You play bridge?! That's so cool!

Good luck!

(Miko, she's like the former Kiwi Bridge Champion or something.)

'Pode, I only have bad luck at cards. So if it's all the same to you, I'll be focusing on diamonds. That ought to help you more than what you originally requested.

Kick some bridge-playing ass, Gasfuckingpode!

You got to know when to hold em, know when to fold em....

(that help?)

Spades. Got it. Will do.

That would have been funny if Kenny Rogers was talking about bridge in that song.

Hey! I remember you saying you were getting back into bridge when y'all were visiting Atlanta. Good luck, and remember it's NOT MetaChat- no kibbutzing! :)

SNAP!

Good luck! Spades at seven.

Hope it goes well. I am useless at any kind of cards so have no idea what playing bridge involves except to know that I wouldn't be able to do it so anyone who can play cards has my wholehearted admiration.

I used to play spades with the patients on the psych ward at the VA hospital in Ann Arbor, Michigan, when I was an undergrad there (an internship for my clinical psychology seminar). I'm afraid I had no idea what I was doing, but I kept winning; the gentlemen were quite gracious about it, until, one night, someone put on the movie Predator; it's not good to play Predator for VA psych ward patients is all I'm gonna say.

Not what you're looking for, I realize. May the suit suit you.

Well, it's eight your time, but you said sometime after seven, so... SPADES!

MORE SPADES!

the only card I deal is... THE ACE OF SPADES...THE ACE OF SPADES...

sorry

I'm not sure if it's too late to send good card vibes... can I send those back in time? I'll say yes.

My grandfather was grand master or whatever were the top 1000 or so bridge players in the US were in the early 70s. He died in '74. My grandmother continued to play in tournaments till the last few years of her life as she had Alzheimer's, I don't know how many points she collected. She was very good—not nearly as good as my grandfather. Those grandparents have three daughters; of the three, two of them, but not my mom, have seriously played bridge. My mom and dad both played party bridge, though.

My grandmother and both those aunts know(knew) Stephen R. Donaldson pretty well, though, from their bridge club. There was a time when it looked like my younger aunt was going to date him. I've got more autographed version of his books than I know what to do with.

Cards are big in my family. I do like Pinochle. But I've resisted learned to play bridge all these years, even though everyone thought I'd be very good at it.

Anyway, I've been thinking about learning bridge and joining that bridge club my grandmother was a member of and my aunt still is. I'm thinking I don't want to partner with my aunt, though, given how the rest of my family has joked about how combative of a partner she is. (This is my deaf aunt.)

So I'm very interested that gaspode plays bridge seriously. Good luck, 'pode!

(By the way, for those who don't know, bridge is to other card games as chess is to other board games. Party bridge is relatively easy; but duplicate bridge in tournaments and stuff is pretty damn complicated. Um, if I recall correctly from when I started to read some of my grandmother's bridge books 20 years ago.)

Thanks VERY much, everyone, and it was quite freaky because I was getting way more spades than statistical probability. So... yay you!

Most importantly: WE GOT SECOND, MOTHERFUCKERS! 1st tournament in aaaaages and we kicked (most people's) ass! On a serious bridge high right now.

(and kmellis, I have the feeling that you would be awesome at bridge)

Yay!

WOOHOO!!! Do not underestimate the vibe-sending power of the Mecha Collective. Today gaspode's bridge tourney, tomorrow Randi's Million!