A Devil of a Party

Yesterday the Armidale Bridge Club held its final Saturday pairs tournament for 2009 and I agreed to organise and direct the event, which was to be followed at 5.00 by the annual Christmas party. I developed the theme of 'wicked deals' in which I confronted the players with some wild hands culled from a variety of books and articles. I also rotated the deals (from N-S to E-W and vice versa) to even up the balance of the high card points and make more of a competition.



Anyway the players were ecstatic about the challenges and opportunities they found and I can see demand for a similar event next year. Because the play was so complex, the players made a lot of mistakes contravening the laws of the game and I was run around the room attending calls for the director. That was only part of the difficulty. I also had to judge the indiscretions in bidding and play for my 'wicked awards'. You know the sort of thing - a prize for the worst result; the self immolation prize; the prize for the loudest laugh! Luckily my friend Bruce Tier did the scoring, otherwise everyone would have left for home long before the scores cam out!

I had the brainwave of dressing up as director of the wicked tournament and awards. As you can see from the picture, I donned horns and a cloak for the purpose, not to mention a long forked tail, all worn over some board shorts - the kind of attire one would expect from Satan's Australian representative. There was a roar of approval when I entered the room to start the tournament! Fortunately. I did not have to go to a theatrical costumier for the outfit. Dot had another brainwave and discovered the required item lying in Emily's bedroom. Presumably she went to a fancy dress ball at some stage!

AS