Sue and I had both stayed up fairly late on Saturday. We slept late enough so that there was no time for breakfast at a restaurant before the 10:00 starting time for the Super Senior Pairs. Sue let me eat the remaining half of the pastrami Reuben that she had purchased on Friday evening. It had been resting comfortably in our mini-fridge in the interim. Once again I brought a Diet Coke with me to the game to help me stay alert.

The listing in the September Bridge bulletin ...

... matched the one in the tournament's Schedule and Restaurant Guide.

The Super Seniors was scheduled for the Honolulu Suite of the Tapa Tower. The game started at about the expected time, but after the second round, the directors called a halt to the play in our section for an extended period. A few players understood what had happened, and one lady explained it to us. Evidently the monthly Bridge Bulletin, the Schedule and Restaurant Guide, and all other materials that had been printed before the start of the tournament specified a starting time of 10:30. However, the Daily Bulletin had indicated that the event would start at 10:00. Accommodation therefore had to be made for the players who followed the original script.

The Daily Bulletin showed the starting time as 10:00.

Eventually the directors figured out a way to rectify the matter. Everyone was grumbling during the break, but after the movement resumed, I did not hear of any new problems surfacing.

Ann and I finished under 50% for the round, but because of the large number of opportunities that we had squandered, I was somewhat optimistic about our chances of doing well enough in the second session to qualify for the second day. This appeared to me to be the weakest field that I had ever encountered in a national event.

One bizarre opportunity that we did not squander was against two people whom I recognized from their photo in the morning's Daily Bulletin. They were the defending champions from Texas. I was sitting West during this bizarre auction:

The 1NT overcall was not alerted, and so it was apparently a psych. We ended up setting 2♣ three tricks for 800. If South had not interfered, we probably would have reached 3NT, but we might have stopped short. We did on several other hands. We had no chance of finding the best contract, which was 4♥. Ann deserves credit for her decision to double.

I decided to try the Wiki Wiki Market for lunch. I wanted to go over the hands in detail while they were fresh in my mind. The outdoor picnic table was a pretty good place to do that even if it did not offer what I would call “reasonable prices.” Over $20 for a so-so panini, some chips, and a Diet Coke with no table service seemed a tad expensive.

The Wiki Wiki Market reminded me of the food portion of a 7-11, but you could also get a few hot panini options if you were willing to wait five minutes.

The one hand that I absolutely could not comprehend was #10. Ann opened 2♥. South overcalled 3♣. I doubled, a call that I considered both negative and forcing, but Ann passed.[1]

Then, erroneously deducing that Ann must have some clubs, I compounded our problems by leading a trump. With any other lead we could have gobbled up six tricks immediately, but we somehow let South make this outrageous contract. We could also have made game in hearts or spades.

I spent a fair amount of time trying to figure out how in the world we failed to take our tricks. We must have had more than one chance. I came to the conclusion that this fiasco was my fault.

We played a little better in the afternoon, but so did our competition. We even played against Ann's husband, Randy Johnson, and Geoff Phipps, a Platinum Life Master from New Hampshire who had moved to South Carolina. On hand #4 they had a double-fit in the minors. They made 4♣, but a diamond game was possible because a spade loser could have been dropped on the extra club.

Good food, but not much elbow room at BWS&S.

By the middle of the round we could sense that we would need something special to happen to get us to the second day. It never happened; our cards were frustratingly bad. At one point our opponents made eight consecutive contracts! We needed to have done better in the morning session so that we could have enjoyed a margin available for dealing with these setbacks.

After the results verified our assessments, Ann and I agreed to try our luck in the Daylight Pairs on Monday. I was not upset. We could have played better, but the atmosphere of the game was rather relaxing. I had a good time. The defending champions had not made it to the second day either, but Geoff and Randy did. They finished 12th.

Sue persuaded me to have supper at Blue Water Shrimp and Seafood in the Hilton's Rainbow Bazaar. I ordered the fish tacos, which were not too bad if you could keep the image of a real taco out of your thoughts while you ate them.

A few minutes after we had placed our orders at the counter, a young man brought the food to us. We sat at the only available spot, which was a two-person table that was crammed between two other such tables. Both of them were already occupied. That meant that we were forced to listen to their conversations and they to ours. I was not used to this kind of invasion of privacy, and I was almost certainly too old to change at this point.

I probably should not complain. BWS&S used to be a food truck.

Sue wanted to listen to some music at the Tapa Bar, but I went up to the room and fell asleep early. Too early.