[1eyedjack]

I am going to be in Miami on and off over the next couple of weeks. Anyone know of any reasonable bridge scene there? Never been West of the Atlantic before so my only experience of ACBL-world so far is on BBO.

[bid_em_up]

1eyedjack, on Aug 12 2009, 12:46 AM, said:

I am going to be in Miami on and off over the next couple of weeks.  Anyone know of any reasonable bridge scene there?  Never been West of the Atlantic before so my only experience of ACBL-world so far is on BBO.

I never made it down into the actual Miami area other than for local tournaments, so can't offer much help there, but if you can make it up to the Ft. Lauderdale area (approximately 30-45 miles to the north depending on where in Miami you will be), there are two very good clubs.

The Ft. Lauderdale Duplicate Bridge club, and the Tamarac Duplicate Bridge Club are both excellent clubs. If I could only choose one, I would pick the Tamarac club. Atlhough it has been years since I played there, it would not be unusual to find the likes of Richard and Mabel Pavlicek, Bernie Chazen, or Helen Shanbrom playing there. Helen, to the best of my knowledge, only plays at that club (2 sessions/day), and it is almost worth going there simply to meet her. In case you don't know who she is, Helen Shanbrom has been the ACBL Ace of Clubs award winner in the 10,000+ masterpoint category for something like the last 14 out of 15 years. This award is given to the player winning the most points in club games each year. She is also a fine player, even at her age (she's 90 now).

http://www.district9acbl.org/SBN/2007_09/S...l4No1_22_43.pdf

If you can make it even further north to Boca Raton, Jourdan's is/was the place to be. It's possible this club has been renamed by now, try the Boca Raton Duplicate Bridge club.

[Phil]

bid_em_up, on Aug 13 2009, 04:03 PM, said:

Atlhough it has been years since I played there, it would not be unusual to find the likes of Richard and Mabel Pavlicek, Bernie Chazen, or Helen Shanbrom playing there. Helen, to the best of my knowledge, only plays at that club (2 sessions/day), and it is almost worth going there simply to meet her.

I would be very unusual to see at least two of these players there.

[bid_em_up]

Phil, on Aug 13 2009, 04:05 PM, said:

bid_em_up, on Aug 13 2009, 04:03 PM, said:

Atlhough it has been years since I played there, it would not be unusual to find the likes of Richard and Mabel Pavlicek, Bernie Chazen, or Helen Shanbrom playing there.  Helen, to the best of my knowledge, only plays at that club (2 sessions/day), and it is almost worth going there simply to meet her.

I would be very unusual to see at least two of these players there.

I will infer that you mean that two of them are now deceased (unbeknownst to me) or no longer live in the area.

Even so, that was the "caliber" of player that attended that particular club on a regular basis, the names listed were for examples only.

[NickRW]

[quote name='bid_em_up' date='Aug 13 2009, 09:03 PM'] [quote name='1eyedjack' date='Aug 12 2009, 12:46 AM']...Atlhough it has been years since I played there, it would not be unusual to find the likes of Richard and Mabel Pavlicek, Bernie Chazen, or Helen Shanbrom playing there.... [/quote]
Last I understood, Mabel was in a bad way health wise and Richard has had to devote a lot of his time to her care - there is note somewhere on his site about it.

[1eyedjack]

Back from Miami area. Sadly had no time for bridge. Maybe not so sad.

Anyway, felt I had to drop a line for the benefit of anyone else thinking of visiting: Do eat at a restaurant called "Tap Tap" on 5th Street, South Beach area.

Oh, and I found a shirt for sale costing $240 in a beach front store. I thought such things only existed in theory, like the Higgs Boson. (I didn't buy it, but it was an experience just to find it).