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Evening Club Bridge Is Dying (2015)

lajollabridge.com

41–46 of 46 posts

Re: Evening Club Bridge Is Dying (2015)

#41
post #40
post #18

Not sure in which age-segments, but it's a pity because it used to be an important social activity for the elderly.

It's not more important than canasta. My grandmother played bridge. My mother played canasta. I play Set. It's just a game.

It's not more important but it is in my view (and most others'?) better than canasta (or at least deeper/more strategic/more interesting). I also play Set, but they don't scratch the same itch (any more than Set is a substitute for Twilight Struggle, or either are for Galaxy Truckers).

Apart from the over-lengthy process of learning enough of a system to actually play, Bridge is a fabulous game, and one which is best where there are decent-sized clubs of competent people to play with/against. That's fine for now, at least in bigger places in England, but most of the feeder routes to these clubs have dried up: weekly kitchen table cards is fairly rare, it's not played in schools, and nearly all the university clubs have gone. We run decent teaching sessions but in most places that's not enough to keep up with current players' deaths. Sic transit gloria mundi.

Re: Evening Club Bridge Is Dying (2015)

#42
I'm the author. What a weird surprise to see it at 4 am on Hacker News.

If you play bridge on BBO you might be interested in my BBO Helper browser extension. It's popular with strong players and streamers (yes, there are bridge streamers!), but there is functionality to benefit players of all levels.

https://lajollabridge.com/Software/BBO-Helper/

The last evening bridge game at the Soledad Club was held April 7, 2016 about a year after I wrote the referenced article, when it hit the five table break even point.

The pandemic was hard on bridge. About half of the ACBL members made the transition to online play, primarily BBO. This looks like a sea change. Players are returning to f2f play but the ACBL lists only 1,855 bridge clubs today; there were 2,721 in 2019, a decline of 32%. Players are also returning to the tournaments but table counts are only 50–80% of pre-pandemic. Matt Baylow has been carefully tracking the situation:

https://medcitybridge.com/R_other%20pages/work/F2F%20VACB%20... https://medcitybridge.com/R_other%20pages/work/F2F%20Updates...

I've run many of the smaller (sectional) tournaments and thus know the many fixed expenses. Even a 20% decline in table count will affect the viability, choice of venue, or card fees. The bigger tournaments (regionals and nationals) depend on room night guarantees made to the host hotel in exchange for using their convention space; I'm not sure how that is shaking out.

Re: Evening Club Bridge Is Dying (2015)

#43
post #10

bridge is dying. Period. Go/Weiqi/baduk is the game to go!

Go is a fabulous game (and AlphaGo is a wondrous software—I read the first technical paper immediately). But it's another thing I'd have to do online. Seattle had a go center in the 1990s that still seems to be around. San Diego had a few players who met up in Hillcrest or Carlsbad, both an annoying drive away. Who knows if there are any go players in Salt Lake? My one go playing friend lives a time zone away. It's far easier to find f2f bridge than f2f go.

In the early days of Amazon, a call center employee pointed me to a deal on go set shipped directly from Japan. Beautiful slate and shell stones. I haven't played a dozen games on it. I almost feel unworthy of owning it as a perhaps 12 kyu player.

Re: Evening Club Bridge Is Dying (2015)

#44
post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Part of the game is not to close the side channels of information. conventions for calling are very much part of the game. calling 1 Club vs 1 No Trump is a purposeful signal. Its a fun game to play if you don't take it too seriously

Side channels are explicitly forbidden by the rules. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridge_convention

I get that, but the reality is that people who take the game too seriously have long been doing this. Just because reality is not legal doesn't change the fact that it is reality. This is why not taking it all too seriously is so important. As I say, when you play against people doing this you can use it as a tell. Of course you can get angry and bang on about the rules as well.

Re: Evening Club Bridge Is Dying (2015)

#45
post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Great game. Wish it would catch on more quickly in the US, there are basically no courts in the northeast.

Besides fad status, why is better than tennis, badminton, or pickleball?

Badminton is a bit too far from tennis for my liking (as is ping pong), so I never got into it.

As for the others, padel is far far far more athletic than pickleball (and paddle tennis for that matter), and I would argue even more so than tennis. I grew up playing tennis and I love it, but padel is more finesse and also scratched that itch of learning a whole new sport. I learned it in the UK 3-5 years ago, and I do very much miss it. Literally I think there is one court in all of New England, it is crazy how much of a not-thing it is considering it was invented in Mexico.

Re: Evening Club Bridge Is Dying (2015)

#46
post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it is all part of the game. Good opponents learn to read your signals as well. Think of it as reading a tell in poker.

No, it is not. Perhaps your circle likes it like this, but elsewhere this is cheating. It is forbidden by the rules and is socially unacceptable.

it is not about liking, and in my circle we swap partners and play with whomever is there, but I have played against competitive pairs before and it is clear it is happening. reality is how it is, not how you want it to be. this is not a hill worth dying on and this is why I will never take the game too seriously
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