A Coup For You

Hats off to Stacy Jacobs for her work on the Buffett Cup media coverage. Her most recent post on the subject cited the Sports Illustrated online coverage. This is nice, but still not like the old SI days when they had a regular column on bridge.

I had a chance to catch up with her when we were both cheering on our White Sox, an event she notes with pictures here.

I had checked out her first article by doing a Google News search for “Buffett Cup”. Google news covers every paper with anything online, getting all sorts of obscure stories. I asked her how many papers had an article on the event. This is a tough question. You might want to formulate your own guess before reading on.

I also gave the quiz question to Spike (AKA Maribeth) who made a very good guess of ten papers.

And your guess?

Stacy hit it on the number: 3! She also named two of the papers–the NYT and the local Louisville paper. There was another article from Austin, featuring the star player and former Chicagoan Tobi Sokolow.

The Buffett Cup should be of widespread interest. We all need to think about how to increase the visibility.

Other bloggers are taking note of the Buffett Cup.

At Minnesota Bridge, Peggy Kaplan has posted pictures of the first-day stars for Team USA, Steve Garner and Howie Weinstein. We claim them as Chicagoans as well!

Stacy Jacobs has some inside information about the teams and a nice editorial comment as well. She wonders why the event did not have much advance publicity this year. It is an interesting format with an array of star players. It should be of widespread interest. Check out her site for the full story, and let’s hope she gets some more inside info from her great contacts.

Any serious player or fan of bridge will be interested in The Buffett Cup. Modeled after the Ryder Cup golf championship, superstar investor and bridge enthusiast Warren Buffett has lent his support to this innovative competition. Leading players from the US and Europe compete in a format patterned after golf’s Ryder Cup match play.

Fans can follow events at the official site and also watch live play at BBO. The Vu-Graph matches include expert commentary and plenty of pointers.

Give it a try!

We enjoyed reading chatting with Dave Smith in Vegas and reading his articles in the Daily Bulletin.

We were pleased to discover that he also has a stimulating and entertaining blog. There are good bridge problems and for those of us with diverse interests, a poker theme as well.

Start with the excellent pictures and coverage of the Vegas scene at the tourney site.

One of the great annual bridge events is the Cavendish Invitational Pairs. The top players in the world meet in Las Vegas, playing for a big prize pool instead of Master Points.

It is always great fun to watch on BBO Vu-Graph. This year the organizers are seeking a broader appeal. You can play from home by picking the winners. It is a free entry, so why not? It is unlikely that anyone will hit the superfecta of naming the first four or five at the top, but there is also a guaranteed prize.

Enter at the Cavendish Site, and watch there for Daily Bulletins and results. Entries close at midnight CDT on May 10th.