Club for Jan. 2

I'll start the discussion about who's attending this Sunday, Jan. 2, by stating that I have to work - anybody want to get together somewhere Saturday afternoon?

Survey for Club Session on Sunday, January 2

(responses as of Saturday, January 1, 2011, at 2:40 p.m.)

• 3 WILL BE ATTENDING CLUB on Sunday, January 2 -- Betty, John, Victoria
• 2 WILL NOT BE ATTENDING CLUB on Sunday, January 2 -- Cheryl, Janny
• 1 IS UNSURE ABOUT ATTENDING CLUB on Sunday, January 2 -- Will

Attendance Survey for 12/26 Club Session; Report on 12/19 Club Session

It felt really, really good to be back at club this past Sunday after a month's absence due to emergency cardiac bypass surgery -- and I even won two of my three games! :-) Five of us (Betty, Cheryl, Victoria, Will, and I) were there for four rounds of Alfred's word game (the dreaded S-word to me, see my blog post). I will add results from that session to this post later; right now I want to get the attendance survey up for our club session this coming Sunday, December 26, Boxing Day.

Club members will please indicate whether they will be able to attend club on Sunday, December 26 by leaving a comment to this blog entry or by e-mailing John at JMSinKY@aol.com

Here are the responses as of Sunday, December 26, at 1:15 p.m., EST:

• 3 WILL BE ATTENDING the club session on Sunday, December 26 -- John, Victoria, Will
• 1 WILL NOT BE ATTENDING the club session on Sunday, December 26 -- Adam (in W.Va.)
• 1 IS UNSURE ABOUT ATTENDING the club session on Sunday, December 26 -- Betty

Happy Holidays to all! It looks like we have a White Christmas in store for us, but after all the bustle of the season, why not come to club on Sunday and unwind?

John

Attendance Survey for 12/19 Club Session

My apologies for not getting an attendance survey note up for last Sunday. I was totally consumed with family activities and it slipped my mind. I apologize if it resulted in anyone venturing out in the bad weather conditions unnecessarily.

For this Sunday, you may either indicate your attendance in a comment below OR e-mail me at bush3262@yahoo.com .

As of Sunday, December 19, 2010, at 3:00 a.m., EST, here are the responses received so far:

• 6 WILL BE ATTENDING club on Sunday, December 19 -- Adam, Betty, Cheryl, John, Victoria, Will
• 2 WILL NOT BE ATTENDING club on Sunday, December 19 -- Andy, Steve
• 0 IS UNSURE ABOUT ATTENDING club on Sunday, December 19 --

Dec. 5 club results (partial)

We had nine at club on Sunday, including Gary and Bob, who used to play occasionally a few years ago. Glad to see you both again. They brought another friend, Austin. Unfortunately, I didn't get the results from their first game or two.

Here are the results that I have:

Victoria 3-0, +340
Steve 1-0, +26
Will 2-1, +259
Betty 1-2, -227
Janney 0-2, -189
Bob 0-1, -54
Madeline, 0-1, -155

Bingoes:
Victoria: RATINES, JETLINER
Steve: IGNITER, TUNDRAS
Betty: TASTILY
Will: CENTALS, NOTARIES, DECIARES, TAENIAS, UNTIDIER, RESTINGS*

Nov. 28 Results and Dec. 5 Attendance Survey

Sorry this is late, but here are last Sunday's results.

Attendees: Victoria, Cheryl, Betty, Will, Steve

Results (with bingoes that I know of):
Will 3-1, DETONATE, BADDIES, SOLATED, NOISIER, ENDITER*, RETSINA, DETAILS, VOYAGES
Steve 2-1, CUSPIDS, BRAIDING, TOWNIES, DETAINEE
Betty 2-2, DEBTORS, SNIFFER, NOTATES, ETOILES, ADORNER
Victoria 0-1
Cheryl 0-2

As of Thursday, December 2, 2010, at 4:50 p.m., EST, here are the responses received so far for Club attendance on Sunday, December 5:
3 WILL BE ATTENDING club Sunday, December 5 -- Madeline, Steve, Victoria.
3 WILL NOT BE ATTENDING -- Andrea, Andy, John.
1 IS UNSURE ABOUT ATTENDING -- Will.

Attendance Survey for Sunday, November 28 Club Session

Feeling a good bit better after my first night back home, guys and gals. Let's see if I can post and update your responses about club tomorrow, Sunday, November 28, in between frequent naps today. :-)

You may either indicate your attendance in a comment below OR e-mail me at JMSinKY@aol.com .

As of Saturday, November 27, 2010, at 11:15 a.m., EST, here are the responses received so far:

• 3 WILL BE ATTENDING club tomorrow, Sunday, November 28 -- Cheryl, Will.
• 2 WILL NOT BE ATTENDING club tomorrow, Sunday, November 28 -- Carmen.
• 0 ARE UNSURE ABOUT ATTENDING club tomorrow, Sunday, November 28 --

Try to keep warm, folks. It's not even winter yet!

John

No December LCT

Hi Everyone,

I got a call from John Spangler today asking me to pass along this news. He was recently hospitalized and received treatment for some heart problems and is at home recuperating. He will be out of commission for a while, though he expects a full recovery. While I'm sure he would welcome cards or a kind email, he is requesting no phone calls or visits, in large part due to the fact that his elderly mother is also there and needs attention.

For the club, this means we will not be able to have a December LCT, but hopefully we can pick back up with that in January. We will of course still have our weekly meetings at Perkins throughout December. As for this coming Sunday (Thanksgiving weekend), I'm not sure how many folks will be able to make it. If you plan to attend, please post a comment to the blog so others will know.

Best wishes, and a full and speedy recovery to John!

Results from November 14 Local Club Tournament

Eight players in two divisions played in our November local club tournament this past Sunday, November 14. Here are the results --

DIVISION A

1. Frank Lee, 3-2, +100 (first place, $17)
2. Connie Breitbeil, 3-2, +86 (second place, $10)
3. Andy Wade, 3-2, -268
4. Steve Bush, 1-4, +82

DIVISION B

1. Adam Johnson, 4-1, +68 (first place, $17)
2. Betty King, 3-2, +347 (second place, $10)
3. Andrea Carman, 3-2, -69
4. Victoria Bledsoe, 0-5, -346

$5 was awarded for HIGH PLAY in each division (excluding place prizewinners). In Division A, Andy Wade was the winner for SPOTTED at 83 points; in Division B, Andrea Carman was the winner for REWIPED* at 84 points. Andrea also won the new Scrabble Flash game that was donated as a prize by club member Will Scott.

John Spangler

Tournament Director

Results from November 7 Club Session

Thanks to Victoria for supplying the following results from this past Sunday's club session. Four people attended club, and five rounds were played.

• Adam -- 3-1, +126
• Andrea -- 1-4, -311, MOUNTED 62, TOAST(E)R 62
• Betty -- 3-1, +188, RE(D)OING 76, (A)BOUNDS 75, SLATTED 67
• Victoria -- 2-3, -15, HANDIE(R) 79, RELENTED 72, SITT(U)(P) 72, TITRATE 66

This coming Sunday we have our monthly local club tournament instead of a regular club session. There is a blog entry with details about the LCT linked here. If you have not already, please leave a comment to that blog entry about your attendance at the tourney OR e-mail John at JMSinKY@aol.com .

Oct. 31 Results; Survey for Nov. 7 Club Session

Thanks to Victoria for e-mailing me the results from yesterday's club session. Five players were there, with some of them able to stay to play three games. Here is how things ended up, showing win-loss, spread, and bingos played:

• Adam -- 0-1, -20
• Eric -- 3-0, +330; TAILORS 70, WATC(H)ERS 63
• Janny -- 0-3, -566
• Margaret -- 2-0, +324; (F)UELING 84, RA(N)GIER 78, SHADIN(G) 66
• Victoria -- 1-2, -68; SMOOTH(I)E 76

This coming weekend Will and I will both be playing at the tournament in Asheville, North Carolina. Please leave a comment to this blog entry OR e-mail me at JMSinKY@aol.com about whether you will be attending club on Sunday, November 7. The following summary reflects responses as of Sunday, November 7, at 12:41 a.m., EDT. (We change back to standard time on Sunday morning at 2 a.m., I believe.)

• 2 WILL BE attending club on Nov. 7 -- Adam, Victoria
• 3 WILL NOT BE attending club on Nov. 7 -- John, Susie, Will
• 3 ARE UNSURE about attending club on Nov. 7 -- Andrea (probably), Betty, Steve

Our local club tournament this month (blog entry linked here) is on Sunday, November 14.

Have a good week, everyone. I am very much enjoying my visit with the Benedictine monks at Marmion Abbey, outside Chicago. Their founding abbot is a fellow Kentuckian from Louisville and still active at 101 -- God bless him! Today I hope to spend some time at Morton Arboretum, a wonderful place not far from here.

John

Attendance Survey for Oct. 31 Club Session

Sorry, to be down to the wire on this one, folks; drove to Chicago yesterday and arrived here late. My laptop's phone modem port won't take a plug (dropped once too often, I guess!) so I couldn't connect to post and e-mail on it last night. Right now I am using my minilaptop at a Panera.

Anyhow, I won't be at club tomorrow or next week (tourney in Asheville), but if you will leave a comment below or e-mail me at JMSinKY@aol.com , I will transfer your responses about club tomorrow, Sunday, October 31, into the the listing set out below, current as of 11:26 a.m. EDT, on Sunday, October 31 --

• 1 WILL BE attending club on Sunday, October 31: Victoria
• 4 WILL NOT BE attending club on Sunday, October 31: Susie, John, Steve, Will
• 1 is UNSURE about attending club on Sunday, October 31: Janny (may come)

Remember our local club tournament in November will be on Sunday, November 14. Here is a link to the post on the November LCT.

John

Renewing as NASPA club

The club as a whole will want to discuss this issue. Formerly in the NSA, we did not have to pay to register as a club, because Hasbro subsidized the NSA, therefore there was no fee for the club to pay. Since the inception of NASPA, this has changed; we are required to pay $30 to register as a club.

This comes with good and bad sides. Good: We have some liability insurance coverage in case anyone is hurt at a NASPA event. Bad: we are required to have a registered director at all club events. Sometimes this just isn't possible for us.

And, who pays this fee? I don't want it to land on Steve and John, they already do so much for us all. It should be covered either by club dues (which we have also not discussed) or by adding to our Local Club Tournament fees.

NASPA has been expressing some dislike of other Scrabble organizations lately as well (read: WGPO) which may cause us some trouble in the future. Their policies on this are still in development.

So, let's spend some time talking this over.. unfortunately, I won't be at club for the next three weeks!

Oct. 24 LCT Results

Below are the results of yesterday's tournament. Report format is as follows:

Name, record, spread, old rating, (tentative) WGPO new rating*, prize (if applicable)

Division A
Marc Broering, 4-1, +395, 1720, 1720, 1st place, $25
Frank Lee, 3-2, +84, 1356, 1365, 2nd place, $13
Will Scott, 3-2, +2, 1358, 1367, 3rd place, $5
Connie Breitbeil, 2-3, -59, 1278, 1274
Raymond Slaughter, 2-3, -71, 1306, 1296
Margaret Yoder, 1-4, -351, 1075, 1068

High game: Connie Breitbeil, 413, $5

Division B
Betty King, 5-0, +423, 660, 740, 1st place, $25
Andrew Wade, 3-2, +200, 1054, 1037, 2nd place, $13
John Spangler, 3-2, +97, 3rd place, 892, 886, $5
Victoria Bledsoe, 2-3, -73, 544, 549
Andrea Carman, 2-3, -256, 519, 527
Adam Johnson, 0-5, -391, 0, 500

High game: Victoria Bledsoe, 392, $5

* Note that for players with no previous WGPO rating, their most recent NASPA rating, if existent, was used.

I hope everyone had a good time, regardless of performance. Thanks again for playing!

Steve

Nov. 14th Local Club Tournament Announcement

Our monthly local club tournament for November will be held on Sunday, November 14, from 3:00 p.m. to around 9:00 p.m. at our regular meeting location, Perkins Family Restaurant, 2401 Richmond Road, Lexington. John Spangler will direct.

The November LCT is open to anyone who wishes to play, regardless of whether he or she is a member of the local club. It will be rated by the Word Game Players' Association (WGPO); no NASPA membership is required. The entry fee is $10. WGPO does not require individuals to be WGPO members in order to play at tournaments that it rates but encourages them to join; there are no membership dues for WGPO. You can join WGPO on its web site at http://www.wordgameplayers.org/join .

The tourney format will continue to be a five-round tournament, including a meal break at Perkins, with pairings and prize structure determined by the tournament director on the basis of the number of players participating.

WGPO fully rates local club tournaments. Seedings will be determined by players' WGPO ratings, with NASPA ratings used if the player has not yet established a WGPO rating.

Entry deadline is 5 p.m., Saturday, November 13. -- In order to ensure a timely start for the tournament, players must register for the LCT by no later than 5 p.m. on Saturday, November 13, the day before the tourney. To register either leave a comment to this blog entry OR send an e-mail to John at JMSinKY@aol.com

Here are the responses received about this tourney so far, as of Saturday, November 13, at 1:50 p.m. EST --

• 9 WILL BE ATTENDING the November 14 LCT: Andrea Carman, Andy Wade, Victoria Bledsoe, Connie Breitbeil, Steve Bush, Adam Johnson, Betty King, Frank Lee, John Spangler (directing)
• 6 WILL NOT BE ATTENDING the November 14 LCT: Marc Broering, Madeline Bush, Cheryl Coovert, Susie Pozgay, Janet Scheeline, Will Scott
• 0 ARE UNSURE ABOUT ATTENDING the November 14 LCT:

We hope that you will be able to attend this month's local club tournament.

John Spangler
Tournament Director

Results from Sunday, Oct. 17 Club Session

Thanks to Andy Wade for providing the information about this past Sunday's club session.

There were six players present at club, and five rounds were played by some of them. Here are the results and bingos played:

• Adam, 3-2, -146 -- NOCULAR* 71, NEAREST 65, T(H)INNER 69
• Andrea, 2-3, -174 -- (F)LO(O)RED 79, UNI(T)IES 66
• Andy, 4-1, +447 --VIOLATI(O)(N) 90 a double-double, STAINED 86, AEDILES 68, ITCH(I)(E)R 62
• Betty, 3-2, +75 -- (E)N(G)RAIL 79, (R)EMOTES 84, STALKERS 63
• Cheryl, 0-3, -302
• Tameko, 0-1 (spread data incomplete)

This coming Sunday, October 24, we have our monthly local club tournament for October; here is a link to the blog post about it. This takes the place of a normal club session for that date.

Remember, if you want to play in this month's LCT, you need to leave a comment on that blog post OR e-mail Steve Bush, who is directing this month, at bush3262@yahoo.com, by 5 p.m., EDT, tomorrow, Saturday, October 23. This is necessary to avoid a delay in starting by having to do pairings; walk-in players will no longer be able to play at our LCT's.

To Our Club Members --

I have just now e-mailed the following message to Mary Rhoades, NASPA's Club Committee chair:

Mary,

Please consider this e-mail my official notice to you that I renounce my status as a club and tournament director of the North American Scrabble Players Association, effective immediately.

I became a director to assist my local club because of my love for the game and to assist my local club by volunteering my time and services, not because I desired to be an "independent businessman" or an agent of Hasbro or of Chris Cree's creation. It is my firm belief that Scrabble will best served by a true players' organization; NASPA is not this and never will be. I have no desire to continue to be associated with or to promote the type of organization that Cree's latest edict represents. Steve Pellinen has done a great job of setting out the concerns and misgivings that I share about the way that NASPA is structured and operating; I won't repeat all that here.

You should also remove my name as director for our club's listing in the NASPA Club Roster and from your Yahoo listserv for NASPA club and tournament directors.

John Spangler
Versailles, Kentucky

I will be sending an e-mail out to those of you regularly attend club about this.

John

10/10 Results and 10/17 Attendance Survey

There were nine of us at club this past Sunday, October 10. Two of the nine stayed for six rounds. Here are the results and bingos played:

• Adam (1-4) -- HONKIES 86, RELINING 70, RESONA(T)E 57
• Andrea (3-3) -- SPURNED 85, MUNITIO(N) 71, OMI(N)OUS 60
• Andy (1-2) -- AGONI(E)S 75, DEDUCING 69
• Betty (6-0) -- HEI(N)OUS 87, BROWNIE 80, ENTASIA 78, RANTERS 76, TOWERING 72, TOWNIES 70, LOAMIER 68, RELIANT 65
• Cheryl (0-3)
• Janny (1-2)
• John (3-1) -- SNO(W)ING 66, ENTA(S)IA(S) 64
• Tameka (1-2)
• Victoria (2-1) -- LE(A)DERS 70, ACETONE 67

Congratulations to Betty for going undefeated and for having the most bingos at 8, the highest-scoring bingo at 87, and the high win at 459. You had quite a day at Scrabble!

We were pleased to have Adam with us for the first time. He played well and used a timer for the first time with no problems at all. It was good to have Tameka with us again.

--------------------

Responses on attendance for our club session for this coming Sunday, October 17, are set out below. You may leave a comment to this blog entry with your response OR you may e-mail John at JMSinKY@aol.com .

As of Sunday, October 17, at 12:45 p.m. EDT, the responses so far are as follows:

• 2 WILL BE ATTENDING club on Sunday, October 17 -- Betty, Cheryl
• 6 WILL NOT BE ATTENDING club on Sunday, October 17 -- Eric, John, Margaret, Susie, Victoria, Will
• 1 IS UNSURE ABOUT ATTENDING club on Sunday, October 17 -- Adam

This month's local club tournament will be on Sunday, October 24, with Steve Bush directing. Click here for the blog entry about the October LCT.

Oct. 24th Local Club Tournament Announcement

Our monthly local club tournament for October will be held on Sunday, October 24, from 3:00 p.m. to around 9:00 p.m. at our regular meeting location, Perkins Family Restaurant, 2401 Richmond Road, Lexington. Steve Bush will direct.

This month's LCT is open to anyone who wishes to play, regardless of whether he/she is a member of the local club.

Like last month's tourney, this LCT will be rated WGPO only; no NASPA membership is required. As such, the entry fee is now $10. WGPO does not require individuals to be WGPO members in order to play at tournaments that it rates but encourages them to join; there are no membership dues for WGPO. You can join WGPO at its website, http://www.wordgameplayers.org/join .

The format will continue to be a five-round tourney, including a meal break at Perkins, with pairings and prize structure determined by the tournament director in light of the number of players participating.

WGPO fully rates local club tournaments. Seedings will be determined by players' WGPO ratings, with NASPA ratings used if the player has no WGPO rating.

Entry Deadline - 5pm Saturday, Oct. 23
In order to ensure a timely start to the tournament, we are now imposing a deadline of 5pm the day before (Saturday Oct. 23 in this case) for players to notify the director of their entry. Unfortunately we can no longer accept walk-ins at the door. Players are asked to indicate whether or not they will plan on attending by leaving a comment to this blog entry or e-mailing Steve at bush3262@yahoo.com . Here are the responses received so far, as of Saturday, October 23, at 12:45 p.m. EDT --

13 will be able to attend: Steve Bush (directing), Betty King, Will Scott, John Spangler, Eric Yoder, Victoria Bledsoe, Marc Broering, Adam Johnson, Frank Lee, Connie Breitbiel, Andy Wade, Raymond Slaughter, Andrea Carman
2 will NOT be able to attend: Cheryl Coovert, Suzie Pozgay
1 is unsure about attending: Margaret Yoder

Hope to see you there!

Steve Bush
Club Director

WGPO Ratings from Our September LCT

The official WGPO results with ratings changes from our September 26 local club tournament are now posted on the WGPO web site. Here is the link to that web page.

These are the ratings changes from the September LCT:

(Format: Rank -- Name -- Old Rating -- New Rating -- Net Change)

Division A
1 -- Kelly McKenzie -- 1672 --1671 -- minus 1
2 -- David Moersdorf -- 1330 -- 1355 -- plus 25
3 -- Andrew Wade -- 1018 -- 1054 -- plus 36
4 -- Margaret Yoder -- 1068 -- 1075 -- plus 7
5 -- Will Scott -- 1399 -- 1358 -- minus 41
6 -- Frank Schin -- 1139 -- 1120 -- minus 19

Division B
1 -- Richard McHugh -- 821 -- 837 -- plus 16
2 -- Margaret Pozgay -- 856 -- 847 -- minus 9
3 -- Betty King -- 670 -- 660 -- minus 10
4 -- Janet Scheeline -- 456 -- 472 -- plus 16
5 -- Andrea Carman -- 496 -- 519 -- plus 23
6 -- Cheryl Coovert -- 448 -- 463 -- plus 15
7 -- Victoria Bledsoe -- 603 -- 544 -- minus 59

Our October local club tournament will be held on Sunday, October 24.

Attendance for Sunday, Oct. 10 Club Session

This blog entry summarizes member responses on attendance for our club session this coming Sunday (October 10).

You may leave a response as a comment to this post OR you may e-mail John at JMSinKY@aol.com .

As of Saturday, October 9, 2010, at 1:00 p.m. EDT, the responses so far are as follows:

• 5 WILL BE ATTENDING club on Sunday, October 10 -- Adam (new to club, welcome!), Andy, Cheryl. John, Victoria
• 5 WILL NOT BE ATTENDING club on Sunday, October 10 -- Eric, Margaret, Steve, Susie, Will
• 2 is UNSURE ABOUT ATTENDING club on Sunday, October 10 -- Andrea, Janny

Last week six people were at club.

This month's local club tournament will be on Sunday, October 24. Steve will be directing the LCT, and he will be posting an entry about it soon.

John

Sunday 10/3 Club Results

Here are yesterday's club results:

Steve 3-0, +366. Bingoes: ORIENTED, CANOEIST, TENTAGE, OUTRATE, LASAGNA
Will 3-1, +198. Bingoes: TOSSING, SATIATED, GRODIER, CAVEMEN, HEMMING, ROASTER, AUSTERE, SALIENT
Eric 2-1, +43. Bingoes: SENARII, TUCKING
Margaret 1-2, -70. Bingoes: REGIONS, ISATINES, CREAMED
Andrea 0-3, -195. Bingo: SITTERS
Loren 0-2, -342

Thanks for everyone's participation!

Attendance Survey on Sunday, October 3 Club Session

This blog entry summarizes member responses on attendance for our club session this coming Sunday (October 3).

You may leave a response as a comment to this post OR you may e-mail John at JMSinKY@aol.com .

As of Saturday, October 2, 2010, at 11:15 a.m., the responses so far are as follows --

• 4 WILL BE ATTENDING club on Sunday, October 3: Eric, Maragaret, Steve, Will
• 5 WILL NOT BE ATTENDING club on Sunday, October 3: Betty, Cheryl, John, Susie, Victoria
• 2 are UNSURE ABOUT ATTENDING club on Sunday, October 3: Andrea, Janny

The date for our monthly local club tournament in October has not yet been determined.

Addendum (9/30 at 10 p.m.) --

Here are some upcoming tournaments in the region that you might want to consider:

• Nashville, TN -- Saturday, October 30 -- 7 rounds
• Asheville, NC -- Saturday & Sunday, November 6 & 7 -- 14 rounds (Will and John have tentatively registered for this tourney)
• Indianapolis, IN -- November 13 -- 7 rounds (no prize money awarded; entry fees, less expenses, go to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation)

Links on locations are to the tourneys' Cross-Tables.com entrants' lists, on which there is a link to the tourney flyer. The Indianapolis tourney is not yet on Cross-Tables; here is a link to its listing on NASPA's tournament calendar.

Results from the 9/26 Local Club Tournament

Here is the entry that I posted on the Yahoo group listserv for the Word Game Players' Organization about yesterday's LCT --


Thirteen players played at our September local club tournament yesterday at Lexington, Kentucky, including three Tennesseans and a couple of Kentuckians who drove a good distance to be with us. Beginning this month, our LCT's will be rated solely by WGPO, rather than dually by both WGPO and NASPA -- this was discussed and agreed upon at last month's LCT.

Here are yesterday's results --

Lexington Scrabble Club 9-26-2010 LCT
Final Standings

Division A - After Round 5 of 5

Rank Name Wins Spread
1. Kelly McKenzie 4.0 384
2. David Moersdorf 4.0 268
3. Andrew Wade 3.0 -30
4. Margaret Yoder 2.0 -205
5. Will Scott 1.0 -143
6. Frank Schin 1.0 -274


Division B - After Round 5 of 5

Rank Name Wins Spread
1. Richard McHugh 4.0 239 (corrected spread)
2. Margaret Pozgay 3.0 268 (corrected spread)
3. Betty King 3.0 155
4. Janet Scheeline 3.0 -1
5. Andrea Carman 3.0 -47
6. Cheryl Coovert 3.0 -139
7. Victoria Bledsoe 1.0 -225

Prize money was awarded to first and second place in both divisions and to high game by non-placewinners in both divisions (Andrew Wade in Division A, 432; Betty King in Division B, 449).

Interestingly, both division winners were playing in their first WGPO event. Ten of the 13 tournament players are WGPO members.

Marc Levesque's easy-to-use Director! tournament management software was used for the tourney.

Starting this month, we will be contributing $1 per player from our small entry fee to WGPO to support its website. In the past, we have done this for Cross-Tables, which has chosen not to include WGPO events in its tournament calendar and statistical data.

These local club tournaments, which we began doing each month in May of this year, have been very well received by our small club, and I would certainly encourage other clubs to consider doing them. They provide a way for those of our members who cannot travel to have an opportunity to play regularly in a more formal tournament environment and to establish and work on a rating from WGPO.

John Spangler, Club Director
Lexington (Ky.) Scrabble Club

Note: In reviewing data prior to submission for rating, a transposition in a score was discovered that changed cumulative spreads for two players in Division B, as noted above. This correction did not affect the outcome in that division.

Partial results from Sept. 12 club meeting

There were four players: Andy, Betty, Janney and Victoria.

Here are the results (I had to reconstruct, so they might be slightly off) and at least some of the bingoes:

Victoria: 2-0. AMNIOTE, TABULAE
Andy: 2-2. CAKIEST for 114, AEDILES, ORDINES
Janney: 1-1
Betty: 1-3. TRANSECT 131 (triple-triple!)

If any of this is incorrect, or if you know of more bingoes, please let me know.

Last Sunday and this Sunday

Who can tell us how club went on Sunday (Sept. 12)? I hope Victoria wasn't the only person who showed up; Scrabble solitaire has its limits. Did anyone track scores, records, bingoes? Just curious.

As long as I'm here, I'll start the "sign-up" for this Sunday (Sept. 19): I plan to be there.

[ADDED TEXT by John Spangler:

Please leave your own response as a comment to this blog entry OR by e-mailing John at JMSinKY@aol.com. As of Sunday, September 19, 2010, at 12:30 a.m. EDT, the responses so far are --

• 4 WILL be attending club on Sunday, September 19: Betty, John, Victoria, Will
• 5 WILL NOT be attending club on Sunday, September 19: Cheryl, Eric, Margaret, Steve, Susie
• 3 are UNSURE about attending club on Sunday, September 19: Andrea, Andy, Janny

Next Sunday instead of a regular club session, we will have our once-a-month local club tournament. Here is a link to the entry about our September 26 LCT.]

Note to the club

I wanted a wider blog area and changing the other template meant I'd have to change the images too, so let's try this one. All I have changed with this one is a link color (from gray to black).

Last Sunday

I'm finally posting the club results from last weekend - although in at least one case I found I recorded the scores backward (I am QUITE sure that I did not have a game over 500 points, so I am awarding that to my opponent Will).

We had an uneven number of players the first 2 rounds with Margaret and I taking one bye each.

Will    3-1   +323
Jan H    3-1  +190
Margaret  1-2   -99
Cheryl    1-2   -329
Janet S   0-2   -75

Some terrific bingoes, too (I learn a new word every time)

Will :  PYAEMIC     70 points
         ASCENDER    85
         TOADIES    75
         WIE(N)IES     78
         VESTIGES     71
         CATERING   161 (a triple-triple)

Margaret:   B(E)NISON     64 points
         GENTLES     63
         (M)URDERS     70

Cheryl:  ANIL(I)NE     68

Attendance Survey for Sunday, Sept. 12 Club Session

Greetings from Santa Fe, New Mexico! I arrived here yesterday evening and am going to do some sightseeing here in Georgia O'Keeffe territory before going back down to Albuquerque for a 5-game earlybird Friday evening and a 13-game weekend tourney there. I ended up 9-11, -329, at the 20-game tourney in Alpharetta (Atlanta), GA, this past Labor Day Weekend; had a lot of fun and only lost 11 ratings points so that my NASPA rating is now 815. Hope that I manage to pick up some ratings points this coming weekend! We'll see.

It was good to hear from Will and Cheryl that five of you were at club last Sunday. From the lack of responses, I was afraid that Jan might show up for her last session at club before heading west and not have anyone to play with! We will see you in the spring, Jan; have a safe trip to your home out here in the Southwest. Beautiful country!

Here are the responses so far, as of Saturday, September 11, 2010, at 9:45 a.m. EDT, about attendance at this coming Sunday's club session:

• 1 WILL be able to attend club on Sunday, September 12: Victoria
• 6 will NOT be able to attend club on Sunday, September 12: Andrea, Cheryl, Eric, John, Margaret, Susie
• 3 are UNSURE about attending club on Sunday, September 12: Betty (hopes to attend), Janny, Will

You may respond either by leaving a comment to this blog entry OR by e-mailing me directly at JMSinKY@aol.com .

Also, if you haven't already done so, please let me know about your attendance at our September local club tournament on Sunday, September 26 -- see the blog entry about it for details and replies so far about playing at it.

Fly back home next Monday and hope to make it to club on Sunday, September 19. Travelling is fun, but there is no place like home! See you then.

John

WGPO Ratings for Club Members and LCT Players

(This is a continuing blog entry that will be updated from time to time;

it was first posted on September 4, 2010.)

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This blog page shows the current WGPO ratings for club members and others players who have played at local club tournaments of the Lexington (Ky.) Scrabble Club. Our LCT's are rated by the WGPO, the Word Game Players' Organization.

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Membership in the WGPO is free, and, if you are not already a WGPO member, you are encouraged to join this organization, which is the true players' association for Scrabble. WGPO has no member dues and does not charge any ratings fees for WGPO-approved tournament play.

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LEXINGTON (KY.) SCRABBLE CLUB
Club Members’ and LCT Players' WGPO Ratings
September 1, 2010

(in order by players' current WGPO ratings)

DATA FORMAT: Name -- WGPO Member? -- Current Rating, Peak Rating -- Last WGPO-Rated Tournament

• Broering, Marc -- yes -- 1720, 1724 -- Lexington, Ky. LCT, August 22, 2010
• Bush, Steve -- yes -- 1450, 1461 -- Lexington, Ky. LCT, May 23, 2010
• Scott, Will -- no -- 1399, 1417 -- Lexington, Ky. LCT, August 22, 2010
• Moersdorf, David -- no -- 1330, 1330 -- Lexington, Ky. LCT, August 22, 2010
• Brown, David A. -- yes -- 1181, 1181 -- Lexington, Ky. LCT, July 18, 2010
• Schin, Frank -- yes -- 1139, 1139 -- Lexington, Ky. LCT, August 22, 2010
• Yoder, Eric -- no -- 1103, 1103 -- Lexington, Ky. LCT, August 22, 2010
• Yoder, Margaret -- no -- 1068, 1071 -- Lexington, Ky. LCT, August 22, 2010
• Webb, Thomas -- no -- 1020, 1020 -- Lexington, Ky. LCT, August 22, 2010
• Wade, Andrew -- yes -- 1018, 1044 -- Lexington, Ky. LCT, August 22, 2010
• Spangler, John -- yes -- 892, 892 -- Lexington, Ky. LCT, August 22, 2010
• Wade, Brad -- no -- 861, 861 -- Lexington, Ky. LCT, June 27, 2010
• Pozgay, Margaret -- yes -- 856, 863 -- Lexington, Ky. LCT, August 22, 2010
• Zitzman, Brandon -- no -- 727, 727 -- Lexington, Ky. LCT, June 27, 2010
• King, Betty -- yes -- 670, 695 -- Lexington, Ky. LCT, August 22, 2010
• Hatton, Janice -- yes -- 658, 658 -- Lexington, Ky. LCT, August 22, 2010
• Bledsoe, Victoria -- yes -- 603, 657 -- Lexington, Ky. LCT, August 22, 2010
• Webb, Susanna -- no -- 550, 552 -- Lexington, Ky. LCT, August 22, 2010
• Webb, Sarah -- no -- 500, 500 -- Lexington, Ky. LCT, August 22, 2010
• Carman, Andrea --yes -- 496, 504 -- Lexington, Ky. LCT, August 22, 2010
• Scheeline, Janet -- no -- 456, 500 -- Lexington, Ky. LCT, July 18, 2010
• Coovert, Cheryl -- yes -- 448, 448 -- Lexington, Ky. LCT, June 27, 2010
  
  
  
  

Survey on Club Session for Sunday, September 5

Hello, from Alpharetta, GA, north of Atlanta, where I am playing in my second Labor Day Weekend tourney here -- 2o games over the weekend. Last year there were 36 players; this year 70!

Sorry that getting things caught up Thursday to get out of town and travelling on Friday delayed my getting this survey up and an e-mail out to you. A holiday weekend may make attendance small for this Sunday at club, but those of you who wish to get together and play should certainly do so.

Here are the responses so far, as of Sunday, September 5, at 3:10 a.m., on today's club session --

• 1 WILL be attending club on Sunday, September 5: Jan
• 2 will NOT be attending club on Sunday, September 5: Betty, John, Victoria
• 2 are UNSURE about attending club on Sunday, September 5: Eric, Margaret

If you haven't let me know already, please respond by leaving a comment to this blog entry OR by e-mailing me directly at JMSinKY@aol.com . I have my notebook computer and my iPhone here with me in Georgia.

Remember our local club tournament this month will be on Sunday, September 26. Have you indicated whether you will be attending or not on the blog post about the September LCT?

Hope all of you have a great holiday weekend!

John

September LCT on Sunday, September 26

Our monthly local club tournament for September will be held on Sunday, September 26, from 3:00 p.m. to around 9:00 p.m. at our regular meeting location, Perkins Family Restaurant, 2401 Richmond Road, Lexington. John Spangler will direct our September LCT.

Beginning with this month's LCT, these tourneys will only be rated as WGPO events. Because we will not have to include NASPA's participation fees in the entry fee, the cost to play in our LCT's will now be $10. Players will no longer have to join NASPA to participate in our LCT's. WGPO does not require individuals to be WGPO members in order to play at tournaments that it rates but encourages them to join; there are no membership dues for WGPO. You can join WGPO at its website, http://www.wordgameplayers.org/join .

The format will continue to be a five-round tourney, including a meal break at Perkins, with pairings and prize structure determined by the tournament director in light of the number of players participating.

WGPO fully rates local club tournaments. Seedings will be determined by players' WGPO ratings, with NASPA ratings used if the player has no WGPO rating.

Club members are asked to indicate whether or not they will plan on attending our September 26 LCT by leaving a comment to this blog entry or e-mailing John at JMSinKY@aol.com . Here are the responses received so far, as of Saturday, September 25, at 10:30 p.m. EDT --

• 14 will be able to attend: Andrea Carmen, Cheryl Coovert, Betty King, Dave Moersdorf (TN), Dick McHugh (TN), Eric Yoder, Frank Schin (TN), Janny Scheeline, John Spangler (directing), Kelly McKenzie (NKy) Margaret Yoder, Susie Pozgay, Victoria Bledsoe, Will Scott
• 3 will NOT be able to attend: David Brown (off in Iowa at college), Jan Hatton (back in AZ until spring), Marc Broering
• 0 are unsure about attending:

This month's LCT is open to club members and to anyone else who wishes to come to play. Under WGPO tournament policy, LCT's may be restricted just to club members as they were originally structured to be, and there well may be months when our LCT will be limited to club members if we are having an annual members-only club tournament or holding the event at some other venue, for example, a member's home as a cookout or pot luck. Individuals who are not regular club members should contact the tournament director at the above e-mail address by no later than 5 p.m. on Saturday, September 25, if they want to play in our September LCT.

There were seventeen players in our August local club tournament.

John Spangler
Club Director

Club, Aug. 29 2010

There were 6 attendees on the 29th and we played four rounds. I did not inquire about bingoEs in the last round, so I may have missed a few. (We had a discussion about that word - both BINGOES and BINGOS are valid, but if you want to BINGO with that plural you have to use the E!)

NAME     FINISH     SPREAD
Betty       3 - 1       +278
Jan         3 - 1       +130
Loren       3 - 1       +118
Janet       2 - 2      -267
Victoria   1 - 3       +21
Cheryl     0 - 4      -272

BINGOES

Betty    SU(L)LIES     61
           AEROBES     69
           FEDORAS     74
           TOADIES     75

Jan     NESTING     74

Victoria     EASTERN     81
             UNCANNY     74

Cheryl       BANDIE(S)

Surveys for Sunday, Aug. 29 and for Sept. LCT

Club members are asked to indicate whether or not they plan on being at our club session on Sunday, August 29, by leaving their response as a comment to this blog entry OR by e-mailing John at JMSinKY@aol.com .

The responses so far about our Sunday, August 29 club session, as of Saturday, August 28, 2010, at 1:00 a.m., are:

• 4 will be able to attend: Betty, Jan, Janny, Victoria
• 5 will NOT be able to attend: Eric, John, Margaret, Will, Steve
• ? is unsure about attending:

I will not be at club this week and will be off traveling for the first two Sundays in September (tournaments in Atlanta and Albuquerque). In September, I will be directing our local club tournament; it will need to be held on either Sunday, September 19, or Sunday, September 26. When you respond about club this week, please also indicate if you could attend an LCT on those two dates and which of them you would prefer. Here are the responses so far on this, as of Monday, August 31, 2010, at 12:30 p.m.:

• 4 can attend an LCT on Sunday, September 19: Janny, John (directing), Victoria, Will
• 2 CANNOT attend an LCT on Sunday, September 19: Cheryl, Steve
• 1 PREFERS an LCT on Sunday, September 19: Will
• ? is unsure about attending an LCT on Sunday, September 19:

and

• 6 can attend an LCT on Sunday, September 26: Betty, Cheryl, Janny, John (directing), Victoria, Will
• 1 CANNOT attend an LCT on Sunday, September 26: Steve
• 2 PREFER an LCT on Sunday, September 26: Betty, Cheryl
• ? is unsure about attending an LCT on Sunday, September 26:

At last Sunday's we had 17 players, a new record! I asked the folks there if there was any objection to dropping NASPA sanctioning of our LCT's, and no opposition was voiced. NASPA requires a 50 cents per game "participation fee" (the same as for its open, fully rated tournaments) for rating LCT's that are only rated at 1/3 of full rating. By dropping NASPA sanctioning of our LCT's, we will be able to lower the entry fee. We will continue to have our LCT's rated by WGPO, which does not charge a rating fee and rates LCT's fully. Both Steve and I agree on doing this. So, beginning with our September LCT, these tourneys will only be rated by WGPO.

Have a good time at club Sunday! See you in a few weeks.

John

Results of 8/22 LCT

We had a record attendance for Sunday's LCT, with 17 participants. Way to go, everyone! A special thanks, too, for those that traveled from out of town for the event: Frank Schin and David Moersdorf from Gatlinburg TN, Marc Broering and Rob Kearn from Louisville, and Susie Pozgay from Leitchfield. Also it was great to welcome 14-year-old Sarah Webb, who played in her first tournament (and got her first win as well); congratulations!

Sorry this is a few days late, but below are prizewinners for each division.

The full results and NASPA rating changes are at the following link (I'm still awaiting WGPO numbers):
http://www.scrabbleplayers.org/tourneys/2010/lxt/08

Attendees:
Division A
1st Place: Marc Broering, 4-1, +740, $25
2nd Place: Frank Schin, 3-2, +53, $15
3rd Place: Eric Yoder, 2-3, -117, $6
High game: (tie) Rob Kearn and Will Scott, 441, $2.50 each

Division B
1st Place: Margaret Yoder, 4-1, +167, $25
2nd Place: Thomas Webb, 3-2, +215, $15
3rd Place: John Spangler, 3-2, -159, $6
High game: Andrew Wade, 464, $5

Division C
1st Place: Jan Hatton, 5-0, +178, $20
2nd Place: Susanna Webb, 3-2, +109, $10
3rd Place: Victoria Bledsoe, 2.5-2.5, +85, $7.50
High game: Andrea Carman, 375, $5

Thanks again to everyone that participated. Hope to see you next time!

Added note (8/27/2010, 7:45 p.m.): The WGPO ratings for this LCT are now available, too. Here is a link to that web page. JMS

No me for next tourney

I won't be free this coming weekend, so I won't be playing in the local tournament Aug. 22. I do need to get a bag of equipment back to the Yoders somehow though.

Survey on Sunday, 8/15 Club Session & 8/22 LCT

Hello, all, from St. Petersburg, FL -- my last day here; tomorrow I drive to Hilton Head, SC, for a weekend AWG (Alfred's Word Game -- you know, the game whose name rhymes with "dabble") tourney there.

Club members are asked to indicate whether or not they plan on being at our club session on Sunday, August 15, by leaving a response as a comment to this blog entry OR by e-mailing John (Have laptop; will travel.) at JMSinKY@aol.com .

The responses so far, as of Saturday, August 14, 2010 at 6:15 a.m., are:

1 will be able to attend: Victoria
9 will not be able to attend: Andrea, Eric, Jan, Janny, John, Margaret, Susie, Will, Steve
1 is unsure about attending: Andy

Additionally, we are having our August local club tournament on Sunday, August 22, with Steve Bush directing (I get to play!), and here are the responses so far, as of Thurs, August 19, 2010, at 10:23 a.m.:

15 will be able to attend: Andrea, Andy, Betty, David Moersdorf (Knoxville/Gatlinburg), Eric, Frank Schin (Knoxville/Gatlinburg), Jan, John, Marc Broering (Louisville), Margaret, Rob Kearn (Louisville), Steve (directing), Susie, Victoria, Will
1 will not be able to attend: Cheryl
0 are unsure about attending:

Our five-game local club tourney on Sunday, August 22, will again run from 3 p.m. to around 9 p.m. (meal break at Perkins after Round 3), with a $12 entry fee (pairing system and prize structure to be determined), and be dually rated by NASPA and WGPO (NASPA membership is required to play; WGPO does not require membership to play).

Have fun at club Sunday! I get home late Monday night or early Tuesday morning.

John

Club meeting, Aug. 8

There were 10 members attending club today. Six stayed for the fourth round.

NAME ...   W/L ...   SPREAD
Will     1-2,    +199
Bingoes: EXUDING, SALUTER, REVISAL, CABILDOS, SANITARY
Victoria   1-3,   -487
Margaret    2-1    +143
Bingoes: CALIPER, MING(L)ES, DIET(A)RY
David    3-1    +404
Bingoes: ReTUNIN(G),RO(A)STINg, RI(V)ETINg, (S)PONGED
Jan      1-3    -217
Janny    1-2    -150
Betty    3-1    +320
Bingoes: EMBLEMS, DRIVERS, OVERDUES, ENTASES, FORESTER [and FARSIDE? not sure..]
Eric      2-1    +165
Bingoes: (D)EFEATOr, THRE(A)tEN, BAITERS
Susie      3-1    -40
Cheryl    1-3    -352

Would you believe the manager at the restaurant left early, and locked the office door, so they couldn't turn down the music for us?

Aug. 1 Results; Survey for Sunday, Aug. 8

Greetings from Valdosta, GA; next stop, St. Petersburg, FL.

There were seven of us playing at club last Sunday, with Linda there, too!

Here are results and bingos played --

1. David 4-0, +258
2. Eric 3-1, +358
3. Betty, 2-2, +93
4. Margaret 2-2, +22 (Round 1 bye)
5. Susie 2-2, -99 (Round 4 bye)
6. John 2-2, -185 (Round 2 bye)
7. Jan 1-3, -177 (Round 3 bye)

1. Eric -- 7 bingoes -- UNRESTED 86, IN(S)TEAD 80, MANGLES 76, PART(K)(E) 70, UNSEALS 69, ROAR(I)NG 68, INLIERS 64
2. David -- 6 bingoes -- AV(E)NGES 78, ROASTED 70, GROTTOS 68, (C)OVERING 66, PIL(L)ARS 66, THINNEST 61
3. Betty -- 4 bingoes -- LEAVENS 80, OUTGAIN 76, OREGANO 66, SA(R)DINES 61
4. Margaret -- 2 bingoes -- NICKELS 79, TOTALI(N)G 62
5. Jan -- 2 bingoes -- RANTERS 73, PASTING 70
6. John -- 1 bingo -- S(I)NN(E)RS 65

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Club members are asked to indicate whether or not they plan on being at our club session on Sunday, August 8, by leaving response as a comment to this blog entry OR by e-mailing John at JMSinKY@aol.com .

The responses so far, as of Sunday, August 8, 2010, at 3:30 a.m., are:

4 will be able to attend: Cheryl, Jan, Janny, Victoria

2 will not be able to attend: John, Steve

3 is unsure about attending: Andrea (probably not), Andy, Will (probably attending)

A reminder that our August local club tournament will be held on Sunday, August 22. Be sure to mark your calendars and plan on coming.

Have a good time on Sunday! I won't be there this week or next while I am travelling during my time off.

John

Attendance Survey for Sunday, August 1

Club members are asked to indicate whether or not they plan on being at our club session on this coming Sunday, August 1, by leaving a response as a comment to this blog entry OR by e-mailing John at JMSinKY@aol.com .

The responses so far, as of July 31, 2010, at 3:30 p.m., are:

7 will be able to attend: Betty, Eric, Jan, John, Linda, Margaret, Susie
2 will not be able to attend: Andrea, Victoria
3 are unsure about attending: Cheryl (may come late), Janny, Will (unlikely)

A reminder that our August local club tournament will be held on Sunday, August 22, in place of a regular club session. It will run from 3 p.m. to around 9 p.m. and be in the same format as our prior LCT's. Be sure to mark your calendars and plan on coming.

There were THIRTEEN people at club last Sunday. Hope you can make it this week!

John and Steve

Club session results, July 25

We had a total of 13 attendees at club today, the most in (my) recent memory, hooray! Below are the results through 3 games, although some of us stayed around for an extra 1-2 more. Please let me know if any corrections are needed. Thanks to everyone that attended!

Steve, 3-0, +443
Andy, 3-0, +59
Betty, 2-1, +126
Margaret, 2-1, +86
Andrea, 2-1, +53
Will, 2-1, -82
Cheryl, 1-1, -79
Victoria, 1-2, +82
Eric, 1-2, -70
Marian (sp?), 0-1, -128
Linda, 0-1, -132
Janny, 0-3, -153
David, 0-3, -201

Attendance Survey for Sunday, July 25

Club members are asked to indicate whether or not they plan on being at our club session on Sunday, July 25, by leaving a response as a comment to this blog entry OR by e-mailing John at JMSinKY@aol.com .

The responses so far, as of July 24, 2010, at 9:00 p.m., are:

9 will be able to attend: Andrea, Betty, Cheryl, David, Eric, Margaret, Margaret's mother (who may play), Victoria, Will, Steve
2 will not be able to attend: Jan, John
1 is unsure about attending: Janny

A reminder that our August local club tournament will be held on Sunday, August 22. Be sure to mark your calendars and plan on coming.

Here are links to web postings of results to our dually-rated LCT last Sunday --

• 7/18 LCT results on NASPA's website
• 7/18 LCT results on Cross-Tables.com
• 7/18 LCT results on WGPO's website

Hope that you can make it to club on Sunday!

John and Steve

Local Club Tournament on July 18

With our July 18 local club tournament drawing near, we have moved its information to the front of the line into this new post.

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LOCAL CLUB TOURNEY ON SUNDAY, JULY 18

Responses as of 7/18/2010, at 11:15 a.m.

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Tourney Format: LCT runs from 3 p.m. to around 9 p.m. -- 5 games, with a meal break at Perkins, after Round 3; pairing system and prize structure to be determined, rated by both NASPA and WGPO; $12 entry fee, payable at site (includes $2.50 NASPA participation fee; WGPO has no ratings fees) -- NASPA membership ($30/yr. or $15/6 mos.) required to play; WGPO membership not required to play but membership is free and players are encouraged to join. -- LCT's are one-third rated by NASPA and fully rated by WGPO.

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8 will be playing: Betty, Eric, Jan H., Marc, Margaret, Rob, Susie, Victoria (with John directing and not playing)

3 will not be attending: Andrea, Cheryl, Will

2 are unsure if attending: Janny S., Steve

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Please indicate your attendance status by leaving a comment to this blog entry or by e-mailing one of the club directors at the e-mail addresses given in the right sidebar near the top. It helps us to know approximately how many will be attending and gives people an idea of who will be there.

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We had ten playing at the June LCT; it would be great to have that many or more at the one this month.

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Any suggestions for secondary prize(s)? Here are a couple that we are considering: (1) high play using the most letters in LEXINGTON; (2) highest blankless bingo. How about some ideas from you? We have been awarding these secondary prizes to players who did not win prize money from their place finishes.

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Our local club tournament next month will be on Sunday, August 22.

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John and Steve

Attendance Survey for Sunday, July 11

Club members are asked to indicate whether or not they plan on being at our club session on Sunday, July 11, by leaving a response as a comment to this blog entry OR by e-mailing John at JMSinKY@aol.com .

Here are the responses so far, as of July 11, at 7:40 a.m.:

8 will be able to attend: Andy, Betty, Cheryl, Jan H., John, Loren, Margaret, Victoria
4 will not be able to attend: Eric, Janny S., Steve, Will
1 is unsure about attending: Andrea (probably will attend)

Also, if you have not yet indicated your likely attendance or nonattendance at our local club tournament on Sunday, July 18, please go to the blog entry about that event and leave a comment there OR include a response about that, too, in your e-mail reply. Four players [now six, as of July 11, at 7:40 a.m.] have so far replied that they plan on being at the July LCT. In June, we ended up with ten playing in two divisions.

The August LCT will be held on Sunday, August 22.

Hope to see you at club on Sunday!

John and Steve

P.S. In case you are wondering why you occasionally see that a comment has been deleted by a blog administrator (Cheryl, John, or Steve), we have been getting a number of posts written in Chinese (which none of us speak or read) that may well be spam. We do not screen blog entries or comments before they are posted. This is your blog, club members. Feel free to post news, tourney reports, strategy questions or points, comments, or suggestions here. We are glad to have your contributions to the blog.

July 4 Club Session; July and August LCT's

We were unsure about whether to have a club session on Sunday, July 4, but several of you expressed a desire to play (we Scrabblers are enthusiastic about playing!), so club will be held, although neither John nor Steve will be there. (You can give John a call at home if you have a director's call to be decided.) Here are those who have responded that they will be there --

CLUB SESSION ON SUNDAY, JULY 4

Responses as of 7/3/2010, at 11:30 p.m.

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5 will be attending: Betty, Cheryl (may be late), Jan H., Margaret, Victoria

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Our first two local club tournaments in 2010 were very well received, and we have decided to try to hold an LCT once a month. Dates for the next two LCT's will be Sunday, July 18 (John directing), and Sunday, August 22 (Steve directing). We'll do the attendance survey on the August tourney closer to that event, but here is the information for the July LCT --

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LOCAL CLUB TOURNEY ON SUNDAY, JULY 18

Attendance responses are now at a more recent blog post. linked here.

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Tourney Format: LCT runs from 3 p.m. to around 9 p.m. -- 5 games, with a meal break at Perkins, after Round 3; pairing system and prize structure to be determined, rated by both NASPA and WGPO; $12 entry fee, payable at site (includes $2.50 NASPA participation fee; WGPO has no ratings fees) -- NASPA membership ($30/yr. or $15/6 mos.) required to play; WGPO membership not required to play but membership is free and players are encouraged to join. -- LCT's are one-third rated by NASPA and fully rated by WGPO.

..

We had ten playing at the June LCT; it would be great to have that many or more at the one this month.

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Have a great Independence Day!

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John and Steve

Steve Bush, Director, congratulations!

Mary Rhoades, the North American Scrabble Players Association's Director of Club and Tournaments, acting upon my recommendation as his mentor for his apprenticeship, has e-mailed this morning confirming our club member, Steve Bush, as a full club and tournament director for NASPA.

Congratulations, Steve, and thanks for your willingness to go through the process of director certification!

Steve is now officially as well a joint director for our club. His efforts as a joint director in coordinating and conducting club sessions and in holding local club tournaments and, at some point, open tournaments will be a great help to me and a great benefit to the club.

It is now six months since I became sole director of our club by default; I was an assistant/co-director who got automatically "promoted" to sole director by the unexpected resignation of my predecessor. Given my responsibilities as primary caregiver for my mother who is 91 years old and nearly ten years into Alzheimer's disease, I am a good bit limited in the time that I can devote to club and in my ability to be at club. I appreciate very much that Steve has become a director to help in running our club. Both of us would very much welcome any other member who wants to join us as club directors by going through NASPA certification.

Our Lexington Scrabble Club is very much a group effort, and that's the way it should be. The more each club member gets involved in club and helps out in such ways as promoting the club to friends and acquaintances, by helping set up for local club tournaments or straightening up afterwards, by coming to club sessions to play, and by responding to session attendance and other surveys the stronger and more active our club will become. Cheryl Coovert deserves special recognition and our gratitude for her fine work as our club webmaster and blog administrator and for always helping out whenever she can.

My thanks to all of you for making being your club director (now one of your two club directors) such an enjoyable and rewarding activity. It is really good to be playing Alfred Butts' word game with you guys and gals on a recurring basis. You are a wonderful group of people.

John Spangler

Results of 6/27 Local Club Tournament

Yesterday we had our second Local Club Tournament of the year. Like the first tourney, this one is rated by both NASPA and WGPO. We had a total of 10 players, in 2 divisions of 4 and 6 players each, playing 5 games total.

I will post links to both the NASPA and WGPO results pages for this tournament when they are available.

Below are the results. Note that the ratings shown are projected NASPA ratings from the Director! tournament management software program and reflect a fully-rated tournament; since this is an LCT the projected rating change is actually only 1/3 the number shown. The correct number should be on Cross-tables when I get the results uploaded to the NASPA website.

LCT27June2010Results after Round 5 of 5
Division A
Rank Name OldR Wins Sprd PerfR NewR
1. Marc Broering 1724 4.0 248 1656 1721 First place, $20
2. Will Scott 1413 3.0 126 1475 1417 Second place, $10
3. Andrew Wade 1023 2.0 155 1246 1036 High win, $4
4. Margaret Yoder 1071 1.0 -529 0818 1057

Division B
Rank Name OldR Wins Sprd PerfR NewR
1. Brad Wade 0843 4.0 460 1042 0861 First place, $20
2. Victoria Bledsoe 0642 3.0 27 0770 0656 Second place, $14
3. Brandon Zitzman 0723 3.0 -23 0752 0726 Third place, $10
4. Cheryl Coovert 0440 2.0 -194 0546 0448 High win, $7
5. Andrea Carman 0500 2.0 -252 0532 0504
6. Betty King 0675 1.0 -18 0174 0642

Thanks to everyone that participated, especially Marc Broering and Brandon Zitzman who drove down from Louisville and northern Kentucky, respectively. And a special huge thank you to John Spangler for mentoring me and making sure my first tournament as a director went smoothly. Thanks, John!

Here is a link to NASPA's web page for the results of this LCT with its rating changes.

Local Club Tournament Sunday, June 27

In case you haven't heard, our second Local Club Tournament (LCT) of 2010 is this coming Sunday, June 27. Like the first one last month, it will be rated by both the North American Scrabble Players Association (NASPA) and the Word Game Players' Organization (WGPO).

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The LCT will run from 3 p.m. until around 9 p.m.

Five games; pairing system and prize structure to be determined.

Entry fee of $12 (including NASPA-required $2.50 participation fee).
(WGPO does not charge a rating/participation fee.)

This tourney will be dually rated by NASPA and WGPO.

NASPA membership ($30/yr) is required to play

at a NASPA-rated LCT.
WGPO membership (free) is not required to play

at a WGPO-rated LCT.

Local club tournaments are one-third rated by NASPA

and fully rated by WGPO.

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A summary of club members' responses on attendance at this LCT is given below. Members may indicate their attendance response by e-mailing Steve at bush3262@yahoo.com or John at JMSinKY@aol.com, or by posting a comment to this post. As additional responses are received, they will be added into the summary. (Responses are current through June 26, 2010, at 9:48 p.m.)

12 will be able to attend: Andrea, Andy, Betty, Brandon Z., Cheryl, John, Marc, Margaret, Steve (directing), Wade, Will, Victoria
3 will not be able to attend: Eric, Jan H., Janny S.
? are unsure about attending:

This local club tournament will be in place of our normal club session on June 27 and will be conducted in accordance with NASPA Official Tournament Rules.

Survey about July 4 Club Session and LCT in July

Responses last updated June 25, 2010, at 10:52 a.m.

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Rather than have this bump Steve's more important post about this Sunday's local club tournament, I am backdating this one so that it will appear after that post. Pretty tricky, am I not? lol

Independence Day this year falls on a Sunday. I really rather doubt that any of you will want to spend that afternoon playing Scrabble. Neither Steve nor I will be there. So unless I hear from more than one of you that you will definitely be at a club session on July 4, I am going to cancel meeting on that date. Here are your responses on that (you need only respond if you are committing to be at Perkins on Sunday afternoon, July 4) --

MEMBERS COMMITTING TO A JULY 4 CLUB SESSION

Margaret is likely to come if there is a club session.

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For July, the options that your directors are giving you for a local club tournament are either Sunday, July 18, or Sunday, July 25. Here are your responses about those two dates (an asterisk means that date is the one the you prefer; no asterisk means no preference betweeen the two dates):

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JULY LCT ON SUNDAY, JULY 18?

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2 would be able to attend on July 18 -- John, Margaret

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1 would NOT be able to attend on July 18 -- Will

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1 is unsure whether he could attend on July 18 -- Steve

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JULY LCT ON SUNDAY, JULY 25?

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1 would be able to attend on July 25 -- John

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1 would NOT be able to attend on July 25 -- Margaret

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2 are unsure whether they could attend on July 25 -- Steve, Will (probably would attend)

So what I need to hear back from you about are the following four points. You may either send me an e-mail at JMSinKY@aol.com or leave a comment to this blog entry with your reponses. Please tell me --

1. Whether you want a club session on July 4 and commit to being there. (Only need to respond if YES)


2. Whether you are able to attend an LCT on Sunday, July 18. (YES, NO, or UNSURE)


3. Whether you are able to attend an LCT on Sunday, July 25 (YES, NO, or UNSURE)


4. If you answer yes to both Points 2 and 3, which of the two dates you prefer more, if you have a preference (Only need to respond with JULY 18 or JULY 25, if you have a preference on one or the other of those dates.)

If you have not already indicated that you are or are not playing at this Sunday's local club tournament, please go to the post about it and leave a comment with your response about the LCT or e-mail Steve or me at the e-mail addresses given there.

Thanks! Would be great to see some "strangers" this Sunday for the tournament. Steve is directing the LCT, and I get to play! After he successfully directs this tournament, I will recommend that Steve be upgraded from apprentice director to full director. It would be great if one or two (or more) of you took the director's test, too, and joined us. Our club will function even better if there are several directors in the team!

John

Responses about Attending Club on Sunday, June 20

Last updated June 20, 2010, at 9:33 a.m.

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Club members are asked to indicate whether or not they plan on being at our club session on Sunday, June 20, by either e-mailing John at JMSinKy@aol.com or by leaving a response as a comment to this blog entry.

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Here are the responses so far:

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0 will be able to attend:

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10 will not be able to attend: Andrea, Andy, Eric, Jan H., Janny S., John, Margaret, Steve, Victoria, Will

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0 is unsure about attending:

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Also, if you have not yet indicated your likely attendance or nonattendance at our local club tournament on Sunday, June 27, please include a response about that, too, in your e-mail, or go to the blog entry about that event and leave a comment there. Eight people so far are planning on being there for that LCT ... that would mean two divisions and more prizewinners! :-)

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Thanks!

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John

Finally, here are the June 13 club results. I forgot to record everyone's results at club, so I had to reconstruct them, and not everyone kept their sheets. I got most of the important data, though.

Five people attended. We played in the main dining room at Perkins, because the A/C wasn't working there, so the paying customers were in the auxiliary dining room. Also, they couldn't lower the volume of the music in the main dining room. Not ideal conditions, but hey, they let us play there without a fee.

Results:

Victoria: 3-0, +140
Andy: 2-1, +???
Will: 2-1, +60
Betty: 1-2, -44
Andrea: 0-4, -??? (she had a two-point loss to Betty)

The play of the day was in game one against me (Will). On my third turn, I played PHOTO at J5 (5J? horizontally) for 41 points, leaving the obvious S-hook in the triple lane, but hey, it was 41 points. Victoria then made a more difficult, less obvious play: LARYNX, down from the triple, hooking the N to PHOTO and with the Y on the double-letter score. 71 points. Her next three plays were for 36, 44 and 41, and she controlled the game. Well done!

Will

Responses about Attending Club on Sunday, June 13

Last updated June 12, 2010, at 10:52 p.m.

Club members are asked to indicate whether or not they plan on being at our club session on Sunday, June 13, by either e-mailing John at JMSinKY@aol.com or by leaving a response as a comment to this blog entry.

Here are the responses so far:

2 will be able to attend: Betty, Victoria

5 will not be able to attend: Cheryl, Eric, John, Margaret, Steve

1 is unsure about attending: Andrea (50-50 chance)

Last Sunday (June 6) six members played at the club session -- Betty, Jan H., Janny S., Madeline, Steve, and Victoria.

Also, if you have not yet indicated your likely attendance or nonattendance at our local club tournament on Sunday, June 27, please include a response about that, too, in your e-mail, or go to the blog entry about that event and leave a comment there. Eight people so far are planning on being there for that LCT -- that would mean two divisions and more prizewinners! :-)

Thanks!

John

Responses about Attending Club on Sunday, June 6

Last Updated June 6, 2010, at 9:08 a.m.

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Club members are asked to indicate whether or not they plan on being at our club session on Sunday, June 6 by either e-mailing John at JMSinKY@aol.com or by leaving a response as a comment to this blog entry.

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Here are the replies so far:

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4 will be able to attend: Betty, Jan H., Steve, Victoria

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5 will not be able to attend: Andrea, Cheryl, Eric, John, Margaret

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0 are unsure about attending:

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Also, if you have not yet indicated your likely attendance or nonattendance at our local club tournament on Sunday, June 27, please include a response about that, too, in your e-mail, or go to the blog entry about that event and leave a comment there. Eight people so far are planning on being there for that LCT -- that would mean two divisions and more prizewinners! :-)

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Thanks!

WGPO Ratings for LSC LCT on May 23

Brian Galebach, the Ratings Committee chair of the Word Game Players' Organization has posted on that organization's listserv the WGPO's ratings for our local club tournament held on May 23, 2010. Here are those ratings --

(Format: Finish -- Seed -- Name -- OldR -- Wins, Spread -- PerfR -- NewR)

1 -- 1 -- Bush, Steve -- 1461 -- 4.0, +496 -- 1134 -- 1450
2 -- 2 -- Wade, Andrew -- 1019 -- 4.0, +408 -- 1298 -- 1031
3 -- 3 -- King, Betty -- 666 -- 3.0, +71 -- 968 -- 695
4 -- 6 -- Bledsoe, Victoria -- 000 -- 2.0, -215 -- 642 -- 642
5 -- 5 -- Carman, Andrea -- 000 -- 1.0, -270 -- 500 -- 500
6 -- 4 -- Hatton, Janice -- 503 -- 1.0, -490 -- 322 -- 489

Unlike NASPA, the results for WGPO-approved local club tournaments are rated for that organization at full value, not at one-third value.

Cross-Tables.com now has new player pages up for Victoria Bledsoe and Andrea Carman. That site has elected only to carry tournament information and to show results and ratings data for NASPA-sanctioned tournaments. WGPO will be posting its tournament calendar and the results and ratings for its approved tournament on the WGPO website.

There were seven of us at club yesterday, Sunday, May 30, and three rounds were played. Here are the results --

Steve, 2-0, +250
Andy, 2-0, +64
Eric, 2-1, -131
Margaret, 1-1, +139
Will, 1-2, -20
Jan H., 1-2, -97
Janny S., 0-3, -205

Our next club session will be Sunday, June 6. Hope to see you then.

Results from May 23 Local Club Tournament

Our first local club tournament in 2010 went really well. Six members played, and the writer of this post directed. He compliments all participants on their adherence to the rules; it was a real pleasure to direct the tourney.

Here are the results and the prize winners:

Format: Name, Win-Loss, Spread -- Old NASPA rating, New NASPA rating, Prize (if any)

---Steve Bush, 4-1, +496 -- 1461, 1457 (first place, $15)
---Andrew Wade, 4-1, +408 -- 1019, 1023 (second place, $12)
---Betty King, 3-2, +71 -- 666, 675 (third place, $10)
---Victoria Bledsoe, 2-3, -215 -- none, 642
---Andrea Carman, 1-4, -270 -- none, 500
---Janice Hatton, 1-4, -490 -- 503, 498

Jan Hatton won High Play (excluding prize finishers) for $8 for playing WINTERS for 81 points.

This was the first tournament for Victoria Bledsoe and Andrea Carman. Congratulations, ladies!

Our tournament is the first local club tournament to be rated by the Word Game Players' Organization (WGPO), and this is also the first tournament to be dually rated by both the North American Scrabble Players Association (NASPA) and the WGPO. The NASPA cross-table report for our tourney may be found at http://www.scrabbleplayers.org/tourneys/2010/lxt/05/030.shtml . Information on the WGPO ratings will be added to this post when that information becomes available.

Director! tournament management software was used at this tournament. This was the first time that I have used this program in running a tourney, and I could not have been more pleased. The program is easily learned and has an excellent tutorial and detailed, readily understandable help material. Director! uses a familiar drop-down menu graphical user interface; there is no extensive list of commands to learn. Hats off to Marc Levesque for authoring this fine software program and making it available to Scrabble tournament directors free of charge!

Special thanks to our club's apprentice director Steve Bush, for helping out at the tourney and for developing the wall chart printout used at the tourney and putting together a pre-tourney help document for first-time tourney players. As the final part of his apprenticeship, Steve will be the primary director for our next local club tournament.

Club members are asked to respond by e-mail to me at JMSinKY@aol.com or by blog entry comment about whether or not they would be interested in having another local club tournament on Sunday, June 27. Here is a link to the blog entry reporting the responses to holding an LCT on that date.

John Spangler, Director
Lexington Scrabble Club

Responses about Holding a LCT on Sunday, June 27

Last updated on June 5, 2010, at 7:28 p.m.

This blog entry is to report responses from club members about the possibility of holding our next local club tournament on Sunday, June 27, from 3:00 p.m. to around 9:00 p.m.

The tourney format would be the same as our LCT on May 23 -- five games with a meal break after Round 3; $12 entry fee, including $2.50 NASPA participation fee; dual rating by both NASPA and WGPO. NASPA membership ($30 for one year or $15 for six months) is required for rating by NASPA. WGPO does not require players to join to play in a WGPO-rated tourney, and there is no WGPO-rating fee imposed.

Club members may respond by e-mailing John at JMSinKY@aol.com or by leaving a comment to this blog entry. Responses will be transferred into the summary given below as they are received.

8 would attend an LCT on June 27: Andy, Betty, Cheryl, John, Margaret, Steve, Will, Victoria

2 would not be able to attend an LCT on June 27: Eric, Jan H.

0 are unsure about attending an LCT on June 27:

Responses about Attending Club on Sunday, May 30

Last Updated May 29, 2010, at 11:06 p.m.

Our next scheduled club session is on Sunday, May 30, during Memorial Day weekend. Club members are asked to indicate whether or not they plan on being at club on that day by either e-mailing John at JMSinKY@aol.com or by giving their response as a comment to this blog entry.

Here are the responses so far:

7 will be able to attend: Andy, Eric, Jan H., Margaret, Steve (possibly), Victoria (possibly), Will

3 will not be able to attend: Betty, Cheryl, John

0 are unsure about attending:

LSC Local Club Tournament, Sunday, May 23

We are very pleased to announce that our local club tournament on Sunday, May 23, will be rated by both the North American Scrabble Players Association (NASPA) and the Word Game Players' Organization (WGPO). This will be the first local club tournament to be rated by WGPO, which held its inaugural fully-rated open tournament at Bloomington, MN, at the beginning of this month.

A summary of club members' responses on attendance at this LCT is given below. Members may indicate their attendance response by e-mailing John at JMSinKY@aol.com or by posting a comment to this post. As additional responses are received, they will be added into the summary.

WHO WILL OR WILL NOT BE ABLE TO ATTEND
THE LOCAL CLUB TOURNAMENT (LCT)
ON SUNDAY, MAY 23
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The LCT will run from 3 p.m. until around 9 p.m.

Five games; pairing system and prize structure to be determined.

Entry fee of $12 (including NASPA-required $2.50 participation fee).

(WGPO does not charge a rating/participation fee.)

This tourney will be dually rated by NASPA and WGPO.

NASPA membership ($30/yr) is required to play at a NASPA-rated LCT.

WGPO membership (free) is not required to play at a WGPO-rated LCT.

Local club tournaments are one-third rated.
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7 will be able to attend: Andrea, Andy, Betty, Jan H., John, Steve, Victoria
5 will not be able to attend: Cheryl, Eric, Marc, Margaret, Will
2 are unsure about attending: Janny S. ("questionable"), Pat ("maybe")

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This local club tournament will be in place of our normal club session on May 23 and will be conducted in accordance with NASPA Official Tournament Rules.

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(Survey results updated through Friday, May 21, at 9:10 a.m.)

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