EPISODE 30: Ron Smith PART TWO
Didn’t get enough of Ronnie? He’s back! Ron Smith returns to the show, bringing with him more hilarious stories.
Episode Highlights:
6:05- Ron’s opinion on Real Bridge
12:30- When your teammates go for minus 4600 in 4Cxx down 8 so you lose 24 IMPS, but you still win the match
15:35- Ron learns from his teacher who went minus 5800.Twice
16:05- Story of the only person to win the Vanderbilt while also losing two matches in the same tournament
18:30- Never give up during a match
25:05- Bobby Levin is so good looking, his partner needs to play with his head down lest he loses his focus
28:40- More hilarious Baby Levin stories
34:40- Ron believes in the great joys of having the social connections through playing bridge
38:10- Speculations on the future of bridge—will things ever be the same again?
40:15- Mahaffrey stories
44:35- Peter Weichsel’s most embarrassing moment
47:15- Reese stories
53:05- Ron’s worst three hands
59:48- Leo Lasota: the world’s greatest online player
1:03:05- Oren Kriegel is an upcoming super star
1:06:35- “Here comes the damn diamonds again” story
Transcript:
John: All right, man, we got a, couple of weeks of downtime to really brainstorm your best stories.
Ron: Uh, when it was downtown, I played in the seniors today on the Linda Lewis team. I don't know how we, did in the last match nobody's telling me. So I assume not so hot.
That's usual. That means if they don't call you and tell you that they get some bugs, then he got kicked.
Linda Lewis play on March Jacobus who has firsthand to play online since the COVID. And we have Mitch Dunn. It was that other guy, if the bad guy. Who seems to be a match point. Blair does everything he does is it seems to be match point or he didn't lead his five card suit against one. No, he lets them two cards suit.
So they made one now. I guess we wouldn't want to know Trump. He couldn't do. Okay. So the opponent, when I'm no Trump and they transfer it to three hearts, play three hearts, 15 opposite zero made it. And their code for five spades.
John: They super accepted three hearts.
Ron: Super accepted three hearts and nobody ever got in the bidding and they were the other table Hammond. And why sell bid towards bays and made five,
John: Who's hosting a senior event.
Ron: USB AF what it is we are, Poland or somebody has invited us to send four teams in January. So they have 14 teams trying to qualify for, and we were leading.
John: What is Poland
testing?
Ron: I don't know, it's the weirdest thing I could, uh, was a USB AF It's a transatlantic qualification event is what we're in. And I guess the first email would have told me, which one of the dates were. I guess maybe I have to go to January 13th, I think is when we play in Poland as if we qualify. But today, this weekend is 13 matches to see who qualifies to play polo and right away, my partner, Billy Colon, which has always happens, we are the best player on the team, but tomorrow there's football.
So he's going to sit out two matches.
John: it's a, it's a round Robin. And then the top four from the round Robin qualified for the Poland event.
Ron: Right. And they've got a few good teams they got Lazin scene. We play three things for. Oh, it's around Robin snore in Poland. The thing starts January 18th through the 23rd and that's Swiss teams and extra qualifying.
And if you qualify the round, the 16th starts February 2nd and you play the February 7th. Sounds like a lot of bridge. if you do qualify and losing the semifinals, then you have to play a Swiss to determine third place. So this is like forever, whatever it is and teams enter, or are there any good teams?
Yes, it looks like a. The law team was, that's the one we lost it. We lost Reese Milner then, and then Xen has a team with meckstroth
and that's it. I mean, Wilson kind of ragtag team and drew case, and then have a ragtag team. And the other teams don't look that strong. So we must have a chance provided we play more matches. Maybe Billy will play more on Sunday. I can't believe it. He's still in football. I don't think there's money to be made in football.
I think it was the same thing as the stock options when they invented the computer and the internet, we were done. we were, that's what happened? The stock options. We traded on the floor and we have the right niceness to rape and pillage. And then when they invented the, uh, put it all online, all of a sudden we came sitting ducks overnight.
And so I think the same thing happened to him. For me. He doesn't, I noticed he doesn't reach for the dinner check anymore.
He's learned that lesson.
John: The first bridge event that I've heard of since COVID, that has a qualifying through USB F for another event that's put on by another organization.
Ron: well, normally the USB, does the world championships, remember we go do the team trials,
John: I know that, man. I'm just saying I've never we've we haven't, I haven't seen one where it's qualified. Like I've played in a USB of event with you as my teammate, but there was no, there was no gold at the end. I mean, w if we won, we weren't qualified for another, like a world championships type deal.
Ron: No, we would have been, we'd have been playing, going into the world championship.
John: What are you talking about?
Ron: If the one we went to on that, this last one, but the one we played years ago,
John: Oh yeah, well, yeah, no, I mean, yeah, of course, but not, the online USBs event
Ron: Oh, no, not the online, online thing is, just to play and then collect $300 from everybody. Oh, we'll let you play on our site as handlers as money, but for you, nothing,
John: How do you like real bridge?
Ron: I like real rich. I like it better than BBO. These, you get to see the opponents, you get to talk, it's a little more social and they're improving it every day. And a lot of these sites, are they going to run BBO out of businesses? They it'd be, be able to catch up because, uh, I know two sites for sure that have the zoom built in that right away makes it better.
John: Are you including real bridge in that,
Ron: I'm including grill bridge in that. Real bridging.
John: do it, they just do it. Uh, I mean, they don't use zoom to do it. I don't think to. Okay.
Ron: No, they don't use them at all. And he played in these nationals and you blame these regionals. And I mean, there's rabbit cheating. I'm sure. Because I mean, a lot of suspicious things. Billy Collins said he played in some tournament and he had played against these people before and they were not that good.
But when he played with them in the knockout against them in the knockout would drown you. He says they came in as a five balanced, a divine level could set them. You know, one guy came in and five clubs, three to the six and made it doubled when the lead scoring six hit the dummy. but that's, uh, maybe. Yeah, but you got to report that because, they gotta get rid of these cheaters. You can't let them down, you know? Right now there's a huge argument online, um, bridge winters between Thomas the CCE and boy, boy, because I guess Thomas proceeds friend, Cedric was doing self kibbutzing got caught.
Now, Thomas was Easter says, how can you kick him out of bridge? This isn't real bridge. You know, this is just online With those as we invest our time, we got to thought it was real bridge week.
John: I know. I thought his, his arguments were pretty specious.
Ron: Yeah, he's just trying to protect his friends. Maybe he'll get a sanction too.
John: I was just part of something. I, signed off on something today. that was a group of sponsors. basically, I don't know how we have the power to offer this, but, the group, Christina Lund, Madsen got me. Involved in it. And the group basically is posting something on bridge winners, asking people to come forward and with like a sentence if you just admit, you don't have to tell anybody what you did, if you just admit that you were unethical, you like basically get a six month ban from the first face-to-face for six month online and then six months from the first face-to-face event.
Ron: Oh, so who's going to do that
John: I don't know, like I, like I said, I don't know why, how you know, who invested the power in us to, to come up with these sanctions. I think there, I think there is some involvement maybe from other, from other bridge organizations, but I'm not sure how it, how it all came to pass. And I signed off on it.
Ron: the ACL. And you know, I know that. And who who's the guy who is a Nicholas Hammond is one of the, executioners or something.
It was at our permission, some guy who's, I guess their attorney or something. he looks like Ken Starr from the impeachment things. a bunch of us Sindar BBO names. I had no idea what it was for. So I sent him my BBL name when Nico salmon examined me, never gave me the report, but I guess I'm okay.
I'm not bothered, but then yeah,
John: he was in front for Nick Hammond.
Ron: I guess all he was wanting to see what the results were, I guess, or something like that. And I guess if your defense is so much better than your declared apply, then you're cheating. I don't know how he's going to turn them because they play with so many different people. So if that was cheating, maybe I was defense was pretty good.
I know I could not have flooded the game with bourbon, but tell them God Moses, our defenses of the chart bear. We can't that anybody, even with the hand records. So I got a pass on that one. I know.
John: He told me actually, Nicholas, I played him in the first round of the Nao BC. and so we were screamed mates and he, uh, he told me that he wasn't worried about anybody on our team,
Ron: Oh, okay. Good.
John: you, you weren't on my team for that. So I don't, yeah, you weren't on my team at times. I don't know when.
Ron: Well, I mean, I know I didn't get caught for cheating cause I played in the knockout, got knocked out almost immediately and by a big number two, like the lost by over a hundred to nickel, I guess is what it was. Uh, we had, uh, Daniel Sonya's and Jason Chu and Todd Moses. And then we entered the pair game.
And he got worse from there. Sometimes a good guy. It's just a plate from St. Louis bridge all his life. And soon as he learns, you know, not that you actually supposed to have your bed, he was gonna figure that out yet, but he's still making it up as he goes. He has this one hand, which was pretty good. You had two little ACE King Jack, ten fifth, two little four to the King.
Right. And opponent over one club and he'd been one heart and one spade, three hearts a week by me, three spans on his right. And he bid five hearts on this five, four, two, two hand. And the guy on the left would crazy. Next thing you know, they were in six spades and the club lead and they were two down. So after this, round was over, I think we got killed again.
Oh no. We killed them for change. We killed them by 42. And so he asked me, what do you think of my five hard bids? I said, as I liked the resolve, that was be asked if
John: Why do you lead a club?
Ron: I had a single glove. In six minutes, I let us sit on a glove. And then the guy that was playing the hand obviously was not a good player. And we were over, you know, thinking, you know, over evaluating him because the guy now said, Oh, we got off to a bad start, but now it looks okay. Like he's going to make six spades, four translators dude out.
Okay. And he, you look at his hand, he had no shot. He used to look at his hand, you just said, Oh my God, how did I get here? But no, he thought he was going to make it, I guess.
so many people have tried to steal that story, but that's remaining 73, playing in a match to determined cause the nationals are going to be in St. Louis. And so the top two, they had a knockout.
So the top two St. Louis teams, they were in the finals, the winner gets to play in the exhibition match against, I guess it was at that time was the ACB, a board of directors and they would have an exhibition match and people would, it'd be on those you graph and people would pack the halls. I mean, you remember, we didn't have cable and we didn't have
John: ACB hell board of directors, where the opponent in the exhibition match.
Ron: That's what it used to be every, a spring nationals or I think it was one national out of the thing, I think. Sure. This was a spring natural 73. And so
John: Cause you got to be on view graph and the
Ron: you got to be on view graph. That was like, Oh, live for that too. It's like a Gooden. And so, I mean, we didn't have cable and we didn't have internet. So 1973, this was big.
we played and, I think it was the third quarter. My team was a slightly ahead. And I remember hearing, uh, uh, hysterical. Laughter. Coming from the other room. And the other room was a long way from where we were, but you could hear it. So we were comparing scores and as we get done, we finally get to this one board and I said, plus four 30 and my teammate, Roger Lord said lose them all.
Didn't quite know what that meant. So I, I tried to question him and he says, we do not talk about the boards until we finished comparing. So below X by that one. And so we got to the thing, what had happened was. They had gone for 4,600 on this board. The bidding went one, no three, no hall pass. And I made 10 tricks.
And my hand was King queen to nine 60 clubs. In those days, you didn't open a no trunk with six car clubs, but I did. And so did the other guy, the other tape, which was amazing. So at their table, we went one note three. Now I guess my hand on the right was either six, five or six, six in the majors. And bit for clubs.
And once again, this is 1973, it went double pass and his partner was looking like he didn't understand what foreclose was passes. It goes fast. So he thought he wake him up with all readable we'll all pass.
John: Okay.
Ron: So the dummy came down, was the ACE Jack fourth and clubs.
John: Goodbye.
Ron: Yeah, and right away right-hand opponent accused them of being wired. So as the play progressed, it became obvious that this is going to be a total disaster for them. All of a sudden historical laughter happened during the play of the hand down eight 4,600. So we lose. We lose 24 amps on this board. We did win the quarter 50 to 24 and we won the match to represent, St.
Louis on the view graph. But that was the lose of all the story. Roger Lord.
John: Oh my God. So you could actually lose more than 4,600.
Ron: I think if you go down 13, redoubles 7,600. That's the most you can do and the most you can do on all offenses. One, no truck readable. We're making seven for 31 10. That's the best you can do plus, but if you go minus double, you can go as far as 7,600.
And I think Roger lard has gone for 50. He had gone for 5,800 twice after that.
John: this is the guy who went over 46 with you.
Ron: Genius guy. He was great on squeezes and great on analysts and stuff like that, but he would take unbelievable chances. And actually he was one of my original rich teachers. I learned bridge from, he was like a top player.
Roger Lord, my brother-in-law Norbert Kramer. And we have the, a columnist at the time, jury Levitt, who had won the Vanderbilt in 1962. And he was the only one to win the Vanderbilt that lost a match. He actually lost two matches and won. They had a double elimination. He lost the first match. He was playing with his wife, a good player for the St.
Louis named Garrick Nash, and somebody would nobody's ever heard of, or heard of since George Duran's, I met the guy a couple of times. She'd always drugs, nice guy, not much real player. They now proceeded to win all their matches and all of a sudden in the quarterfinals. And then the weirdest thing happened.
They called St. Louis and asked the Larry covert Coker, if you'd come and join the team in those days, there were no board requirements. So Larry Coker showed up. It was now in the team and Jerry's wife who was a heavy drinker, was no longer on the team. She played another hand. They now get to the place where It's a three-way final because of the double elimination. Everybody has lost a match and there's a three-way final now. And what happened after that was during the one-on-one match and lost one and got one of the Vanderbilt on caution. The board met in the summer and got rid of those rules. And then that's how I became a secret knock out after that.
And if you ask him and he will tell you, this is the worst, everyone ran to bill Maher, not Larry Coker said he played with this guy, George , who was a well, you know, and he opened all these 10, nine and 10 point hands. And nobody did that in those days. I guess Ross stone was the prevailing system. You need it.
The four 14 open the bidding and this guy opened the bidding with nine or 10 and they kept getting the game and, the opponents never could figure out what they had and it was 11 naked. So they'd beat a lot of good teams and they'd be one good team in the final. And, it was two powerhouse teams in the final.
I can't remember exactly who they were with Sam stamen at a powerhouse team, but they beat one of them. And one, they had been on kosher, so he was iron man, Jerry Levin. And then at the time they called us for the whiz kid. So we were all in our twenties. I was 21.
John: Larry Coker that name's familiar to me.
Ron: Yeah. He became the top player in St. Louis, Dave Carter stopped playing and then later died. Larry Coker. He and this other guy, Charlie Wiley, I later played in a spin, go was in, and the other half of 19 was, well, we had a threesome Mark layer and Steve bloom. Five of us play, they anchor and layer.
And eventually as it went on, layer played half with me and half with the Steve bloom. I was supposed to play with Steve bloom. Larry jumped on the team and then all of a sudden he was, that was it. So Larry and I, we had some of the biggest games I remember were down 35 to Kaplan and Kay, and Hammond and Wolf.
And we started the third quarter or fourth quarter against capital and K each one of them had 50 kibitzers. There's not a hundred sitting behind them. And, we had none, not one behind us, could even get our mother to show up without one. And so we played them and I remember two hands until that set some kind of way.
They got the two hearts and we doubled after we opened a no Trump. And we took the first 11 tricks. So after that Kaplan and Cain were like quiet and not talk. Imagine there kibitzers were glaring at us, how dare we beat, beat up on their heroes. And we w mopped them up that set and won that match. And now got to the semifinals, which we lost in the last quarter.
When, I guess basically when our teammates gave up both now they're both dead, so they can't contest it, but they basically gave up, they got a bad border to start out with now, went to the bar and had drinks
John: you mean they literally quit.
Ron: Yeah. They, the, and Hendrick, they thought it was, we were stuck 29 going into that quarter.
And so they had two bad boards and they went and had drinks. And now they had five or six more bad boards, including the last one where they double, somebody said for one club double and they made three vulnerable overtricks and we lost this match by five layer and I'd have the biggest game ever and came out and we lost by flat. But then one guy had to admit it mumbling. I could hear him sing. We gave up and then we finally later got the story and he sure. Nothing giving up, thrown in the towel, so never give up. And I don't think you even shoot because you don't even know what's happening to the other tables that can bridge, you know, they don't give you the scores as your blood.
There might be the only game that you don't know how you're doing while you're doing it.
John: You know, it's interesting. so we're re cutting double dummy, which I may have told you. And I was talking to the editor today. The guy that is editing the film and he, he's very, very, he's new to bridge from double dummy from working on double dummy since the spring. And We were talking about the fact that it's duplicate, you know, that you're playing the same hands.
And I think the closest comparison to duplicate bridge is golf. Like golf. Everybody has to play the same hole. what other sport is there where you're having two whole foursomes play the same deal.
Ron: Okay, similar in chess and the, you know, just get the board, but there's no, I guess not. Cause you have all kinds of openings and defense.
John: It's totally unique to bridge and cause I was thinking, you know, like, It seems so easy to like the thing is as a bridge player, we're just, we just know it, you know, it's just duplicate, we just get it. But like, it took a lot of going back and forth, back and forth and he's like, Oh, they're playing the same hand.
Like, I mean, it took, you know, like weeks
Ron: To sink
John: to really sink in. I'm really grateful because, you know, I'm making a movie about it and. To understand that the audience just doesn't readily understand this, you know, like the fact that you're getting the same exact thing. I think golf, I think golf is the, is the closest, uh,
Ron: Closest thing. Yeah. But someone mentioned that, was of the chest thing. Queens gambit, if somebody could do something like that to bridge, I know that, Gavin Wolpert Vince and Jenny had some kind of a thing where they went around and the story was. Like a good Hollywood story. In the end, he won the blue ribbon pears.
Got the marriage, a pretty girl. It was like a great story. Now in the middle, where in Vince, when we had had enough, it was like yelling at Gavin on every hand. Right?
John: Okay. He was an auto mechanic.
I, you know, I've watched that and I thought it was, I haven't seen him in a long time and when I watched it was with like the sound off, like, not off, but like the sound was not in sync with the, production. Like, I mean, yeah, it was available online, but you couldn't like, it wasn't a, it was a little bit off and this was right when we were starting to make double D when we had the idea to make double dummy. And I just thought it was like over, I thought it was like over sensation. Yeah.
Ron: yeah. Right. You got to the point where, you know, the Hollywood ending and yes.
John: It just didn't I don't know, like it, it didn't, I just felt like I could do better. And I don't know that we did better with the first version of double dummy, but I hope that this version will be like, I mean, you're the umpteenth person to talk to me about Queens gamut.
Ron: no, I'm just saying who to hope that you can not do it
John: Yeah. I mean, I, I wouldn't, uh, you know, they've had 64, it's the most viewed Netflix series of all time.
Ron: Oh my God. Wow.
John: I like how they're presenting chess without going into a lot of, they're just sort of watching this, like you watch the people play.
Ron: Oh, you watch the people playing you and you just actually get a story on the side.
John: Yeah, they don't, they're not going into any great detail about the chess. it's just, they're playing and you know, it's well shot. Like I wish we had similar quality footage of people playing bridge deals, but the problem with our footage is that it's been shot by people who are not familiar with bridge, so they don't.
So they just kind of. They film it for a little while and then they just lose interest. And so they, you know, like I'm wanting to watch what happens on the deal, but, I got, well, let's go get a shot of the other guy's face. And I'm like,
Ron: We don't need to say,
John: Oh man, I want to see what's happening.
Ron: I, you know, I can do, I can send you the copy of the London times when, Bobby 11 CA then gala castle one. And then they were second. It was sort of a, it was a docket. It was a nice little film. I think I have it. I'm pretty sure I have it. I know it's
John: Oh, they made a documentary about
Ron: Oh yeah. It was, it's two different terms.
They were first one year and second year, next year. And it was a long film about it and I have it somewhere I'm sure. And I think it's on YouTube. And then I figured out what it is, but is that was sort of interesting. They show all the people dressed up, you know, and there's young Zio and young Michael Rosenberg and very interesting.
I told them, I tell everybody, remember I told you Bobby Levin was when I played with Bobby Levin. I couldn't look up. He was too good looking and I didn't want to get distracted. I don't want to be distracted. So I kept my head down. And so I told Orin that. And so Oren got to watch the film in Florida at galas house.
And he says, I see what you mean, but the Hollywood looks and no kidding. Yeah. All heads returned in Hollywood. When he walked in the room, he was quite the Looker and all the women were after him. And the only trouble was that the women were, were so old for him. You know, he had a girlfriend in Florida, but I remember we were traveling on the road.
We were going to be on the, main pair on the Clarence Gobert team when Mark lair microcell and then Bruce Jorgensen was like their third in their group. And we're going to be the main pair to help Clarence when the McKinney. Well, we didn't make it through the first week. Bobby Levin hated it so much on the road.
We were in Albuquerque. And I remember him the third day. Some of these 50 year olds are starting to look pretty good. That was his, that was his line. And he couldn't, he couldn't no way he could go to these tournaments. And it was just all, cause we only playing the teams in those days. It was only. In the middle of the week, there would be as part of the beginning of the week, there would be a twisty in qualifying and you play a knockout in the morning.
That'd be the only knock out for the week later in the week, they might have another Suez and they never Sunday Swiss the rest of the time you were, what are you going to do in Albuquerque? And you know, the late seventies now, much happening there. Matter of fact, there's not much happening unless you went to New York or someplace like that, or San Francisco or some big city or Chicago, you go to Albuquerque would be the, they roll up the sidewalks around eight or nine o'clock and there was no door, gourmet dining.
Nobody's heard of that, except for, you know, people with money, they'd go to the fine restaurants. Matter of fact, we didn't even drink wine in those days. We didn't even know about why.
John: Did you ever get anywhere with Bobby?
Ron: We were, if we were going to be the top hairs, we went almost everything. We
John: No, I'm talking about the I'm talking
Ron: Oh, no, no, I I've never been never. I never even begin. Like when I play with anybody, it was just like, Oh, now I'm from St. Louis. You know, you have to, you know, try to hit, you know, we're like church people or something, you know, you have to know somebody go out on a couple of dates, you know, but my bone, they gotta be a willing participant.
You can go. Never even crossed my mind,
John: would he know that story about, he was too good looking for you to look at him,
Ron: Yes. He knows it. He knows that guy later told her. I later told him and we had so many stories. you know, like the time I left him on the other side of the restaurant and Detroit, downtown Detroit, we were having an argument. And we walk in and there were all these killers. He came around, he got agree with all my beds.
After that, um, up until we got back to Coldwell hall, then he, then he changed it back. It was back to his original stance. No, we.
John: how did he take it? When you told him he was too good? You couldn't look at him cause he was too good looking.
Ron: Yeah, he sort of shrugged it off and he says, well, you did it. You manage to do it. Yeah, of course I do. But we were like best friends, I remember when we played in, Houston, Texas, after we'd win every match in the Vanderbilt. We'd go back to our rooms to celebrate. Okay. And there's one guy that came with us each one and it was like this real good looking guy was blocked. Now he was, he won't admit it, but anyway, he came back to the room with us every night. We each thought he was the other guy's friends. We didn't know. We didn't know. We didn't know, he showed up every night and hung out with us every night.
John: Oh,
Ron: We didn't know who he was. I mean, we thought we'd done. Oh, that's Bobby's right. And he thought that's Roderick. They wouldn't say anything, but, yeah, Bobby and I go way back. I remember when we won the some knockout and chicken beef, Massachusetts, we flew to New York to celebrate and I'm not sure Bob was 21 at the time.
Let's see. 78. What could he have been, maybe you just 20 and 21 at the time. And we flew there and I remember we went to a restaurant and we were so into our bridge that we forgot the tip and the waiter chased us for blocks. And what we were trying to do is hook up with Bobby's brother who had an apartment in New York, but he wasn't answering the phone.
Remember we didn't have cell phones. And so we couldn't get ahold of him. So we ran through some buildings and random, this guy's just chasing us. And we got suitcases guys chasing us and we get to Bobby's brother's apartment. We opened the door doors wide open. We run inch lock the door, guys banging on the door.
Bobby's brother had headphones on listening to music very loud. And then you turn, he took his headphones off and then the music in the room was like unbelievably loud. So what do you mean these headphones wrong? And this guy was doing his job. He was, in school. He needed to make some extra money.
He was rolling joints and I think he had three or 400 in those days. I think you could sell them for a dollar, a joint, and that would be his money. Deliver on, I guess I can imagine $300 or something like that. He sells these joints somewhere, I guess, maybe in school. Who knows? Now, if you go to
John: Bobby had
Ron: this, he's got Michael Charlie and Freddy.
He's got three brothers two of them have red hair, like his mother. Which he calls a 24 hour clown suit. That's what he called it those days, 24 hour clowns, but his mother's still alive. She used to come to all that. She come to a lot of tournaments, but I think she's gotten too old for that, but she used to come to some tournaments, especially the Cavendish and sit behind him and watch him the whole time in the cabin.
He and I played in the cabin ish and 77 or 78. And when it was in New York, it was the cabinets bridge club was very fancy and people, I guess it was a requirement was men had to wear a jacket. Everybody would come in tie suit and jacket, zoo, a bridge was there. And, uh, we played and we didn't do too well.
And I think a year after that, I played with Billy Cola. it was it's football game. Hadn't come along where he had to go out and check something, screw up a hand. We came second instead of winning, but Billy and I have the Cavendish. We have two seconds from the payers and four seconds of the teams, no wins.
And w and one time when we had the biggest score, we should have won would have won with no problem, but that year they decided to have a qualifying. Three sessions, qualifying three session, final one, the qualifying Billy and I were, I think, 2000 amps ahead of second place when the qualifying was over.
Well, everybody, it was not like we were playing so superior to everybody, but everybody came to our cable and say, okay, here's this? I mean, to give you one example, we went out, opened five diamonds in third seat guy, double. I really defined them a bit, but this guy passed, it was 1100. But this guy took it out to five hearts.
This guy got very angry and bid six clubs. It wouldn't pass pass. I doubled for some reason, I don't know why. And when all pass and billing likes to say, after we took the first four tricks, I still had six trumps. So this happened almost every hand. That these people that were world-class would just say here, take this. And we were so far ahead, it was couldn't get caught. It was like a regular event, but it was qualifying and they gave us some little score and we were lucky to come third. And I think that was Bobby and Stevie source when in the cabinet.
And after that they owned it, they owned the cabin. It shouldn't matter of fact, they'd have to bet some huge amount to win some little amount and they kept doing it and it kept winning. Until the point where we don't have it. Well, the reason why we don't have it, they don't know how to put on a good show, having a dinner and an auction used to work before the cable, but Dallas, very boring.
You need to do something else. And I guess you can, you can't do it in the United States. I don't know what they did in, uh, France or what do they have at, uh, Monica. Right? I don't want to, how they did is there, but I know if you can bet online. Are, you know, something like that. Cause they try it, the betting on the tele on the telephone, they would call like people who weren't there and, and this person would say, Oh, I bet 20,000.
And then they put the phone to the side and you know, but now you can do, if you could do it online, that would be, was that illegal here? Then the other thing that's illegal here, which is very bad. If you have a bridge club, it turns out if you meet after the game and have refreshments. Onsite where people get a pizza or a sandwich, a drink, or a coffee that sort of heightens the bridge.
People like it, the sociability, they like it. They get to come out and see their friends when the game is over.
I mean, you show up and I don't care how good you are, especially if you are you just there to hang out in there. Fuck. They also notice a lot of people just like social bridge.
Before, the COVID, Chris Compton had two sections at his bridge club. Donna runs the rich club and they would have a social game. The social game was getting bigger than the competitive game. Yeah. That's when you sort of did that in San Francisco, I quick tricks. They had a zero to 99 game was they noticed they had 20 tables every Monday night in the zero to 90 90.
And so. They raised it to one 89 to 99 because everybody knew each other. That's amazing. Uh, ACL does really wrong. When you reach a new level, they take you out of the room with your friends and put you in a room with strangers. You don't know anybody. And then you get your butt kicked every time you play.
So people, so people quit. So you got to keep them with their friends, you know, the same thing, do the same thing with the juniors. When you're 22 and 26, you can no longer play with the, you have to move over with the 90 year olds here. You're 26. So people quit. They stop playing it unless they're real serious player online, but you need to stay with your friends.
I mean, that's big with bridge. People like to come and play, but like to hang with their friends and new people added to the group. Just one big social. That's how I would say that. If, when they bring the library back, get rid of most of the regionals. I say all of the sections, unless the sectional is like a big Turner, like a regional or somebody can really hold one, but hold it into the clubs.
So the club people can make money and don't go out of business. That's the trouble with, they used to have it in the clubs, you know, all of a sudden once or twice a month, you're put out of business. When they have some tournament in town, all of a sudden, nobody shows up at the club. That's a big problem.
And if the people that have the clubs, if they actually ran the unit and the whole thing, they can take turns, hosting the tournament and they can all split the revenue or something, or some portion of the revenue.
John: We don't have that problem here because we've only got one club. So it's like they have the sanctions for the sectionals or something like that. I don't know how it
Ron: But they run them in the club, right?
John: essentially. Yeah, I mean, but we don't, we don't actually own a club space. We've we've always rented.
Ron: That's, that's been, that's been bad.
John: it's just sometimes it, yeah, most, most of the time it's, it's quite often at the place where the club holds their games.
Ron: Oh, okay. Cool. What was it again? And if they have to rent a space.
John: yeah. Yeah. I mean, but they're renting, you know, they're renting the space on the like right now it's at the, or it would be at the volunteer fire department. They've got a banquet space. So they're renting that some number of times per week. I think we have four games a week here
Ron: Okay.
John: in Charlottesville.
Ron: Whereas in St. Louis all the clubs band together, which is nice. And they bought a building and they all take turns, hosting a game in the building. And sometimes there's more than one game in the back. And now that they counted as one club to ATB elders and he gets from 10 to 12,000 tables a year and then build it as centrally located.
Everybody can, you know, make it over there. And now with the, I hope they can figure out what's going to happen after this. If they ever get to come back.
John: I mean, when do you think the next time we're going to have a and ABC in person is.
Ron: if this vaccine works, I would think by maybe the fall next year, or for sure, the spring, but I think 21, I don't think St. Louis is going to make it. And there's an outside chance that a provenance fight depends on well, does actually say that everybody should be. Majority of the people. That's what they keep saying on television.
That majority of people should be vaccinated by April. Maybe we can hold something in July. I don't think it will be that big, cause I know a lot of the older people have now they love the online bridge. The lady was the second biggest club in the country. Jordan's a bokeh. She says her people are not coming back.
She said she might get a small parlor for people to just have to have on, you know, but she said, they're not coming back. Majority of them said they love the online bridge.
You find that, well, they don't have to travel, you know, their old,
John: I like, I like going to the local bridge club, if it's on my calendar that I'm going to go play bridge on like a Wednesday or Friday, or the big games here afternoon, you know, like that, that's like a big, that's a big part of my day. Like I'm excited to do that and interact with people. That's what I like about the USB F that you and I played in is that we, that we got, it was like being at a tournament. Cause you were screen mating with somebody on zoom.
Ron: right. I agree. That's why these online things you've got to catch up. That's what BBO needs to catch up to that. Short bridge has it already, I mean, on sharp bridge, you can teach a hundred tables on, you can see all those people. They can see you, you see all of them, they can ask.
John: even heard of sharp.
Ron: It's a very, uh, I guess it's not too many people know about it, but they're doing the same thing.
They updating their web and stuff like that. And they have games now, but the only trouble is the CBL has a five-year contract with BBL. And there was the least developed of all the new ones. Now all the new ones are so much better
John: Well, that doesn't surprise me though. I mean, that's just the way of the
Ron: you, I tell them,
John: No. I mean, that's just the way of the world. All right. What's the, what's the story about the
Ron: Oh, I used to play with, Oh man. Mahaffey. And I guess he sort of adopted me. I don't know. I was living in Florida for a minute. And then I hated it, but he would have me play and get me a partner and he would play with Jack Denny and we would do okay. Except that they'd had to have 10 drinks in the, in the in-between dinner.
So these sessions were not that good. So unless I was playing with Bobby Levin on the team, we usually did poorly. And I remember they begged me to play on their team in the spin go. Oh, yeah, but he only paid by the session and not that much. So I said, I can't go to a national play with this guy and get knocked out.
You know, I figured the first day, so I refused, so I wouldn't play on another team. I got knocked out the second day they won, they won the event. So it wasn't your event. So the next year he begged me, they're defending champions. I said, okay, I'll play. So our teammates were our Rubin and we had to lose it up just like expected.
Not that the first round he later did it again. Came second in it's spin, go forehand it again. It was just, I mean, just, I can't believe it. So now I remember I'm on a team in Mexico city with Jim wood, old man Mahaffey. And then you've got to remember old man and a half. He was a big shot in Florida. He was a chairman of the Reagan campaign finance.
In Florida. So when they Reagan got elected, he sat on the front row. And so he was a big shot. Meanwhile, Jim, who was a complete Magritte Maverick, he took up bridge. And I remember he got me in trouble in Mexico city stayed out all night, but I was going to be able to play except you couldn't get a wake-up call.
I'm sitting around, I'm actually awake and waiting for the car call. Never arrived. So finally I called them. I'm like an hour late. So I go down there. I go to the game and, Oh, it was, it was horrible. But the later on I started playing with Jim. And when Jim first started hiring, I used to play with Jane Thomas, his good friend who ran all the tournaments in Florida.
She was like, she ran she and somebody from Vegas, they ran the best tournaments in all of the originally. So I played with her and he comes up with some guy named Solloway. Who I got into a big fight with in Mexico city when it happened. He now berated me. We had a committee now I'm on a team with siloing, which is amazing.
We made up after years later, but there for awhile, we were all in water solid. And I remember one time when Linda Lewis was going for the McKinney. And so I made on Memorial day in San Francisco. Oh, we got a good pardon for you. Well, it's always something like that kept happening. I remember when, if after she lost the McKinney and this guy, she ran against, Ron Anderson.
He hated me all year long. So it's Valley over and Anderson wins and he is just been completely nasty and rude to me all along. I fly to Florida. I'm on a team with Jimmy Haffey. I show up and they say, Oh, we got a good partner for you. I don't understand.
Oh my God. So there's Abbott a bunch of them
John: play with, how do you play with somebody when you, when you, when you're like, have a personal,
Ron: never. Well, I mean, some people can do it. I mean, some people have been able to do it, but I mean, both of those encounters, the results were pathetic. But whereas, Peter Weiss,
John: are both legendary players, you
Ron: right. Legendary player.
John: never knew either they're legends in the bridge world.
Ron: Right. But I result when you have that kind of, you know, friction, it's hard to, you know, you've got to root for your partner and boom, boom, boom, and spend a lot of time, you know, you'd stop with them for like 10 hours a day. Peter Weisel. When he was on the team and he got into a big fight with Rose in SRL, they got along well enough.
They won a world championship. They won, they went on to win.
Peter and I have gotten to be pretty good friends and stuff, but I can't really he's alive. So I can't tell him his, his most famous embarrassment, but I can tell you, but I don't know if you should include it, but
John: Oh
Ron: we're planning, we're planning a national and he and I are partners.
Oh, the Meltzer grand national team. And we come up against Tom Carmichael and Kevin Wilson. He proceeds to tell me, these guys are the worst two players ever. Well, these two guys were in the finals of the Spinco later on the week, but anyway, we play against them and we get to three. Now I had been a spade and when a club has made two, no three down.
So the opening needs of Spain and. Why? So I have Kington fourth. Why sales got a third? He's playing it. He's got an email off the top. The only way he can get a ninth is probably from this space. So he ducks it in spot forces is A's. So he leads back towards the King 10. Now this guy plays the Jack and he had plenty of entries.
You go up to the King of lead back towards the tent, but he sizes this guy up and ducks. It guy leaves a low and baggy sticks and the tenant goes, queen. So he loses do drinks here and Oh my God, do not laugh. Please do not lie. Do not laugh. There's horrible player.
John: I think that's another thing, you know, like people don't realize about bridge. It's like, if you're not a bridge player, the type that like, like stuff like that goes on, you know, like the size of the block, they're not capable of doing that.
Ron: Every time I see him on that jacket, spins did us in.
John: Oh, my God.
Ron: Yeah, that happens all the time. Sizes of them up, like, who is it? This one guy I'm from St. Louis. He was a young investment banker or something, I guess that's what he was. he tells me there's a game in LA, they're playing for 50 cents and they were all pigeons. I said, they played for 50 cents.
I got to know him. He's all. No, no, they don't know you. Didn't no way they know you I'm going out. I guarantee you, they blenders went to sounds. I know. Oh no, no, no. So he used to get, he gets me to set up to be in the gate. So we're driving there and it's the place the neighborhood starts looking familiar in Beverly Hills or wherever we were.
And then I look, I recognize the house it's right next door to RISD Milner. I had been to this house, you know, so. I now, cause one time I played with Reese Milner online and he didn't have two computers. And I went over to this guy's house and playing on his computer. And I remember they came in and talked to me, have a good time.
And so now I go, I walk into the door and there is, there's a guy, his name was Don Haney and there was Reese and Dan Kraus. Hello pigeons. Because he told me these guys were pigeons. Well, Dan Krauss now, as we sit down and we're dealing with firsthand, he turns to me and says, we never let the new guy when he was right where they were, there were no dummies. They didn't get rich for no reason. I mean, uh, the two week players took turns playing with crowds and mean crowds.
And I never got to play together against the two of them. Because that's how they set it up. The only way they would play for 50 cents, they each got a good player on every round. They were alternating with the two of us and they were basically playing against each other and we were basically against each other and that's how I work. And so, yeah, and they didn't lady, wasn't going to throw their money away by playing with each other.
They knew better. So that's what the deal was. And also if you pass the handout up to two diamonds, he dealt a Goolie. So, right. And I wasn't familiar with him. I had heard of Ghoulies, but I didn't know what the rules were, what you did and how you bid. So that was just a complete ass actually.
John: Oh my gosh. They played that.
Ron: Yeah. They bleed for instance sense. Right. They had a spiced up pretty good. So that was with Reese. I used to play with reason, LA when Reese was learning, the re Reese was really the learning bridge. And so he was flying me from San Francisco down to LA and our day consisted of, we go to the gym in the morning, workout, go to lunch.
He picked me ahead and get a hotel. Pick me up, go to work out, go to lunch, play bridge, go back to the gym. Another gym, even fancier and then go to his house, have a drink with his wife. And now we go pick up his girlfriend, go out to dinner and repeat five days in a row. Yeah, that was the deal with, wood Reese.
I kept, I did that until Jeff Hampson moved to LA. He broke up with his girlfriend and moved in with her name, man. CUSO. Was now living in LA. So he now plywood, Reese. He had to fly anybody in. So that was that's what happened there also, I had also given, I mean, they were really upset with me. I had so many sponsors and Mark Jacoby was calling me and say he had just lost his last client.
Is there anybody he could play with it? I Noah. So I gave him Reese and in first. I was raised, hated me for that. And after two tournaments, Reese called me up. Thank you. Thank you. Because he and Mark were quite the pair for a while. Yeah. And then I had a lot of good favorites for reasons. I remember one time we played in a turn.
I think we had 40%, but he had one hand, he made a great defensive play and I gave it to the bulletin and. They screwed it up and put it on page 12 somewhere and didn't have it down. Pat. All of a sudden I get a call from Alan Trescott and he asked me what happened on the heat. And I explained to him and week or two later, boom, New York times I get a call from Reese.
Thank you. He called his buddies. You can see them in the New York times making this great black.
John: I have a friend. I have a friend, uh, who was. It's here in Charlottesville. Who's friends with race.
Ron: Yeah, Reese's are a lot of fun, but you gotta be able to drink though. If you want to be able to hang. I mean, I could have been his partner I'm sure, but I'd be probably either an AA or just that, because I couldn't keep up with that. I mean, they can pound them. I mean, each guy drinks a minimum of a bottle of wine.
And it's gotta be expensive because last time I was on one of his teams was in Florida he went somewhere. He had a court date and so he went to the court date and I was told the art of the wine at dinner instead of Hayma I was told to order the wine and they says nothing under $90.
Well, I mean, I couldn't do that. I knew the wines, so I ordered $150 wine, but I saw the next bottle of wine. We're going to be drunk. I moved down to 75 is the third bottle. I hand down to 50 and she was like, well, why spend big money from at this point in the night, we're not going to even know what that is.
You drink it
and I can't spend your money if I'm not going to do, if I wouldn't do that, no. There's I go out to dinner with you and. No, I'm not gonna, if I wouldn't order this on my own money, why am I all of a sudden, you know, going to the most expensive dish on the, on the mini, you know, do that, I sorta do like what this one lady did around the corner.
They go out to dinner, she looked at the menu and it's pretty expensive. And she said, you can only order from the left side of the menu. So she orders. And then now turning his, what would you like? I'll have the left side of the menu. He's a big guy too. He ate it off
the less sides. Oh yeah. Some of these stories are unbelievable. It was, it was it. I say we should talk about.
John: Orrin Steve garner your five worst hands
Ron: my five where's my five were his hands. Oh yeah. Let's see. Um, what was Denver? One is the, I remember Kohler was the worse. No, Kohler was second worse. Jim barrel was maybe let's go with three worst hands. I remember one hand I had 22 points. And they get the five dimes. has these kingdoms and 22 points.
So I double I'm on Lee. This guy riddles as a get I reread though. So I lead out dating diamonds. I lead something, he's got a voice and he's got avoidance. Three trips later, guy claims he's making five times readable and this is in Paris and we were having a big game in the, in Paris. It was like complete zero all over the room. So that's one of them. the hand with Gary Kohler, I have 22 points again.
Don't get a big hand. There's always, when I get a making it too. It goes past fast to me and I have Jack in one space, ACE King queen fourth, eight ACE King queen fifth and King, and one maybe by the Jaguars, no queen. So I opened one diamond, Gary Kohler on my left bids, one Spain, I'm playing with the worst player in the game.
The Russian literature professor, he makes a negative double. It goes three spades by Roy Fox. Who's one of the Vanderbilt was, old man Mahaffey. I did a four Hertz at 22. You know, I like money. I maybe I should go plus vulnerable. They now goes for space, five words, pass, I go sex arts, you know, , I'll take a chance.
Next. It goes. Six pays, pass, pass. And I said, okay, I'm not going to take a chance. I know it's a forcing pass, but this guy is drunk over the lives. A piece of drink he's pounding drinks the whole time we're playing. So I double the open leads, the diamond, the dummy hits with four to the 10, three little three little queen Jack third.
So I laugh. We all laugh. And I learned that lesson. Do I laugh at the dummy?
I win the first diamonds. That's Emma, try a heart, three little hearts. And the guy Russell lays down the ACE of spades. My partner stiff King drops, queen of spades spade to 10 queen of clubs, King of clubs, aides 12, 10 making six.
Six minutes, double making. So then you'll just show, you can get, get a bit, give me the big hand. You lose more than zero points. You know, they just get the game, but the worst hands, even sadder I had, he was six, six in the blacks ACE queen six void Singleton, six to the ACE 10, the next in.
John: Oh, you hooked your
Ron: Right. The King of Spain said the drop babies.
I had had a low spade back. He met, gone wrong. I'm sure if I let,
John: a hat like that
Ron: if I laid down the King of clubs, I probably should have laid down the King of clubs. He now would have gone to the diamond hook, this bag.
John: and a dollar game.
Ron: Oh, you just added a dollar game, something like that.
John: against ACE Greenberg, he had a six, six hand. He was six, six in the reds,
Ron: Oh, that was the, I remember.
John: to six hearts.
Ron: Oh, those.
John: and it was stiff. I think it's, it's almost like the
Ron: Same here.
John: gain and check-in one. And what are the trumps?
Ron: I remember always. I remember when I went to the game when he was still alive, that was the one I told you. I asked, when they put me in the game, then there was two games. And ACE was telling me how bad this guy was. This guy was. And he was telling me, and then all of a sudden I'm in the other game when, Mike Bartlett leaves.
I opened one, I guess it was against a warrant. Specter was in the game, my game, Warren specter, and who's Ethan Stein. They used to call him Mr. Bridge, and one other player who was pretty good. So I remember opening a club and my partner, bit of Spain, maybe two spades. And orange specter now came in with two now they competed the four diamonds and the two no showed clubs, even though I had opened the club.
So both minors did not show other things. So they get to four diamonds. I lead and the dummy hits with three little spades ACE in one heart Kington fourth Kington fourth. And in New York dealers non vulnerable, this guy guy's vulnerable. And he came in with tuna club was paid to space to now. So Warren looks at me.
So what do you think of my bit? And let's say I was in the game and I was being syndicated. I wasn't playing for anything. So I now turn to him and says, you're not playing for anything either as what I thought it was. So that's my experience in the a dollar year play one time. Did not distinguish myself. It was not asked back.
John: Oh man. What's the story about Orrin?
Ron: Oh, just RN is like one of the up and coming just bright people of all the people, kids I play with over the years, he's gotta be the brightest. Now this is one of those. I mean, I guess I played with some that were really bright that, you know, didn't Excel at bridge also, but. I mean, all these guys are really bright.
I mean, I'd play with crane yak and the world championship and the national impair and they played was a Hamson in a national in the end or grow. I called, I gave it the name Blanchard cup, Jill Blanchard sued the league she got rid of the men's spares. So in the very first one, we come against her and her husband and she's crying and she's going to drop out.
She's going to quit. And I said, you're going to drop out in the end or roll Blanchard cup has got your name on it. So they laugh. So they've called it the Blanchard cup for a long time. Jill and the Blanchard cuts. The men's spirits became a no longer,
John: I'm extra thin Rodwell aren't on nickel and they're, they're doing really well on this Levine team.
Ron: Yeah,
John: it just one.
Ron: They just want his knock on and the tie for the wind, the other knockout. So they're doing pretty well. Well, they get young man, man. They got one of the great parents do. They got a Gary and tour helmet. So I mean they're up there. And then they have Eddie weld playing with Levine. have some of the top players in the world.
And when they have, when they don't have and held us and they have to play in an American event, they get microcell and, Mark layer. So they have the top five master point holders in the L playing on the VTE, the top five. Now there's going to be a new guy coming along and about. 10 years if he keeps it up, I can't imagine how he could, but he will pass.
everybody Leo Lasorda.
John: Oh, the online guy.
Ron: He has one 8,000 master points this year, online
John: Well, I mean, it's, you know, that's,
Ron: I know his name is sitting here to my know I'm there all the time. Liz. He was 13,000 points behind me, two and a half years ago. He's now a thousand points enemy. If that was even if there was light bridge, I could not have stopped this. I mean, if there was a bridge, I would have one, maybe another couple of thousand points in the whole time.
This was going on. Maybe, maybe not. I mean, I did win 2000 points, three years in a row. Maybe I would win again, but you know, a lot of points, but I'd have to win the mountain in order to just stay a little bit ahead of it.
John: What were you on the Berry crane last year?
Ron: I think I went 2000 points, three years in a row. And I think the third year when I went 2000 points, three people didn't play December. So I came in nice. They didn't play. So I went by him. Cause they had played December. I'd probably, you know, I would have done those three years.
I had 2000 points. One year I was 19th and one year I was 13. So you're not doing a lot of points or doing the bare grain, is there any, are there any people didn't play? So I came in nice. Thank you people for not blank. And, you know, take, for example, if Mike seaman had stayed alive, he would, he would usually more than I do.
He gets more work and gets more Germans. And also it helps if you have a lot of master points for the way the ACB is set up. If you're Jeff, max runs every event, he enters pays more than any event that I entered that he's not in.
John: Self fulfilling
Ron: right. And it was my fault. I was the one that gave him that idea, but they bastardized it.
I wanted them to have it set up that you played against some extras and did well, you got some points. You came close and have you beat them. You got a lot of points. I didn't, you know, I didn't like the other way where they just gave him pointers. Cause he's in the field. I was all based in on the fact that you had to beat extras in order to get a lot of points. That to me is better. ACVL decided to go the other way. As usual take my idea. No, it runs them all the wrong way.
John: What's your Steve garner story.
Ron: I was going to compliment him on, I couldn't play a system. You and I did want to national, but we never really clicked because he had some system where everything was a mystery, you know, wide ranging this and attitude, but he's a great, Competitor winning player, but he needs somebody to, I guess, play his system.
I, I don't know, but I think there's a new partner that, Oh, Wilson plays the system, I guess, and they're hot and cold, but, some of the people he plays with when he plays with Zia, he has to play Zia system. And then when he plays, who's the other guy he played with, he played with somebody in the world championship, Yeah, he was just, he's a great, he's a great competitive player.
I just wanted to give him kudos. And Billy call-in, you know, the people I've done the best with and, Oregon, or, and I won the buffet cup, which was a weird event, but the way they scored, they scored border match. It turns out, but what we do in America, I get one 20 and your team gets one 10. I win the board.
There it's a tie. we couldn't figure out what was going on. So when the event or an I, they gave us the credit because when our and I played, when it was just in the regular partnerships, we killed everybody and we got off to a huge hugely. So now you have to play with other people on the team, and then you had to play the individual when the, the event was over because of the scoring. Several of us ran up to the desk and said, who won? Nobody knew like looking at their scorecard or anything, like who could have possibly won. And so they say we did. And so we had won the event And I had this, buffered cup with a RN. Yeah. that's kinda more, he's got law school. When he's done with law school, we're going to grab some coffee. I'm sure. Because orange, very good player, very good player. He's got it down. he says, we're going to practice over his little fall break, getting a couple of games in something.
I don't know what it is, but we'll do something, maybe playing a rentals or, I don't think anybody wants to play in the O anymore $400 the enter. And it seems that a lot of the teams are not on the up and up. I mean, that's what Wilson says. Cause they don't have a zoom, they don't have anything. And there's people don't post their convention card. And I play with Todd Moses in one I'm in get some world-class pair. I mean, they didn't tell us something pass to heart was, you know, some, you know, yeah. They were playing some weird system that we weren't aware that they were playing. So we were prepared. You know, several bids came up and we weren't prepared and they're allowed to do that in Europe.
Whereas in the us, you have to announce these word convention so people can get prepare and they had two or three and we, we got kept getting knocked out because they kept playing multi and we had no idea and we weren't allowed to have defenses at the table. I was like, can you tell their little zone?
Who knows? So yeah, it was not good. And it's $400. no matter if you get knocked out the first round or go do the finals, I guess it's like then the, USBs, right? Or did you have to pay every day,
John: no, just one, uh, one, one time fee.
Ron: one time fee? Right. I don't know if that's fair or not. I mean, the people that play and get knocked down right away.
I mean, maybe you should pay a one-time fee for the qualifying one time cheaper than knockout. I don't know the people that go all the way. It seemed to get the best of the deal. And if you get knocked down the first or second day, no. Good. Well, the fee is not that high. There was only $300, right?
John: for the, the USB F I think that w or ACB L yeah, I think that's what it was.
Ron: $300. Okay.
John: I think so.
Ron: Now that's not horrible, but whereas this last thing, I'm not sure it was going to happen. Cause I don't think anybody pays the fee. First. My team dropped out when they found out it was $400. Nobody told us. when we got reinstated, nobody ever asked for money. I don't know what happened.
John: What are you talking about?
Ron: Oh, CBL online,
John: Uh,
Ron: $400. We got, we got docked out right away. So they didn't collect that from you. Good luck collecting now.
I have hundreds of stories. I'm going to write a book. Well, you're going to be sick.
John: we'll tell our audience about it.
Ron: Most of the, uh, most of the good stories of bridge is like, here, come those damn diamonds. Again. You ever heard that snowing?
John: Aye.
Ron: I witnessed that I witnessed that did actually, they got the Reno and the opening came out.
The lady at ACE queen Jack for the diamonds and the dummy and played five rounds of diamonds or went to arch arches. Three clubs came to her hand, started playing some diamonds and his ladies, they had a five, five set and there's a lot of ladies is. Here comes those damn diamonds again. three now. Megan sex. Yeah, my stepfather and I, we, we witnessed that one, three nights. We didn't bother telling him about it. We just said, wow, this is what happens in the ambulance. This was in the, uh, ABA.
I lady says going to those damn diamonds again,
tell her off. Yeah, I got some of the greatest stories. I just have to remember them all. I see some of the greatest things ever.
John: That's a good one, dude. That's a good way to finish.
Ron: A lot of the stories that I have, I can't really tell because it's sort of x-ray in it. And some of the, and some of the people were still alive, but I will send you the copy. I'll find the copies of gala castle. And, Bobby 11, the Sunday times, I mean, is that, does that give you, like, I mean, it was not the greatest drama, but it was okay.
You know, they sort of got the point across and boom, boom, boom. And that's why gala should be in the hall of fame. First of all, he invented professional bridge. I mean, he was the first one. I used to be his sidekick and yeah,
John: the character, I liked
Ron: he total character. And if we could tell. The x-ray the stories. him and grand base, I like to write a book about the two of them and we only need a few bridge hands as fillers. The rest will be much more interesting. Maybe make a movie about getting a gala, a young Gaylor. We'll see, I'll send you the, I'll send you the films, but thanks for the time.
John: All right, man. Thank you. It was fun. It was good catching up with you.
Ron: Okay, I'm going to go have some champagne.