Lots of Bridge

I'm going to be gone for 2 weeks, first in San Diego and then in Gatlinburg. In San Diego I will be playing with Grant Baze for the first time and I'm really excited about that. I've known Grant for half of my life, and he has always been extremely nice. He also happens to be one of the greatest players in the world and someone who I can learn a lot from. Our teammates will be Chris Compton and Anita Cokins. It should be a fun week, especially since I get to meet a long time BBO friend, Echognome, for the first time. My only fear is that I will forget the notes that Grant sent me, but I have studied hard and don't think I will.

After that I will be going to Gatlinburg, the biggest regional of the year. I'll be playing with Ron Smith, one of the most fun and relaxed people in the world, on a team with Kevin Bathurst, John Kranyak, Shannon Cappelletti, and Stacy Jacobs. It's my first time to go to Gatlinburg, but I've heard the playing area is amazing. I'll be renting a huge house with a bunch of the juniors and Ron that looks completely sick. There's a hot tub, 57 inch HDTV, 8 other TV's, pool table, swimming pool, BBQ, and 8 bedrooms. Hopefully these things won't be too distracting and I can play some really good bridge.

My goals for these tournaments are to play very solid and thoughtful bridge and make no stupid mistakes. My focus has been a little off recently, so I'll need to watch that. I should have a lot of interesting hands to post when I come back, and I may do a tournament report. See you in two weeks.