Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1910-05-09
Bridge
Whist.

a point and he was shocked the next day
to receive a check for $500 lie protested
against accepting Il, but the loser insisted,
saving that II he had won he would have
demanded s. point from the young man.
While the ladies reply to their poker
playing husbands that they had rather sh
I'M game that involves more skill than
chance. as matter OF fact even bright
itself has many chances one prominent
player is said to have won twenty-nine
successive rubbers The chances are only
one in 900 that a man may win so
many times in succession, Yet even this Is
not possible, since in other kinds OF games
men have sometimes won against such tre-
mendous odds At Monte Carlo in roulette,
the red won thirty-two times in succession,
which is no more OF an exploit than to win
twenty nine successive rubbers at whist.
At a prominent New York club man
devoted to bridge is said to have lost nearly
5000 in seven months at 10 cents a point
He played on an average Of six rubbers
day, winning two OF them. The loss OF
one game a day had thus cost him nearly
| 5000.
| The number of hands that may be held
at bridge is beyond the grasp of the human
mind In faint way this may be illus
! tratod by the statement that II every one
of the 100000 900 inhabitants OF the earth
were suddenly to be transformed into .
bridge field who played ten hours a day.
1t would take 1000 900, 100000 1.-TWO thrilion)
years to exhaust all of the possible hands.
Even on the question OF the occurrence Of
the aces in a hand the odds are $50 to /
that there are not four in a given hand.
Most men object to their wives playing for
money at bridge even though they them
selves are frequenters or the green covered
table. The story Is told of one woman
whose husband was very nsistent that she
should never be guilty of playing for
money, Yet upon one occasion she did
play for money and was so interested In
the game that she got home only after her
husbands dinner hour. His righteous in
dignation knew no bounds. After listening
meekly to his outbursts of wrath for
awhile, she took from her pocketbook
twenty -four crisp 81 bills and handed them
to him With little show OF appeasment he
took them and sternly assured her that he
could never accept any other excuse than
that '..,...
Washington is favorite home OF the
devotee of bridge. Although Theodore
Roosevelt, when president OF the United
States, Numbered nightly against thu
?
! was one of the best bridge players In thu
diplomatic world. George A. Won Meyer,
e secretary Of the navy, learned the finer
( points Of the game in Russia, and some of
n his plays arc said to be classic in the art
p OF forcing the hand of his opponent
r The literature Of bridge is very large,
considering the comparative infancy OF the
a game. The booksellers .catalougues list
n something lake seventy different works
t explaining its mysteries and codifying its
: laws For long time bridge players sup.
ported a magazine devoted exclusively tc
o the game, but in recent months this
e magazine has taken up other forms oil
It whist, skat, etc! There are in nearly al
IS important cities men and women who earn
It living by introducing strangers to tn,
y subtleties of the game. In some cases
they supplement their earnings as teacher
Is by their winnings elsewhere.
h Bridge not only has taken the place for.
Is merly occupied by straight whist as the
= most popular card game, but 1t has don,
a much more, it has taken the first place a,
= the means OF social entertainment ir
$ America. Bridge is played for itself alone
!. and bridge parties are more numerous thar
d all other entertainments taken together
r. Bridge precedes and follows Iuncheons
n succeeds dinner and is hoped for ever
A when it is not in evidence. Ones qualifiea
l. tons as bridge player form the measur,
IS of his social stature. The most charminI
and brilliant man or woman In the countr,
is will be socially lost unless the charm ant
ID brilliance is supplemented by the ability I,
20 play bridge. II one would commit socIa
Is suicide and forever erase his name from
ID the invitation lists of his social world, le
E him abjure bridge Every other short
ID coming may be forgiven, but ignorance o
lie bridge is objectionable.
er BY FREDERIC j. HAsK1N.
s. Tomorrow-women,s Club work.