House of cards: Bridge aficionados savor the competition at regional tourney

The concentration was palpable among the hundreds of bridge players huddled around nearly 100 card tables.

And even though the stern faces and laser-like focus on their cards didn’t immediately exude enjoyment, in between games bridge die-hards assured onlookers that they were having the time of their life.

More than 400 bridge players from all over the United States and Canada came to the Hilton Garden Inn in Kalispell for a weeklong regional tournament that ends today. The Flathead Valley Duplicate Bridge Club hosted the event, which was sanctioned by the American Contract Bridge League, the North American organization of duplicate bridge players.

“It’s the most fascinating, mind-consuming game,” player Porki Harris proclaimed. “It’s so challenging. You can have a million hands and no two are alike.”

Harris, of Kalispell, has been a hard-core bridge player for seven years.

“It’s my full-time job,” she said.

“Yes, and it doesn’t pay well,” joked Jim Swab, one of the local organizers and president of Flathead Valley Duplicate Bridge.

Swab was pleased with how smoothly the tournament was running.

“It’s a spectacular event,” he said. “The hotel has been very accommodating. We’re having fun. I think we’ll be at 1,100 tables for the week. This tournament is one of the bigger ones.”

Joy Wildebour, another local bridge player with 30 years of experience playing the card game, said she was having a great time.

“It’s just fun — and addictive,” Wildebour said.

Lorna Nordlinder, of Minot, N.D., has been playing bridge since 1978. It’s the people and the competition that persuaded her to travel across the better part of two states to be there for the tournament.

Is Nordlinder any good at bridge?

“I’m not real bad,” she said, her self-deprecating Scandinavian heritage showing.

Bryant Town, a Canadian who came down from Alberta for the tournament, said he’s been playing for more than 50 years. He was short on words, getting into serious bridge-playing mode when asked why he liked the game.

“Competition,” he said, not taking his eyes off the table.

The caddies had time to talk, though. Their sole duty was to move the cards from one table to another and watch for raised hands to signal them to various tables.

Phyllis Snow, Liza Dawson and Roxie Lehl, all of Kalispell, were caddying because they’re supporters of the Gateway to Glacier bike path project, and if the nonprofit group supplied caddies, they were assured a $1,000 donation.

So there the threesome sat, ready and waiting for caddy action. None of them play bridge, but they got a five-minute briefing on their duties to get them in the game, so to speak.

“My hands were sweating,” Lehl confided about those first few tense hours of caddying.

“I was afraid I’d get it wrong,” Snow added.

But it was clear the trio of women had mastered the art of caddying, and they sat quietly, playing Sudoku puzzles and sipping water.

The American Contract Bridge League’s 165,000 members come together for more than 2.5 million tables of play each year at 3,300 clubs and 1,200 tournaments throughout North America.

It’s likely Kalispell won’t host another tournament until 2018.

Until then, the Flathead Valley Duplicate Bridge Club will help bridge players keep their skills polished. The club dates back to the 1950s and continues to meet three times a week throughout the year to play the different variations of bridge.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by email at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.