By Valerie Rhead
ARRESTED FOR PLAYING BRIDGE
Picture the unlikely scenario here in Muskoka where one of our bridge clubs is raided by scores of OPP. Perhaps someone, unfamiliar with bridge, complained that we were gambling illegally. Our players were rounded up, spent six hours in jail and were fined before being released. No, it has never happened here.
But this raid did happen recently in Thailand. A game of bridge was raided after a bogus tip of gambling. All gambling is totally against the law in Thailand and this was part of a crackdown on corruption by the new prime minister. The bridge venue of eight tables in rented space above a restaurant had been running without incident for twenty years. Scores of officers descended upon the club and arrested 32 players, most of whom were retired tourists from around the world, including a Canadian from Quebec.
Thai authorities speculated that, although no money was found, the club distributed winnings later based on the travelling scores. The authorities seized the cards, the computer and the binders with weekly results. Part of the problem appears to be that the club was playing with “private cards”, a no-no. Card players possessing more than two decks of cards are allowed to play only with government issued cards according to the 1935 “Playing Cards Act”. It is a Thai law similar to Canada’s sale of cigarettes which requires an excise tax seal on each carton.
The players were fined US$135 and their passports taken from them. The president of Thailand’s bridge league travelled to the resort to explain to the authorities how bridge is played “a brain game – a bit like chess” he said! Although all charges eventually were dropped, since many of the players were tourists, travel plans were turned upside down awaiting the decision. Funnily enough, a photograph that accompanied the article in the April 2016 edition of the ACBL “Bridge Bulletin” showed a room full of police officers and several tables of bridge players playing merrily along not realizing, I’m sure, that they were soon going to be carted off to jail.
PLEASE NOTE that my email has changed. If you wish to promote an activity in your bridge group, send the information to [email protected] and I will include it in this column.
TOURNAMENT TRAIL: Silver Points, Garson (Sudbury)
May 27-29, 2016 Garson Community Centre, Garson, (Church Street)
Your opportunity for fun and to earn silver points.
Pairs Friday 1 & 7pm; Saturday 10:30am & 3pm; Sunday Swiss Teams 10am
For complete details, read the tournament flyer at http://tournaments.acbl.org/schedule.php?tourid=24032
Stratification based on average masterpoints:
Open A = 1500+, B = 500-1500, C = 0-500, also 299 game and 50 newcomer game
HUNTSVILLE DUPLICATE BRIDGE CLUB
Games for the Huntsville Club are Tuesdays, 7:15pm, Trinity United Church 33 Main Street. Please arrive 15 minutes early. Contact Susan [email protected] for information and partnerships.
NOTE: Plan for our Spring Party of Dinner and Bridge Tuesday, June 21. Dinner at Tall Trees and bridge back at Trinity United. Also, there will be NO GAME on June 14 due to a function needing the activity hall.
The following winners are for Tuesday, May 24 with 8 tables playing a Mitchell movement. North-South 1. Beryl Clayson and Paul Clayson; 2/3. Mary Whitehead and Kel Andresen; 2/3. Fay MacDonald and Yvonne Cox; 4. Marilyn Waltho and John Waltho; East-West 1. Liz Barnes and Bob Schives; 2. Val Rhead and Peter Rhead; 3. Art Insley and Don Norman; 4. Susan Marshall and Liz Graham
MUSKOKA DUPLICATE BRIDGE CLUB (Bracebridge)
Games at the Bracebridge Club are at the Knox Presbyterian Church, 120 Taylor Road 7pm Monday evenings. Please arrive 15 minutes before game time. For information or partnerships, call Brian at 705-645-5340 [email protected]
NOTE: Plan for our Spring Party of Dinner and Bridge Monday, June 6. Dinner at the Golf and Curling Club 5pm for 5:30. Bridge back at Knox Presbyterian.
The following winners are from Monday, May 23 with 10 tables playing a Mitchell movement. North-South 1. Betty Fagin and Brian Brocklehurst; 2. Bob Schives and David Bryce; 3. Val Rhead and Peter Rhead; 4. Jean Sinclair and John Sinclair; 5. Kel Andresen and Jim Smith; East-West 1. Kathy Kent and David Kent; 2. Liz Barnes and Lyn Walisser; 3. Ann Cassie and Bruce Cassie; 4. Lorna Wagner and Pat Feaver; 5. Betty Rintoul and Barb Forth
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