What) The American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) is the organization that oversees all of the bridge tournaments we attend.  Over the years I have come to understand that the ACBL is in the business of selling Masterpoints and their primary customers are those players trying to win enough masterpoints to earn the title of Life Master.  At one time, the designation of Life Master was very prestigious but over the years the requirements needed to become a Life Master have been continually declining. (1)  My theory is that the ACBL has decided to set the requirements at a level that gives the average club player a decent chance of earning the necessary points if they are willing to travel to tournaments and pay the entry fees.  Older players at my bridge club have told me stories about very decent (but now deceased) bridge players that worked for 20 years but could not achieve the rank of Life Master.

    I joined the ACBL in January, 2007 and I achieved the rank of Life Master just 20 months later in August, 2008.  I did not feel like this was much of an accomplishment as decent bridge comes fairly easily to me.  In order to challenge myself to improve at bridge, I decided to pick an additional requirement that seemed difficult yet achievable for me.  So, in order to become a "Life Master", I need to finish first overall in a two session open pairs game at the regional or sectional level.

    Why) I wrote all of that just so you could understand the significance of the last picture in this section.