In the game of pinochle, a jump bid is defined as at least twice the size a normal raise. It is common enough a play that when done, it isn't a surprise.

But when a local group of senior citizens saw the cost of renting the North Bend Senior Center increase more than four fold, tempers flared.

More than 30 pinochle players gathered at the facility Thursday morning, ostensibly to speak with Marian Norton, president of the center. The players argued the increase, from $7.50 for a 3-hour session to $35, was unfair and unreasonable for people on a fixed income. Norton countered that other groups that rent the facility are paying a similar amount and the center needs to raise rates to cover utility bills.

Both sides flung accusations freely at one another before some players decided they would find somewhere else to play their Thursday afternoon pinochle games.

Others, however, remained to play their regularly scheduled match.

According to Norton, who became president Jan. 1, the decision to increase the rental rate for the 14-year-old facility was made in September. At the time, many groups, including a bridge club and a line dancing club, were paying $25 for a similar amount of time.

Those groups saw their rates increase to $30. But since the pinochle club was paying only $7.50 a session, it was determined to increase their bill to $35.

“They haven't been paying and the rest of them have,” Norton said. “Somebody has to pay the bill.”

Don LaPrelle, a pinochle player who has played at the Senior Center for a couple of years and led the questioning of Norton, said he expects the group to shift its play to the Coos Bay Senior Center. The group already plays matches there on Mondays and the rate is less than what they would pay in North Bend.

“It's not a friendly place here,” he said. “We will not come here to play. We will not come here for lunch.”