Robert David "Bob" Hamman (born August 6, 1938 in

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. I ...

) is an American professional

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

player, among the greatest players of all time. He is from

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County w ...

. Hamman and

Bobby Wolff Robert S. (Bobby) Wolff (born October 14, 1932, San Antonio, Texas) is an American bridge player, writer, and administrator. He is the only person to win world championships in five different categories. He is a graduate of Trinity University. ...

played as partners for nearly three decades on teams that challenged for major trophies in North America and often for world championships. Representing the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

(from about 1980, previously North America) they won eight world championships for national teams, the 1988

World Team Olympiad The World Team Olympiad was a contract bridge meet organized by the World Bridge Federation every four years from 1960 to 2004. Its main events were world championships for national teams, always including one open and one restricted to women ("O ...

and seven

Bermuda Bowl The Bermuda Bowl is a biennial contract bridge world championship for national . It is contested every odd-numbered year under the auspices of the World Bridge Federation (WBF), alongside the Venice Cup (women), the d'Orsi Senior Bowl and the Wuh ...

s spanning 1970 to 1995. For the last they were members of Nick Nickell's professional team, where Hamman remained a fixture through the current two-year cycle and won three more Bermuda Bowls in partnership with Paul Soloway and

Zia Mahmood Mir Zia Mahmood (born 7 January 1946) is a Pakistani-American professional bridge player. He is a World Bridge Federation and American Contract Bridge League Grand Life Master. As of April 2011 he was the 10th-ranked World Grand Master. Biogra ...

. Beginning 2012/2013, Nickell has replaced Bobby Hamman and Zia Mahmood with

Bobby Levin Robert J. (Bobby) Levin (born November 19, 1957) is an American professional bridge player, from Aventura, Florida. He was the youngest winner of the Bermuda Bowl world championship for national teams from 1981 until 2015, when 19-year old Michal K ...

–

Steve Weinstein Steve Weinstein (born 1964) is an American people, American professional Contract bridge, bridge and poker player. He is known best as the youngest winner of the American Contract Bridge League, ACBL Von Zedtwitz Life Master Pairs, Life Master Pa ...

.Levin-Weinstein Joining Nickell in 2012
(2011-07-05). Bridge Winners. Retrieved 2011-07-15. A new pairing for Hamman with Bart Bramley was announced in JulyHamman Joins New Team for Next Cycle
(2011-07-22). Bridge Winners. Retrieved 2011-07-23. but never secured, according to a November report that Hamman will play with Justin Lall.Justin Lall to Play With Bob Hamman
(2011-11-27). Bridge Winners. Retrieved 2011-11-27. Justin was a silver medalist in the 2011 Bermuda Bowl and is the son of Hemant Lall, Hamman's partner in 2007.

Bridge career

Hamman first qualified for a world championship in the open category by winning the

American Contract Bridge League The American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) is a governing body for contract bridge in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Bermuda. It is the largest such organization in North America having the stated mission ''"to promote, grow and sustain th ...

international trials in 1963, for the 1964

. That was a "pairs trial" from which the winning pair and two of the three runners-up would be selected as a 6-person team. Dallas businessman Ira Corn established the first full-time professional team in 1968, the Dallas Aces, later simply Aces. Hamman joined in 1969, as the sixth player, and established a partnership with

Billy Eisenberg William Eisenberg (born September 5, 1937The 1st World Mind Sports Games
. ...

. Following the retirement of Italy's Blue team, they won the 1970 Bermuda Bowl as North America representative and repeated in 1971 as defending champion. He has won 12 world championships and 50 North American championships. Hamman and Brent Manley wrote his autobiography ''At the Table: My Life and Times'', published in 1994 (). He was inducted into the

ACBL Hall of Fame This list is a compilation of contract bridge players, writers, administrators and personalities who have been recognized for their skills, achievements or contributions to the game as identified by various specific sources. People recognized by ...

in 1999; a version of his citation that reports 23,219 s to March 2001 also reads: :"One of the world's greatest players, ranks #1 among WBF orld Bridge FederationGrand Masters, also ranks 1st in world performance over past 10 years. Member ACBL Hall of Fame. Has been highest ranked player in the world since 1985." Hamman's most unusual accomplishment may be eight wins in the ACBL's most important pair championships (

Blue Ribbon Pairs The Edgar Kaplan Blue Ribbon Pairs (or simply the Blue Ribbon Pairs) is a national bridge championship held at the fall American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) North American Bridge Championship (NABC). The event is restricted to those that have wo ...

, Life Master Pairs and Men's Pairs) with eight different partners. He won the World Open Pairs once, with Bobby Wolff in 1974, and he was second in 1994 with

Michael Rosenberg Michael Rosenberg (born March 7, 1954) is an American bridge player. Rosenberg was born in New York City, moved to Scotland as a child, and returned to New York in 1978. He lived in New York State with his wife Debbie, also a top player, from 1 ...

. Probably his most popular and emotional win, other than the 1970

, was the annual

Vanderbilt Trophy The trophy is awarded for the Vanderbilt Knockout Teams national bridge championship held at the spring American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) North American Bridge Championship (NABC). The Vanderbilt is a knock-out team event. The event typicall ...

, the oldest open teams event in North America, in 2000. Despite myriad other wins, Hamman had not won the Vanderbilt since 1973. His partner Paul Soloway was severely ill, commuting between the tournament site and the hospital, and literally came out of his sickbed to play the final quarter of the quarterfinal match; they won that session by 34

IMPs IMPS or Imps may refer to: * ''Imps*'', a comedy film released in 2009 * OMA Instant Messaging and Presence Service * Infinite Monkey Protocol Suite, an April Fools' Day RFC * The Oxford Imps, an improvisational comedy troupe * Insensitive munitio ...

to win the match by 1. On the final board, Hamman and Soloway had a bidding misunderstanding to reach a very poor 6H contract, but their opponents could not work out declarer's hand due to the unusual auction, and the contract made, providing the margin of victory. Hamman's Law is the

maxim Maxim or Maksim may refer to: Entertainment * ''Maxim'' (magazine), an international men's magazine ** ''Maxim'' (Australia), the Australian edition ** ''Maxim'' (India), the Indian edition *Maxim Radio, ''Maxim'' magazine's radio channel on Sir ...

, "If you have a choice of reasonable bids and one of them is 3NT, then bid it."

Prize coverage business

Hamman founded SCA Promotions in 1986. The company offers a form of insurance where they cover the prize money for large competitions, initially focusing on hole-in-one prizes in golf. In 2015, SCA was able to retrieve money from

Lance Armstrong Lance Edward Armstrong (''né'' Gunderson; born September 18, 1971) is an American former professional road bicycle racing, road racing cyclist. Regarded as a sports icon for winning the Tour de France seven consecutive times from 1999 Tour de ...

that had been paid to cover prize money.Lance Armstrong settles with Bob Hamman
bridgwinners.com He was portrayed by

Dustin Hoffman Dustin Lee Hoffman (born August 8, 1937) is an American actor and filmmaker. As one of the key actors in the formation of New Hollywood, Hoffman is known for his versatile portrayals of antiheroes and emotionally vulnerable characters. He is th ...

in the 2015 film '' The Program'', dealing with Lance Armstrong's career and downfall.

Bridge accomplishments

Honors

, 1999"Induction by Year"
. ''Hall of Fame''. ACBL. Retrieved 2014-12-16. * ACBL Honorary Member of the Year 1991

Awards

* ACBL Player of the Year 1990, 1993, 2006 *

Fishbein Trophy The Fishbein Trophy is awarded to the player who wins the greatest number of masterpoints at the summer American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) North American Bridge Championship (NABC). History The Fishbein Trophy was donated by the ACBL in memo ...

1969, 1983 * Herman Trophy 1978, 1988, 1993 * Precision Award (Best Defended Hand of the Year) 1986, 1993

Wins

(10) 1970, 1971, 1977, 1983, 1985, 1987, 1995, 2000, 2003, 2009 * World Open Team Olympiad (1) 1988 * World Open Pairs (1) 1974 *

North American Bridge Championships North American Bridge Championships (NABC) are three annual bridge tournaments sponsored by the American Contract Bridge League (ACBL). The "Spring", "Summer", and "Fall" NABCs are usually scheduled in March, July, and November for about eleven da ...

(54) ** Vanderbilt (6) 1964, 1966, 1971, 1973, 2000, 2003 **

Spingold The Spingold national bridge championship is held at the summer American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) North American Bridge Championship (NABC). The Spingold is a knock-out team event that attracts the top contract bridge players in the world. T ...

(15) 1969, 1979, 1982, 1983, 1989, 1990, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2004, 2006, 2007 **

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

(now Reisinger) (1) 1962 **

Reisinger The Reisinger national bridge championship is held at the fall American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) North American Bridge Championship (NABC). The Reisinger is a board-a-match event. History The event is contested for the Reisinger Trophy ( ...

(11) 1970, 1978, 1979, 1988, 1993, 1994, 1995, 2004, 2005, 2008, 2009 **

Grand National Teams The Grand National Teams (GNT) North American bridge championship is held at the summer American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) North American Bridge Championship (NABC). The Grand National Teams is a team knockout event. The event is broken into ...

(4) 1975, 1977, 1986, 2006 ** Open Board-a-Match Teams (2) 2008, 2019 ** Men's Board-a-Match Teams (1) 1988 **

Jacoby Open Swiss Teams The Jacoby Open Swiss Teams national bridge championship is held at the spring American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) North American Bridge Championship (NABC). The Jacoby Open Swiss Teams is a four session Swiss Teams event with two qualifying a ...

(3) 1990, 2006, 2009 ** Master Mixed Teams (1) 1987 **

(4) 1964, 1986, 1991, 1993 ** Life Master Pairs (3) 1980, 1983, 1992 ** Platinum Pairs (1) 2012 **

Senior Knockout Teams The Baze Senior Knockout Teams national bridge championship was held at the fall American Contract Bridge League The American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) is a governing body for contract bridge in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Bermuda. ...

(1) (2016) ** Men's Pairs (1) 1986 * United States Bridge Championships (18) ** Open Team Trials (17) 1969, 1971, 1973, 1977, 1979 (Dec), 1982, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1992, 1998, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2012 ** Open Pair Trials (1) 1963 * Other notable wins: **

Buffett Cup The Buffett Cup is a bridge trophy which is awarded biennially in an event between teams from Europe and the United States. The tournament is modeled on the Ryder Cup golf competition and is held in the week preceding the golf event at a nearby l ...

(1) 2006 **

Cavendish Invitational The Cavendish Invitational is the largest money bridge tournament in the world. In 2012 it moved from Las Vegas to Monaco and from May to October. From 1975 to 2011, first in New York City and later in Las Vegas, it ran from Friday to Sunday on Mot ...

Pairs (1) 1998

Runners-up

(6) 1966, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1997, 2005 * World Open Team Olympiad (4) 1964, 1972, 1980, 1992 * World Open Pairs (1) 1994 * World Mixed Pairs (2) 1986, 1994 *

(19) ** Vanderbilt (5) 1968, 1970, 1981, 1996, 2002 **

(1) 1970 **

(1) 1968 ** Open Board-a-Match Teams (2) 1998, 1999 ** Men's Board-a-Match Teams (4) 1969, 1980, 1984, 1989 **

(1) 1992 ** Life Master Men's Pairs (2) 1980, 1981 ** Open Pairs (1) 1988 ** Open Pairs I (1) 1999 ** Men's Pairs (1) 1985 * United States Bridge Championships (3) ** Open Team Trials (2) 1979 (Jan), 1997 ** Open Pair Trials (1) 1965 * Other notable 2nd places: **

(1) 2008 ** Forbo-Krommenie Nations Cup (1) 1997 ** Cavendish Invitational Teams (1) 1997 ** Sunday Times–Macallan Invitational Pairs (1) 1992 ** Pamp World Par Contest (1) 1990

Publications

Notes

References

External links

* – with video interviews * *
Bob Hamman
at Bridge Winners * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hamman, Bob 1938 births American contract bridge players Bermuda Bowl players Contract bridge writers Living people People from Pasadena, California People from Dallas