[mgoetze]

cherdano, on Jul 10 2006, 02:07 AM, said:

mgoetze, on Jul 9 2006, 11:12 AM, said:

(or Meckstroth-Rodwell, but they are known not to play in events where they'd have to change their system).

I have read this claim twice, both times from you. Can you back this up?

The best I have found is <ci4gpf$4o1@athena.ccrs.nrcan.gc.ca> - not very authoritative, I guess. But it made a lot of sense to me.

cherdano, on Jul 10 2006, 02:19 AM, said:

mgoetze, on Jul 9 2006, 01:31 PM, said:

I believe that judgement is (also) a partnership skill.

Why do you think this kind of partnership skill can't happen between two experts who have had only brief discussions about system and style?

Because there is more to style than can be contained in a brief discussion - you might get as far as "sound initial action, light balancing" in your discussion, but how about what sorts of hands you will open 4M in various positions/vulnerabilities, which hands make which kinds of raises in competition (who knows, maybe there are people who haven't read Robson/Segal), etc. ... Of course, if all styles are similar ("expert standard"), there is little to discuss. But I think different styles are more interesting to watch, actually...

[bid_em_up]

hrothgar, on Jul 9 2006, 06:50 AM, said:

Gerben42, on Jul 9 2006, 02:28 PM, said:

Quote

at least Joe public can understand the bidding as it will at least be consistent and potentially watchable on TV by none bridge players

Do you really think so?

Quote

The cup is named after a famous billionaire

Funny, I never heard of him until I heard about his bridge plans. How did he make his billions? (dont answer that I will find it myself). "Famous billionaires" for me include Gates, Waltons and Kamprath but not Buffett...

Warren Buffett is well known in the US for a few reasons:

1. Buffett has had enormous success managing Berkshire Hathaway. As I recall, a $10,000 investment in BH when the fund was founded would be worth (roughly) 40 million dollars today.

Well, you're only slightly off Richard According to the website,

"An investor who subscribed $10,000 in his original investment partnership in 1957 would today have a shareholding in Buffett’s company Berkshire Hathaway worth more than $400 million." Whats a few hundred million when you get to those kind of numbers anyway?

While gerben42 claims he has not heard of Warren Buffet, I find this difficult to believe. Anybody involved in the investment world certainly knows who he is. He is listed by Forbes as the Worlds second richest person (the Waltons took positions 17-21, and yes, they still own the majority of Walmart. Ingvar Kamprad was number 4 on the list).

And everyone heard about the $30 BILLION dollars that Mr. Buffet recently pledged to the Gates Foundation, unless of course you were on vacation then with no news access. (Oh, You mean THAT Warren Buffet, says gerben).

Mr. Buffet is the founder of Berkshire Hathaway, which owns Geico Insurance Co, Fruit of the Loom, Dairy Queen restaraunts, Shaw Industries, and a slew of other companies. He is/was on the Board of Directors of many major corporations (including Coca-Cola, which he has recently decided not to seek reelection to).

It is my understanding that he and Bill Gates also play bridge together. I have been told (by someone who I consider to be a reputable source) that Mr. Gates plays on BBO on occasion. I do not know if Mr. Buffet does, but it certainly would not surprise me.

[P_Marlowe]

bid_em_up, on Jul 12 2006, 11:36 AM, said:

<snip>
It is my understanding that he and Bill Gates also play bridge together.  I have been told  (by someone who I consider to be a reputable source) that Mr. Gates plays on BBO on occasion. I do not know if Mr. Buffet does, but it certainly would not surprise me.
<snip>

They are friends, and they play regular online,
if I recall an article in the IHT correctly, but the
online side was not mentioned.
The article dealt with Mr. Buffets donation to
charity.
Their friendship was certainly one mayor reason,
why a large part of the donation went to the Gates
foundation.

With kind regards
Marlowe

[DenisO]

pbleighton, on Jul 10 2006, 02:15 AM, said:

"I have read this claim twice, both times from you. Can you back this up?"

I can't back it up, but I have heard this before from other sources.  I know that they play with clients a lot at regionals.  Whether this is because they can't use their system or because they like the money from clients, I don't know.

Peter

In Marc Smith's book "World Class" there is a chapter on Jeff Meckstroth. He criticises the organisers of the Macallan (now defunct) for bringing in system restrictions. Meckwell had won the event previously two years in a row. Meckstroth then says that Rodwell and he won't play together in a system-restricted tournament again. The book was published in 1999 - I don't know if that is still their view.

[joshs]

fred, on Jul 9 2006, 09:17 AM, said:

There are other reasons (beyond those mentioned already) why some of the players you might have expected to partipate are not included.

Several months ago, I was told that charisma would be one of the factors used to decide which players made up the original list of those invited to play in this event (because the organizers are hoping that this will increase the media's interest and the appeal of bridge to the general public).

I was not on the original list so this post is NOT an effort to claim charisma points

My guess is that there are few (if any) of the world's best partnerships who would refuse to play in an event like this for systems reasons. However, some of the world's best bridge players will never play bridge unless they are getting paid to do so.

Also keep in mind that some professional players arrange their play schedules long in advance. It could well be that some players received an invitation and had to say "no" due to scheduling conflicts.

Fred Gitelman
Bridge Base Inc.
www.bridgebase.com

The important thing is that since Roy Welland is playing, there will be good wine at the event!