Dear Club Manager,The new online annual club game sanction application is here! Go to www.acbl.org and log into MyACBL at the top of the page with your member number and password. On the left side of your page, click on Club Manager, and it will take you to the “Renew Club Game Sanction” button. Renew early for your 2016 game sanctions!

Be sure to register in advance for the 2016 special events you wish to hold at your club. Click here to view the dates, and the registration form is available here.

Let us know if you have any questions or need assistance with these applications.

Soon we will be heading to Denver for the 2015 Fall NABC.

If you plan to attend, here are a few things that you will want to check out:

♣ A reception will be held for YOU on Friday, November 27, between sessions (4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m.). I hope to see you there!

♣ A free workshop with a focus on handling Zero Tolerance and behavioral issues in clubs games will be presented by Dan Plato on Monday, November 30, from 9 a.m. to noon. You don’t want to miss this lively presentation.

♣ The Club Director Refresher Course will be held on Tuesday and Wednesday, December 1 and 2. This continuing education course for club directors focuses on more advanced rulings and better customer service. The $15 fee covers both sessions. You sign up at the door. The course hours are 9 a.m. to noon on both days.

For more information about the tournaments, the events and the city, click here.

As always, please don’t hesitate to contact me if I can be of assistance.

Director of Club and Member Services

Follow us on American Contract Bridge League and @ACBLbridge

NEWS Inside

6575 Windchase Blvd.

Horn Lake MS 38637-1523 www.acbl.org

Fall Edition • October, 20

15

A N E W S L E T T E R F O R

Club Managers

Report New Member Masterpoints_______________2

Golden Age Masters_________2

Club Discipline_____________2

Be Prepared for the Flu Season_________________2

Special Event______________3

Duplicated Boards______________4

Helpful Documents for Club Managers________________4

New rules for credit card processing____________________4

DENVER 2015

Mountainsof

GOLDFall North American

Bridge Championships

♣2ACBL - Club Managers Newsletter Fall Edition - October 2015

Reporting New Member Masterpoints — ACBLscore First time new members may receive credit for points they won prior to joining ACBL up to a maximum of 20. Please follow the instructions to eliminate errors and to get the masterpoints posted quicker for the new member.

In order to report masterpoints earned by a new member or a player whose ACBL member number was not in your database at the time they earned the masterpoints, you will need to prepare a masterpoint report for the player in question.

1. Choose update/fi nd player in the database menu2. Find the players listing3. Make sure the player’s ACBL number is part of

the listing4. Select F4 (this will show any earned masterpoints)5. Select F76. Select option 2 (only masterpoint records)7. Select option 3 (text fi le)8. Save the fi le somewhere you can easily access it9. Create a new email to masterpoints@acbl.org10. Attach saved fi le from step 811. Include explanation that player’s ACBL number was

not available at the time of your previous report

We will credit the player’s masterpoints.

The Longest Day 2016

Mark your calendar – The

Longest Day events for

Alzheimer’s will be held on

Monday, June 20, 2016.

Club DisciplineThis is a reminder that the jurisdiction of behavior of players at club-sponsored games is solely up to club management. The club is responsible for addressing complaints about a player’s behavior in a club-sponsored game. This means that, in such an instance, a complaint to the unit to request that charges be made to the unit’s disciplinary committee may not be made. The complaint should go to the club manager.

However, someone may make a complaint to the unit requesting that the unit make charges to its disciplinary committee for the following games at a club: Grand National Teams, North American Pair events, STaCs, qualifying sessions of a progressive sectional, ACBL-wide games, unit or district competitions, and/or unit-wide or district-wide championships held at the club.

More information on club discipline can be found in Chapter 4 of the ACBL Handbook of Rules and Regulations.

Recognize your club’s Golden Age Masters (ACBL members 70 years of age with 300 points of any color; 80 years of age with 100 points of any color) by applying for these achievement certifi cates.

If you would like to honor your ACBL members with this recognition, please contact Patsy Edwards at Patsy.Edwards@acbl.org or call her at 662-253-3131. You will need to provide the ACBL player number, name, age and the address where the certifi cate is to be mailed.

Be Prepared for the Flu SeasonHelp keep your players healthy and in the game!

Keep bottles of hand sanitizer available for your players.

Wipe the tables and bid boxes with disinfectant wipes.

Encourage players to get annual fl u shots

♣3ACBL - Club Managers Newsletter Fall Edition - October 2015

IMPORTANT NOTICE:ACBL-WIDE GAMES ONLINE REGISTRATION:

Registration forms for ACBL-wide games are now available exclusively online. To register for an ACBL-wide game, please click here.

ACBL-wide Special Event Game Schedule:Please click here to view the 2016 schedule.

Fund Games – Review of Regulations ♣ January is Junior Fund Month – All

sanctioned sessions may be held as Junior Fund games. The additional fees from these games support activities for junior bridge players.

♣ April is Charity Month – All sanctioned games can be held as charity club championship games to benefi t the ACBL Charity Foundation (Canadian Charity Foundation for clubs in Canada) or alternate to benefi t a local charity organization.

♣ May is Grass Roots FUNd Month – All sanctioned sessions may be held as Grass Roots FUNd games. Proceeds support the North American Pairs and Grand National Team events.

♣ September is International Fund Month – All sanctioned sessions may be held as International Fund games. This fund helps support ACBL members in international competition.

Special Event

CORNER

During February, March, June, July, August, October, November and December, clubs may hold one game per sanctioned session each

month and select the fund they wish to support (Educational Foundation, Junior Fund, Grass Roots FUNd, International Fund or ACBL Charity Foundation or Canadian Charitable Foundation for clubs in Canada.)

ACBL-wide Charity GameThe ACBL-wide Charity Game will be held Monday evening, November 30, 2015. Cost is $6.35 per table, plus game and table fees. All material will be sent by email, no printed material will be provided. Masterpoint awards are 81.8% sectional-rated black. Click here to register.

ACBL-wide International Fund GameThe ACBL-wide International Fund Game will be held Monday morning December 21, 2015. Cost is $6.35 per table, plus game and table fees. Printed material is mailed approximately four to six weeks in advance of the game. Masterpoint awards are 50/50 red and black at 81.8% sectional-rated. Click here to register.

Inter-Club Championship GamesPlayers at your club play face-to-face with the perk of across-the-fi eld scoring through the Internet to determine overall rankings at all clubs that participate on the same date. Hand records are sent by email a few days before the game is held. The club director sends the game fi le by email to ACBL the next day to be included in the overall scoring. Your players earn regular club masterpoints at the club in addition to club championship masterpoints if they place in the overalls. Fee is an additional $1 per person. Click here to view the dates for 2016 or to register your club.

In order to participate, you must sign up in advance and use the current version of ACBLscore. For more information you may email iccg@acbl.org.

Please contact Sherry Terraciano, Special Events Game Specialist, at Specialevents@acbl.org or 662-253-3130 for more information.

♣4ACBL - Club Managers Newsletter Fall Edition - October 2015

Helpful Documents for Club ManagersFind resources at www.acbl.org.

Here are a few to get you started:♠ Club Manager’s Handbook — This handbook

contains a potpourri of ideas on managing a successful bridge club.

♠ Special Events Chart — List of games allocated to clubs, masterpoint rating, frequency and sanction fees.

♠ ACBL Handbook of Rules and Regulations — Chapter 4 is dedicated to club games.

♠ ACBLscore — Latest version downloads, update your database, FAQs, etc.

♠ Cooperative Advertising Program♠ Publicity for Clubs and Teachers

Duplicated Boards In this day and age of duplicating machines club managers and directors are faced with some new issues that the Laws just don’t cover. We receive many calls and emails about proper protocols regarding the use of pre-duplicated hands. The following are some guidelines that should be used in the club setting. 1. For special games, such as STaCs or ACBL-wide

games, pay attention to the conditions of contest regarding the downloading and preparation of boards. In many cases the director can still play, but it may be the person, such as the club manager, who downloaded the hands or prepared the hands who is ineligible to play.

2. For regular club games and special games held only at the club, it is preferred that the person who duplicated the boards not participate in the game itself. We also recognize this is impossible in many cases, especially for small clubs. Most duplicating programs allow for the boards to be pre-duplicated without ever seeing a hand record on the screen. It is also possible to wait to print hand records until after the game is over. Still, if possible, having someone else do the job is always better. One solution is to wait until about an hour before the game to do the duplication and have a player observe the process, serving as a witness to the fact that the director has no prior knowledge of any of the hands. One club we know hires an outside person, a non-bridge player, to duplicate the boards for all their games. Another club has an agreement that the various directors will duplicate for each other, making sure that they never duplicate boards for a game they might play in.

3. Law 6.E regards the concept of “wholly random expectations” of the deal. Because of this Law, there should never be an attempt to alter any of the deals. We frequently have questions raised like, “For some reason East only averaged six points per hand for tomorrow’s game. Is it okay if we rotate some of the deals to help East out?” NO! We also get this type of request: “I taught a class on cue-bidding to slams yesterday. Is it okay if I alter some of the hands so that the players get experience in this?” NO! “Wholly

random” means just that. Most deal generators will certainly allow you to set up certain kinds of hands “thematically,” such as creating hands for 1NT opening bids, or situations where a negative double will be used. This is perfect for a classroom setting. This option should never be used for a club game that awards ACBL masterpoints.

If you have any questions contact Christina Van Leeuwen at 662-253-3123.

New rules for credit card processingBeginning October 21, ACBL will use a new system for processing credit card information. The following items will make us compliant with the latest industry regulations:

1. Clubs will no longer be able to record credit card information by hand or via ACBLscore for payment of monthly bill or to purchase membership applications.

2. For paper membership applications, payments must be check or cash only.

3. Members will still be able to pay with credit cards over the phone or at www.acbl.org/join.

4. For monthly fi nancials, clubs will enter credit card information via a dedicated website.

Look for an email explaining the changes. If you have any questions, email club@acbl.org.