BRIDGE: How
It Works, How You Can Learn
In our household, Monday night is bridge night. Every week,
my husband and I huddle around a card table with the couple
next door, eating snacks from plastic heart- and spade-shaped
dishes and marking our scores on pads printed in the late
1950s.
Sounds cute and retro, right? That's what I thought. When
we decided to learn contract bridge, I just assumed we were
inadvertently following some kind of trend--that it was
part of this let's-mix-up-a-manhattan-and-have-a-barbecue
thing. But there's a crucial difference between playing
bridge and, say, collecting Tiki mugs: Bridge is really,
really hard.
Ask yourself these questions: Are you feeling a little
too smart and sassy? Do you feel like having your ass kicked
by a grandma? If so, contract bridge might be the game for
you. Infuriating, humiliating and incredibly complicated,
bridge will make you feel like an idiot. But it's super
fun. Trust me.
Bridge is difficult to explain, but it has the high-stakes
suspense of poker and the cerebral stimulation of chess.
Bridge tournaments, which you can stage at home, are hysterically
intense and festive, especially if you serve deviled eggs.
And like all of my favorite "sports" (such as bocce and
bowling), bridge passes the fundamental test of greatness:
You can play it with a drink in your hand.
Because the four of us learned the game from my 93-year-old
grandma (Mamoo, the reigning queen of the tables at Riverside
Golf and Country Club), I got to worrying that unless bridge
becomes a trend, it may be headed for extinction, joining
other past crazes like macramé and CB radios in the
land of forgotten hobbies.
In the interest of keeping the game alive, I thought about
writing a piece that would glamorize bridge and lure droves
of young Portlanders out of the karaoke bars and into the
bridge clubs. But as I discovered on a recent visit to the
Ace of Clubs, this is a game that stubbornly resists glamorization.
When my three cohorts and I descended into this windowless
room in Cedar Hills, we were not exactly entering Saucebox.
What we found instead was a veritable United Nations of
enthusiasts, ranging in age from 27 to 95. Virtually everyone
was friendly and welcoming. Come to think of it, this wasn't
unlike hanging out in a karaoke bar after all.
The only problem was that we sucked. Apparently, playing
"party bridge" for two years in the comfort of our own home
did not prepare us for the adrenaline-fueled, competitive
nature of the "duplicate bridge" being played at clubs.
From what I gather, this more intense, do-or-die version
of bridge is alive and well. It's party bridge, the kind
my grandma plays at Riverside, that is dying.
But don't let this intimidate you. According to our friends
at the Ace of Clubs (and Mary Hovda, manager of the Eastside
Bridge Club), you can learn how to play at these clubs,
then head home and play party bridge for the rest of your
life.
Here's one more reason to learn bridge: After playing three
times a week for 75 years, my grandma is completely mentally
undiminished. When she was teaching us, she could pick up
all four of our hands, memorize every card and then bark
appropriate orders at each of us: "Bobby, I know you want
to play your queen, but play your six instead." Forget ginkgo.
This game is like brain-cell helper.
Intellectual stimulation...camaraderie...deviled eggs...I
think I've made my case. So after you've taken a few lessons,
please give me a call. We're sick of getting trounced by
my grandma.
BRIDGE
How
It Works:
Bridge is played with four people (two sets of
partners). The object is to figure out how good your combined
hands are. You do this through your bids, which are simple
declarations like "two spades." The highest bidder establishes
what the "trump," or the wild suit, will be, and she must
claim as many "tricks" (by playing the highest card or trump)
as she predicted she would during the bidding process. Confused?
I won't even begin to explain scoring.
How
You Can Learn:
There are two bridge clubs in Portland; both
of them offer lessons for beginners. The people who play
at these clubs on "open play" nights are generally trying
to accrue the points that allow them to compete in sanctioned
tournaments.
THE ACE OF CLUBS BRIDGE CENTER
It has a very competitive
yet very friendly environment. Lessons are available, and
open-play nights cost $4.75 per person. Beginners night
is Thursday.
10226 SW Park Way, 297-7898
THE EASTSIDE BRIDGE CLUB
This club is also set up
for more competitive play but offers lessons and beginners
nights on Mondays. Open play is $4.50.
1435 NE 81st Ave., 252-1318
PORTLAND COMMUNITY COLLEGE
This is probably the best
place to learn "party bridge" if you don't want to mess
with the hardcore folks. Classes begin in the fall at Tigard
Senior Center, but I'm told that if 12 people are interested,
they can start a class anytime. Call the Community Education
Office at 731-6620 for more details.
BRIDGE ONLINE
There are numerous bridge-oriented sites online, most
of which cater toward established players. If you want to
learn, lessons are available at Onedown's Bridge School
(more interactive) and Bridge Today University (www.bridgetoday.com).
To play online, you can join OKBridge (www.OKbridge.com)
for an annual fee, or play for free in the "games" section
at www.yahoo.com. To
practice, you can buy "Deluxe Bridge with Omar Sharif,"
a highly addictive CD-ROM.
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Willamette Week | originally
published June 9, 1999
|
