Bridge-O-Rama was a system of electro-mechanical display boards on which an audience could view a representation of the bidding and play of hands at high-level
contract bridge
Contract bridge, or simply bridge, is a trick-taking game, trick-taking card game using a standard 52-card deck. In its basic format, it is played by four players in two Team game, competing partnerships, with partners sitting opposite each othe ...
tournaments.
Developed in Italy and first used in the World Championships at the Bermuda Bowl in 1958,
[ representations of the actual ]playing cards
A playing card is a piece of specially prepared card stock, heavy paper, thin cardboard, plastic-coated paper, cotton-paper blend, or thin plastic that is marked with distinguishing motifs. Often the front (face) and back of each card has a Pap ...
in each hand were arranged in frames on the display and were able to be lit from behind as play progressed. The lighting was operated by a number of switches at a control console wired to the displays.
In a typical team-of-four match, the audience would be advised about the results in one room and would watch the replay by team members in the other room as expert officials provided analysis and commentary on the bidding and play.
See also
* Vugraph
Vugraph (or Viewgraph) is a method of displaying the bidding and play of bridge hands on a screen for viewing by an audience. The basis of the current computer-generated display was originally developed by Fred Gitelman for the American Contract B ...
References
{{WPCBIndex
Contract bridge