Do you know how to play bridge?

Are we in the 1930s? Is Mah Jong next?

I learned from my mother when I was a kid because she belonged to two Bridge clubs, and they always needed a sub for some reason. All the ladies' kids were pressed into service at some point or another.

I haven't played in years, but I used to do those Omar Sharif Bridge "puzzles" in the Sunday paper when that was still a thing.

After my mother retired, she got very bored, so a friend of hers asked her to start teaching bridge in a retirement community. She still does it today, eben though she is older than most of her students.

Years ago, the single female friend of my partner (both of us gay men) was dating a guy who was very into playing bridge, so she signed up for weekly lessons and asked us to attend them with her.

We did, and we enjoyed ourselves though it’s a very complicated card game to learn. Then at a certain point, my boyfriend and I took a two week vacation, missing two classes and by the time we came back, the class has moved on and was already way beyond our skill set. And our friend had stopped dating the bridge guy so that was the end of that.

I was liking it though. And Mah Jong is lots of fun, R1.

I don't know how to play, but I always wanted to learn. Sadly, since my brain has already turned to mush, I believe it may be too late.

I guess I'll stick with pinochle, which I learned at my mother's knee.

Maybe I’ve missed the boat too. My friend’s parents tried to teach us years ahi but they were raging drunks so stopped being able to teach halfway through.

I love cribbage though.

I used to play in college (not very well) and it was great fun. It is a complex game and one where is important all players are at the same level. I once played with my father and his friends (much more advanced than i) and it was very stressful. A person can spoil the whole game.

Mrs. Drysdale tried to teach Granny how to play bridge, but it didn’t go well.

I would love to learn how to play

No, especially if Carolyn Applebee’s keeping score in her Chinese Modern apartment.

Don’t play, never will.

Are they playing a tense game of Oral Fixation?

R3: I can hear a friend yelling "That's a YENTA thing!" at the mention of mah-jong.

Why don’t people just play euchre?

r11 lol

My mom plays. The bridge games at the senior center are pretty cutthroat from what I hear.

Funnily enough, my recently hospitalized uncle just asked me to obtain a book on how to play bridge, so that he can refresh his game skills and also have us learn to play with him so he is occupied during his hospital stays.

He wants to play "contract bridge", in which you bid with small money amounts when you play. Sounds even move complex.

It's supposed to be a good game to play to reduce getting Alzheimers.

Bridge Base Online is a good option if you're unable to find 4 people to play in person.

Taking lessons is the only way to learn, and then you have to play regularly to really keep it up. The bidding (the "contract" part) is the hard part. The actual playing becomes routine, although you have to remain alert enough to count the trump cards. I totally recommend it, but it's a major time investment.

Learn how to play Hearts or Spades first. It makes it much simpler.

I can play a mean game of Euchre. Does that count?

Bridge is a great game. I’ve been playing regularly with a group of guys (we are now all in our late fifties and early sixties) for about thirty years now.

Spades? Are you serious?

That's the game you play when you're too dumb to learn pinochle.

Is it Bridge or 500 (or both?) where you "inkle."

I remember listening to my grandmother's weekly card game, and the term "inkle" used to make me howl with laughter.

"I inkle spades."

The old people I knew of who played bridge were always so serious and joyless about it. Put me off from ever wanting to learn.

I did learn Mah Jong. It is a remarkably strategic game and, especially with an old set, I like the sensory aspect of those tiles.

I prefer Hearts because it has a Cunt and a handsome prince.

and then there’s Contract Bridge for master class cunting

My Mom was an avid bridge player after she retired. I wish she had taught me. There were nice groups of women with whom she played.

Any game that has a “notrump” bid is my kind of game.

I wish bridge would make a comeback.

A friend’s husband is obsessed with it since retirement. He plays it, in person or online about three nights a week

[quote] Any game that has a “notrump” bid is my kind of game.

That comes at the cost of having trump cards

I played a lot in college, decades ago. My husband won't play so I just read the bridge column every day in the paper. Some conventions have changed since I played, though others like Blackwood and Stayman remain. It's a good game to make you think.

Sounds like something I would enjoy r33