I’ve been hearing so much about bay-area bridge since I moved to the west coast, but this week marks my first ever District 21 tournament.  This regional and the one in Orlando, FL are the only two full-length regionals for the first week of 2010, so it’s where most players west of the Continental Divide kick off their bridge year.  If you’re gunning for a Mini-McKinney title, Monterey is a great place to start.

It was easy to make a mini-road trip out of the Reno-Monterey tournaments this year.  With a few days between the end of Reno and the beginning of Monterey, McKenzie and I enjoyed some R&R in Reno and then Lake Tahoe before driving over for the start of this tournament.  It was very relaxing, and Lake Tahoe is gorgeous right now.

The Monterey tournament is on the large side, averaging about 4 brackets of KOs each day along with a healthy pair section — senior pairs, open pairs, and side games.  Most of the ACBL’s top pros are in Florida this week, so Bracket I is very winnable here, although I wouldn’t call it a cakewalk.  The competition is not as strong as most regionals of comparable size, though.  If you want competition, go to Florida.  If you want points, come to Monterey.

The host hotel is the Hyatt Regency Hotel & Spa, which is a really lovely luxury hotel.  It’s always nice to have a spa on site for when your partner drives you crazy all day long.  We’ve all been there, right?

The Hyatt is a short drive from a cute little downtown area full of great restaurant selections.  For lunch, I recommend Ambrosia, an inexpensive Indian buffet with a great spread of vegetarian and non-vegetarian choices, about a 5-minute drive from the host.

The tournament schedule is fairly standard, with games at 9, 1, & 7:30 (senior games at 10 & 3).  If you play the morning session, there’s not much of a break before the afternoon game at 1, but there’s a nice long dinner break between the two main sessions.  Parking here is pretty crowded, so arrive early to avoid a hike to the site.

My favorite part of this tournament is the free fresh popcorn in the lobby.  My least favorite part is watching so many people ignore the cups and scoop and just dig their hands into the popper.  You know who you are.  Knock it off, that’s disgusting.