Newsletter 14 February 2025
In our newsletter this week...
- Saturday Bridge is Back!
- myABF Account Top Up Instructions
- ABF Offering Exclusive Offer to Arts National Members
- Workshop with Will Jenner-O'Shea
- Wednesday Night Pizza
- Upcoming Events
- RESULTS
- Ian Morison
- Name Tag Order
- Lighter Moments
President's Message
Everyone (well mostly everyone) is now back from their “hiatus” to the 63rd Gold Coast Congress (which sadly was the last!). Everyone had a fun time, and we had quite a few members who did very well, so congratulations to them!
This week we had a record number turn up for our Wednesday evening bridge session - 15.5 tables, plus 5 tables in the Supervised session. And the Beginners lessons are continuing in the Olive Lott room so it was very busy and hard to find a car park, but it’s a very healthy sign for the Club! Barb's refresher course has also been going strong, there were 8 tables for last Tuesday. A lot of effort has been put into restructuring this year's education agenda and the club thanks all the teachers who have taken on this project and are working hard to make it a success.
The lovely rain continues which is fabulous for our gardens but sadly not great for our House Committee who have been working tirelessly to fix our leaking roof! Good news is the roof plumber has found the issues and hopefully the problem will be resolved soon (and our tea bags can stop “floating” in the kitchen).
- Mary
Saturday Bridge is Back!
A reminder that the club is opening on Saturdays again, the first session will be tomorrow 15 February at 1pm. Saturday RealBridge sessions will remain the same at 1:15pm.
myABF Account Top Up Instructions
If you have opted to top up your myABF account manually you will need to keep checking your balance to avoid running out of funds to pay for your table fees. The club recommends having auto top up turned ON so that you won't need to worry about the financial aspects of your bridge.
A revision on how to set this up is outlined below:
- log on to www.myabf.com.au using your abf number and your password. (If you can't remember your password, you might need to reset it. Instructions will be sent to your registered email address)
- Click on the green icon located on the top left - this is where you will find your "Bridge Credits"
- To enable auto top up you you will need to click on the ON button - you will need to link your credit card details
- If you are only wanting to top up your account then leave it to OFF and instead click on "TOP UP BALANCE"
Note that if you change your credit or debt card, this is where you will need to access in order to update your new card number.
For reference, instructions on how to top up myABF is also published on our website.
ABF Offering Exclusive Offer to Arts National Members
The ABF is launching a new advertising campaign in partnership with Arts National, introducing more people to the wonderful game of bridge. The ABF will have a half page advertisement in the Arts National newsletter that is sent out quarterly to their members, commencing Feb 2025.
As part of this initiative, Arts National members will have access to an exclusive offer when they join an ABF-affiliated club in 2025.
🎭 Exclusive Arts National Member Offer 🎭
Any Arts National member who signs up with an ABF-affiliated Bridge Club in 2025 will receive a $10 rebate on their ABF membership fee.
For further details please see link below:
Workshop with Will Jenner-O'Shea
Will Jenner-O'Shea's workshop is on 23 February at 10 am.
The topic is "Getting To Good No-Trump Games More Often":
- Using the Fourth-Suit Forcing Convention
- Showing Stoppers, and Asking for Stoppers
- Improve Your Hand Evaluation
- Play and Defence Tips at No-Trump Contracts
- 10 am - Sunday February 23rd
- Cost: $60
- click here to register
This whole day workshop includes morning tea and lunch.
Wednesday Night Pizzas
The Wednesday night pizzas provide the opportunity for social interaction while enjoying a pizza sampling. It provides a great opportunity to talk to and socialise with your fellow players, which is not always the case when engaged in playing bridge.
- 26 February - 6:30pm
- $5 payable on the day for half a pizza
Those wishing to partake should place their name on a list on the noticeboard or contact Jon Pike directly. His email is
Upcoming Events
Hugh Hudson Pairs:
- 18 Feb - 4 Mar 7:15pm
- Click here to Enter
RESULTS
The winners of the Mentoring Pairs 2025 are:
- Jacques Cherbuin - David Hoffman
Final Updated Results from GCC
Bobby Richman Pair Championship - Open Pairs H Final
- 3rd - Zara Chowdhury & Liam Minogue
Teams Championships - Open Teams
- Runners-up - David Appleton’s Team
George Kozakos was in the Beauchamp Team which finished first, but were then defeated in the semi-finals by David Appleton’s Team.
Ivy Dahler Butler Swiss Pairs - Novice
- 2nd - Debra Birkby & Paul Birkby
Reg & Joan Trophy Swiss Pairs
Friday Butler Swiss Pairs - Open
- 3rd - Zara Chowdhury & Liam Minogue
Walk-in Pairs - Saturday AM
- 2nd - Adam Robinson & Sue Coleman
Walk-in Pairs - Saturday PM
- 2nd - Perelle Scales & John Donovan
Walk-in Pairs - Sunday PM
- 2nd - Perelle Scales & John Donovan
Walk-in Pairs - Tuesday PM
- 3rd - Jayne Francis & Sydney Rowan
Walk-in Pairs - Wednesday AM
- 3rd - Jenny Walpole & Robyn Carroll
Ian Morison
The following article by Paul Marston which appeared in The Weekend Australian follows up from Ian's topic on "Big Hands and Mis-fits" which was printed in this newsletter on 17th January.
Read both articles below:
Name Tag Order
Our next order for the magnetic name badges will be sent on 21 February.
Please put in your order by emailing the office your full name and abf number to
The cost is $20 and it will be charged through your myABF account.
Lighter Moments ?
A score entered in the bridgemate during last Tuesday afternoon duplicate was so unusually high that it alerted the director Steve Geddes as an anomaly. Having confirmed that the score was indeed correct he thought it was a story worth sharing with our members. I print it under "Lighter Moments" but the genre is dubious. I was assured however by multiple sources that there were only laughter at the table and no tears were shed.
Happy Valentines Day and don't forget that there's more bridge tomorrow!
Elizabeth
