We're about four days into the National Bridge Championships, being held right here in San Diego at the the Manchester Hyatt. So far I have played 16 hours of bridge in the past four days. Today I will play another 6 hours of bridge. Why do we do it?
It's hard for anyone who doesn't love the competitive game of bridge to understand why anyone would play hours of bridge, pay $16 to play in a three hour session, all for points!! Everyone always wants to know if you get prizes or money. "No," I say, "Just points." Points is the way we keep score. You can't imagine what some people will do to get points. Many people pay professionals to play with them in big tournaments. This is completely legal, and is a great learning experience for the student, while at the same time allowing them to get the points they so desperately want. There was a case last year of a man who had a wire in his ear and was getting information from another player as to what to bid. This man had 10,000 points, was a professional, yet he still felt the need to cheat to get more points. He has been barred for life from ever playing in another tournament or club game. (why don't they do that with other sports when people are doing illegal acts?)
So I will probably play another 30 hours of bridge this week. I am playing in several events, and hope to make life master. I'm very close, and although I never thought that meant much, as I get close to the goal, I know it's something to be proud of. After this week I will take some time off from bridge. Enough is enough. I think I'll go hit some golf balls next week and remember why we moved here in the first place, to enjoy the beautiful weather. So far, there have been no Warren Buffett or Bill Gates sightings. I know they'll be here, so I'll keep looking.
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