By Val Rhead
Last week in this column, I talked about how helpful it can be when you are learning Bridge to work with a more experienced friend who can help you get started. Of course if you don’t have a Bridge-playing friend, you could hire a professional. Unlike Bridge players Bill Gates or Warren Buffet, with their multi-billion dollar fortunes, perhaps you would consider hiring a pro a little rich for your blood. But you do not have to be wealthy and pay a mint to go this route. Some pros charge relatively modest fees.
We played against such a pair at a tournament some time ago. We recognized the pro from other tournaments playing with different students. When the dummy came down on the first hand, we realized that we had overbid and weren’t going to make the contract. The play progressed and halfway through the hand, the student, a young nervous-looking man, dove underneath the table. He emerged clutching two cards that he had obviously dropped on the floor. When the hand finished, the student was short a card. He hadn’t picked up all the cards that he had dropped. Because of this, he had reneged and received a penalty. Because of his penalty, we made our previously unmakeable contract. As I looked at the face of the pro, I’m sure I saw a curled lip and a sneer on his face. I felt he was thinking, “this dumb guy is paying me to help him learn to play bridge, and he can’t even hold onto his cards.”
Of course, if you were Bill Gates, paying a pro paid off. On March 13, 2017, Bill won the Rosenblum Cup, the premier event at the World Bridge Championship in Kansas City, one of the biggest Bridge tournaments in North America. Like many of us, Bill initially learned to play Bridge from his parents. But as his Bridge got better and he got richer, he hired professional Bridge players to help him improve his game. Gates sometimes plays with the Toronto native professional, Fred Gitelman, and sometimes is tutored by Sharon Osberg, a two-times world champion and Warren Buffet’s regular Bridge partner. According to Gavin Wolpert. a Toronto-born professional Bridge player, top Bridge professionals sometimes can earn thousands of dollars at a ten-day tournament playing with wealthy players. Of course, they supplement that income with such activities as giving lessons, writing books and articles and creating software.
As for me, I think I’ll stick to reading Bridge books and articles and taking the odd lesson when I can find one. It would be kind of nice though, to take lessons from a top pro at least once and then play a game with him and try to put it all together.
SUMMER NORTH AMERICAN BRIDGE CHAMPIONSHIPS (NABC)
Join bridge players of all skill levels for duplicate games, celebrity speakers, hospitality and more at the SUMMER NABC in Toronto, July 20-30, 2017.
Even if this is your first duplicate bridge tournament, this is the place for you. Each day there will be a variety of games for every rank of player. View the schedule online at ACBL.org
HUNTSVILLE DUPLICATE BRIDGE CLUB
Games at the Huntsville Club are Tuesday 7:15 start, Trinity United Church, 33 Main Street. Please arrive 15 minutes before game time. For partners and information call Susan Marshall 705 787-5454 or email [email protected]
The following winners are for Tuesday, July 4 with 24 pairs playing a Mitchell movement. North-South 1. Fay MacDonald and Yvonne Cox; 2. Chris Karn and Vern Foell; 3. Betty Fagin and Brian Brocklehurst; 4. Marjorie Clark and John Clark; 5. Val Rhead and Gail Lederer; 6. Josee Hammill and Andrea Killackey; East-West 1. Pat Pelletier and Margaret Cordingley; 2. Liz Graham and Sandy Graham; 3. Joanne Garvey and Barb Green; 4. Mary Whitehead and Helen Pearson; 5. Mary Norman and Don Norman; 6. Jim Smith and Ralph Mitchell
MUSKOKA DUPLICATE BRIDGE CLUB (Bracebridge)
Games for the Bracebridge Club are Mondays 7pm, Knox Presbyterian Church, 120 Taylor Road. Please arrive 15 minutes before game time. For information or partnerships, call Brian at 705-645-5340 [email protected].
The following winners are from Monday, July 3 with 20 pairs playing a Mitchell movement. North-South 1. Lyn Walisser and Bev Howard; 2. Jinty Stewart and Jane Insley; 3. Betty Fagin and Brian Brocklehurst; 4. Pamela Jardine and Ralph Mitchell; 5. Pat Davies and Sue Scott; East-West 1. Liz Barnes and David Bryce; 2. Sandy Retter and David Scarlett; 3. Art Insley and Don Evans; 4. Ann Cassie and Bruce Cassie; 5. Kathy Kent and David Kent
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