Bridge is booming among Georgia seniors. And here's why.

Across the world, players are clustered around small tables, holding handfuls of fanned-out cards, bidding for tricks. They’re playing bridge, one of the most popular card games.

In Atlanta, it holds special appeal for seniors, who embrace the game not only for its mental challenge but also as a meaningful way to stay socially connected.

Sometimes, the game is even a conduit for travel.

Such is the case for Ted Cooley, a resident at Park Springs, a senior living community in Stone Mountain. He and his late wife, Betty, saw the world from the decks of cruise ships between bridge games. They taught and played duplicate bridge, a more competitive form of the game in which players dealt the same hands vie against each other for better scores.

The Cooleys, college sweethearts, saw places li