The Honors Bridge Club stands as a legendary fixture in the New York City bridge scene, often described as the “Yankee Stadium of Bridge.” From billionaire regulars like Bill Gates to Hollywood icons like Omar Sharif, the club offers a unique atmosphere where world champions and casual beginners compete under the same roof.
If you’re a player looking to match up with a bridge club near you, there’s likely to be one in your town or city … But what if you’re traveling and still need to get your bridge fix somewhere away from home?
There are many great, longstanding bridge clubs in the world where players get together. Some of them include the Cavendish Club, the Portland Club, and the Puritan Bridge Club – founded by the Odd Fellows Society in 1920.
The Honors Club (NYC) was founded in 1993. While it’s not one of the world’s oldest, it may well be one of the world’s most acclaimed – and it’s one of the first places a bridge player will recommend if you’re visiting the area.
Here’s what makes the Honors Club one of bridge’s special sweethearts, and how they’re bringing bridge to everyday players.
History and Founding
According to their website, the Honors Club was founded in 1993 by bridge player Gail Greenberg.
If you’re visiting New York as a bridge player or someone who would like to learn the game, the Honors Club is one of the first recommendations you’ll hear about – like here on BridgeWinners.
Bridge coverage in the NY Times (2000) and Observer (2013) have showcased some of its playing talent and excitement around the tables…
If you want to see the club in action, check out this below video of what happens at the Honors Club:
(YouTube: CBS19 – Millions continue to play the classic card game of Bridge)
In 2020, the club (along with others) temporarily closed due to lockdown regulations… What a time that was for bridge players.
The Honors Club has been home to many tournaments and high-stakes bridge games, but let’s remember that it also remains a wonderful place for anyone to play.
Watch their website announcements, too: their new address is at Park 55, 110 East 55th Street.
Stop by if you’d like to play and learn!
Where is Gail Greenberg Today?
Gail Greenberg started the Honors Club in 1993… But that’s not all by a long shot.
A bit of research took us to Bridge Sprees, a website dedicated to social bridge vacations, cruises, and training camps hosted by world-class bridge players Gail Greenberg and Jeff Hand. Jeff Hand also runs RealBridgeHands.com.
“Gail Greenberg is a six time World Champion, author of several bridge classics, and a member of The Bridge Hall of Fame. She has been a foremost bridge teacher for over 40 years.”
Gail is no longer the primary owner of the Honors Bridge Club. The club is currently owned and operated by Jeff Bayone, who has been the face of the establishment for many years. Her role there has shifted but she remains a very active part of the Honors community. As of early 2026, she still teaches advanced-intermediate in-person bridge classes at the club every Monday.
Learning Bridge
At Honors Bridge Club anyone can learn to play.
As their website says, “We are not a membership club. We are open to anyone with an interest, a passion, for games.”
If you’d like to learn bridge in the NYC area, Honors Bridge Club is open to students.
Their Beginner Bridge series hosts beginner courses: “five two-hour lessons per week” along with an unsupervised play session where you get to put into play what you’ve learned so far.
More information about their courses for bridge beginners and more advanced players can be found here.
Oh, and they also play Canasta, Scrabble, Mah Jongg, and Backgammon at the club.
One of the most enduring stories at Honors involves the frequent “celebrity” appearances of Warren Buffett and Bill Gates. Far from demanding private rooms, the two billionaires have often been spotted sitting at standard folding tables, hunched over their cards alongside everyday club members. It became a local legend that a regular player could walk in for a casual afternoon game and realize they were competing for “tricks” against two of the wealthiest men on the planet.
Omar Sharif’s Dramatic Presence
The late Hollywood icon Omar Sharif treated Honors like his second home during his time in New York. A world-class player, he was known for bringing a cinematic flair to the table, often treating a local club game with the same intense gravity as a world championship. Members fondly recall his charismatic but fiercely competitive nature, embodying his famous sentiment that he would rather be playing high-level bridge than starring in a mediocre film.
The Jeopardy! Shark
Before he became a household name, Jeopardy! legend James Holzhauer was a fixture in the high-level bridge circuit and frequently played at Honors. Local players often share anecdotes about his “professional gambler” approach to the game, noting that he applied the same ruthless mathematical precision and aggressive bidding strategies to bridge that later helped him dominate the game show world, often leaving his opponents completely bewildered.
The Scale of the “Yankee Stadium of Bridge”
Because Honors was the largest club in North America, its sheer size created a unique logistical comedy. With over 60 tables running at once, the club was so vast that directors sometimes had to use microphones to be heard, and newcomers were jokingly warned not to get lost on their way back from the break. The resulting “wall of sound”—the low, rhythmic hum of 240 people whispering about card combinations simultaneously—became a sensory hallmark of the New York bridge experience.
The “Tough Room” Reputation
A classic piece of Honors lore is the warning given to visiting players that the club is the “ultimate equalizer.” Because NYC is home to so many world champions, a casual player could sit down at a random table and find themselves playing against the literal author of the bridge textbook they had just finished reading. This “skill floor” created a legendary atmosphere where a grandmother in a floral cardigan was often revealed to be a “bridge assassin” capable of outplaying the most confident professionals.
The Modern Style Icon
In a more contemporary anecdote, the club became an unlikely fashion destination when in January 2026 New York Magazine featured its members in their famous “Look Book.” The feature went viral for capturing the “Upper East Side” aesthetic of the club’s most dedicated players. It highlighted the charming contrast of the club’s environment: a place where high-stakes intellectual warfare is carried out by people in sensible sweaters and pearls, proving that the most dangerous minds in the room are often the most unassuming. Here’s a link to the feature.
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