Contract bridge gains devotees as Las Vegas population changes

The coffee is fresh. The room, stuffy from the morning rain. Quiet conversation and occasional laughter float above the card tables as the flick of cards is heard throughout the room.

Heavy rains that soaked the Las Vegas Valley on Monday were not enough to keep Las Vegas Bridge Center players away.

"Bridge players come out regardless," Helen Allen, Las Vegas Bridge Unit's vice president, said. "The game goes on in spite of anything."

In fact, some wouldn't dream of missing a game.

"Many bridge players play every day," she added.

Tucked in a tiny strip mall, the one-room center is one of the valley's six sanctioned bridge clubs, which make up Las Vegas Unit 373. The unit is part of District 17 of the Memphis, Tenn.-based American Contract Bridge League.

While duplicate bridge, a time-consuming, competitive card game, may have reached a standstill in other areas, the game is raking in players in Las Vegas.

The Las Vegas Unit has increased 3.6 percent in the last year, which is exceptional considering the game isn't drawing many new members, according to Jody Latham, ACBL Bridge Bulletin associate director.

"In bridge, losses outweigh the gains," Latham said. Members die off. But Las Vegas doesn't seem to have that problem. Bridge in Las Vegas is doing quite well."

Allen began playing bridge in 1961 at Dula Community Center. It was unsanctioned, one of only two clubs in town and it had 50 members. Since then she has seen the local membership increase to nearly 800. The newsletter has a circulation of 850.

As Las Vegas continues to grow as a retirement community, many expect bridge in the valley will grow as well.

"Bridge is very popular in this area because we have a lot of people who are retired," Tom Lyon, a Las Vegas Bridge Center director, said. "They have more discretionary time and income."

Many players learned the game when they were younger. But families and career priorities left no time to improve their game. Now, as retirees with ample free time, they're returning--sometimes with a passion.

"You can't be a good bridge player unless you play regularly," Allen said. "(Competitive) bridge players spend time studying the game."

Competitive edge

At the Las Vegas Bridge Center on Monday, jackets and raincoats hung on the wall near the door as 44 bridge players concentrated on the third round of their duplicate bridge game.

The three-hour game began at 12:30 p.m. Playing three boards each table, the east and west players shifted across the room as the north player kept score. Results from the previous games, printed on large computer paper, hung on the wall.

Bridge isn't always this structured, this competitive. Some foursomes still play bridge at home.

"Those games are known as party bridge or kitchen bridge," Allen said. "Most of these people don't play that."

A large bridge community in Summerlin remains unsanctioned, Allen said. "They don't play for points, they play for fun."

But at the clubs, where bridge is sanctioned and serious business, the players' scores from each game are entered into a computer and sent to the league. Many players are working their way to becoming Life Masters--the first rank in bridge gained when one reaches 300 points. One hundred of those points, known as pigmented points, must be won at tournaments.

"Bridge is compared to chess in its competitiveness," said Allen. "Chess players say chess is more difficult. Bridge players say bridge is more difficult. I play both. Bridge is a different kind of game. Bridge is broader."

Sanctioned in the 1960s, the clubs of the local unit report to the league, a nonprofit organization that serves bridge players and sanctions tournaments and club games.

Of the 25 districts throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico and Bermuda, District 17, which includes Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, Nevada and Wyoming, ranks No. 10 in numbers.

Many players who are famous among the bridge circiut live in Las Vegas, Allen said. "I call this the home of the pros."

Max Hardy, a professional bridge player, teacher and former associate national director of the American Contract Bridge League, lives in Las Vegas. Hardy has written a number of books and articles on the game.

Another player, Billy Miller, who has a "Dear Billy" column in the American Contract Bridge League's national magazine, lives in Las Vegas.

A kinder game

The competitiveness of duplicate bridge drove recreational players away for many years. But a zero-tolerance stance toward rude or disruptive players adopted in 1998 is helping pique the interest of those who had walked away miffed by the tantrums of players who can't take a loss.

"Bridge 30 to 40 years ago was very undisciplined," Leo Hanley, a Las Vegas resident and longtime bridge player, said. "They played by the seat of their pants. But today it's a very structured game."

The clubs' directors--similar to referees--enforce the zero-tolerance policy. They watch club games to make rulings on questionable bids, to see that rounds begin on time, and that boards are moved to proper locations when players switch tables.

"A game has to have a director or it would get pretty bloody at times," Allen said. Las Vegas Bridge Center owner Jeff Neal "is a strong disciplinarian. But I've seen people throwing chairs. Bridge can be very serious. Our policy is zero tolerance."

Some people say they would continue regardless of the "rudeness."

Bridge is a never-ending challenge, Latham said. "It's an indescribable pleasure. You never hold the same hand again. It's very easy to get hooked. It's very hard to get unhooked."

The community

Competitive playing, however, is not the only reputation that precedes bridge. Even at the sometimes tense local clubs, many know bridge as the center of a tightly knit, comfortable community.

At the Las Vegas Bridge Center, coffee mugs--each with a different player's names painted on it--hang on the wall in the makeshift kitchen area.

A sunshine chairman sends greetings and get-well cards to members.

The unit's newsletter, put together by Allen, lists players who were promoted by their recent rankings, columns written by local players and any illnesses or deaths in the community.

Its website posts minutes from the board meetings, overall winners of unit games and locations and hours of the local clubs.

"The clubs sort of have different personalities. People tend to play in one club. Jeff (Neal) generates a homey feeling in his club. The Drawbridge across the street is more competitive. Some say it has some of the best players in town."

Las Vegas also draws visiting players. A Los Angeles couple with a folded piece of paper listing local bridge clubs played Monday's game at the center.

"Quite a few people come from other areas of the country to play bridge," Lyon said. "Obviously bridge isn't the first thing that comes to mind when Las Vegas is mentioned. But they come for bridge."

Those who come without a partner need not worry as most clubs will provide one, Allen said.

"The big thing about bridge is that it's not a solitary game," Nancy Strouse, Las Vegas resident and longtime bridge player, said. "And there's constant stimulation."

"One of the nice things about bridge, you can go to any city and play," she added. Strouse and her husband have traveled all over the country to play.

Bridge has also kept her connected to friends in other areas, such as Los Angeles and Boise, Idaho. She often runs into them at tournaments.

Las Vegas draws in a large number of players for tournaments. Players are already looking forward to March 20-26, when the Spring Glitter Gulch Sectional will be at the Plaza hotel-casino.

"Las Vegas sectionals are the largest in North America," Latham said. Nearly 5,000 players came for October's sectional.

"We like to think it's the bridge," Strouse said.

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