Session Timetable (printable)
Regular Sessions
We believe bridge is a healthy hobby, a game to connect people, and a sports for those who would like to keep their mind sharp. The Sydney Bridge Centre is the Clubroom of the New South Wales Bridge Association, we run regular Face-to-Face sessions at our City venue on Goulburn Street, Canada Bay Club in Five Dock and Henley Community Centre off Crown Street Henley.
Face-to-Face session @ City, Goulburn Street
| Day | Time | Session |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | ☀ 10.00am – 1.15pm | Open Inclusive (Rookie & Intermediate friendly) |
| Monday | ☀ 10.00am – 12.30pm | 💕 Lesson plus Supervised play |
| Tuesday | ☀ 10.00am – 1.15pm | Open Inclusive (Rookie & Intermediate friendly) |
| Tuesday | 🌙 7.15pm – 10.00pm | Open Inclusive (Rookie & Intermediate friendly) |
| Tuesday | 🌙 6.30pm – 9.00pm | 💕 Lesson plus Supervised play |
| Wednesday | ☀ 10.00am – 1.15pm | Intermediate / Open duplicate (pre-game talk at 9.45pm) |
| Wednesday | ☀ 10.00am – 12.30pm | 🗨️Advanced Supervised play |
| Wednesday | 🌙 6.30pm – late | Youth (family & supervised welcome) |
| Thursday | ☀ 10.00am – 1.15pm | Open Inclusive (Rookie & Intermediate friendly) |
| Sunday (every two weeks) | 🍸1.30pm – 4.30pm | Funday (snack and drinks included) |
Supervised sessions and Sunday Funday will be $20 member / $17 concession member / $24 visitor / $10 youth.
*Premier Game is held in the format of events, entry fee as advertised.
We host our regular sessions at our own premises in Surry Hills. Parking are available at the corner of Goulburn Street and Elizabeth Street, please purchase the validation ticket at the club at cost price $17 whole day parking. Secure Parking offers special evening rate at $12 (after 5pm) and weekend rate at $15, please read the signs.
You don’t need to have a partner, visitors and walk-ins are welcome.
Face-to-Face session @ Canada Bay Club, Five Dock
| Day | Time | Session |
|---|---|---|
| Thursday | ☀ 10.00am – 1.15pm | Open Inclusive |
| Thursday | ☀ 10.00am – 12.30pm | 💕 Lesson plus Supervised play |
$20 member / $17 / $24 visitor.
We host these sessions at the venue of Canada Bay Club, Five Dock. You’re required to become a member of Canada Bay Club if you live within a 5km radius of the venue before you can join our bridge session. The Canada Bay Club membership costs $3.3 a year or $11 for 5 years, and you will be able to enjoy discount at their restaurant outlets. Canada Bay Club opens at 10am. Extensive parking outside the club for free.
Face-to-Face session @ Henley Community Centre, Henley
| Day | Time | Session |
|---|---|---|
| Saturday | 🔆 1.30pm – 4.30pm | Open Inclusive (Rookie and Intermediate friendly) (pre-game talk starts at 1.15pm) |
Starting from June 2024, we will resume the Saturday afternoon session (1.30pm start) in Henley. There are plenty of free on-site parking. Please note that this venue only accepts credit card payment.
You don’t need a partner, visitors and walk-ins are welcome.
Beginners Course & Improvers Course 2024
Our next Beginners Courses will start by end of May – options of time and venue!
Beginners Course (May / June 2024)
- City – 6 Monday Mornings 2nd September – 7th October 2024, 10.00am – 12.15pm
- City – 6 Tuesday Evenings 3rd September – 8th October, 6.30pm – 9.15pm
- Canada Bay – 6 Thursday Mornings 5th September – 10th October, 10.30am – 12.45pm
After completing our Beginners Course, you will have a choice of continuing your bridge journey in either City or Canada Bay. There are regular play sessions running in parallel to the Beginners Course. Both of our venues also provide on-going Supervised Sessions for Beginners Graduates in City (Wednesday morning and evening) and Canada Bay (Thursday morning). New Supervised sessions will be added to the timetable after the conclusion of the Beginners Courses.
Please feel free to enrol using the booking form. You can also use the form to express interest if the upcoming courses don’t suit you, so we can include you in the mailing list of the next Beginners Courses.
If you need further information, please call Wing on 9264 6884 or email her on office@sydneybridgecentre.com.
Friday Workshops by Will Jenner-O’Shea
The SBC Workshop runs approximately once a month, usually on a Friday. It is a combination of lessons and practice hands – a fun learning for all levels of players.
SATURDAY 9th November (Full Day) [Flyer]
Michaels Cue Bids, The Unusual 2NT and Power Doubles. How to use these competitive bidding tools. Competing and finding your best fits as quickly as possible. The Michaels Cue Bid to show the Majors. The Unusual 2NT (and Unusual 4NT) to compete in minors. Power Doubles, and how to show very strong hands as the overcaller. Interesting Play and Defence topics.
Suitable for Intermediate / Open / Advanced level
SATURDAY 14th December (Full Day) [Flyer]
A Summary, Review and Practice, of this year’s Workshops. Practice Cue Raises, Checkback, and Doubling 1NT. Plenty of Bidding and Defence Tips. A Summary Of All the Suggested Conventions We looked at in 2024. Improved Judgment and Evaluation.
This Workshop is suitable for players of all levels, from Supervised to Open. Tips for Players at all levels. It doesn’t matter if you didn’t attend any, or all, of the previous workshops.
Suitable for All Levels
More to come…
More workshops are under schedule! Let us know if you would like to be included in the mailing list.
We plan to run workshop once a month, more are under schedule. The whole day workshops run from 10am until around 3pm (later if you wish to practise more. Half day workshop finishes at about 1pm) at Goulburn Street. An all-day practical lesson with Notes and Tips provided.
You can purchase the booklet at $10 if you missed the workshop. They are only available after workshop, please contact office.
Friday Workshop $60 for members $65 for visitors (A delicious morning tea and a light lunch included). Saturday Workshop $30 for members $35 for visitors (A substantial morning tea included).
Please book in advance for catering purposes. To reserve a seat, please click on the title of each specific workshop.
Open Inclusive
All of our regular sessions are OPEN to everyone! Yes players in these sessions may have a little bit more experience and prefer to have a more challenging game, but that doesn’t mean that the session is limited to them. We all have to start somewhere in our bridge journey – The fact is, you don’t get good to play in the Open; you play in the Open and then get good. If you feel like you are a bit out of depth at your first few attempts, please feel free to ask Director for a protection sticker – no, the protection system doesn’t mean that the Open players will give the game to you (that’s humiliating), however they will understand that you may not understand all the rules & etiquettes and will happily share their experience with you.
The Evening Specials
The Tuesday Evening (7.15pm start) is a special session hosted by Phil Halloran and Martin Clear. This session provides a friendly competitive environment, 7.15pm start. We play 24-28 boards. An aprés-hand discussion with drinks and snacks. No need to book, visitors and walk-ins are welcome.
The Wednesday Youth Night (6.30pm start) offers you another interesting night out. There is a Just Play! Family Game Night for Rookies (Advanced Supervised Players) to mix with the Youth players. FREE for Youth. For Just Play! table money fee $16 (member) / $13 (concession members) / $20 (visitors).
Wednesday Pre-game Talk / Lesson plus Game at both City and Canada Bay
— IN THE CITY —
There are three separate sessions on Wednesday morning – there will be two fields (Open A and Open B) in the regular duplicate, they are specially designed for Open and Intermediate players. A 15-minutes pre-game talk starts at 9.45am to expand your knowledge, followed by a duplicate game at 10.00am.
A separate Advanced Supervised session is run in parallel on Wednesday morning. The Supervised session starts with an interesting hand from a real competition, then followed by a duplicate game. This session is slower comparing to Open A and B but faster than Beginners Supervised session. It is perfect for those who would like to gain more confidence before they progress to the next stage.
The Tuesday Evening Supervised session runs alongside the main Open duplicate, 6.30pm start. The Session also comes with a Lesson with 4 practice hands, then followed by a duplicate game. If you have a friend who has more experience in bridge, please feel free to bring them to the Open duplicate, so both of you can have a game at a level you feel comfortable with!
For those who have young one who are interested in learning or playing bridge, please feel free to bring them in to the Youth group on Wednesday evening 6.30pm start. Sydney Bridge Centre sponsors the venue to the youth players, so they can have a FREE card game night out in a safe environment.
— IN CANADA BAY —
A separate Beginners Supervised session will be run alongside the main Open field on Thursday morning. The Supervised session comes with a Lesson with 4 practice hands, then followed by a duplicate game, 10.00am start. There will be a theme for each month and a different topic for each week. Notes and tips are included.
Topics for Lesson plus Game sessions
We include the following topics for our on-going Lesson plus Supervised game sessions. We present them with new materials and from different perspective:
- Bidding Fundamentals
- Hand Evaluation
- Introduction to Weak Two Opening
- Learn how to open with strong hands – Strong 2C Opening
- 1NT Responses – simple Stayman 2C and Transfers
- Fundamental Declarer Play – Entry Management, Establish Long Suit, Unblocking, Making Extra Tricks by Ruffing, Finesse
- Basic Defence principles – Lead, Signal and Discard
- Get competitive and strategic! More on Doubles and Overcalls.
- Introduction of some bridge rules and etiquette – table announcement and alerts. A more encouraging setting for you to get used to duplicate movements and the use of bridgemate (the scoring device).
The Weekend Specials
It is our privilege to share our clubrooms for some major state events during weekends. Our renowned Sunday Funday (1.30pm start) is run usually every two weeks in the City. This session has a relaxed vibe, which attracts players from different levels – partners and friends spending time playing bridge together. The Sunday afternoon session is run on duplicate movement, it’s just more easy going in the atmosphere. Tea sandwiches, cheese platter, bread & butter pudding and drinks are provided in this session.
Starting from June 2024, we are bringing back our Saturday afternoon game (1.30pm start) in Henley. This weekly session suits those who are still working and would like to play a bit more frequently on top of their evening play.
State and National events timetable
The Sydney Bridge Centre supports the state body Bridge NSW and the national organisation Australia Bridge Federation. Please visit MyABF to find out State and National events.
It is free to register as a MyABF user as long as you have a ABF number.
