June 16, 2006
"He once liked all-night poker games and now plays bridge online under the handle 'Chalengr.'"
If I had $50 billion dollars and wanted to play bridge a lot, I be a patron of the bridge players. I'd build a little village for them off in some corner of my property.
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11 comments:
Buffett and Gates are well known for their presence in online bridge-playing circles.
And my bet is they're smarter than most bridge players.
I think you're right, Dave. Buffett, at least, is a "Grand Master" at bridge. IIRC, he is the one who encouraged Gates to start playing.
Word verification:togfad. What is the latest fad in footwear, he wonders?
Gates came in to talk to the U.S. College bridge championship teams last year at Atlanta; it was written up for ACBL's Bridge Bulletin. If anyone cares, his preferred system is 2/1 Game Forcing (like at least 80% of American competitive bridge players today).
I sometimes read those bridge columns in newspapers. It's sort of like looking at a foreign language you've never seen and you try to pick out any words that make sense to piece together the meaning of a sentence.
Chalengr?
Looks like Bill Gates still hasn't gotten past the 8.3 filename limitation in FAT.
That explains a lot about Microsoft's problems.
Actually they (Buffett/Gates) aren't considered a relevant force in the least among expert tournament players. Not that they don't have the brains, of course...but you can't just be a talented person and rise to the upper echelon of bridge by playing for a year or two. If you have that kind of goal, it's going to take tens of thousands of playing hours (in person is much better than online)....
Ann: Did you know that Buffett and Gates tried to fund a program to teach bridge in schools but were turned down by San Francisco and New York City?
kchiker: I realize that Gates is a relative newcomer to serious play but until now thought that Buffett was known as a decades-long serious player. Perhaps they are not a "relevant force" to those playing what has become a dying game, but they could be influential in bringing new players to the table. This NYTimes opinion piece, Bring Bridge Back to the Table, by Sharon Osber, Buffett's long-time partner and two-time World Champion bridge player makes exactly that case.
It is a dying game, and that's unfortunate. Texas hold-em demolishes bridge in terms of instant gratification, appeal to fame/fortune, and general access.
Buffett and Gates have been very generous to the game. I'm just not sure if/how any two people can reverse the notion that bridge is the epitome of uncool.
I can tell you that bridge was a favorite among Naval Nuclear Reactor Operators aboard my ship (DLGN-25 now in the bone yard.).
But you folks already knew nukes are strange.
I once was a regular on MSN Zone's Bridge--one of the better online bridge systems back then. The Zoners (as the players called themselves) had a yearly in-person get together and bridge tournament which was a blast, MSN Zone would send one of their tournament directors to manage the tournament, the overall event was managed by Zoner volunteers. I haven't been to the Zone in several years now, so I don't know what its like now.
You made a great point in this post. pokerhandsguide
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