Professional Bridge

[pigpenz]

Bob Lix served as D20 District Director and was ACBL Treasurer. His wife, Sally, was active in the Western Conference and was a supporter of the now defunct Bridge Pro Tour, which was a money prize bridge game held in conjunction with some Regionals for a few years. It never really caught on - for various reasons. But it had little to do with professional players. It was designed for rank and file players with everyone playing the ACBL SAYC card. Some pro players participated, of course.

 

Bob and Sally moved to Alaska last year and are enjoying the quiet life now, and bridge in a club with three or four tables. Our club misses them a lot.

the problem as i see it is the money has to come from somewhere to make it viable for REAL Pro Players to want to affiliate. Entry fees alone arent enough(payout). There has to be a sponsoring group ( Citigroup, AIG, LOL j/k of course). Right now most of the teams in the ACBL team championships are usually sponsored, BWorld ran an article several months ago on how that has changed over the years.

 

I can still remember the cynicism from Edgar Kaplan about paying sponsors winning the Bermuda Bowl, once talking about Mr Brachman he said and now all he has to do is pull trumps and he did!

 

Large corporate sponsors arent going to do it unless there is an advertising link to it, like TV coverage to the event, its hard to stay focoused on vugraph on BBO let alone TV.

[JoAnneM]

Bridge Pro Tour was a misnomer. It was not a "tour" for pros. It was simply a side game, outside of ACBL, that was being run at Regionals that offered some prize money.

 

I don't think anyone is suggesting that there is anything wrong with the event structures or sponsor arrangements. In fact I wasn't suggesting anything is wrong at all. I just thought that for a legitimate player wanting to be a pro, or a legitimate player wanting to hire a pro, but not knowing any, there might be a need for some sort of central "clearing house".

 

Not every player wanting to hire a pro wants to retain one for the year or sponsor a team in the Vanderbilt. There are many levels of bridge below that.

[Vilgan]

Seems like an idea that will have trouble getting off the ground as the main attraction is for the clients and potential pros who don't have tons of name recognition yet.

 

I can see why people who have already made it wouldn't be interested. It puts them under the microscope a lot more than normal. If they make an error, there is a good chance their client won't notice. Or, if they do, it may not be a big deal. However, with a place where people can comment about them then it can put a lot of their choices under the microscope where they may not like it. Just about everyone will make a mistake from time to time.. but memory fades while comment boards are eternal :P If they sometimes vent a little, they might feel more pressured to keep it in... which is good for the client but probably more stressful for them.

 

For the big boys.. I don't know that there is much attraction to having a publicized rate either. Seems like the rate would be whatever the client will pay and may vary depending on client. I have no clue how this works though, so I could be totally off :P

 

I definitely don't think it will get off the ground if there is a hefty fee. It seems to offer little that is attractive to people who are already successful... so why charge them heavily? I'd think a 10$ lifetime membership for everyone interested (pros and clients) would be more appropriate. It won't make whoever puts it together oodles of money.. but on the flip side, it shouldn't be crazy amounts of work either.