RealBridge - "the next best thing to face-to-face bridge"

I personally found lockdown much tougher in 2021. The ‘adventure’ of the first lockdown was long gone. What saved me however was online bridge. I was not at all familiar with BBO but it was easy to use and I took to it like a duck to water. It satisfied my serious bridge addiction but the social aspect was missing. I didn’t realise how much I missed that till I had the opportunity to play on “RealBridge”. 

 It’s an amazing platform which means that you can see and talk to all the bridge players on the table. It is almost as if you were at the club. No need for self alerting as in BBO. Your partner alerts (as normal). The human connection was powerful and I was truly surprised how it affected me. Seeing the other players in their own homes, whether it was in their armchair, at the kitchen table or on their patio was incredibly real. We actually had conversations. There were smiles and laughter. 

 Playing on ‘RealBridge’ also meant that I could no longer play bridge looking like I had been dragged through the hedge backwards, wearing my gardening clothes. I had to smarten myself up, just as if I was going to the Club.

 Getting onto the platform was easy. The club provided a link and all that was needed was to log on using your real name (no hiding behind aliases as in BBO) and NZ Bridge number . You were then taken to the ‘club room lobby’ where you and your partner could choose where to sit. After the allotted time was up for each round of play, you or your opponents (depending who was sitting North/South ) were transported/beamed to a new table - just as in Star Trek!

 I am sold on ‘Real Bridge’ - it really is the next best thing to face-to face bridge.

Thanks to Jackie Blue for sharing her experience