Luck

"Is there any luck involved when you play bridge?" Rosie asked.  We were having lunch on the deck of Gypsy Nickel, overlooking the Muskegon River as it flowed through Big Rapids.  This was the city of my first teaching job, and Rosie, though only one year older than me, was my first principal.  She lives in Cadillac now, and we get together at least once every summer.

"No," was my quick reply.  "But there is with social bridge."  I valiantly tried to explain the difference, describing how north/south remain stationary and east/west move in one direction while the boards go the opposite way.  Even though Rosie's eyes did not glaze over and she even nodded encouragingly, I did not think she really understood.  I remembered when I learned of this set-up in my bridge class; it made absolutely no sense to me until I saw it in action.  Since this was unlikely to happen for Rosie, who didn't even play simple card games, I cut short my explanation.

"My mother-in-law played bridge in a club; was that duplicate or social?" she wondered.

"Could have been either," I replied.  Emboldened by her interest, I amended my first answer.  "And actually, there is a kind of luck involved with duplicate, but it has more to do with the players than the cards."

Case in point:  Thursday afternoon, board 15.  North (Jim) opened 2 clubs; with my two jacks, I passed and south bid 2 diamonds.  Julie turned to Jim.  "What do you play?"

Jim hesitated and then said, "I don't know.  Probably waiting."  Julie passed and Jim bid 3 NT.

I don't recall exactly what happened next, but they ended up in 6 NT making 7.  Two other north/south partners were in the same contract, which means that if we had been playing against any one of 10 other partners when that board came up, we wouldn't have gotten a "1".  That's an example of where luck comes in.

It may sound as though I am complaining, but I know that I often have "good luck" at the tables as well. It's all part of the game.