Bob Hamman

Hamman first qualified for a world championship in the open category by winning the American Contract Bridge League international trials in 1963, for the 1964 World Team Olympiad. 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 Hamman's most unusual accomplishment may be eight wins in the ACBL's most important pair championships (Blue Ribbon Pairs, 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. Probably his most popular and emotional win, other than the 1970 Bermuda Bowl, was the annual Vanderbilt Trophy, 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 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, "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 that had been paid to cover prize money. He was portrayed by Dustin Hoffman in the 2015 film The Program, dealing with Lance Armstrong's career and downfall. ==Bridge accomplishments==

Honors • ACBL Hall of Fame, 1999 • ACBL Honorary Member of the Year 1991 Awards • ACBL Player of the Year 1990, 1993, 2006 • Fishbein Trophy 1969, 1983 • Herman Trophy 1978, 1988, 1993 • Precision Award (Best Defended Hand of the Year) 1986, 1993 Wins • Bermuda Bowl (10) 1970, 1971, 1977, 1983, 1985, 1987, 1995, 2000, 2003, 2009 • World Open Team Olympiad (1) 1988 • World Open Pairs (1) 1974 • d'Orsi Senior Bowl World Zonal Team Championship (1) 2015 • World Senior Team Championship (1) 2016 • North American Bridge Championships (54) • Vanderbilt (6) 1964, 1966, 1971, 1973, 2000, 2003 • Spingold (15) 1969, 1979, 1982, 1983, 1989, 1990, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2004, 2006, 2007 • Chicago (now Reisinger) (1) 1962 • Reisinger (11) 1970, 1978, 1979, 1988, 1993, 1994, 1995, 2004, 2005, 2008, 2009 • Grand National Teams (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 (3) 1990, 2006, 2009 • Master Mixed Teams (1) 1987 • Blue Ribbon Pairs (4) 1964, 1986, 1991, 1993 • Life Master Pairs (3) 1980, 1983, 1992 • Platinum Pairs (1) 2012 • Senior Knockout Teams (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 (4) 2006, 2010, 2012, 2019 • Cavendish Invitational Pairs (1) 1998 Runners-up • Bermuda Bowl (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 • North American Bridge Championships (19) • Vanderbilt (5) 1968, 1970, 1981, 1996, 2002 • Spingold (1) 1970 • Reisinger (1) 1968 • Open Board-a-Match Teams (2) 1998, 1999 • Men's Board-a-Match Teams (4) 1969, 1980, 1984, 1989 • Jacoby Open Swiss Teams (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: • Buffett Cup (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==