These bridge-loving seniors bid away at high school, not retirement center

Ask some high-test high school guys their idea of the perfect Friday night blow-out, and what do you expect to hear? "Grand Theft Auto"? "Guitar Hero"? Two-pound burgers and a playoff game?

Four St. Paul seniors are bucking the conventional wisdom. For these guys -- Ben Weitz, Abram Jopp and Nat Olson of Highland Park High School and Peter Knudson of Cretin-Derham Hall -- their dream night starts with a fast-paced Frisbee competition and dinner at Chipotle. Then they rev up for the real fun -- an intense game of bridge.

So you don't have to be 65 years old and a regular at the senior center to enjoy bridge? No way, says Knudson, a hefty linebacker on Cretin's powerhouse football team. "Once you've played bridge, you'll understand, because it's the best trump game ever invented."

Weitz, Jopp, Olson and Knudson have been buddies for years, drawn together by their love of strategy games and competition. They've played hearts, cribbage, poker, chess and "Magic," and they're always on the lookout for a greater challenge.

They even investigated the ancient Chinese game of Go. "But Ben and I played a two-and-a-half-hour game, and then couldn't decide who won," says Jopp.

Two years ago, they found gamesmanship's mountaintop. It was Jopp, an avid poker player, who discovered bridge. His local bookstore's poker section was next to its bridge section. Frustrated with poker "because I can't read people's faces very well," he bought a book called "Bridge for Dummies" on a lark. He couldn't put it down.

"Abram is a very stubborn person," says Weitz. "He can bug you for weeks or months. At first, we agreed to play a few games of bridge with him to keep him quiet." Soon, the four were playing several times a week.

About a year ago, the four felt ready to test their skills at a local bridge center. "When we arrived, the guy at the door said, 'Boys, we don't have pingpong here,'" recalls Knudson. "We said, 'No, we're here to play bridge.'"

The folks at the center were surprised but happy to see them, they said. "Some were frustrated because we're self-taught and didn't know the etiquette," Knudson adds with a smile. "We young whippersnappers got put in our place."

What makes bridge such a great game? For one thing, it's intellectually demanding. Two pairs of partners bid, or predict, how many "tricks," or sets of four cards, they will win during play. Through their bids, they communicate to each other the strength of their hand and the suit they prefer to be "trump."

Bridge downplays luck and emphasizes skill and memory. "Like all games, it's based on finding out hidden information and using it to your advantage," explains Jopp. "You can get better at the game endlessly -- there's no limit. You never master it or even reach a point of satisfaction." Weitz adds that playing with a partner makes the game a lot more fun.

Have the four guys been able to interest their classmates in bridge? They concede that it's a challenge. "You can learn to play 'Halo' in a second," says Jopp. "But learning bridge is like learning a language. It takes about a month before you can really play a game."

Knudson has started a bridge club at Cretin. The American Contract Bridge League donated textbooks and cards, and a volunteer tutor provides instruction.

Can Knudson and like-minded teens hook their generation on bridge?

Two heavy hitters are betting a million bucks they can. Bill Gates and investor Warren Buffett are both avid bridge players. A few years ago, they put up $1 million to begin a program called the School Bridge League.

At the time, Buffett told USA Today that he plays online almost every night under the handle "T-Bone." He played about 4,800 hands the previous year, he said.

Knudson and Weitz play online a lot, too. "I'll call up Ben and say, 'Let's go play some guys from Kenya,'" says Knudson.

I know four guys who are in the running.