“Once you know the value of your hand, every
time someone makes a bid the value changes,”
Susan said. “If your opponent opens with a bid of
one spade, he’s probably going to take all of your
spades … but if your partner bids spades, then your
hand is worth more.”
“You can play a game with a really bad hand of
cards ... but the people you are playing against will be
dealing with those exact same cards as well, so you
are trying to play the best you can with that hand,”
Richard added.
Susan further explained by saying, “If your partner
opens with spades, you know your hand is worth
more. He is saying they have several of them, and
if you have more, then you know your opponents
have less, which will affect your overall points.”
The rotation is set depending on how many tables
are involved. The number of tables and people who
are playing determine the number of boards that are
played in a round.
“You generally want to play about 24 hands per
session, and each one usually lasts about 3 to 3
1/2 hours,” Richard said. “We usually play about 24
boards over the course of an afternoon. It takes an
average of seven minutes per game.”
But, like with everything else in the game, it varies.
“One board could take four minutes and another
could take 10 minutes, or every hand could take
seven minutes and you are constantly watching the
clock,” Richard said.
It is a timed event, Susan said, and in the past there
were much stricter rules. When there is a
tournament, the games are always fi rmly timed.
Boca Grande Duplicate Bridge Club President
Ingrid Yonker said that last year the organization had
an average of 87 people who played two times per
week during season.
“Our low time is early October – which is when
we start – and the middle of April through May is
our peak season for the players,” she said. “January is
when we really start to see a lot of people come to
the games.”
Yonker said about 85 percent of the players are
from Boca Grande. Last year, an average of 87
players competed each week at the Boca Grande
Community Center.
“There are many fans of the game on the
island,” she said. “We do get some experts from the
area who have been playing for decades, and their
knowledge is very benefi cial for those just learning
the game.”
Susan and Richard said as far as they know, there is
only one other club that plays regularly on the island,
the Boca Grande Club.
“We don’t have an ongoing game at the Boca
Grande Pass Club,” Susan said. “Some people also
host private games in their homes.”