A story by Craig Pritzker (BBO: 3jsnac)

I grew up in Baltimore, Maryland. In February 1966, I was 8 years old and a blizzard hit Baltimore and we were snowed in for 5 days and could not leave the house.

A quick background note - I was Motherless at an early age. I have one older Brother and when I was 4 my Father remarried a woman with 2 girls - so I have 2 older Step-Sisters.

On day 2 of the snowstorm, while being snowed in, my Step-Mother decided to teach the children how to play Bridge. But, she thought I was too young to learn and so I was not included in the lessons, but I watched in the background anyway. After 1 day, my two much older Step-Sisters went away crying and had no interest in Bridge or learning any more. My Brother, was 11 and mathematical, and he picked it up. After my Step-Sisters went away crying - I said I've been watching and I think I can play. So I played with my Father as my partner and my Step-Mother played with my Brother. For the first couple of days, my parents helped me bid and play my hands. But, after a week, I really began to understand and one of the first hands I played entirely on my own, I was in 6♥ Doubled and Redoubled and I made it by executing a perfect cross-ruff. When I did that - my parents realized I understood the game and I could play and learn. As a note, for the first couple of years, whenever my Brother knew I was going to play the hand and no matter what the contract was - he would automatically Double and then I would automatically Redouble. This of course drove my Step-Mother crazy as she was the one who kept the score. But we were very young and very competitive as Brothers and we still are today.

We played as a family - usually every Sunday evening for many years. My Step-Mother would give me and my Brother a lesson and teach us something new before each week's game. My Father was an excellent card player - although his real game was Pinochle - but he understood Bridge well and knew how to count and analyze cards and he understood the game was about taking tricks and distribution was more important than points. He and I usually won every week and I learned a lot of card play and general card sense from him. Unfortunately, my Father and I were not good winners. We gloated and high-fived each other and my Father would make fun of Charles Goren and told my Step-Mother that she didn't win because she played "Goren" Bridge. He was obviously ahead of his time! (Also, since this time, I have changed, and now always use good sportsmanship at the Bridge table toward my partner and my opponents.)

When I was about 11 or 12 - I started to read the Bridge Column in the newspaper every day. It was a great way to learn and I never missed a day. And by the time I was 12, I was a decent player. One day, when I was 12, my Step-Mother had a Bridge Club at our house. But, one lady cancelled at the last minute so they only had 7 players. My Mother asked me to fill in and told the other ladies that I play a beautiful game. (It was the 1st time she had ever complimented me on my Bridge playing.) The arrangement was that everyone played with each other as partners and at first no one wanted to be my partner. But, it turned out that I came in 1st place that day and won the $$$ pot. My Mother let me keep $1 (I think I should have won $5) and she warned me about playing cards for money. About 8 or 9 months later, the same thing happened. My Mother was hosting the Bridge Club and they were one lady short and she again asked me to play. This time every woman wanted to be my partner and I again came in 1st place, but was only awarded $1 and was again warned about playing cards for money.

My Step-Mother, Father, Brother and I continued our weekly Sunday evening Bridge game for many years - but, then my Brother moved away and when I was 18 - I went away to College and we only played occasionally when I came home or when we were all together. After College, I started working full time, I got married, had children and did not play Bridge - although I continued to read the Bridge column in the newspaper every day.

I was always interested in the game and I tried to teach my wife to play - but she was not really a card person and was not interested in learning. We were also raising children, I was working full time and also officiating High School & Junior League Lacrosse games on the side, and Bridge was not part of our life. My wife's parents came to visit often and we would play cards with them - but we always played simple games like "May I" (a rummy type game) and "Kings in the Corner" which are card games that anyone can learn in 5 minutes and master in about 15 minutes.

The Community I live in, Lake Ridge, VA, has a Bridge Club and I went a few times to their games in the early 1990s - but I found that the players were not very good and they only played Contract/Party Bridge and again I was busy with young children and a wife and Bridge while fun - was not that important.

When, I neared retirement - I went back to the Lake Ridge Bridge Club and started playing 2 times/month. I was excelling in these Party/Contract Bridge games - but the level of play had not really improved much from the times I went there in the early 1990s. Then one day the President of the Club asked me to join him in a small Duplicate game that he played in every Monday night. His regular partner was on vacation and he asked me to fill in. So, I went with him and did well and started going when he or someone else needed a partner. The Director of the Club - a retired Army Colonel and World War II Veteran - noticed my play and told me that I should join ACBL so that the Master Points I was earning in his game could count. Finally, one day, he put the ACBL application in my hand and ordered me to join - and so I did. I started playing in his game on Monday nights and then I started to go various tournaments. I was excelling in the lower tiered games (games with players with Under 199 MPs and under 500 MPs) including coming in 1st Place in a Regional Gold Rush tournament where I earned over 10 Gold Master Points. I retired from my job in 2016 (as an engineer and Program Manager) and started playing a lot more and I was continuing to excel. I began playing in a lot of team games and found a great team - all players that had about the same amount MPs I had. Our team excelled in most of the tournaments we played in and we often came in 1st place or usually finished near the top. One year we made it to the District Grand National Teams Finals, but we came in 2nd place and just missed representing our District at the National tournament.

My Master Points began to accumulate and I found that more people wanted to play with me as a partner. I continued to learn every time I played and I added more conventions. I became a Life Master in 2018 (which requires 500 Master Points - 50 Gold, 50 Gold/Red, and 75 Silver). I became a Bronze Life Master in 2019 (750 MPs); a Silver Life Master in 2020 (1000 MPs - 200 "colored" Pts), a Ruby Life Master in July 2021 and a Gold Life Master in July 2023.

I have played and done very well in Regional tournaments and I once played against Jeff Meckstroth and Eric Rodwell in a team game. (We were competitive and did not lose by much!!)

In 2019, I played in the Gatlinburg Regional tournament and my team won a Compact Knock-out event over a team that had a combination of over 80,000 MPs - while our team had 3 players under 600!

In Dec 2022, the Director who originally put the ACBL application in my hand and ordered me to join, retired from directing and ask me to take over his game and I've been running his game ever since.

So that's my Bridge story and as note - I did not heed my Step-Mother's advice about not playing cards for $$$. I played poker in college and my winnings were my main source to fund my weekend activities and my dates on the rare occasions when I could find a girl who would go out with me!!

P.S. I played on BBO with an Expert (named Pino Ricci) from Milan, Italy for about 1 1/2 years. Pino, was an outstanding player and partner and he greatly elevated my game and got me to think like an Expert. Of course, thinking like an Expert and playing like one are two different things. Occasionally, Pino would get angry with me and my play and he would send me chats and emails asking me - "who taught you to play Bridge".

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