Do people still have bridge parties? Am reading Georgette Heyer's post WWII mystery Duplicate Death

[bobbieinok]

In 57 during freshman week at college many played marathon bridge games. Some tried to teach me, bit I found their single-minded intensity very off-putting

A couple of very smart students played bridge so much they flunked out of school their freshman year

There was a game called honeymoon bridge that was sort of fun, but I last played the game in 61

[kimbutgar]

1. My 88 year old mother in law plays a weekly bridge game with her church group.

She is still pretty sharp.

[hlthe2b]

2. seems like that started to die out several generations ago?

I never even learned, but then my parents were not big on card games.

I remember my Mom talking about then movie (Lawrence of Arabia) heart-throb Omar Sharif (how ironic is that given he was Egyptian and Muslim by today's climate) being a big Bridge expert. He apparently had a syndicated bridge column nationwide.

[handmade34]

3. never played bridge

back in the days, we low class mid-westerners (Michigan) had euchre tournaments and parties... the current man living in the White House has ruined the game for me

[Backseat Driver]

13. Euchre is likely still a popular game in areas of Ohio, too.

It was one of the first things my sister said we should learn, for a social "presence," after moving to Dayton in late 80s/90s. Back in the day, 50s/60s, my FIL, a blue-collar shop foreman, would play cut-throat canasta with the guys every day at lunch. Never learned bridge, canasta, or euchre. I do recall some of my extended family playing penny Poker at reunions, but NEVER mine, in familial love nor for money, though I'm sure they knew how and would sometimes join in a friendly teaching game with Grandma at home. Never was very skillful with any card table games - just never a thing for DH or me.

[Brainstormy]

4. Bridge is very much alive and well

Here in Atlanta there are several permanent, open-every-day bridge clubs and virtually every senior center in the five counties has ongoing play every week. There are many classes and tournaments held in churches and by college continuing ed programs. Additionally there are a few HUGE online bridge playing sites on the web. Young people in Europe, especially Germany, play bridge, but in the US, it's now pretty much a Boomer pastime.

[mnhtnbb]

5. I played bridge when I lived in Lincoln, NE from 1994-2000.

My partner was a woman attorney who was not practicing at the time. We cleaned up a couple of years. Had the most fun playing bridge with her that I'd ever had. I was in my 40's at the time. We once bid--and made-- 7 No Trump. It was fabulous. I got to play the hand. There were several other times we bid and made slams and several times we made slams but hadn't bid them. All in all, it was a lot of fun.

My parents taught both my brother and me to play bridge when we were kids so they'd have a foursome. I started playing when I was about 8 or 9. My mom used to complain a lot because I would get great cards and not know what to do with them. By the time I was playing in Lincoln I'd finally figured out what to do with good cards and had a partner who knew, too.

Didn't play much after we moved to North Carolina in 2000. My husband wanted to play with friends, but he wasn't very good at bridge and it was difficult to find couples who wanted to play with us. So we gave it up.

It's a fun game if you are playing with a partner who is at the same level. You know what to do with cards. Otherwise, it can be frustrating.

[bobbieinok]

6. In 50s my folks and friends played lots of canasta

They had an annual New Year's Eve game with another couple.

My ex in-laws played marathon pinochle games--they lived in NE then moved to Utah

Learned to rather like pinochle. My mother-in-law was a fiendish player

[mopinko]

10. us kids went through a pinochle phase, cuz we liked the 2 deck thing.

in my home town, that was the polish game.
card games followed the ethnic boundaries, and churches, and which side of the river you lived on. the churches had card games, and there were regular games in the corner taverns.

my german in-laws played a lot of poker. they all had a big change jar, and a regular friday night game. trying to remember the name of their drinking club. the phoenix club, iirc.
my fam belonged to the irish club. pretty sure there were bridge games there.

imma have to go over to fb and tag my big sisters now.

[mopinko]

7. my mother was a master. there is a du'er who plays tournament bridge.

name escapes me atm. does pretty well. posts on his fb page.

mom taught my older sisters, who still play in their 70's.
but yeah, it is dying out. only the 1st 3 of the 7 learned, and only 2 played regularly.
assume they still do, or at least play poker, which was the #2 card game in my house. they live next door in fla.

my mom's very sharp mind started to go when she couldnt see well any more and couldnt read or play cards. books and the bridge ladies were her lifeline through a stormy, long life. they started to die off at about that time, too. only the youngster of the group outlived her.

my kids played a little poker, as my ex liked to play, and that was his family game. we always had cards in the house, and chips, but rarely played. mostly on camping trips or holidays.

the kids played magic, tho, and pokeman. i think i still have a half ton of those things around.

kind of a shame. even tho i never played bridge, we played a lot of other games, including several versions of solitaire. gives kids a neural pathway for math.

[bobbieinok]

15. Our kids game was hearts. Jrhigh slumber parties, son with grandparents

Hated the game, even with son. ALWAYS stuck with queen

[wryter2000]

8. I wish

I'd like to find one

[cyclonefence]

9. Over ten years ago

a couple of guys at the tennis club bemoaned the fact that there was no place to play duplicate bridge. One of them, a surgeon, and my husband, a banker started a group to teach people who knew how to play bridge how to play duplicate. I started going to a beginner bridge class at the local community college and invited my classmates to join the duplicate classes, which were informal and fun. We began to have weekly "tournaments" which were not sanctioned, so no points involved and it all stayed informal and strictly social. Our group swelled to about ten tables. People brought food and made friends. My husband christened it Bridge-o-Rama, and it exists to this day (although now it's monthly because we don't have to have lessons), still informal, social and fun. There are a few couples who have never missed a game, ever, and a few who show up once then disappear forever, but Bridge-o-Rama itself lives on.

So yes, people still play bridge.

There are lots of web sites where you can play at all hours with people from all over the world, one of them started by by Bill Gates, himself an avid player.

[unblock]

12. i played against gates once or twice on okbridge.com

think he was playing with warren buffett at the time. i've played against buffett quite a few times, even partnered him for a few hands while he was waiting for his real partner.

okbridge goes way back, it actually started as an internet application even before the web.

[bobbieinok]

14. If you haven't read it, you guys might enjoy Duplicate Death

[cyclonefence]

16. I bet we would--thanks n/t

[unblock]

11. i am a life master but haven't played in years

learned in college and started taking it seriously after i graduated. later on, marriage and a long commute and eventually a child made it too difficult to keep up with.

bridge is a partnership game and you have to work on a partnership. it's a commitment i wasn't able to make at that point.

after a few years of no hobby, i eventually took up poker. much more practical, at least in the sense that if i have time to play, i only have to coordinate it with my family, i don't have to coordinate it with a partner and commit to playing enough to maintain a partnership. poker's an individual sport. if i can't play for a while, i don't, and if i can, then i play. easy to manage.

[MissB]

17. There is a group at work that plays each week.

Mix of older and younger (20-somethings).

[MissMillie]

18. Believe it or not, my family does

As I was growing up, we'd have my paternal grandmother and great aunt over for holiday dinners. In between the meal and dessert, we'd play bridge.

Now every year, we have a "Mammy and Aunt Lil Memorial Bridge Tournament." The winning pair gets to hold on to the tournament trophy for a year. There's a pot luck lunch, and trivia games, and awards specific to Mammy and Aunt Lil.

The award honoring Mammy is the "I'll Double You!" award, given to the player who plays with gusto. The "Oh Sh*t!" award goes to the player who makes the best of their play despite getting dealt lousy cards.

It's usually a great day (though this past year it felt very strange because my mom's Alzheimer's kept her from participating for the first time) and it's always nice to get as much of the family together as possible.