Why do you play bridge?

[Fluffy]

some google research about Sarek and Amanda led me to Star Trek, my knowledge about Vulcan marriages is limited I am afraid :).

[Hanoi5]

Well, as you are aware now, the trekkers have been discovered.

 

Can one of them explain?

[blackshoe]

Vulcans eschew emotion in favor of logic.

 

Fred has the right answer to why Sarek married Amanda - and to why I took up bridge again after twenty some years of not playing it. :)

[han]

I like ...trying to read people's thoughts.

Han. What am I thinking right now?

You were thinkng that it was impossible for Han to read your mind at that moment :P

I knew what he was thinking, but I thought it inappropriate to tell this in public.

[Guest Jlall]

For the ladies.

hell yeah dude :)

 

I will probably quit bridge for this reason lol.

[helene_t]

For the +190s.

You mean those partners who turn out to play strong NT in balancing seat (making +5) or are you talking about their age?

I will probably quit bridge for this reason lol.

Former Team Oranje player Ricco van Prooien did just that. He turned to poker instead because he could make a living of that. His wife Femke Hoogweg (former Dutch Venice Cup team) was asked what she thought about her husband being a poker prof. She said she appreciated it, since he's in better mood now than when he had "that boring computer job".

[Rossoneri]

And now I think is time you answered your own question and tell us what your problem is (or problems are). Maybe we can help you :)

I feel that I am currently at a crossroads where I am trying to make up my mind what I want to do with bridge.

 

Some other peer of mine actually encouraged me to try for national age group selections, which I was thinking about in the first place.

 

However, I am currently at a point where I am thinking of not trying this time round (Going overseas for studies towards the end of next year so I won't be around for the next few years) due to certain reasons.

 

Mainly, the catalyst for this thinking is the actions and behaviour of certain individuals who are in very influential positions in my NCBO. This is something which has not just disgusted me but my regular partner as well. I do not wish to elaborate on this in public as I feel that majority of it is my personal opinion.

 

Secondly, my regular partner is involved in some other activities which are taking up quite a bit of his time.

 

I asked this question to everyone, because it seems to me that some people have lost the idea of playing bridge. To me, it is a fun and challenging game which can never be fully mastered, hence the continuous challenge. But it seems to me that many think that they have mastered the game already.

 

On the other hand, I am also very grateful to have met many kind and knowledgeable people who have taught me much.

[1eyedjack]

I play it because it is one of the few things for which I find that I have a bit of aptitude.

 

At first I found surprising those individuals who score 40% to 45% day in day out after years of playing and still come back for more punishment. I supposed that they just come along for the social engagement, and I think I would find that more than a bit depressing.

 

But then I got to thinking about why I carry on playing golf, despite that my handicap is measured in terms of the number of balls lost during the round (and little prospect of significant improvement).

 

So I suppose that even if I regularly scored 45% per session at bridge, I might, measured against that personal yardstick, feel some pleasure on the occasions I break 50%.

[CSGibson]

I play because it is the most wonderful complex game in the world. The challenges and problems on every hand, the judgement, and the human factor all make each hand exciting and different.

 

Bridge is hard; to be truly great you have to have communication skills, math skills, people reading skills, and imagination. Not to mention 100 other things that I'm ignoring.

 

I also like the social involvement with people who I normally would not get to know. I'm 28, and have been involved in duplicate bridge for 4 years now. The people I've met have been wonderful, obnoxious, silly, boastful, competitive; the whole gamut of human experience.

 

I've thought about giving the game a pass for a while, but I'm hooked, and looking to get better all the time now.

[TheoKole]

I play because I truly love this game.

 

The mental challenge on all levels is stimulating and exciting. Also there is always something to learn and improve upon so I never get bored.

 

I truly love strategy games and problem solving, and bridge combines these and more. Also I have made many good friends around the country which I would never have had the chance to do without the game.

 

My aim is to represent Greece in international competition.

 

Cheers,

 

Theo

[jikl]

Many years ago I wrote an article about computers and strategy games, ie bridge, chess and draughts (checkers). I got into a lot of trouble when I wrote it actually. I stated that draughts and chess were pointless games because they have a solution.

 

Well recently draughts has been solved, there is now no way to beat a computer in draughts. Chess will be solved sometime too. These are "complete information systems", bridge is a "partial information system". The beauty of bridge is that you can not see every part of the puzzle; it can never be solved.

 

That is what brings me back all the time.

 

Sean

[Guest Jlall]

Bridge cannot be solved but at some point computers will be better than the best human players (just like backgammon).

[jikl]

Unfortunately I agree with this. With the amount of calculations per second a computer will be able to make soon the only way we could beat them is probably unfortunately in the realms of cheating (if you are playing against computers), by this I mean that wehn playing against you have no "feeling" about who has the Q, or any feeling you have about the bidding is purely from your partner, so therefore drifts into the realms of UI.

 

Sean

[y66]

I get my kicks taking tricks.

[helene_t]

Bridge cannot be solved but at some point computers will be better than the best human players (just like backgammon).

I think this depends on the definition of "solved". I think there must be, in principle, a strategy (plausibly a mixed strategy) that optimizes some well-defined goal such as the expected TP, assuming that the opps optimizes their (say) TP at the same time.

[JanM]

:P To find a husband ... or two :)

 

Seriously:

Because bridge presents a never ending, always changing, series of interesting problems to solve. Not only is each hand different, but often the problem we originally see in a hand changes during the bidding and play.

And it's a wonderful "common language" that lets me have friendships with people from many different places and of many different ages, backgrounds and interests. You're never alone in a strange city if you play bridge - there's always a friend you already knew or a new one to meet.

[mike777]

:) To find a husband ... or two :)

 

Seriously:

Because bridge presents a never ending, always changing, series of interesting problems to solve. Not only is each hand different, but often the problem we originally see in a hand changes during the bidding and play.

And it's a wonderful "common language" that lets me have friendships with people from many different places and of many different ages, backgrounds and interests. You're never alone in a strange city if you play bridge - there's always a friend you already knew or a new one to meet.

Hmm, well I met JanM's husband playing bridge, I think he was single then.

I was 16 and he was the leader of the pack even back then that taught me bridge at the Union, KC, Alan, Cheri Bjerken, and Jan's future husband. They also taught me how to sneak into Dooley's, Witts End and a few other local pubs and get served beer and play a great new Video game called Pong. I was better at beer drinking and Pong than bridge. We did a few other things too but my memory is getting hazy.Between joining a fraternity at 16 and these bunch of genius guys/gal and all of them really are those years are just a blur. I am amazed they could play bridge all night long, march against the war, and still go to class, hmm I assume they went to class anyway.

 

Anyway glad to see he married up!

 

I am glad your husband finally has a good partner to play with, YOU!