Bridge: Learn, Play, Be Humble
A conversation with Jennifer Pei Lin, competitive bridge player
Athena Alumnae are a talented, curious, and fun bunch. This conversation with Jennifer Pei Lin highlights her post-Barnard foray into the world of competitive bridge, and what she enjoys about the game. It’s a hobby she shares with her husband, among players of all ages, and among a global community. This strategy game encompasses tactics, luck, skill, teamwork and humility. Read on to find out how Jennifer discovered the bridge community is unique and why she loves it.
How did you get started with playing bridge? For fun vs competitively?
I first started learning how to play bridge because of my boyfriend-turned husband. When he first told me about the card game, I had actually never heard of it before, to be honest. I was willing to try learning and playing because I actually grew up playing poker as a kid. At first, when playing bridge, I had some bad habits as a poker player, but eventually, I got rid of the habits the more and more I played and learned.
I took lessons at Honors Bridge Club and made new friends. It’s all for fun. You can be competitive and still play for fun. I’m still very much a beginner, so playing competitively means different things for people. There are actual bridge professionals who play and teach bridge professionally. For me, competitive means flying and going out to National Tournaments (anybody can go and compete) besides grinding it out at your local bridge club. There are plenty of tournaments internationally too. You meet all sorts of people at these tournaments.
I was in Vegas last summer in 2019 for 12 days, playing almost every day for at least 6 hours a day, and I remember I played against these little kids (literally kids whose feet don’t touch the floor yet when they’re sitting in chairs, and ask for cookies when they’re hungry) and they’re scarily good. It’s almost like the younger they are, the scarier it is. They are just that good sometimes. Actually, one of the little kids I played against most recently just got the youngest Life Master title of all time at age 8. Cute kid!
Awesome to hear about Vegas. Where else has the game has taken you? What’s it like to mix travel and bridge?
Playing bridge also gave me a really good reason to travel to other states in America that I normally do not visit. My husband, Lee Lin, and I are fortunate because we have the flexibility to travel and play in tournaments. He is one of the founders of Renthop who can work remotely as an engineer, and as an aspiring entrepreneur myself, I have that freedom as well. Besides Las Vegas, so far, I’ve been to Memphis, Tennessee and Hawaii for bridge tournaments. I’ve also played in Tokyo, Japan a few times now. Whenever I am playing bridge in Japan, I honestly feel more at peace and zen already. I want to say my opponents at the table are incredibly nice and respectful to one another. They actually apologize and say “please” to one another a lot, and I was quite shocked to see this at the bridge tables. This, unfortunately, doesn’t quite happen at the tables in America. I’ve seen too many confrontations to count. Secondly, in Japan, they’re more high tech! Yes, even in bridge! They have this small gadget to help keep score in teams, which makes a huge difference in efficiency and time when are you trying to keep score on teams. Very Japan-like. Third, at one particular bridge club in Yotsuya Tokyo, they actually give you rice crackers if you place second to last and up! It’s a different kind of encouragement, and it probably works too- food to your belly. You can also find a more extended written post here that GYNBA (Greater New York Bridge Association) had my husband write up on the fun cultural differences. Fun times!
What is the competitive bridge community like? What’s unique about it? Are there any players you look up to, and if yes, why?
The first thing everyone says anything about bridge is the people- that it’s filled with old folks. The second thing is that it’s difficult, has a steep learning curve, and it’s a humbling game. All true facts. Bridge, unfortunately, I feel is a dying game, and the bridge community I’m in, we are certainly trying to revive the game and keep it going. It’s just a bunch of really close friends who are really into the game. I would say I’m about the worst player out of all of them. In my group, everyone started way before I did and are generally much better players than I am. What’s unique about the game is that literally anyone can start playing it at any age, and you will always feel like you’re never good at the game even after playing it after all these years. It’s one of the card games where AI still hasn’t been able to beat the game. There are variances, luck, and human psychology involved.
There is no one, in particular, I really look up to in terms of players. I think I really just appreciate the game itself a lot and the players who are really dedicated to the game. You see players as young as 5 years old playing the game for hours, and someone as old as 90 or something playing it too, for hours on end. You learn to be more patient and appreciate everyone’s respect and diligence for the game.
Tell me about a challenging experience you’ve had as a bridge player.
I don’t think I can really recall a particularly tough experience but I can say that one of my main partners is my husband actually. He is a fantastic bridge player and he was the one who got me into it. Every time we sit down at our tables, our opponents would say “Are you two married?” and we would say “Yes, we are.” Their immediate reaction would always be “Wow, bravo for you! You guys must be really nice to one another. My SO would just yell at me so we cannot play with one another”…or something along with the sorts of that.
As you can see, people are often shocked and amazed that a married couple can be bridge partners. I can see why people say that because the game itself is very challenging already and to be partners and play long hours with your partner/Significant Other- it can be debilitating particularly if one SO is very mean to the other. One of the reasons why my husband and I work so well together is because we have established trust and we are both humble to learn and respect each other’s capability in this game. Even in bridge, it’s all about communication and understanding each other’s thought processes. He teaches me and I’m happy to learn. It’s being able to step back and see if from his perspective even if I don’t necessarily agree with him sometimes. There are many times where we were frustrated with one another because of the (bidding/declaring/defending) choices we’ve made, and to express that, you shouldn’t have to yell or scream at one another or say mean things. No one means to mess each other’s game up intentionally, so it’s coming to the table with certain expectations. At the end of the day, I always remind myself that it’s just a game and don’t take it personally if your partner/SO tells you you’ve made mistakes and you need to communicate and listen more. Just play and do your best.
What advice do you have for anyone who’s curious about bridge?
It’s never too late to learn! It can be quite intimidating at first to learn but it is definitely a great learning process! It’s honestly a very humbling game.
A bridge cartoon by Mort Walker from the Saturday Evening Post, October 2, 1948
