[hursday • April 23, 1998
The Battalion
Aggielife
t’s not the roll of the dice ...
It’s the card-s in
(ridge offered as pastime
ir all at University Plus
By Stephen Wells
Staff writer
I his close to finals time, any diversion from
intense studying is welcomed by most
Texas A&M students. After long hours of
[ramming the information they should have
jarned months ago into their caffeine-hazed
grains, students deserve a distraction.
For those students who need a new pastime
Jnd are willing to learn more than what their
Seachers tell them to, University Plus is offering
■n“Introduction to Bridge” course, familiarizing
[Indents with yet another way to spend their
lime without resorting to academics.
Sound fun? Bridge is a card game using bid
fling strategies similar to 42. The object of the
lame is to auction for the number of tricks you
jmd your partner will take, along with the right
jo determine the trump suit.
The winner is determined using a point sys-
Jem at the end of the game. Unfortunately, “table
jalk’’ is not allowed as it is in 42. The challenge is
[hat a player must describe his hand to his part-
tier using only seven words for the more than five
[nillion possible combinations of cards.
Poppy Capehart, the MSC Program Director
lor University Plus, said the introductoiy course
|s the brainchild of suggestions from several stu
dent and faculty members.
“Essentially, I had MSC program staff members
[vho asked me if I would consider a gaming pro
tram,” Capehart said. “We started talking about
different kinds of games we could include, and
pridge came up. So I started asking around to see
[fwe could hire a bridge teacher. Three days later
was put in touch with Elizabeth Booker, and it
[urns out she is an accomplished master bridge
player. We worked out the contractual details, and
peeded 8 people to start the class. We ended up
dth more, so now we have a bridge class.”
Elizabeth Booker, the teacher of the introduc
tory bridge class, said she hopes to teach more
young people the art of playing bridge and show
them how fun it can be.
“Classes are going pretty well, but I’d always
like to play with more young people,” Booker
said. “When I was in college bridge was the thing
to do, but it became unpopular. When the fitness
craze came in, smoking killed bridge. Now, most
games are non-smoking.”
Booker has some words of caution for
prospective students.
“I actually hesitate to teach young people,”
Booker said. “In my day, people got hooked on
the game, just like people get hooked on the
computer now, and they would play it all the
time and flunk out of school.”
Bridge is not new to A&M. Only a few years
ago an A&M bridge team, short on experience,
upset several other schools and won the inter
collegiate ACBL championship. Booker said
bridge is difficult to learn to play properly, but
for someone who gives it an honest effort, it is
worth the time spent.
“It’s a great game,” Booker said. “It is a com
plicated game to learn and if you don’t practice
between classes, you just won’t get it. But it is a
fun game, and one that you can play your whole
life. You can always learn more about it, but you
can never learn it all.”
Students should leave the class with an un
derstanding of the game, though.
“You should be able to play social bridge
when you’re done,” Booker said. “You should be
able to learn the basic mechanics of the game,
bidding, learning how to finesse, count tricks
and analyze hands.”
If it sounds too complicated, it is not. Booker
said she is sure students can leave the class with
an understanding of the game.
“I taught in Saudi Arabia, and I ended up
teaching over 1,000 people over there,” Booker
said. “Of those people, I think there were only
100 who I would call hopeless, and they just
weren’t going to get it. But you will learn the
game in this class if you practice.
The classes have something to offer even to
the experienced bridge player.
“I’ve had people take my beginner’s class
three times and tell me they’ve learned some
thing new each time,” Booker said. “I think you
can learn even more if you already understand
the language.”
The “Introduction to Bridge” course is avail
able through University Plus. Classes start every
Monday through May 11.
To register for the class or to get more infor
mation, call 845-1631 or visit the University Plus
Center in the lower level of the MSC.
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