You will learn more by losing to good players
than you will by winning against poor players
Squeeze ! ! !
A squeeze play is the most difficult problem a declarer will ever face, and a great many players never learn it, but
it really is not necessary to enjoy this game for the rest of your life! Even so, every player should be aware
of this technique. Most such plays come down to 3-card endings similar to this:
As you can see, West does not have a safe discard when declarer leads the good !dJ, his last trump... What can West do?
He's squeezed!
This is called a Simple Squeeze because only one opponent is under pressure, but there are other situations where either
opponent could hold the hand that gets squeezed.
If you can learn the steps necessary to come to this end-position, you will have mastered squeeze plays.
If you would like to learn more, go to this website...
Roy Wilson - Emerald Life Master I am 90 yars old...
and I have played bridge more than half my life...
The lesser half I wasted.
TEXT HERE
Unit Games -- Our unit games are held twice a month, on the first
and third Sundays, at the Pasadena Bridge Club. - Game time is 12:30. Note: Open the link to the Pasadena Club Results for Unit game results.
Our next Unit game is also our annual election party, Sunday, March 1.
Nearby Sectional and a Regional
Our neighbors in Upland are hosting a sectional, and there's a regional in San Diego...
The link below will take you to the ACBL website where you can find tournament schedules and locations.
(You need to select the month March, and State, California.)
District 22 Newsletter
Here is the latest Newsletter From District 22 ...
Awards
2025 Annual Unit Winners for the Mini-McKenney and the Ace of Clubs will receive awards at the coming
Election Party.
Ed's Edifications
Ed Lechner - EdLechner@gmail.com
Dear Bridge Enthusiasts,
Sorry, it has been way too long since my last bridge newsletter went out . The good news is that I have several more
interesting hands selected, so the next couple of these should be coming out in much more rapid fashion.
I played today's hand in a teams event at the Monterey Regional last month. When playing teams, especially if
vulnerable, there is extra incentive to bid games, to the point where best advice is to bid game if your chances are 40%
or better. Over-tricks are relatively unimportant. We bid to a shaky 3NT contract and when dummy came
down, chances didn't look all that good. Not completely hopeless, but it seemed> like my chances were less than 50-50 of
bringing it home.
Open the link below to see how the hand played out.
Regarding my bridge cruise in March (see flyer,) we are getting close to 20 cabins, most with double occupancy, and mostly
bridge players.
Due to dynamic pricing, the cost of balcony staterooms has dropped a couple hundred dollars per person compared with the
prices several months ago. There is still time to sign-up if you are interested.
Ed PS If you wish to be removed from the distribution list, just send me an email and I'll drop you immediately.
Open the link below in the Table of Links, Ed's Newsletter (D4)
HIDDEN TEXT
Unit Historian:
Do you have an old photo or other memorbilia from our past that you can share with us? Please contact Mike and
let him make a copy.
Mike Marcucci
818 903-2471
nstarmgm@att.net
February, 2026
Status Change for our Members updated each month in the first week
New Members
Steven Lison
Monterey Park
Yolly Minter
Glendora
Transferred In
Carolyn Cohen
Toluca Lake
Advanced in Rank - 4
Miriam Angel
Junior Master
Melissa Wilson
Junior Master
Christine Parker
Club Master
Chris Sun
Regional Master
Pasadena-San Gabriel Unit 559
Our unit is one of nine in District 23 and we are sanctioned by the American Contract Bridge League.
We have an elected board of 12 members that meets monthly and is responsible for unit games, our Holiday party
and the annual John Waken sectional.
BBO - BridgeBase Online
Pete Hollands discusses the latest software version of the BBO Robots.
Take a look:
Our unit members can play in a virtual club game set up by Mojo and Paula...
When you log on, you are at the Home screen. Click on Competitive and then click on All Tournaments.
There's a Search Box at the top, on the right. Simply type in a few letters or numbers that will help
identify what you are looking for: 23 is sufficient for District 23, and 559 is enough for Unit 559.
You can use either the abbreviated Pasa or 559 for our virtual club.
Use this link if you would like to see the convention card used by the BBO robots.
BBO has many bridge forums where you can discuss almost any aspect or topic related to bridge.
BBO has a site on YouTube where you will find both bridge discussions and explanations.
WEB PAGES AND WEB SITES Two tables of both internal and external links
1
2
3
4
a
b
c
d
e
f
A
B
C
D
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Unit 559 Membership Report
Ranks are updated quarterly after the 7th of the month.
Unit 559 Active Members
Click the rank below for a list
Master Points
0-5
No color points needed
5-20
No color points needed
20-50+
No color points needed
50+ 5+ silver points
100+ 15+ silver points
and 5+ gold points
200+ 25+ silver
and 20+ red/gold/platinum
(5 must be gold or platinum)
300+ 50+ silver
and 50+ red/gold/platinum
(25 must be gold or platinum)
500+ 75+ silver
and 100+ red/gold/platinum
(50 must be gold or platinum)
750+ Life Master with
at least 750 points
1000+ Life Master with
at least 1000 points
(200+ must be silver/red/gold/platinum)
1500+ Life Master with
at least 1500 points
(300+ must be silver/red/gold/platinum)
2500+ Life Master with
at least 2500 points
(500+ must be silver/red/gold/platinum)
3500+ Life Master with
at least 3500 points
700+ silver/red/gold/platinum (350+ must be gold or platinum)
5000+ Life Master with
at least 5000 points
1000+ silver/red/gold/platinum (500+ must be gold or platinum)
7500+ Life Master with
at least 7500 points
1500+ silver/red/gold/platinum (750+ must be gold or platinum)
10,000+ Life Master with
at least 10,000 points
2000+ silver/red/gold/platinum (1000+ must be gold or platinum)
10,000+ Life Master with
at least 10,000 points
2000+ silver/red/gold/platinum (1000+ must be gold or platinum)
Must have a victory in an eligble event
February Total Membership 331
The Number of visitors since estabshment prior
to the reset on January 16, 2026 was 1,009,500 Since January 16, 2016 --
You are Visitor Number 6197
This website was established in 1999 by Roy Wilson
Linux version 1.0.0 was introduced March 14, 1994
The First Web Site was established at CERN in 1992 by Tim Berners-Lee.
This website was built in 1999
by Roy Wilson
Mike Marcucci
