District Director's Report
April 2006 ( Rich DeMartino)

Dallas NABC

The Spring NABC was held at the Hyatt Regency Dallas. Attendance was 10,319 tables, down about 6% from the pre-tournament estimate of 11,000 tables.

The playing areas were all located on two floors in the main hotel. Sites that have all the games in the same building are highly desirable so this goal continues to be a high priority for the ACBL. The playing space was excellent, being well lit with ample room between tables and appropriate room temperatures. Although the Hyatt is located about a half mile from most of the area restaurants, there was a fairly good choice of restaraunts located either a short walk (15 minutes) from the hotel or one stop away on the rapid transit system (DART), conveniently located on the lower level of the Hyatt.

Room rates at the main site were almost $150 including taxes, which I consider to be quite high for Dallas at this time of year. I did learn that several players chose to book via the Internet, with some finding rates as low as $50 per night at fairly good hotels just a short DART ride from the main site.

Top Ten Finishers in NABC Events from District 25

North American Pairs - A

Doug Doub, West Hartford CT
6th
Frank Merblum, Bloomfield CT

North American Pairs - B

Brian Lee, Cambridge MA
4th
Ljudmila Kamenova, Cambridge MA

Andy Avery, Jamaica VT
9th
Paul Cohen, Rutland VT

Silver Ribbon Pairs

Simon Kantor, Agawam MA
4th

Machlin Women's Swiss Teams

Carol Minor, Madison CT
7th

HIGHLIGHTS OF ACBL BOARD MEETING

Financial Status

 For calendar year 2005, the ACBL reported an excess of expenses over revenues of $693,000. This is $343,000 worse than the budgeted loss of $350,000 and almost $250,000 worse than Management's projections just 5 weeks before the end of the year in Denver. To make matters worse, in late September Management made the following statement, "Management believes that the budgeted loss of $350,000 continues to ba a realistic target for 2005." Just 14 weeks before the end of the year, the forecast was off by $343,000! There was significant discussion of the methods our CFO uses to do his projections and, as a result, several changes are being implemented to ensure that this embarassing situation will not recur in the future. The only good news out of this fiasco is that, despite this very poor result, the ACBL remains well within our financial guidelines.

Senior KO Teams

 A motion was passed unanimously that beginning in 2007 the Senior Knockout Teams at the Fall NABC will start on Friday instead of Sunday. Pre-registration shall close at 11:00 AM the day of the event. This motion will be referred for final approval to the Conditions of Contest Committee, which meets in the Summer. Starting two days earlier will have two benefits: the finals will be completed no later than the day before Thanksgiving and there will be no conflict with the 6 session Reisinger BAM or Open Swiss Team events which start on the last Friday.

Bridgemate Wireless Scoring System

A demonstration was presented to the BOD on the new Bridgemate wireless scoring system being used in Europe. With this system, there is a 25-button keypad on each table to enter the scores. After verification by an opponent, the result is transmitted electronically to a central receiver. The system has great potential as it eliminates scoring errors, the need for caddies to pick up scoring slips and the need for scores to be entered by the directors. I am very impressed with this product and predict that it will be in use at ACBL tournaments within the next year or so. Management is evaluating the product and will present its recommendation later in the year.

Masterpoint Committee

President Harriette Buckman has decided to convene the Masterpoint Committee a year early (normally this committee meets only every fifth year). I am pleased to report that I have been chosen to head the committee again. As soon as I get this committee going, we will be seeking as much input as we can get regarding changes that need to be made to the masterpoint formulas. Please feel free to give me your thoughts on this important subject.


For a full description of all the actions taken by the BOD, refer to the Dallas Minutes on the ACBL website, which will be posted within the next week or so.

TOP 25 MASTERPOINT WINNERS – Dallas NABC

   
Name
Total Points
Points Won in
NABC Events
1.
   Shome Mukherjee, Randolph MA
104.66
6.65
   William Hunter, Reading MA
104.66
6.65
3.
   Walter Fontaine, North Providence RI
100.24
1.59
4.
   Lawrence Lau, Westport CT
83.19
20.00
5.
   Simon Kantor, Agawam MA
78.09
76.30
6.
   Brett Adler, Westport CT
72.18
27.41
7.
   Nathan Glasser, Somerville MA
70.06
8.
   Sandra Hammer, Dorset VT
65.19
9.
   Stephen Gladyszak, Chelsea MA
63.23
17.65
10.
   Douglas Doub, West Hartford CT
61.93
61.93
11.
   Phyllis Fireman, Chestnut Hill MA
57.14
12.
   Paul Fireman, Chestnut Hill MA
54.91
13.
   Maeve Mahon, New Canaan CT
52.87
7.41
14.
   James Gordon, South Burlington VT
47.55
2.13
15.
   Courtney Nelson, Wells VT
47.46
16.
   James Greer, New Canaan CT
46.39
17.
   Jeffrey Lehman, Newton Center MA
45.27
18.
   Andy Avery, Jamaica VT
42.71
5.54
   Ljudmila Kamenova, Cambridge MA
42.71
12.50
20.
   Stephen McDevitt, Medford MA
42.28
2.85
21.
   Harold Feldheim, Hamden CT
39.52
11.43
22.
   Barry Margolin, Arlington MA
37.28
2.12
23.
   Donald Kurson, Chestnut Hill MA
35.45
24.
   Tony Petronella, North Kingstown RI
34.56
2.28
25.
   Debbie Benner, Fairfield CT
33.73

The Summer NABC will be held in Chicago at the Hyatt Regency Chicago from July 13 through July 23. I look forward to seeing more District 25 players there than were in Dallas.


Rich DeMartino
District Director