Thank you so very much for your kind words about my friend, Sammy, and showing him at his best. It was my privilege to know him towards the end of his life when I lived in Montreal (1974-76) and worked a mere few blocks away from the bridge club he owned and ran. I distinctly remember playing one hand against him where he wound up in slam. As soon as dummy hit the table, his usual pleasant self disappeared, replaced by immense concentration, followed by cards seemingly flying out of his hand in a manner that seemed to make no sense, except that, of course, it was only way to make the contract. Let’s see, at 2 cents a point, that cost me about $20. Of course, those were Canadian dollars, but that was the one time Canadian dollars were worth more than American ones. God bless you, Sammy!

Hi David,

Thank you for the touching tribute to one of Canada’s all time greatest players.

Although I was playing bridge, though quite younger (and less prominent) during his greatest days, I, for one reason or another, did not get the pleasure of playing more than a few hands against him.

His fame is well established and your description of his natural talent, concentration, and devotion to the game corresponds with all that has gone into his highest level reputation.

Again, thank you for chronicling who he was, so that all who came after him will now never forget what he represented to Canadian bridge particularly, but, even more so, for all the world to share.

This is one of those hands where the winning line would be easier to see if the hands were weaker!

That is, replace the diamond queen and ten in the North hand with spot cards, and the dummy reversal is easier to spot.

I kept trying to engineer a fourth round heart ruff if hearts did not break, and then throwing in East with a fourth-round diamond loser-on-loser play at the end to lead into the Boards club tenace. Sadly, that line was doomed by the short heart holder holding the long trump (which, admittedly is the more likely case).

Hi Jim2,

Actual hands come in all shapes and sizes, but column hands are more likely to be, at least, slightly edited for more effect.

Not unlike in today’s major sports world for TV commercial timeouts to be more the order of the day than secondary to the game. In both cases media rules, according to the money trail.

I guess we all need to learn to live with it, since there is little we can do to change it.

Perhaps I was unclear. I was not criticizing the hand construction. Rather, I was extending further kudos to Sam Gold for spotting the best line despite the real-life presence of extraneous and potentially confusing high cards.

Hi Jim2,

You were not at all unclear.

Bridge, like so many of the major sports, caters to special talents indigenous to the particular competition itself. Sam Gold, like only a few others, had a superior aptitude to where it was at, and immediately went toward that direction.

I especially admire those, like you, who love the game, work hard, sometimes succeed, other times not, but accept not only the game, but appreciate born to it players, who are blessed with special how to, bridge radar.

Without your initiative, enthusiasm and interest the game would never have thrived and allowed others to pleasure themselves by being able to compete at a very enjoyable pastime.