By Sue Erwin
Photos by Caroline Clabaugh,
Matthew Gutman and submitted
The card game of bridge is a widespread hobby
in which tens of millions of people throughout
the world take part in – and it’s certainly a
popular pastime in Boca Grande. In social circles it
is considered to be a captivating, challenging game
that can be played casually among friends, or taken
extremely seriously in tournaments.
Between them, Susan and Richard
Mougalian have nearly 80 years of
bridge competition experience
and knowledge.
The Mougalians are the
directors of the Boca
Grande Duplicate Bridge
Club, Inc., a nonprofi t
Florida corporation affi liated
with, and operating under, the
jurisdiction of the American Contract
Bridge League. The club holds games
from November through May each year at a variety
of locations around the island. Points are recorded
online, and each player is responsible for keeping
their records current.
Richard currently teaches intermediate classes at
the Crowninshield House on the island, and Susan
teaches a beginner’s class at the Boca Grande Fire
Department.
“Anyone can learn how to play the game,”
Susan said. “It depends on how dedicated you are
to learning to process. If you’ve played other card
games that include ‘tricks,’ or are based on face cards
and suits, you can pick up the game of bridge.”
Duplicate bridge seems to be a popular
game in Boca Grande. Each hand
is played at one table and four
partners change tables after
each game. They play the
same hands that were
played by the previous
players. The goal is to
achieve a better score than
the other players. Technically,
duplicate bridge means replaying
the hand that was just played by another
opponent.
Every player gets a hand of 13 cards dealt from a
standard deck of cards. Aces are high, and the cards
are sorted by suits. Each player evaluates the points
of their cards: Aces are four points, Kings are three,
Queens are two and Jacks are one.