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Bridge Club
Drop in and enjoy the friendly atmosphere of “party bridge.” Players of all skill levels are welcome. Skill levels of players vary from beginner to average. Partnerships are rotated every four hands. The Bridge Club meets in the morning between terms and in the summer, and in the afternoon during the other terms. The details of the club’s rules and bidding system are listed below.
History
The Bridge Club was inaugurated at Tallwood in 2000 when 36 members decided to give it a try. Four of these stalwarts, including the two coordinators, are still enjoying the weekly game with their OLLI friends as the club has become a great source for new friendships and occasionally even a support group.
Meetings We meet all year round whenever OLLI is open, but days and times vary. When classes are in session, we meet on Wednesday afternoons except during the summer term, when we meet Monday mornings. For dates and times in between terms and for the latest updates, go to the OLLI website and check the Bridge Club Blog or the OLLI calendar, or take a look at the current catalog or the latest E-News.
Organization for Playing Everyone gets to play. When we don't have a full table, we ensure that every table has at least three players and we rotate in a dummy to bid the hand. We play three rounds of four hands each using "Chicago" or "party" bridge scoring rules (we don't carry over partial scores and each hand is bid for what it is worth). After each round, we change partners. The winners move to a new table, while the two players who came in second remain at the same table, but are now on opposing sides.
Club Rules There are very few rules. The key one is never yell at your partner -- going down is always the result of rotten distribution. See Guidelines [PDF]
Skill levels vary from graduates of our bridge bidding refresher courses to a few enthusiasts who also play in tournaments. We do not follow duplicate rules and since this is an Institute for learning, we are free to give plenty of advice and suggestions for improvement in both bidding and the play of the hand, as long as we are nice about it. This is not a quiet, sedate group.
Bidding System For those who have played bridge in the past and may be a bit rusty, here are summaries of our "standard" bidding system:
For tips on play of the hand, see:
If you play bridge feel free to drop in and check us out. There is no sign-up, registration or set membership list. Which members attend varies from week to week, but we usually have 4 to 6 tables.