The countdown begins with only 25 more days before the start of our NYC December 2024 Regional. Long called the Edgar Kaplan Winter Regional, folks in 2019 renamed it to the Big Apple Winter Regional, and now it is simply the GNYBA Holiday Regional 2024. I only know that because it’s in the ACBL Tournament calendar under that name, and presumably your ACBL Live results will show that way.
Here is the latest December 2024 regional flyer:
https://gnyba.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/December-Regional-Flier-Oct-1.pdf
Back to December 2024 Dates
Not everyone prefers the week between December 25th and January 1st. However, several people prefer it. We simply can’t make everyone happy, but we made a compromise to consider a second regional in May with a return to the Astoria location, which worked well in 2023. The good news is, for the first time in decades, and possibly in history, the regional will be at the Marriott in Times Square! There was nothing wrong with the Midtown Hilton, but a nice change of pace is welcome.
Extended Newcomer Games – Earn Red Points
One major change this year will be a significant increase in newcomer games. We will hold four sessions of games for players with under 100 Masterpoints. Each session is independent and allows players to win red pigmented Masterpoints, useful for achieving ACBL rankings such as Life Master (you need 100 points that are either gold or red, with at least 50 being gold). Black and Silver points you can always achieve at clubs, STaCs, and Sectionals, but gold and red points must be obtained a regionally rated events (such as this regional, GNTs, NAPs, or NABCs).
Gold Rush and Bracketed RR Daily
For those who want to earn gold points, we are offering the two most popular methods on a daily basis. A Gold Rush pairs game requires both players to each have fewer than 750 Masterpoints, and you generally must play both the morning and afternoon session. Those in the top 30% or so will earn overall awards, where the depth and amount depends on the number of players.
As previously discussed, perhaps the easiest way to earn gold points is the daily bracketed round robin. One nice benefit is that you can still have one player with many Masterpoints averaged in with teammates with fewer Masterpoints. Your bracket is based on your team average Masterpoints, and generally brackets will have about 8 teams, with 3 out of 8 winning full gold points! If you are lucky, you might even be in a bracket of 9 where 4 out of 9 win. It is extremely generous for people who can put together a team, it is generally the most consistent and straightforward way to earn gold.
Partnership Desk Open
The partnership desk is open, and we also have a guaranteed partnership system for those who notify us early enough. How does that work? We have a bench of volunteers and house players who are ready to pair off in case we get an odd number of players on game day. Just make sure you email us early: partnerships@gnyba.org