Part One—A few yes/no questions:
1. Are you a baby boomer, plus-or-minus two generations?
2. Do you know the names of the four suits in a deck of cards?
3. Can you count to 13?
4. Can you count to 40?
5. Do you enjoy making new friends (or can you at least tolerate it)?
6. Ever wondered what new activities might capture your interest before or during your retirement years?
Stop here if you answered "no" to any of the above. Otherwise, keep going.
Part Two—A story problem:
You are dealt 13 (of the 52) cards from a randomly-shuffled deck. You group them into suits. You sort the cards high-to-low in each suit, the ace being high (not low, as in other, inferior card games).
Now you do a little counting, using simple rules.
First rule—high cards are valued as follows:
Ace = 4 points;
King = 3 points;
Queen = 2 points;
Jack = 1 point.
Second rule—cards in long suits are valued as follows:
5th card in a suit = 1 point;
6th card in a suit = 1 point;
7th card in a suit = 1 point;
8th card in a suit = 1 point.
[Hint: It's a waste of time memorizing how much the 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, or 13th card in a suit is worth, so I'll let it remain a mystery.]
Now, using those simple rules, figure out the point value of each of the following three hands. When you're done, click the teeny-tiny graphic below it to check your answer.
Answers:
If you answered all three correctly, or even two out of three, you are a prime prospect for the game of bridge, and you should give it serious consideration; a good start would be spending ten bucks on an introductory book I recommend to new players, The ABCs of Bridge.
As one famous bridge champion correctly stated, "It is never too early or too late to learn to play bridge." Bill Gates agrees: "It's a game you can play at any age."
Lastly: If you already play bridge, tell your nonplaying friends about this quiz.
