For the week of St. Patrick’s Day, I will do playing lessons for a $5 discount. Call or email now to get a playing slot at the reduced rate for March 14th -20th. I’m pretty flexible.
Think about playing online with me in a playing lesson while we’re all stuck at home! I also have once or twice a day, online supervised play during this period. We play for an hour at 10:00 on Tues. & Thurs. and 11:15 a.m. Monday through Friday, Central time. Call or email to find out about that. Cost is just $2 per person, to me.
I will play with you online in a 12 board tournament. This includes a 15 minute phone call going over the convention card prior to the tournament followed by up to 20 minutes going over hands after the tournament. Cost for this online play is $15 plus my entry fee. Email, call, or text to set up a time and I’ll meet you online! An 18 board tournament is $25 plus my entry fee.
I am happy to provide a lesson by playing with you. For adults with fewer than 800 masterpoints, this means that I will meet with you for up to 1/2 hour before playing time to go over our convention card. I will play with you, noting the bidding sequence and leads as we play. I usually refrain from making too many comments during the actual playing time. I will then stay and go over some of the issues that occurred during the session, looking at hand records if available, for up to 1/2 hour. The cost for this playing lesson service is my entry fee and $35, or schedule a set of 3 lessons for just $90.
For adults with 800 masterpoints or more, I am happy to play with you for free if I can fit you into my schedule!
For high school age students and younger please see my scheduled rates on the Kids Bridge page.
Due to Covid-19, classes have been moved to online.
Cost: Any new classes beginning Feb. 1 or after, $20 online for each two hour class per person. Classes are normally in the 4 to 6 p.m. Central Time frame but other schedules can be arranged.
YOU MUST PRE-REGISTER! Just call (816-237-0519) or e-mail to sign up. Flexible scheduling for online classes.
Defensive Signaling and Card Play (call or email to schedule a set of classes.) Call or email to let me know if you want me to offer this class again. Remember that defense is 50% of the game! Get better at this and your game gets a lot better!
Class 1: Attitude and Count online Class 2: Suit Preference Signals online Class 3: Opening Leads in Suit Contracts. online Class 4: Opening Leads at NT online Class 5: Discard Signals & Leading through Strength and to Weakness & Review online
DECLARER PLAY – Series 1Let me know if interested!
It is highly recommended that you purchase these books by Barbara Seagram and David Bird for these classes as well as the series 2 classes coming soon: “Planning the Play of a Bridge Hand” retails for $19.95 you can order from me for $19 including any sales tax and s/h, “Declarer Play at Bridge” retails for $15.95 you can purchase from me for $15 which also includes any sales tax and s/h.
Class 1: Planning the Play in a Suit Contract – Count Losers and plan to eliminate them – 3 main ways to do that: Ruff in short trump hand, discard, finesse
Class 2: Review planning – Pay attention to entries, when to draw trump, which card to play first, loser on loser. Start on planning the Play in a NT contract. Count your winners, developing extra tricks in the safest way possible.
Class 3: More on NT Play – the hold up play, will holding up give them a chance to switch to a more dangerous suit, safe and dangerous hands, establishing a suit
Class 4: More NT play and then let’s start going deeper – double finesse, two way finesse – how to choose your direction? Plan your entries.
Declarer Play – Series 2
Next series of classes: call or email to let me know you want this offered again.
Class 1: More on drawing trumps and more on the dangerous hand
Class 2: More on the hold up play, useful in a suit contract as well as NT. Combine your chances.
Class 3: Gathering information before choosing the suit to try to establish.
Class 4: Counting the hands to give you a clue – counting distribution, counting HCP. Don’t take a finesse that is sure to lose.
DISTURBING OPPONENTS NOTRUMP – let me know if you want this class offered again!
Class 1: We’ll start by learning the DONT (Disturbing Opponent’s NoTrump) convention and how to advance partner’s overcall.
Class 2: We’ll talk more about how to overcome that overcall if we are the NT bidding pair. We’ll do that with some simpler techniques – if you want to get more complicated sign up for the Lebensohl classes.
Class 3: A brief intro to some other overcalling NT conventions, after seeing a few you can pick your favorite!
Transition to Two Over One (2/1)Let me know if you want this offered again!
Class 1: Responding to an opening Major with Support Class 2: Responding to an opening Minor, Responding to an Opening Major without support Class 3: More forcing responses to show support for a Major: Jacoby 2NT and Splinters Class 4: Putting it altogether – understand when to use what!
Reverses – what are they, when can you, should you use them?
Two hour class – online, flexible scheduling!
Overcalls:
Class 1: One level and two level overcalls: making them, advancing them Class 2: Pre-emptive overcalls and advances Class 3: How to keep competing after an overcall, including negative doubles Class 4: Takeout doubles and advances, how to keep competing after interference caused by a takeout double
Lebensohl Class Series:
Class 1: Over natural 2 level bids Class 2: Over 2 suited bids Class 3: Over 3 level bids Class 4: Responding to a double of a weak 2 and responding to a reverse
Slam Bidding: Let me know if interested!
Slam Class 1 & 2: 1430 Key Card, Quantitative NT, 1430 Gerber, Gerber, Control Bids, Minorwood.
Two session series – each class two hours long. 4 to 6 p.m. 4 students per class.
Slam Class 3 & 4: Call or email if interested in this series. Cost $15 per lesson. More practice with 1430, control bids and minorwood.
NEW MINOR FORCING: 2 sessions. Cost $20 per lesson. Call or email if interested in my scheduling this class again. What is it? When do I use it? Why do I use it? What do I need to have in my hand to use it? How does my partner answer me when I use it? They answered me, now what do I do?
DOUBLES!
(I have added a short one hour Doubles Practice on March 15 from 5 to 6 p.m. Only 4 student slots, we’ll do this on BBO like our supervised play – just very focused deals. Cost is $3 each. You must sign up ahead of time – 3 spots left!)
This is a four session series, let me know if interested in my offering it again.
Class 1: Take out Doubles and Doubles as part of a sandwich NT
Class 2: Negative Doubles – you may think you understand this double, but do you?
Class 3: Lead directing doubles and Lightner doubles
Class 4: Responsive doubles, Support doubles (and redoubles)
I have added an online supervised play for groups of just 4 which will continue through at least March 2021. We play for one hour online. The morning session is Monday through Friday, at 11:15. In addition there is an extra morning session from 10:00 to 11:00 on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Cost is just $2 to me. To sign up, call or email me. I send you a Zoom link so we can talk while playing the deals online. You pay me via Paypal or a check. We can work out those details when you sign up.