WSET.com - ABC13Bridge Instructor Dedicated to Teaching the Game to All

Bridge Instructor Dedicated to Teaching the Game to All

Reporter: Sally Delta

Lexington, VA – If you ever thought it was too hard to learn the card game bridge, now might be your chance to learn it.

An Emerald Life Master bridge instructor is nearby and claims she can teach you in a day.

Some say it's a card game for the elite.

"Bill Gates plays bridge, Warren Buffet plays bridge. I've met them both," said Patty Tucker, a master bridge instructor.

According to Tucker, it's for everyone else too.

"I've played against taxi cab drivers and housewives and kindergarten teachers," she said.

The defining factor in a great bridge player is if you can figure it out.

"It is a hard game to learn, and that's one of the reasons that not everyone takes up with bridge, it's not like you can sit at the table, learn the rules in 4 or 5 minutes and start playing," said Tucker.

It takes patience, skill and strategy. Tucker spent 4 hours teaching a group of beginners the tricks of the trade.

"It's kind of a blessing I mean, here you're talking about not only a great player but an enthusiastic teacher who invented the method to teach middle school kids to play," said Rob Apgar, a bridge enthusiast.

Tucker learned how to play at age 11. Despite advice against it, she started a nonprofit in Atlanta dedicated to teaching youth how to play.

"They said the kids wouldn't be interested that they wouldn't enjoy it, that it was too hard that they had video games and computers, but they were wrong, and I knew they were wrong," said Tucker.

She's already taught 1,500 young people so far, and now, she's working to hit all age groups..

"They may have had nothing in common when they walked through the door but already in half an hour they have a kinship with people, and they're laughing and having a good time. How can you not want to learn bridge? That's what I don't get," said Tucker.

Tucker says bridge has also been proven to improve math, science and reading scores.

If you're interested in learning, she's holding another session Saturday at Washington and Lee.