Get in the game: Contract Bridge keeps players young

Instructor Carl Visconti points out the card to play from a players hand. Photo by Jim Jagdfeld.

These are duplicate Bridge hands with the Bridge board at right. Photo by Jim Jagdfeld.

Hundreds of Livingston County residents have discovered a fountain of youth in a geyser of playing cards. They shuffle up thousands of cards every week in dozens of local Bridge games that keep them smart and happy.

Bridge is a complicated trick-taking card game of skill and chance, played by four players who form two partnerships, in the manner of Euchre or Pinochle, and partners sit opposite each other at a table. The Bridge game consists of the auction (often called bidding) and play. When play has ended, the hand is scored.

“You learn everything from Bridge: discipline, critical thinking, how to be analytical – there’s a lot to be derived from it,” Brighton resident Nadine Russell said. “I have a friend who played Bridge at 92 -- as sharp as a tack.”

Russell is a teacher who retired from Dearborn schools in 1994. She plays Bridge at least three times a week, dividing her time among several groups in the area including games at Oak Pointe Country Club and the Breakfast Club restaurant in Brighton.

“Most of these people, you couldn’t guess their age, and I attribute that to Bridge,” Russell said. “We all look younger than we are. None of them look like old women; they don’t act old. Bridge keeps you youthful. I don’t know what it is – you’re out and about; you’re not a couch potato when you’re a Bridge player because you’re always looking for a Bridge game.”

Kathy Trader, 61, is a retired Howell Public Schools teacher who loves the intellectual challenge of Bridge, combined with the game’s social aspects. She learned the game in college.

“My memory of Bridge from college days was it was challenging and like trying to solve a mystery so it had meat to the game and I wanted to chew on it – and I’m still chewing,” Trader said. “I love the people I’ve met playing Bridge; I love the friendships and social gathering part of it. It’s great fun – a great way to meet new people and a nice way to keep contact with people you’ve met.”

Trader usually plays twice a week; she takes Bridge classes at the Bennett Recreation Center in Howell where Carl Visconti, 61, teaches every Friday at 10:30 a.m.

“People who play bridge either live longer or keep their wits about them longer,” Visconti said. “They stay younger by playing the game.”

“I don’t know of a more complicated card game. I don’t know of any more challenging game. I’d compare it to chess as a game, except with chess if you know the moves and the goal, you can play. In Bridge, if you know just the basics you can just basically play the game and nothing more. It gets complicated. But I would encourage people not to be afraid of this super-hard game.”

Howell resident John Cullen is a retiree who has played Bridge all his life. He plays social Bridge – sometimes called party, or rubber Bridge -- at the Howell Senior Center/Bennett Recreation Center, but he also enjoys a particular complication of the game called Duplicate Bridge that is played at the Hartland Senior Center.

“Duplicate is the ultimate,” Cullen said. “In Duplicate everybody in my position will get the same cards. You sit down and you pull your cards out and you play the hand just as you would anything else, and you score the hand. Then you move to the next table and the cards we played will move to another table. You can gauge your skill against the results of everybody. It eliminates any possibility of luck being a factor. It allows you to pit yourself against other people.”

Cullen has earned Master Points at playing Duplicate Bridge, although he hasn’t earned Master Points in the Hartland game because it isn’t sanctioned by the American Contract Bridge League, the national organization that sanctions Bridge games for Master Point distribution.

Highland resident Ken Dane is an American Contract Bridge League director and an accredited Easybridge instructor who is interested in reaching out to Duplicate Bridge players and potential players in Livingston County. His club, the Huron Valley Bridge Club, for novice Bridge players with zero to 199 Master Points, offers ACBL sanctioned play. Dane would like players and potential players to contact him:
• If they are bridge players who would like to join a sanctioned local group for Duplicate Bridge. They don’t necessarily need to have ever played duplicate before.
• If they are interested in learning bridge from scratch. Easybridge is a system of teaching bridge. The first four weeks are free to see if you like it, then there is a charge for each lesson after that -- pay as you go. Players can come to four classes free to see if they enjoy it, then can come back for a series of 10 more lessons. Lessons involve sanctioned play with novices.
• If they are interested in ACBL sanctioned play on weekends or evenings.
• If they would like him to serve as a director for local Duplicate Bridge players who wish to play ACBL sanctioned games to accumulate Master Points.
• If they would like to form a Duplicate Bridge group for experienced players.

For potential players who are interested in either Duplicate Bridge (unsanctioned games) or social Bridge, Brighton resident Anne Parker, 66, organizes Bridge games for players all over Livingston County.

“I’d love to have names; we’re always interested in having new people,” Parker said.

Parker organizes Bridge groups in June for the year beginning in September. Some games are played in homes, some in restaurants or clubs. Groups are usually created for two to four tables – that’s eight to 16 players per group.

In addition, three times a year Parker organizes an open, luncheon/Bridge party with 12 tables of Contract Bridge at Lakelands Golf and Country Club. The next party is 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Dec. 2. Call or e-mail Anne Parker for reservations and information at jparker4679@sbcglobal.net or (810) 231-6601.

“All levels are welcome,” Parker said. “Everybody plays.”

CONTRACT BRIDGE RESOURCES
► 11 a.m. Bridge every Monday at Brighton Senior Center, 850 Spencer Road, Brighton
This group plays party-style Contract Bridge (not Duplicate Bridge). Anyone who knows basic Contract Bridge rules is welcome to play. The cost is 50 cents if you are not a member of the senior center. You do not need a partner, nor do you need to be a “senior” to play. Senior center volunteer Alice Santioni, has played with this group for 10 years. “It’s a fun game and a good way to get to know people,” Santioni said. They fill about five tables with four players each table. “We’re hoping for more tables because they seem to enjoy it,” Santioni said.
For information, call (810) 299-3823. A free bus to the center is available to all inside the city limits of Brighton, there is a fee for those outside the city. For a bus ride, call 517-404-9353.

► Duplicate Bridge 12:30 p.m. every Wednesday at the Hartland Senior Center in the Hartland Educational Support Service Center, 9525 Highland Road (M-59), Howell
This group plays Duplicate Bridge and all attendees must have a partner to play. Those who do not have a partner may call Darlene Wertz for assistance at (248) 887-4954. The cost is $2 to play. They usually fill 10-12 tables and players must have knowledge of Contract Bridge rules. This group plays non-sanctioned Duplicate Bridge which means American Contract Bridge League master points are not earned in these games. You do not have to be a “senior” to play. Call Senior Center Executive Director Alice Andrews at 810-626-2135 for information; or volunteer in charge of the Bridge program, Darlene Wertz at 248-887-4954.

► Bridge 1 p.m. every Friday at the Bennett Recreation Center, 925 W. Grand River Ave., Howell
This adult group plays party-style Contract Bridge (not Duplicate Bridge). The cost is $1 if you are not a senior center member, free to members. The group plays three or four tables and participants do not need a partner to play. Participants should know the basic rules of Bridge. For information, call 517-546-0693.

► 10:30 a.m. Bridge lessons on Fridays, from Nov 6 to Dec. 18, at the Bennett Recreation Center, 925 W. Grand River Ave., Howell
Carl Visconti teaches Contract Bridge lessons for beginning adult players. Six classes costs $12 to Howell residents, $24 to non-residents. For information, call (517) 546-0693.

► Livingston County Contract Bridge Group at Lakelands Golf and Country Club
This group of 80 regular and substitute Contract Bridge players plays both Duplicate Bridge and party Bridge. New players from Livingston County may sign up in June for the following year for some or all of the Contract Bridge groups in homes or at Lakelands Golf and Country Club, 8760 Chilson Road, Brighton MI: Ladies Bridge on first Wednesday, second Monday and third Tuesday of the month; Couples Bridge on third or fourth Saturday; Marathon Group of 20 couples plays eight matches throughout the year. Three times a year Anne Parker organizes an open, luncheon/Bridge party with 12 tables of Contract Bridge at Lakelands Golf and Country Club. The next party is 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Dec. 2. Call or e-mail Anne Parker for reservations and information at jparker4679@sbcglobal.net or (810) 231-6601. “All levels are welcome,” Parker said. “Everybody plays.”

► American Contract Bridge League sanctioned play and Easybridge lessons
Highland resident Ken Dane is an American Contract Bridge League director and an accredited Easybridge instructor who is interested in reaching out to Duplicate Bridge players and potential players in Livingston County. His club, the Huron Valley Bridge Club, for novice Bridge players with zero to 199 Master Points offers ACBL sanctioned play. Ken Dane would like players and potential players to contact him:
• If they are bridge players who would like to join a sanctioned local group for Duplicate Bridge. They don’t necessarily need to have ever played duplicate before.
• If they are interested in learning bridge from scratch. Easybridge is a system of teaching bridge. The first four weeks are free to see if you like it, then there is a charge for each lesson after that -- pay as you go. Players can come to four classes free to see if they enjoy it, then can come back for a series of 10 more lessons. Lessons involve sanctioned play with novices.
• If they are interested in ACBL sanctioned play on weekends or evenings.
• If they would like him to serve as a director for local Duplicate Bridge players who wish to play ACBL sanctioned games to accumulate Master Points.
• If they would like to form a Duplicate Bridge group for experienced players.
Call Dane at (248) 514-6694, or email hvbridgeclub@gmail.com. The Huron Valley Bridge Club web site is at http://huronvalleybridgeclub.com/default.aspx.