1H - Pass - 2D - Pass - 7NT?

How come no one plays cards nowadays? Yes, yes, yes... I know that everyone and their cousin plays poker. That's not what I am talking about.

I love to play cards - bridge, spades, hearts, 'knock' rummy... Real card games. One of the coolest memories of my deep childhood is that every other Friday night for as long as I could remember was my parent's 'Card Night'. My folks would clear off the kitchen table, my grandparents would stop in, and they'd play rubber bridge until all hours of the night.

I was fascinated by it all. As I got older, the grown ups would let me stand around the table while they played. Anyone out there who knows the first thing about bridge will tell you it's not really a game that a n00b can appreciate viewing. But watching got me hooked... Not just the on the cardplay, but on the atmosphere - just sitting around playing a game and chatting about life.

Later, when I finally convinced my folks to teach me to play I realized that I loved this stuff... A game like bridge has so many levels to think through, not to mention the variability inherent in the practically infinite 4-handed deals. Awesome! It's like intellectual crack!

My father told stories of playing bridge in college and so I eagerly looked forward to finding a few penny games and earning my stripes when I arrived @ UD. Sadly, it seems that no one else my age plays bridge. The best I could do was occasionally cut into one (single, sporadic, pathetically weak) spades game. Not quite the student center full of several ongoing games with people cutting in and out that had filled my geeky dreams. Either my father exaggerated or it really was different 'back then'.

Yes, there was penny-poker of various kinds, too. But since the $$ aspect of poker is critical, playing for less than a soda's worth of cash makes poker about as interesting as doing laundry with your winnings. Somehow pleasant, and yet empty.

Now, whenever I sit here in the kitchen with my laptop to check email or blog, I'm staring straight across the room at a deck of cards. Still in the box - unused.

So, would someone out there (preferably a couple) learn to play cards? I'll make sure we open our house to play with you. Especially if you learn bridge or spades.

Oh! Letting Eva and I win wouldn't hurt either...