St. Louis notes

March 19, 2007 by Donald.

The recent NABC in St. Louis has ended, so time for a few personal observations.

A number of my friends didn’t come to this tournament, as they thought it wouldn’t be worth the effort. They were wrong. St. Louis was a sleeper, much like Denver in 2005. The host hotel was a fine venue for the NABC events, and the America’s Center turned out to be much better than almost any convention center type of facility. The playing area there was attractive, well lit (well, almost everywhere), and comfortable. It was a quick and easy jaunt across the street from the Renaissance.

Downtown St. Louis is in the middle of a rebuilding period, but there were still plenty of restaurants within a short walk or cab ride. If you didn’t get your fill of Italian food, you weren’t looking. Riverfront casinos got a lot of late-night business from our bridge players; I even heard of some that came back with more money than when they walked in. If the development around the America’s Center takes hold, it will be a prime location for future NABC’s.

We’ll be back to “middle America” this summer as we hold our Summer NABC in Nashville.

Above all, the tournament gave me the opportunity to meet old friends again, and to make new ones. It’s not all about the masterpoints.

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