Pursuits of Happiness the course of the session , I am doing better than average . In a way , it ’ s like baseball : if you have a 60 % season , you will probably win your division . If you have a 70 % season , you might win the World Series .
JEB : Back to the computer , I ’ m just curious . Do the records include every card down to each card in that hand ?
MO : Yes . And when one plays online , not only is every hand recorded and available for review , but every sequence of plays , and the complete auction , are permanently recorded ! At any given time , there may be 10,000 people worldwide playing . I can play with my favorite partner , who may be in Singapore , or I can play against robots , so the online component has really grown .
JEB : Is it just the ACBL group that has 160,000 or worldwide ?
MO : Yes , 160,000 in the ACBL . Other countries like China , India and many Scandinavian countries are really into bridge , so those numbers are higher .
JEB : Now here it is known as a baby boomer game . Is that still true , or is there an uptick in younger players getting involved because of the online component ?
MO : The average age is still high . Many of us baby boomers learned to play in college . In my case , I helped develop the Woodstock ( Vermont ) Duplicate Bridge Club in college . After graduating , and before law school , I directed and managed that club . I played inter-collegiately for a time but then after I got married and we had our son , I pretty much gave it up for about 35 years , but I came back to it about 10 years ago .
JEB : Oh wow , you stopped playing for 35 years ?
MO : Yes , and that ’ s a pretty typical profile of a bridge player today . And this caused a resurgence . For instance , the Burlington bridge program has a substantial program and has lots of resources for new players who can play in “ protected ” games , where if you have a low number of “ masterpoints ,” you won ’ t be forced to play against the sharks .
JEB : So when you ran the program in college , did people pay , in or was it a volunteer passion to match players ?
MO : The Woodstock Duplicate Bridge Club back then , which I ran from 1975-77 , met on Wednesday nights with maybe 5-10 tables , so 20-40 people . These days the entry fee is $ 6 for a session . In a tournament you ’ d pay more . There is no prize money involved , just masterpoints .
JEB : Wait , you pay , but you don ’ t get anything if you win ?
MO : Correct , there is some bridge played for money , but duplicate bridge is all about masterpoints and rankings . The director could get paid a modest sum of money and the space needs to be rented . And they may have coffee or snacks at the event . But it ’ s certainly a bargain for an evening ’ s entertainment . and costs less than seeing a movie !
JEB : Yes $ 6 , for 3.5 hours , a bargain ! So that ’ s an average length of time ?
MO : Yes , but in a big tournament , like the one I just played in Florida , you can play 2-3 sessions a day . There , we started at 10:00 am , played to 1:30 pm , had lunch , played again at 3:00 pm until 6:30 pm and if you really are a glutton for punishment , they have one more session from 7:30 until 11:00 pm .
JEB : And you did all that ? Was this a weekend regional tournament ?
MO : I played 10 sessions over the five days at a ” regional ” tournament in West Palm Beach at the PGA golf resort , a gorgeous place .
JEB : Gorgeous , but you MIGHT want to get outside at some point ?!
MO : Well at 100 degrees and 100 % humidity , not so much . It was well-air conditioned , a very nice place , and top competition , so we played 7 hours a day . There were 15 Grand Masters competing , which is amazing . Like in chess , that is the highest designation . Many are full time professional players .
JEB : Wait , how do you play for money if you said there is no money involved ?
MO : Even though we don ’ t compete for money per se , the really good players are often hired by “ clients ” in order to try and achieve higher outcomes .
JEB : Oh , they are hired like a hitting partner in tennis , hired to help them improve ? There is definitely money in that !
MO : Exactly ! Some get $ 2,000 a day to do that .
JEB : Have you ever been hired ? Should you be ?
MO : No , never . But I could perhaps , if I ever give up my day job . I ’ m not a Grand Master .
JEB : What is your rank ?
MO : I ’ m a Life Master , and there are ranks within those , like degrees of black belts in martial arts . I ’ m currently a Silver Life Master .
JEB : So that sounds pretty good , but not Platinum though ?
10 THE VERMONT BAR JOURNAL • FALL 2018 www . vtbar . org