August 2021 - 16

than 25% their normal attendance per game, and almost all
are on an abbreviated schedule, " Morici said. That won't
work for Sagamore, because coming back to the building
means coming back to rent payments. " We cannot afford to
open one or two days a week at 25% capacity. We can't open
until we can get eight tables a day, seven days a week. "
In many areas, it is the smaller clubs, especially those that
didn't have an online presence, who reopened first, testing
the waters as the bigger clubs watched. That happened in
Memphis, where Al Stone's Memphis DBC opened April 5
for in-person games two days a week, drawing three to six
tables. When the club held six games per week, they were
about the same size. Meanwhile, the larger Lightman Bridge
Club held off until June 16, when it started with three games
per week - less than half of its previously daily schedule.
The club was waiting to see how the first few weeks went
before making any changes, manager Sharon Ohsfeldt said.
" Our people are playing online, " she said. " Some will come
back to face-to-face games and some won't. " Lightman,
which pooled into the Louisiana Bridge Association's
virtual club, doesn't have the option to turn off the online
games to entice people back to the club. LBA, which also
opened June 16 for three games a week, is still running an
extensive schedule of virtual games, including time slots
that compete with Lightman's games.
Not all clubs were able to get the kind of relief from rent
that Morici did while shuttered. Rent was one of the factors
that motivated Pam Campbell to reopen her two games at
the Cincinnati Bridge Center on May 5. The center, which
previously held 13 games a week, is home to several other
directors who have not reopened. But Campbell, who serves
as the treasurer, saw the need to increase income.
" We have a virtual club, but our games have not been well
attended, " Campbell said. " We have a hefty rent to pay and
I wanted to try to generate money. The other reason was I
genuinely missed the social aspect of the game. I am looking
forward to other directors having games, so I can play. "
Before reopening, Campbell contacted the health department
for guidance on masks, table spacing, food service
and cleaning requirements. The club requires players to
provide not just proof of vaccination but to sign a waiver of
responsibility for exposure to COVID. Masks were initially
required, but that was dropped when the state of Ohio
allowed it.
After seven weeks of just the two in-person games, the
CBC held a welcome-back week with an expanded schedule
in late June, with two evening games and another afternoon
added, but those were a one-time event, not an addition to
the regular schedule. Cincinnati, which normally holds a
regional in June, has one planned in October.
" The games are growing a little each week, " Campbell said.
" The Wednesday game is averaging seven to nine tables,
16 | Bridge Bulletin | August 2021
which is almost normal. " Friday, which used to be the largest
of the week, hasn't yet fielded enough tables to break into
two sections for an NLM game, but is doing about the same
as Wednesday.
Like Sagamore, the Duncan Bridge Center in Palm Desert
CA was able to grow substantially during the pandemic,
more than doubling its 2019 table count in 2020, attracting
players from all over in addition to pooling with Tucson.
But the prospect of shrinking back to the local audience
didn't hinder the club from reopening, manager Sean Lui
said. " Several players wanted face-to-face bridge instead
of online, " he said, so when California permitted it, the
club did, offering open and limited games six days a week
starting June 15. The schedule was comparable to what was
offered in summer 2019, but about two-thirds the games
available at the time of closure, and much less than the
online schedule, which lists 45 games a week.
In Portland, a large contingent of the open game players
were never playing in the area's virtual clubs. Some didn't
play online at all, and those who did opted for larger games
such as Duncan's. When PBC reopened, many came back.
" About half of the players in the open game today did not play
online, " Brower said. There are many others who didn't.
" I honestly think there are people who got out of the habit
of bridge, " he said. " They may come back, they may not. One
person said they're into biking now. There are other people
who have lost their confidence - haven't played in a year
and a half, feel too rusty. I do expect permanent table loss. If
it happens to one person, then their partner also has a hard
time coming back. "
As face-to-face bridge grows in Rhode Island, Miguel
expects some of her online games will fall away, even as
the club maintains a predominantly online schedule. " I've
changed my mind six times since I left the club last March, "
she said. " The COVID situation has brought so many gifts.
We went to the nursing homes, got everyone who could possibly
be online playing, and it's been hugely successful. We
have so many people playing bridge who would never have
been playing bridge before. "
Though she saw the benefits of going online, the response
she got on her survey still surprised her. " I was shocked so
many people had done a 180 on face-to-face. People who
never wanted to play online are now saying, 'Why should I
come back?' "
Brower offered a different interpretation of Miguel's
results. " They're not really expressing a preference for
online versus face-to-face bridge, " he said. " What people
don't like is change. " When going online meant change,
nobody liked it; now, when they're used to their online
routine and coming back means change, they're against that
too. " Once you're back and you've tried it a couple times, you
say, 'I like this better, it's more social.' "
August 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of August 2021
