and discussion at the end of our session.<br /><br />Other Schedule:<br />Next Week I am playing the whole Toronto Regional with my mom Hazel <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Wolpert</span></span>, my brother Darren <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Wolpert</span></span> and my wife Jenny <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Wolpert</span></span><br /><em>Note: Saturday night April 7<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">th</span></span> the documentary on Vincent and I will be aired on <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">CTV</span></span>. </em><br />On Monday Morning April 9<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">th</span></span> we leave for the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">Gattlinburg</span></span>, Tennessee regional, the biggest tournament of the year in North America. There I will partner Melanie Tucker, whom I play with quite a lot and our teammates are my friends John <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">Hurd</span></span> and Joel <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">Wooldridge</span></span>.<br />After 5 days of playing there Jenny and I will get on a plane to West Palm Beach <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">Florida</span>, where we will spend a week on the beach then play the last 3 days of the Ft. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">Lauderdale</span></span> regional. After that I have nothing scheduled before the Cavendish teams and pairs where I will play with one of my best friends John <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">Kranyak</span></span>... its his first time playing the event, for those of you who have never played its one of the coolest events of the year... practically every pair you play has <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18">at least</span> 1 world champion, really no experience like it.<br /><br /><span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19">OK</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_20">that's</span> it for now as my schedule pans out I will let you know where I'm going.<br /><br />Just as a side note, I am not getting anything for doing this blog, I get a cut if you click that full tilt poker link at the bottom of the website and sign up and play... I assure you the site is 100% safe and you will enjoy your poker experience there.Gavin Wolperthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11764201279602765938noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1357043594091534289.post-43048118595282273982007-03-29T16:29:00.000-04:002007-03-29T16:45:17.870-04:00Dealing with opponents strong club openingEveryone understands that the best way to defend against a strong club is to get in their face... however most people do it with the completely wrong hands. My ideas aren't perfect but I've had a reasonable <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">amount</span> of success against it. <br /><br />For starters, all of these conventions people play, suction, crash and whatever other strange artificial systems are <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">definitely</span> worse than just playing natural. <br /><br />I use Mathe: (1C*) X = Majors, 1NT = Minors everything else natural<br /><br />For the most part, coming in at the one level actually helps your opponents, it doesn't hurt them, so being overly aggressive to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">overcall</span> 1 with the wrong hand types can be fatal. The key is to take away multiple bidding levels. The best way to do this is to have your partner raise your <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">overcall</span>. In my mind its best to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">overcall</span> most unbalanced hands over 1C but stay out with balanced hands. The idea is that when i <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">overcall</span> 1H over 1C and my partner has 4 card support and a balanced hand, I want them to jump to 3... taking away all part score bids from my opponents. If I am <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">overcalling</span> 4 card suits, and balanced 5332 hands we will just set our side up for a big penalty. <br /><br />Dealing with a Precision 1D opening (could be short) <br />Its bets to play that (1D*) 2D is just natural, and (1D*) 2H is <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">michaels</span>, giving up the weak 2H bid in order to be able to get the natural diamond bid in there.Gavin Wolperthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11764201279602765938noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1357043594091534289.post-28623800242179170332007-03-28T13:23:00.001-04:002007-03-28T16:32:09.536-04:00Transfers after opponents bid michaelsPlaying on BBO with Warren Spector on the weekend, we had the auction 1H (2H) come up and this brought up a discussion. This system only applies when you open 1 of a Major and your opponent makes a direct cuebid showing Spades and a minor.<br /><br />First piece of advice: When your opponent makes an artificial 2 suited overcall, there are no longer natural NT bids available to you, as you will always start with double with balanced hands. As well, whenever you have a fit you will show a fit, so double is defined as a hand that wants to penalize your opponents but denies a fit.<br /><br />1H (2H)<br />2S = cue for hearts limit +<br />2NT = Clubs (designed for x xx xxx KQJTxxx) any strength<br />3C = Diamonds any strength<br />3D = constructive raise (i.e. 4 trumps 5-8, 3 trumps 8-10)<br />3H = weakest raise<br />3S = Splinter<br />3NT = 4 card support balanced game bid * remember with normal 3NT bid you start with X<br />4C = Fit showing Jump (5+C 4+H, concentrated values in C/H)<br />4D = Fit showing Jump (5+D 4+H, concentrated values in D/H)<br />4H = Weak game bid<br /><br />its important to remember that when partner transfers you to a minor, you should accept the transfer with almost any hand, even with a void in their suit, unless you CLEARLY have a better bid available to you<br /><br />1S (2S)<br />2NT = Clubs any strength<br />3C = Diamonds any strength<br />3D = limit + in spades<br />3H = constructive raise in spades<br />3S = weakest raise to 3S<br />3NT = balanced 4 card support game bid<br />4C = fit jump<br />4D = fit jump<br />4H = splinter<br />4S = weak game bidGavin Wolperthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11764201279602765938noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1357043594091534289.post-32741085484987741892007-03-27T15:15:00.000-04:002007-03-27T15:17:52.971-04:00Here goes nothingFor a long time now I've talked about making a blog, here we go. In my blog I intend to post various hand problems I come across in my life as a bridge pro. As well as my various decisions I have to make along the way. I will take you on a world tour as I travel around playing many bridge tournaments. In the process of writing this blog I will include various special agreements that I have made with my old partner Vincent Demuy and also include some various options for each situation. I hope you enjoy!Gavin Wolperthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11764201279602765938noreply@blogger.com2