Bridge World Championship set to kick off

North American bridge players are heading south -- to South American, that is. The World Championship of bridge begins Saturday in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The U.S. has two open teams and Mexico has one. In the women's competition, the U.S.Has two teams and one for Canada. There is also a seniors' competition for players 55 years and older, and the U.S. and Canada are represented. (Note that I had a brain hiccup about the teams when I posted yesterday. This is the updated version.)

You can watch
If you're like me, you'd love to go, but can't. If so, you can join thousands of players from around the world and watch the vugraph presentation of various matches over the Internet at Bridge Base Online.

You can read
You can also read the Daily Bulletins (Brent Manley and his staff) if you go to the World Bridge Federation's web site here, and click on "Bulletins" in the top right-hand corner.

You can play
Jump in the pool -- the water's fine. Just as poker players have crazy prop bets, bridge players like to do nutty fun things, too. There is a pool in which participants have to guess the order of finish of the final eight teams in the various categories. It costs nothing to enter, and Ray and Linda Lee of Masterpoint Press (out of Toronto ON) are giving away some nice books as prizes.

To enter, go here. If you don't know who to pick, you can get some tips if you click here or here. The deadline to enter is Friday, so what are you waiting for?

If you want even more action, reader Paul Gipson of Scotland has a European version, and you can sign up if you go here.

Bridge bloggers are cranking out posts. You can follow Canadian reader Glen Ashton, if you go to Bridge Matters. You can also expect blog pieces from Linda Lee and Stacy Jacobs.

Ah, the world championships. If you're a bridge player, this is a fine time of the year. Good luck to all teams representing the ACBL.