There’s been a lot of serious talk in the bridge world of late; about where we’re taking online bridge, about collusion and combating it, about social distancing. I’d like to dial it down for a second and talk about one of the most simple elements of the game: The table.

If you asked the average person what you’d need to play a card game, they’d say a card deck. And they would be right. (But you’d also be hard pressed to find a card game played without a table in the world, offline or on the internet.)

Here’s why the table itself can be considered its own element within card games.

            #1: Card Tables Look & Feel “Right”

There are certain materials (and shades) that just feel right for the purposes of a card game. This might be years of conditioning, but we know when it doesn’t look or feel right – even when the table in question is one that’s being played online.

We’re comfortable with card tables; we might even expect the material to react in a certain way – or sound a certain way – and feel a little disappointed when it’s not.

                  #2: The Entire Term “Tabletop”

The term tabletop can’t be separated from the gaming world today, even though it didn’t belong to it first.

The entire existence of the term should tell us how tables have become integral to gaming (and how tables have become ingrained in card games everywhere).

We have terms like “join the table” and “tabletop” because there’s the natural expectation of a table.

                  #3: Spiritualism

I’m inclined to think that tables themselves developed such an air of mystery that they might be – at least in part – responsible for the popularity of spiritualism and seances at the same time card games at home became a huge pastime.

What’s the first thing you imagine when you think tarot reader or carnival-style fortune teller? They might need a crystal ball, but they’ll sure as heck need a table.

Tables can be mysterious, too.

                  #4: Card Rules

Bridge has rules that govern the table – and the same applies to most other card and table-based games out there. Again, the table is just as important as the deck of cards when it comes to playing the game.

Even when we’re playing the more casual types of games that don’t stick to tournament rules, we’ll notice things like a skew-standing table first.

            #5: Even Virtually, They Matter

Even within environments where we don’t have real tables, tables matter.

The BBO environment was designed to look good, too; to make players feel comfortable with a virtual table where you can see the cards. (If the background suddenly changed to yellow, you’d know it, and it wouldn’t be the same table.)