Phil Gordon:  Entrepreneur, Poker Player, Author, Philanthropist
  • Home
  • About
  • Blog
  • Products
  • Speaker
  • Gallery
  • Contact

Bridge

1/3/2014

2 Comments

 
Picture

When I left home for Georgia Tech, my mom explicitly warned me about the perils of the card game, Bridge.  "It just about ruined my life, I got so addicted," she said.  She made me promise to stay away from the game.  It wasn't a tough sell.  Bridge seemed like a game for old people.  And, it didn't seem like a path to meeting girls, either, not that there were that many around the GT campus back then anyway.

About two weeks into classes, I wandered into the student center, and lo and behold, there was a bridge game going on with about 4-5 tables in play.  I had an hour to kill in between classes, so I sat down and watched. Seven hours later, I had skipped all my classes, missed basketball practice, and had three bridge books in my backpack on loan from the bridge club.

25 years later, and I still completely love the game.  I think about it all the time.  I dream bridge hands.  I can still remember every "big hand" I played a few years ago when I won my second (and much more important) national title. I read bridge books and magazines.  I constantly work on my game.

Bridge is, by far, the most complex and nuanced card game I've ever played.  Poker is tiddlywinks in comparison.  It is a perfect blend of math, psychology, strategic planning, creativity, and, most importantly, communication.

See, bridge is a partnership game: you always play with a partner.  During the play, you're constantly communicating in code -- a code that you and your partner will work on for years if not decades.  There are partnerships that have been playing together and working on their system for 40+ years.  Their "system notes" are hundreds of pages long.

It is this partnership aspect that makes the game so much fun.  Not only do you have to play well yourself, you have to work to ensure that your partner plays well.

Today, I'm spending an hour watching the Polish Premiere League match -- in real time -- on a site called BridgeBase.  Watching and studying the best players in the world is a great way to learn.

I'm going to be talking more about bridge and introducing some of the mechanics of the game in future blog posts this year.  I sincerely hope you find the game as interesting and attractive as I have.

2 Comments

More Expert Insight

8/8/2011

1 Comment

 
A few months ago, I was desperately searching the web for information about caring for an our pet Western Painted Turtle.  His shell got accidently smashed a bit, and he was lethargic, sitting idly under the heating lamp, and wouldn't eat much.  This went on for about five days, and I wanted help for the little guy.  There wasn't a qualified herpetologist anywhere nearby.

After scanning the internet for a few hours, I found a website that seemed to be authoritative and helpful.  I emailed the website owner, sent a picture of the little guy, and described the symptoms.  A few hours later, I was delighted to get a return email that addressed most of my concerns (this is normal behavior for slight injuries, turtles face much more challenge in the wild, he'll be fine in a week or so).

A few things struck me about my interaction with the turtle-expert:

* I would have gladly paid the "expert" a nice sum of money for his knowledge.  Had a qualified vet been in my area, I'd have taken the turtle in for a visit and paid around $50-$75.  The world-class expert would have been a much better value at the same or higher price.

* The time the expert spent on my problem was valuable -- giving away that time is large unsustainable, and should he get many requests like mine, he'd probably be forced to remove his email address from his website or stop responding.

* There wasn't a readily accessible internet-driven mechanism in place for me to do so.  The expert could have asked for a PayPal donation after the fact, I suppose.  I might have even offered one.  But, the fact is, the expectation of "free" advice was implicit by the fact that he posted his email address on the website.  If he had a convenient link that said something like, "Click here to buy a 30 minute consultation for $50" I would have clicked.

There are plenty of everyday items that require "Expert Insight" that I'd gladly pay for:

* I have a sick Maple tree in my front yard.  Is there a Maple tree expert out there that can tell me what to do?
* My son is having a hard time with the "SP" sound -- any one out there with suggestions?
* My woodworking planer blade has a nick in it.  How do I sharpen it?

I'm currently investing in technologies that allow consumers to tap the pool of "Expert Insight" that exists in the world.  There are a few companies that are making attempts at solving some of these issues:

* Skillshare.com -- a portal for people to offer classes on just about everything, accept payment, and offer enrollment .  Currently, Skillshare is offering classes only in NY, but this idea and platform can scale.

* ExpertInsight.com -- a portal for one-on-one video consulting via the internet.  With more than 150 experts in diverse fields (poker, chess, economics, architecture, etc.) this is a model that can and will grow.  I'm currently offering my time at $150 / hour -- we can talk about just about anything.

* Vokle.com -- one-to-many video broadcasting.  Again, another way for people to interact and share knowledge.  Interactive Q&A is done quite well.  The ability to charge for these sessions is coming soon.


The writing is on the wall -- the company or companies that facilitate the transfer of expertise as smoothly and as quickly as possible will be a big, big winner and the next household internet brand name.
1 Comment

    Author

    Phil Gordon's Blog
    Poker Player, Entrepreneur, Author and Philanthropist

    Archives

    March 2014
    January 2014
    November 2011
    October 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011

    Categories

    All
    Adirondack
    Bank Of America
    Bridge
    Consulting
    Entrepreneurship
    Expert Insight
    Expertise
    Investment
    Little Gold Book
    Netflix
    Poker
    Short Selling
    Subscription
    Thewoodwhisperer
    Woodworking
    Writing

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.