ACBL Tables Tables 

Tracking ACBL reopenings updated weekly
This information is compiled and provided independently of the ACBL
and is from raw data provided courtesy of BridgeFinesse,
TheCommonGame.com, the ACBL, and Live4Clubs*


Information on this page refers to ACBL/VACB club table counts;
if you are looking for ACBL/VACB tournament table data information, please click here.


ACBL/VACB online (Virtual) and Face to Face (F2F) Data
Click on any chart to enlarge it and open it in a new window.


67 new ACBL clubs started games in the 4 week period ending November 20th.
Total F2F+VACB club tables in 2021 estimated to be 1.452M (vs 1.490M in 2020).


Total Weekly ACBL Tables
Figure 1


F2F Total Weekly Games
Figure 4


F2F Tables by weekday
Figure 7


Percentage of all ACBL tables that are F2F
Figure 10


VACB Total Weekly Club Tables
Figure 13


VACB Team Tables as % of online tables
Figure 16


ACBL Active Clubs since 1991
Figure 19

    

Total Weekly ACBL Games
Figure 2


F2F Total Weekly Tables
Figure 5


F2F Average Tables Per Game weekly
Figure 8


F2F Growth Rates
Figure 11


Average Tables per VACB Game
Figure 14


M-F VACB Tables vs F2F Tables 
Figure 17


ACBL Active Memberships since 2014
Figure 20
   

Overall Change In Table Counts
Figure 3


F2F Active Sanctions  by weekday
Figure 6


F2F Average Tables Per Game by weekday
Figure 9


VACB Club Game Sessions  weekly
Figure 12


Weekly VACB Team Tables
Figure 15


ACBL Annual Table Counts  since 1991
Figure 18

PLEASE NOTE:


IT'S OFFICIAL - MORE F2F TABLES IN PLAY THAN ONLINE
It took eight or nine months from reopening and was complicated by the Delta variant, but as of November 14th it is official.  More F2F tables were in play the week ending November 14th than were in play at virtual clubs.

The unadjusted numbers (which don't include late F2F table reporting and will only drive the F2F number higher) show a race tighter than any political result on election night - with F2F tables edging out VACB tables for the week by 2 out of almost 29,000.






INCREASING F2F TABLES OVERCOMING VACB DECLINE
Looking at the past ten weeks, overall ACBL tables in play have been on the increase; if you discard the Silver Linings week double-point bump in the VACB tables, you'll see that the increase in F2F tables has been enough to more than overcome the decline in VACB tables play  Clubs continue to open and weekly games continue to be added, and post-COVID record F2F table counts are still rising (now well past the point of the Delta variant business).  Note that these table counts do not include any F2F tournaments, which have also opened up over the past ten weeks, but who's counting?  (Ok, someone is, and that count is 4,566.)


F2F SOARING PAST PRE-DELTA VARIANT TABLE COUNTS
F2F table counts that were on the rise this year hit the skids in late July as the Delta variant messed things up for bridge.  Six weeks later, the bottom was hit, and between masking protocols and the realization that there's always going to be a variant around, players finally started coming back to the bridge table.  Most days for the week ending 10/24 table counts across the country have returned to that level of the week ending 7/18 - here's each day of this past week compared to the pre-Delta peak week of 7/18.  99% for the week as a whole!

MONDAYS CAN OCCASIONALLY BE A BIT DEPRESSING
If you've ever run a bridge club, and were wondering if you should have a game on Labor Day, you've no doubt gotten many responses from players that "every day is a holiday for me!" and of course you should have a game.  Despite that, not everyone does hold a game on holiday Mondays, and the four depressed days (for turnout) that are pretty obvious on Mondays just happen to be the four Monday holidays this year (Memorial Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, and as it happens this year the 4th of July).  With Mondays being the most-attended day of the week, the entire holiday week each time tends to be dragged down as well.  Thanksgiving isn't on a Monday this year, is it?


AND ON THE OTHER HAND
Looking at the first eight months of post-COVID F2F play, it's probably no surprise that Monday is the most popular day of the week to be attending an in-person bridge game (at almost 24% of all F2F tables during the week).  Wednesday is next; Sundays are least likely to be sanctioned or attended.  This mirrors the pre-COVID experience although weekends had been slightly better represented before the big shutdown.