International Fund Game? Club Championship Game? Unit Championship Game? Grass Roots Fund Game? Club Appreciation Game? NAP? GNT?
What are all these special games that you see pop up on our calendars? ACBL allows club managers to run a variety of special games. The benefit to the players is extra points. All the special games cost the club more to run. Many clubs charge their players extra for that game. Cedar Rapids games do not charge extra so these games are a real deal for the participants.
There is a special events guide on the unit website: bridgeunit163.com It will have complete information on all these games. Look under “governance” and then “Special Events Guide.” If you just want a brief summary of all these special games, keep reading.
The ACBL has five charities or funds: Junior Fund, Grass Roots Fund, International Fund, Charity Fund and Educational Fund. All of these games cost the club owner an extra $5 per table and offer the players the odd percentage, 63.6%, sectional rating master points. If club owners hold one game for an ACBL charity, then they can hold another for a local charity.
Clubs can hold a club championship four times a year, for the same percentage increase in points, but for a lower investment in cost, just $1 per table. The Unit Special Events Coordinator (MaryAnn Boardman) schedules unit championship games at the beginning of the year and distributes them among the clubs in the whole unit. If you have a Monday club, you are lucky because you get more of these games. They have be divided among the clubs, with the most popular days getting the most unit championship games. Monday is the most popular day in Unit 163 for club owners to hold their games. They allot the same point enhancement as the other games mentioned above, but cost the club owner $2.25 per table. It’s a good deal and all the Cedar Rapids clubs enjoy these games.
Is your head spinning yet? There’s more! Grand National Team Games are held in the fall and winter and are qualifying games so that participants can compete in a district final and then, if they win, in the summer nationals where they represent our district. The North American Pair games are held in the summer months and qualify you to go to the district competition and then on the to spring nationals. These games are one of the few opportunities that bridge players have to win prize money. The unit and district will pay you to go on to the nationals. See the unit special events guide on the unit web page to see just how much. It us quite a nice sum! These games also pay better in points at the local level, 81.8% sectional tournament rating.
On the October evening bridge calendars, you will also see “club appreciation” games. These are in the higher point ranking division and are only to be held in October. The team game even offers a portion of gold points. This is the only game that you can win gold at club level.
There are even more special games. If you want more information, please look over the special events guide.
It has been a goal of the unit 163 board to encourage clubs to hold more of these special games. Cedar Rapids does great in this area. You will notice that a lot of the day time games are special point-enhanced games and almost all of the evening games. We want you to earn more points! Don’t miss the special games. The club owners are gifting you with these by paying the extra and charging you regular price. What a deal!
MaryAnn Boardman