MSU Bridge Club saw all of their student members graduate, however the club is now trying to revamp itself. Photo courtesy of Eugene Kales.
Retired MSU Department of Physics and Astronomy staff member Eugene Kales is trying to rekindle student interest in the MSU Bridge Club.
Kales, who has been teaching bridge, a trick-taking card game, for approximately 30 years, used to be the faculty advisor for the club. However, the last member of the organization graduated this past year and there’s a new need for interested students, Kales said.
“It’s something I’ve always been interested in and have wanted to get students involved in it,” he said. “It’s a great game.”
According to the 247 Bridge website, it is a challenging and fun card game for all ages. It is played with a full set of cards and four people. Players sitting directly across from each other are partners while those on their left and right are their opponents.
Bridge is made up of two parts, a bidding portion and the actual game play. The suits have different rankings, which are important for scoring, according to the website.
“During the bidding process, players are determining how many tricks they can take with a single suit (or no suit - NT) as Trump,” the website says.
The gameplay portion is where the hands are played out. One hand is always visible, and if a player’s team won the bid then that team gets to play their hand. According to the website, at that point the goal is to take that many tricks by playing high or Trump cards. If not, then the goal is to stop the other team from meeting their bid with the player's own cards. A game is won when one of the teams reaches 100 points. Then, two more games are played and the winners of two of the three games are the overall victors, according to the website.
Kales said bridge is a thinking game like chess, but more social as players have a table of people all talking to each other.
Second year MSU College of Law Student Benjamin Bomber agreed and said bridge was a card person’s game, as opposed to chess, a board person's game.
Bomber has been playing bridge since his father started teaching him at 10 years old. Now, at age 24 years old, he said it’s harder to find people to play with around his own age.
“When I play it’s usually with a lot of older people, because right now those are the people that play,” he said. “There’s a stigma that bridge is an old person’s game.”
The fact that bridge isn’t a mainstream game worries Kales and he’s afraid that, although they’ve gotten members in the past, now it might be more challenging, he said.
“We’ve had eight to 12 (members) at a time,” Kales said. “But it’s hard to get the word out. Bridge isn’t usually a game people think about.”
One of the ways Kales wants to start rekindling interest is with a Learn Bridge in a Day marathon event. Put on by the American Contract Bridge League, it will be from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Oct. 22 with a pizza break in the middle. The cost is $5, primarily for the pizza. The event will be held at the Valley Court Community Center.
Kales said eventually students in the MSU Bridge Club will be able to play with the East Lansing local Capitol Bridge Club for a discounted price of $1.
Bomber said bridge isn’t for everyone, but if someone is up to a challenge then it’s a great game.
“If you’re competitive, if you like cards, then I think you’d like bridge,” Bomber said.
Students interested in joining the MSU Bridge Club can contact Eugene Kales at (517) 214-4827.
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