Category Archives: Stories

Bill Sedlis – Sapphire Life Master

ACBL District 4

I have been playing with a partner who while not as experienced as I am, is hard working and eager to improve. She is also a touch stubborn.

Often when we go over hands and I offer a suggestion or two she will often not ‘buy in’ to my logic.  The next week when we meet again she will announce  ‘ I asked Joann G. and she agrees with you so you must be okay.   I often feel you are my partner in absentia!

Another story – A few years ago. my wife and I traveled to London for vacation.  I arranged to play at one of the local clubs and was assigned a rather intimidating partner who brought a few kibitzers along with him.  First board out of the box it goes multi 2d on my left, X by my partner – at that time I had no clue what that meant and I froze  – I then blurted out in loud American voice – ‘I’ve  traveled 3000 miles and now I have to have to deal with the ‘#$$%%’  multi!’  As you can imagine – no one was amused! (ps it all worked out in the end)

Bruce Zucker – Sectional Master

ACBL District 4

I would never have reached the goal of Sectional Master w/o your patience.  Thank you for your guidance.    Without bridge I would be like a boat without a rudder.  In my journey though life I’ve finally reached the challenge of the ‘golden years’.  Age and  physical maladies have caught up with me and removed my ability to be independent and physically active.  Bridge has been my rock, providing me with something ‘competitive’ to keep my mind functioning.

Dean Campbell – Regional Master

ACBL District 4

I mostly play bridge online and benefit from the STaC days and online sectionals. My dad and I also play in the local regionals and sectionals when I am not working and have available time. Overall I think the diversity of tournaments and local games is quite good. It is fairly expensive and I hope prices of games do not continue to go up indefinitely! I think having more of the “complete these online boards within the next 24 hours” type of tournaments would be helpful for someone young and working like myself. I do not have time in middle of the day to play in the local weekly sanctioned games.

Robert Leiter – Club Master

ACBL District 4

I am recently retired from my Federal Service government job of 45 years in April 2025.  In May of 2025 I started playing bridge at Game Friendzy in Cherry Hill. What a great decision that was to begin playing at Game Friendzy! I have attended several entry level training classes in bidding, playing, defending, carding and scoring of the hands.

The willingness to teach and train of the directors Bernadette Hennessy, Cliff Sokolic, Bruce Pedretti and all the club members has been awesome for my bridge advancement.  With so much to learn.

I have played at several District 4 locations along with NABC Tournament in Philadelphia this past summer.  Always with a challenging, learning and humbling experience.

My Masterpoint accumulation has always been secondary to my learning priority.  I have accumulated this milestone with many different partners, who always give instruction and accolades where warranted.

This has been the best decision to involve myself with ACBL District 4 Game Friendzy Bridge Club.  What a great experience this has been socially and mentally for me!

Steve Binnick – Life Master

ACBL District 4

My Life Master story began several years ago with beginner lessons from Deb Crisfield at the Philadelphia Cricket Club.  She was and still is a superb teacher- extremely organized, motivated, and made the lessons fun!!  Many of her students have gone on to become accomplished players.

My first master points were obtained at a local tournament with Clair Rolan, a life master at that time and my first mentor as my partner.  She was a wonderful lady who loved to play any new convention!  We became good friends, and when she was courageously dying from cancer, I got an urgent phone call when I was vacationing in the Jungles of Mexico.  She had stopped all of her treatments and wanted to talk to me before she passed away.  She wanted me to promise her that I would play bridge with her in heaven!!! (I told her that I would, but there was one problem – I may not reach heaven.  That may have resulted in her last laugh!).

I would like to thank all of the bridge players at the Philadelphia Cricket Club who put up with me as their partner, as well as Wes Powers, the superb director of the Philadelphia Cricket Club and Whitemarsh Valley Country Club games.

Alvin Guo – Junior Master

ACBL District 4

I’m Alvin Guo, 12 years old, living in Beijing with my family, I am studying at International School of Beijing, will be on Grade 7 by this Sept.

By achieving “Junior Master”, I would like to summary how I prepare and perform in YNABC, there are a few key factors I would like to share:

Firstly, very well rest before the competition made me stay fully focused during the games which could make a good use of my skills. For instance, together with my peer we stopped the contact at 7NT. But we noticed that the opponent’s card may block us from doing so afterwards, I use a safety play to make it then.

Secondly, my partner, Oscar Deng (a China Hongkong youth team member), performed amazingly, we worked together perfectly.

Last but not the least, the daily review sessions organized by Coach Yin and Coach Li helped us cut down on mistakes—they were huge helpers.

I owe my love for bridge to my mom—she introduced the game to me and made me fall in love with it. And I’ve been incredibly lucky to join SMZY Bridge Club. They’ve gave me solid bidding system and declare skills, most importantly, when I was struggling, Coach Yinghao Liu gave me invaluable guidance, he just won the first place of NABC Spingold with his team. Looking back, it feels like everything fell into place perfectly: joining SMZY, meeting Coach Yinghao Liu, and compete in Youth NABC tournaments.