A Gang of Beginners
Story by Bruce Neiger (BBO: zorch11) I was in college back in the mid 80s when a...
Story by Joachim (BBO: joachim99)
We had played bridge three or four times with friends, who had explained the basics to us. We were interested, and since they did not have time, we decided to join the bridge club in Te Aroha.
We received a very friendly welcome. We were allowed to take two cookies and were asked which convention we preferred. We were not sure if we wanted to disclose anything about our private life, but we definitely did not know what they were talking about. So they decided to seat us with the beginners.
In the beginners’ corner, they were quite surprised that we knew the difference between an ace and a king, and that we knew we had to get more tricks than the opponents to win.
The next Sunday there was a tournament. The Te Aroha bridge club was polite enough not to tell us that we were not experienced enough to participate. We had a very entertaining Sunday and tournament.
Several days later, some neighbors congratulated us for winning the tournament. It had been reported in the local newspaper.
Knowing close to nothing, we had always passed, and on that Sunday in 1977, it was obviously the winning option. We were more surprised than proud, and we never participated in a tournament again. But we still love the Te Aroha bridge club!
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Hi there, I enjoyed this story as I’m a club member at Te Aroha…. FYI the club got down to 8 members 10 years ago and was on the verge of closing…but a big promotional push since has got the club up to around 80 club and associated members. We get around 12 tables on our playing night. Maybe we will see you back here some day:). Regards
I love this story. It proves my opinion that bridge is a goofy game.
I Like to read this Story : It is supportive for beginners which I am . My experiences as beginner are rough, Not supportive And rather neglecting than inviti g.
My suggestion is to go to a local library and read at least three books on bridge fundamentals combined optionally with a set of bridge lessons. Plus, you can play hands for free on Bridge Base Online to get some practice. The game of bridge is too complicated to just start playing at a club. It took me two years in the pre-internet era to feel that I had grasped the basics. With the internet to practice on, I think the average person would take a year to get experienced enough to play competitively.