How did I get to GLM? Not too complicated. Read and play lots for a long time. It doesn’t hurt to be smarter than the average bear, to quote Yogi bear. It was hard to do while I was still working and would not be possible today without BBO, especially since most of the tournaments that I used to play no longer exist and our local club is often down to 2 tables. I don’t really have any further bridge goal, other than to still be playing when I am 90+.
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Martha Goodman – Club Master
I achieved this milestone only because of the patience, kindness and good helpful instruction that I have received during my club play at Shore Bridge and Shuffles bridge clubs. These very good players have been very gracious in their welcome to me as I began my sanctioned bridge play. I have nothing but good to say about these two bridge clubs and the bridge players here in Southern Delaware.
Leslie Heselton – Life Master
I learned to play bridge while at the United States Naval Academy in the early 1960s. After graduation I continued to play tuber bridge.
When I met my future wife, Mary, I knew she was smart enough to learn to play good bridge and assisted her in learning to play. I started playing for Master Points in the 1970s at the San Diego Bridge Club earning 0.1 points at a time.
Upon moving to the Washington DC area, my partner and I decided to learn and play Precision Club and I earned points at the Northern Virginia Bridge Club at the rate of 0.2. In the 1970s, we moved the New Jersey, where I again started playing rubber bridge. When the ACBL Nationals came to Philadelphia in the early 1980s, Mary and I decided to see what it was like. There we earned around 20 Master Points and I got my interest back for bridge. With some friends, we started learning 2/1 game force and I have been playing that for about 15 years now.
Two events I was very excited about were first: the Gold for Good back in December. I not only received gold points for playing in the clubs events, but was first in the Club section and 6th overall and received about 5 gold points. The second event was qualifying for the North American Pairs in Memphis last month. Although we could only attend for Friday through Sunday, I was able to earn the required points for Life Master in the Gold Rush Pairs and the North American Pairs.
On to Bronze Life Master!
Marilyn Silberstein – Club Master
I first took lessons in the mid-1970’s with my then husband in Binghamton, NY. We joined the ACBL. We played some social bridge and played duplicate twice a week. We enjoyed the social aspect as well as the challenge of competition, but we never set the bridge world on fire.
In 1980, we relocated to Philadelphia, PA. Not knowing anyone in our new home, we decided to play bridge at a local bridge club to meet new people and continue to enjoy the game (and, maybe, improve it). Our experience was devastating. People were suspicious of us as newcomers and very nasty. We felt unwelcome and never returned. I did not play bridge again for almost 30 YEARS!
In 2010, following a divorce and the raising of my children, I decided to give bridge another try. I had pretty much forgotten anything I had ever learned, which was okay, since the rules had changed. I took some classes with a teacher who would become my mentor. I joined with some other classmates in a weekly social game, but I didn’t have the courage to get involved in playing duplicate. My teacher, Bobbie, encouraged me to do so. I was delighted to find that the ACBL still had my account and had saved the very few points I had accumulated from 30+ years before.
Fast forward to 2020. I was still playing social bridge and, occasionally, playing at a tournament. COVID hit, and, to my horror, my teacher, my mentor, and my friend, Bobbie, died from it at the very beginning. I was devastated. I stopped playing bridge for the next 2 years. I lost my motivation, but I missed the game.
In 2022, I took a few more classes. None of my friends played bridge, so I joined a club. I found a new home and new friends. I am still not the world’s greatest player, but I enjoy playing. Our club is relaxed and welcoming to all. After playing in the “come-out-and-play” for close to a year, I “graduated” to the regular duplicate bridge games. I now play twice a week, and a third time on Bridge Base Online. I was recently on a trip to Australia, and my partner and I were able to play online!
I have now earned more points (mostly percentages of a point), but I look forward to playing and am improving my game.
Dylan Higgins – Junior Master
I’m excited to have reached the Junior Master status, as it brings me one step closer to eventually becoming a life master.As a twenty-one year old, I’m confident I’ll be able to reach life master eventually, it’s just a matter of when. My grandfather, Richard Correnti, taught my cousins and I to play bridge about ten years ago when we were 9-12. We grew up playing other card games with the family, such as pitch and hearts, which formed a great basis for learning bridge. For a while, we simply enjoyed playing casually at family gatherings – bridge became the sort of default activity if nothing else was going on.
However, over the last year, my eldest cousin, Noah Bell, became an active player at our local bridge club in Ithaca, NY. Naturally, he needed a partner, so I accompanied him whenever I could and we were able to accumulate a few master points playing in weekly club games.
But, it was this past March that really made the difference. For Noah’s birthday, he told me that he’d love to make a weeklong trip to Memphis for the 2025 Spring Nationals and I happily obliged. Noah and I had a great time playing bridge, exploring a new city, and meeting lots of new people. We happened to play some good bridge too, as I walked away from our first big tournament with about five times as many master points as I had going in (my total went from about 3 to about 15). Among these were my first gold points as well! All in all, it was a great trip and I hope it will be the first of many national tournaments to come.
As I continue my bridge journey, I hope to convince/inspire more young people to play bridge. Within our many conversations that we had with opponents at the Memphis tournament were repeated sentiments such as “it’s so good to see young people”, “are you trying to get your friends to play?”, and “unfortunately, bridge is a dying game”. Bridge has become such an important family tradition, that I would hate to see it fall by the wayside. Hopefully, if we continue playing and teaching, we can keep the game alive for generations to come.
Hope Campbell – Bronze Life Master
My story is similar to most. I joined the ACBL in the late 90’s, I believe. I also was one of the early members of BBO after the Beta testing. My bridge experience prior to joining the ACBL was Yahoo Bridge, and it was Rubber Bridge. I had zero idea what Duplicate Bridge was, and the learning curve was long and steep! I played for a few years, and in 2002 several years of illness began, and I stepped away from bridge.
When I returned to BBO in 2006 it was after a brain surgery, and my neurologist suggested bridge to reignite my problem solving and focus. It worked! I fell in love with the game all over again. I started taking SAYC lessons, and working to improve my duplicate game. I didn’t know how points worked, and honestly didn’t care. I played a few times in my local club live games, but I found the autonomy of BBO more enjoyable.
In 2012, life got in the way of bridge due to an unexpected job loss, and career change. I didn’t come back to the game again until 2016, and it was both BBO, and live bridge. This time, bridge wasn’t as much fun. The game had grown, and I was left in the dust. I played live in my local club, and I was honestly a horrible bridge player. One of the players in the club gave me a lesson book on how to play bridge, and I was both mortified and humbled. I stopped playing live at that club, and 100% focused on playing online, learning 2/1, and dedicating as much time as I could to learning the game, and getting up to speed with players similar to my level, all while not caring about points.
In 2019, I met a girl online, and we hit it off as friends, and as bridge partners. In March of 2020, Covid hit and I was so happy I had bridge as therapy. My new friend and I, along with other random partners, found time to play, and develop our game. In Nov/Dec 2022, my friend invited me to the Phoenix NABC, and I was hooked on tournament play. I also at this time started paying attention to points.
I checked on my points at ACBL.org, and realized I was under the “new” rules. I called the ACBL, and was told I needed to catch up for the years I didn’t pay my dues, and then I could be under the rules that were in effect when I joined. It amounted to over $500. I knew I hadn’t earned many, if any, points back then, so I didn’t understand why I needed to pay that much money. Anyway, I wasn’t prepared to pay that amount, so I let it go. I attended several NABC’s, Regionals, and Sectionals from 2022, until the Spring of 2024 when I moved to DE.
I started attending the Shore Bridge Club in Rehoboth, and the Shuffles Bridge Club in Ocean View weekly. I met a member who asked me how many points I had, and at the time I think I had around 500. She said, “Oh, you’re a LifeMaster”, and I responded, no. I told her my story from above, and she told me, “You keep calling until the answer is you owe a small penalty.” So, I did. Lo, and behold, last year I was granted back to the old rules, and I needed a few silver points to make LifeMaster. Since silver points are only available at STaC games and sectionals, they’re hard to come by. Luckily, BBO offers “Silver Linings Week” several times a year. I made achieving LifeMaster my goal!
I’m elated, honestly. I chuckle when I think back on when points didn’t matter to me. Perhaps now they won’t matter as much either.
But, what I’ve gained on my journey is a long list of bridge friends who are like family. We vacation together around bridge tournaments. We talk incessantly about the game we all love! I’m encouraged to play live, and I do as often as I can.
I will play with anyone who asks me to play, regardless of skill level. I remember the sting of that incident in 2016, and I don’t want another person to be made to feel less than when it comes to the game.
At the end of the day, it’s still a card game!