is it possible to make a living from this game?
#2
Posted 2018-July-08, 23:32
The other way is by playing with clients. You must first establish a reputation, usually by playing with other experts, and then people may be willing to pay you to partner or team up with them, or if you are really lucky, to play on a team that they sponsor and don’t play on, so you get to play with other professionals and have the same as teammates.
I suppose you could make a living teaching bridge, but there are a lot of costs involved, such as a venue and equipment. Possibly also directing, but you would either have to find a full-time position at a large club or travel A LOT to tournaments. In many places the latter wouldn’t work, because there are not usually tournaments available every or even most days of the week. You could probably manage it in the US.
EDIT: I forgot that you could own a club or manage one full-time. Some clubs have paid hosts, but I don’t think you could make a living that way. But it is probably the only way to make money by playing where you have to be a decent player but not a top expert.
#3
Posted 2018-July-09, 01:42
Vampyr has covered most of the bases in her reply, and the reality of the situation is a lot more grim than that.
Admittedly, a number of top players can earn a living from the game. But their numbers are few. My estimate: probably no more than 100 worldwide. You only have to look at what happened to Omar Sharif, the film star and international bridge player to realise that playing for high stakes rubber bridge can be very dicey.
The reality of the situation is that, unlike football that has worldwide sponsorship and television rights, bridge has very little funding. I know of a young international British bridge player who I used to chat to on here - name withheld - who won a Junior World Championship, but was so disillusioned that there was no sponsorship he gave up the game.
But maybe, the easiest way to look at bridge, is that it is a valuable social asset and you can meet likeminded people through this game. It's not always about the money.
I won a number of prizes when I was a junior playing both chess and bridge. I won a local chess tournament and won £100, and a few other cash prizes. I came second in a regional bridge tournament, and I won a bottle of wine, and a naff one at that
#4
Posted 2018-July-09, 04:35
#5
Posted 2018-July-09, 04:50
London UK
#6
Posted 2018-July-09, 04:51
#7
Posted 2018-July-09, 05:22
diana_eva, on 2018-July-09, 04:51, said:
That's a fair point, Diana. I think it is possible to make a decent second income from bridge, but as for making a living exclusively from bridge that's a different matter.
#8
Posted 2018-July-09, 06:08
The_Badger, on 2018-July-09, 01:42, said:
Vampyr has covered most of the bases in her reply, and the reality of the situation is a lot more grim than that.
Admittedly, a number of top players can earn a living from the game. But their numbers are few. My estimate: probably no more than 100 worldwide. You only have to look at what happened to Omar Sharif, the film star and international bridge player to realise that playing for high stakes rubber bridge can be very dicey.
The reality of the situation is that, unlike football that has worldwide sponsorship and television rights, bridge has very little funding. I know of a young international British bridge player who I used to chat to on here - name withheld - who won a Junior World Championship, but was so disillusioned that there was no sponsorship he gave up the game.
But maybe, the easiest way to look at bridge, is that it is a valuable social asset and you can meet likeminded people through this game. It's not always about the money.
I won a number of prizes when I was a junior playing both chess and bridge. I won a local chess tournament and won £100, and a few other cash prizes. I came second in a regional bridge tournament, and I won a bottle of wine, and a naff one at that
This is so true, I was a much better bridge player than chess player as a student, but for a long time the £100 I won at chess was bigger than any prize at bridge, and that wasn't an EBU event when it came (MSO).
I look at some of the people I played bridge with at uni (junior world champions, gold cup winners), and one gave up bridge and hasn't returned, one played a bit after uni but I haven't seen for a long time, and another gave up bridge after uni and has relatively recently returned (sometimes with Lamford).
#9
Posted 2018-July-09, 07:03
The_Badger, on 2018-July-09, 01:42, said:
That seems like a big underestimate. A quick review of the Australian bridge scene gave me about 25 names, and we're a very small market compared to Europe or the US. I would have estimated a couple of thousand bridge professionals worldwide.
On top of that, people can make money as a director, a teacher, by leading bridge holidays or by running a bridge club. Many of the people who do make a living from the bridge world have more than one role.
#10
Posted 2018-July-09, 07:40
sfi, on 2018-July-09, 07:03, said:
On top of that, people can make money as a director, a teacher, by leading bridge holidays or by running a bridge club. Many of the people who do make a living from the bridge world have more than one role.
Agree. You can make a business around bridge like around pretty much anything else. Bridge cruises can be organized in franchise AFAIK. French and Italy have quite a lot of "bridge holidays". There are many ways to develop a business that happens to have something to do with bridge. A Romanian friend of mine was living in France and making a sweet living off teaching + bridge holidays. I never thought of him as a pro though. He worked his ass off for his business which mostly consisted in being a good organizer and a graceful host.
#11
Posted 2018-July-09, 08:38
It is pretty difficult to earn a living from purely playing bridge. What is the source of income? There is little sponsorship in the game, there is very little (paying) spectator interest, rubber bridge gambling is a gamble, so that just leaves clients paying professionals to partner them or play as team mates (and this is primarily in the US). And maybe these pro-client relationships are really just bridge teaching in another form?
On a positive note, I am not nearly good enough to earn any money, even if there was any!
#12
Posted 2018-July-09, 21:00
sfi, on 2018-July-09, 07:03, said:
On top of that, people can make money as a director, a teacher, by leading bridge holidays or by running a bridge club. Many of the people who do make a living from the bridge world have more than one role.
Ok, sfi, I concede that my estimate was perhaps wrong. But I do bet that many of the bridge professionals that earn a living today have spent many years not earning a living from the game. It's only their knowledge and experience after so many years of playing and participating in the game that enable them to now earn a living from bridge. And I would also bet that plenty of these professionals have other streams of income available to them. There's scraping a living from doing what you enjoy, and making a reasonable income to support a growing family, etc. I spoke to an French international chess player years ago who loved playing chess so much that he sofa-surfed, slept in a van, did agency work, but earned less than 50% of what I was earning in a conventional job.
#13
Posted 2018-July-09, 21:42
#14
Posted 2018-July-10, 01:56
Friends of mine had a club that ran 6-8 times a week with 3-4 sections of 12+ tables, gave both groups and private lessons, rented themselves out at tournaments. Husband also was an ACBL NATIONAL DIRECTOR. They made a very nice living for years.
Not all clubs make money, RENTS are killers, also Insurance. Now the large drop in attendance do to aging population.
I closed my club about 5 years ago. Someone else tried to take it over but isn't drawing players. Personality and the ability of running one properly is also a major issue.
#16
Posted 2018-July-10, 04:04
Cyberyeti, on 2018-July-10, 03:31, said:
Carl (I assume it is he you mean) has been back to England occasionally but is very happy in Peru, where I believe he is coach or NPC for their Junior team and has been seen at junior world events in that capacity. I also see him listed among the top scorers in Funbridge games.
He was also an example of someone who made a living from bridge for many years, once he stopped being a school teacher, by combining teaching bridge with directing and for a time running a club of his own.
London UK
#17
Posted 2018-July-10, 06:37
gordontd, on 2018-July-10, 04:04, said:
He was also an example of someone who made a living from bridge for many years, once he stopped being a school teacher, by combining teaching bridge with directing and for a time running a club of his own.
Yup, I thought it was unlikely there was anybody else it could be.
#18
Posted 2018-July-10, 07:10
Total the number of people who earn a living from bridge related activities, including: employees of BBO, OKbridge and other bridge sites; publishing (writing, producing and selling bridge material); club management; cruises and other social events; teaching; employees, including directors, of national and international bridge organizations; bridge themed clothing and jewelry design and sales; and probably other categories. I would be shocked if less than another 10,000 people were involved.
Yes, it is certainly possible to earn a good living from playing bridge, but remember that it is dependent upon both your bridge skills and people skills.
However, go back to the rosters of the major events mentioned above. You won't find many, and probably no, bridge pros who have anything like the assets of the team sponsors. If I had the drive and smarts necessary to be a top player, I'd prefer to be someone like Jimmy Cayne or Frank Nickell.
#19
Posted 2018-July-10, 07:49
Joe_Old, on 2018-July-10, 07:10, said:
However, go back to the rosters of the major events mentioned above. You won't find many, and probably no, bridge pros who have anything like the assets of the team sponsors. If I had the drive and smarts necessary to be a top player, I'd prefer to be someone like Jimmy Cayne or Frank Nickell.
I don't know how much money Hamman made out of his company, a lot more if he ever got the cash it paid out to Lance Armstrong back.
#20
Posted 2018-July-10, 07:57
Musing: If Bridge celebs can have Nike endorsement deals it'll make everything much easier. I'll totally buy Fiji water if Bob Hamman tells me it'll make me smarter.
John Nelson.