Bridge | 25 July 2019

Bridge isn’t a game you can get good at quickly. It takes years to reach a reasonable standard — far longer if you don’t practice continually. Of course, some people get there quicker than others. Claire Robinson is one of them. I first met Claire about four years ago; she’d only been playing for two or three years — a novice in bridge terms — and I was struck by how good she already was.

Since then, we’ve teamed up a few times and she just gets better. What really makes the difference is that she was a dedicated poker player (and casino dealer) before taking up bridge. So she’s not just well-practiced in counting cards and calculating odds — she’s also skilled at ‘reading’ people. Take this hand from a Swiss Pairs tournament.

West led the ♥6 and Claire won East’s ♥9 with the ♥A (ducking would risk a spade switch).