i started to play bridge

[damiano]

i just took it up this month after seing my father playing it for years now.
it's been a while before I decided to take it up myself but now I am ready
it is truly a great game (i think it is the smartest card game out there)
any of you play it?
any advice on how to learn it?
should I first read books or just play and learn at the same time?

 

[RIGorous1]

I played it in my geeky days in high school, its truly a fun game of pure strategy. I entered a few tournaments and my parner and I came in second at the barrington classic in Los Angeles.

You definately need to read the book first or else its going to be very difficult to understand. You should atleast stay 1 lesson ahead of your game play. Like I said above, the game is pure strategy... with a given deck the professionals can estimate where you will trump and how many tricks you will take. The book will build traditional strategies which all pros are familiar with, it is only after you learn the basics that you can invent and try other strategies.

 

[Skyclad1uhm1]

Read a few books on it, then when you've learned the basics go play on beginners level on one of the bridge sites around. (playsite.com has bridge games, okbridge.com is a dedicated site, and there are more)
If you can find 3 more to play with you can play IRL too, although it will help a lot to have someone who is more experienced among you.

If you really want to learn more about it try looking for a bridgeclub in the neighbourhood.

I've played it a lot at the university, and after that once in a while in a club or on the internet.

 

[dullard]

I played it a lot but never liked it. Too much hidden table talk. You know what I mean. A bid of 4 No Trump doesn't mean 4 No Trump. Every bid has a hidden code that you and your parter have worked out (and so has everyone else with their partner) - same goes with the card that you lead each has a hidden meaning. All that hidden table talk takes all the thought out of the game. So I consider it the "least smart card game out there". All you need is to learn the hidden table talk language and then have a decent understanding of statistics (ie is the higher card to your left or to your right) and you will win the majority of times.

 

[Skyclad1uhm1]

Originally posted by: dullard
I played it a lot but never liked it. Too much hidden table talk. You know what I mean. A bid of 4 No Trump doesn't mean 4 No Trump. Every bid has a hidden code that you and your parter have worked out (and so has everyone else with their partner) - same goes with the card that you lead each has a hidden meaning. All that hidden table talk takes all the thought out of the game. So I consider it the "least smart card game out there". All you need is to learn the hidden table talk language and then have a decent understanding of statistics (ie is the higher card to your left or to your right) and you will win the majority of times.

It's not 'hidden code', there are several bidding systems. You have to tell your opponents which system you use, and if your partner bids something which has a non-standard meaning you have to alert it so your opponents know it's not a normal bid. They can then ask you (not the bidder) what his bid means, and if you clearly don't give the right info the tournament or club director can kick your ass.

Edit: Note: If you give the wrong info but proceed to follow that wrong explanation (so if you misunderstood the bid) then it's your own problem 😛

Sometimes people forget they agreed on a convention with their partner, and suddenly make a bid which totally screws their partner 😀
(Have had that happen to me too, with my partner raising my bid on basically nothing, and me thinking game would be easy with what he bid as support and raising it to game, only to find out he had exactly 1 trick in his hand... We 'only' went down 2)

 

[damiano]

any books you recommend ?

 

[GagHalfrunt]

Originally posted by: damiano
any books you recommend ?

5 Weeks to Winning Bridge by Alfred Sheinwold. Most of the bidding methods used are a bit outdated, but still an excellent primer to take a player from rank beginner to somewhat knowledgeable.

Play of the Hand by Louis Watson. The all-time greatest book ever done on declarer play.

Commonsense Bidding by Bill Root. My partner and I play a slight variation of the Root-Pavlicek system, it's lot's of fun to use and very powerful.

Complete Book on Hand Evaluation in Contract Bridge by Mike Lawrence. The best book on the subject, but more of an intermediate level book. Read it after you've got the basics down.

Eddie Kantar Teaches Modern Bridge Defense by Eddie Kantar. Another for intermediate level reading, get the bidding and declarer play basics down before moving to defense.

Anything by Victor Mollo, especially any of the Bridge in the Menagerie books. Mostly for entertainment value rather than instruction.

 

[Skyclad1uhm1]

Hmm, would we be able to get enough Bridge-playing ATOTers on at the same time to play a few games online?