There is bridge played for money in a few establishments "open to the public" in the US. There are several more elsewhere (UK, France, Hong Kong to name a few). Of course it is played for money in many private clubs as well. In addition, there are some extremely well publicised tournaments for big money like the Cavendish which is held in Las Vegas in May or June each year. The latter are by invitation only. There is wagering in those via a calcuta (each competing pair is sold to the highest bidder and the owners of the winnig and high placing pairs share in the proceeds). Unfortunately the winners of one of the last Cavendish events were recently accused of cheating. No determination of guilt or innocense has been made yet. There is a lot of tournament bridge played but there are no money awards. Furthermore the sponsoring association (American Contract Bridge League) expressly forbids the participants from wagering on the tournaments outcome. This does not stop places like Pinnacle from occasionally offering odds on the results of national tournaments. Even though bridge is a dying game as someone else said it is a wonderfull mental stimulant and it is truly a game of skill. You don't have to have money at stake to make it a challenge. The ACBL has almost 200,000 members (average age 65+) and there are litterally thousands and thousands of games sponsored each year. The recently concluded Atlanta summer national tournament attracted some 2 to 3 thousand participants and a total of more than 13,000 tables over a ten day period (table for bridge attendance purposes is 4 people for one session; typically there are two or three sessions per day). Anyone who wants to know more about this game check acbl.org.
I'm under 35 and I can play bridge, though I do not play as often as I wish.
I don't like playing online, it's like watching porn - it may be fun, but live, face to face action is always better
And for the question - I don't think it will get ever popular in casinos, like chess or go, it's just too complex game. Casinos need 'easy' games that can be taught within 5 minutes so no one gets bored. Moreover, if I am to play for money I'll need my stable partner and it will be 1st quite difficult to arrange 2nd it would leave plenty of possibilities of cheating
But bridge is a great game to play
I don't like playing online, it's like watching porn - it may be fun, but live, face to face action is always better
And for the question - I don't think it will get ever popular in casinos, like chess or go, it's just too complex game. Casinos need 'easy' games that can be taught within 5 minutes so no one gets bored. Moreover, if I am to play for money I'll need my stable partner and it will be 1st quite difficult to arrange 2nd it would leave plenty of possibilities of cheating
But bridge is a great game to play
I used to play all the time when I had a good partner. I only really like duplicate bridge as everyone had the same chance and cards. I loved to play at Cavendish Club in Portland, Oregon. I loved to play in the Regionals and Sectionals. One of my fondest memories was watching Mike Passell play at a Sectional in Portland. Simply unbelievable ability He had. He would simply pick up the cards, take a quick glance at them and put them back down in no particular order ! His mind had them already photographed. Kibitzing I believed they called it in bridge back then ! Believe me I didn't offer this guy any advice !
Sorry Volhound, (Bridge is a dying game), the reports of Bridge's imminent demise are grossly exaggerated! Bridge will never die as long as there are intelligent people who love a challenge. After playing Bridge, any other card game is like kissing your sister, and that includes Poker. Poker is 1% skill compared to Bridge; the only luck in Bridge (duplicate at least) is the luck involved in the fact that one doesn't choose one's opponents, ie. if your opponents play badly, that makes you look good! And of course that applies to every game, especially Poker.
I used to play a lot of internet bridge but there are so many idiots out there that they ruined it for me, plus my partner died. Kermit, do you live in Vegas? I would like to meet you at the Rx bash.
I used to play a lot of internet bridge but there are so many idiots out there that they ruined it for me, plus my partner died. Kermit, do you live in Vegas? I would like to meet you at the Rx bash.
