Paul Soloway (October 10, 1941 – November 5, 2007) was a world champion American

bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...

player. He won the

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 Wu ...

world team championship five times and won 30

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

"national"-level events. Soloway 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 2002. At the time of his death he held 65,511.92

masterpoints Masterpoints or master points are points awarded by bridge organizations to individuals for success in competitive duplicate bridge, bridge tournaments run under their auspices. Generally, recipients must be members in good standing of the issuing ...

– more than any other player in history, and more than 6000 points ahead of second place. Paul Soloway

Early life

Born and raised in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, Soloway nearly drowned at age three when he fell into a swimming pool at the home of family friend

George Raft George Raft (né Ranft; September 26, 1901 – November 24, 1980) was an American film actor and dancer identified with portrayals of gangsters in crime melodramas of the 1930s and 1940s. A stylish leading man in dozens of movies, Raft is remembe ...

. He was saved by his uncle, gangster

Bugsy Siegel Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel (; February 28, 1906 – June 20, 1947) was an American gangster, mobster who was a driving force behind the development of the Las Vegas Strip. Siegel was influential within the Jewish-American organized crime, Jewish Mo ...

, who jumped into the pool and pulled him out. Soloway learned to play bridge in college, where he majored in business studies. He first played duplicate bridge in 1962. Shortly after graduation, he became a bridge professional. In 1971, he joined the

Dallas Aces The Dallas Aces (initially the U.S. Aces, later simply the Aces) were the world's first professional bridge team, organized in 1968 by Dallas businessman Ira Corn. Corn was determined to return bridge supremacy to America after the domination of t ...

bridge team, but left after one year. In 1998 he joined the

Nick Nickell Frank T. "Nick" Nickell (born 1947) is an American bridge player. He graduated from the University of North Carolina, and lived in Raleigh, North Carolina, as of 1994. Nickell was inducted into the ACBL Hall of Fame in 2008. At the time he lived i ...

team. He lived in

Mill Creek, Washington Mill Creek is a city in Snohomish County, Washington, United States. It is located between the cities of Everett and Lynnwood, approximately northeast of Seattle. The city has a population of 20,926 as of the 2020 census. The city lies along ...

, and died at a hospital in

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is the List of municipalities in Washington, most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the List of Unit ...

, from a heart attack during his treatment for

Staphylococcus aureus ''Staphylococcus aureus'' is a Gram-positive spherically shaped bacterium, a member of the Bacillota, and is a usual member of the microbiota of the body, frequently found in the upper respiratory tract and on the skin. It is often posi ...

. He was cremated with a deck of bridge cards in his hand.

Bridge accomplishments

Honors

* ACBL Hall of Fame, 2002"Induction by Year"
. ''Hall of Fame''. ACBL. Retrieved 2014-12-21. * Lazard Sportsmanship Award 2001

Awards

* ACBL Player of the Year 1998 * Barry Crane Top 500 1998 * McKenney Trophy 1968, 1969 *

Mott-Smith Trophy The Mott-Smith Trophy, named for writer and cryptographer Geoffrey Mott-Smith, is awarded to the player with the best overall individual performance in the Spring Nationals, the spring event of the American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) North Amer ...

2002 *

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 Championships, North American Bridge Championship (NABC). History The Fishbein Tr ...

1998 *

Herman Trophy The Goren Trophy (formerly the Herman Trophy) is awarded to the player who wins the greatest number of masterpoints at the fall American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) North American Bridge Championship (NABC). History The Herman Trophy was do ...

1976

Wins

(5) 1976, 1977, 1979, 2000, 2003 *

(30) ** Vanderbilt (6) 1969, 1978, 1997, 1998, 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 ...

(9) 1978, 1983, 1986, 1988, 1998, 1999, 2004, 2006, 2007 **

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 ( ...

(4) 1976, 1980, 2004, 2005 **

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 ...

(2) 1974, 1976 ** Open Board-a-Match Teams (1) 1993 **

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) 1991, 2002, 2006 ** North American Men's Swiss Teams (1) 1989 ** Master Mixed Teams (2) 1966, 1987 ** Life Master Open Pairs (1) 1999 ** Life Master Men's Pairs (1) 1965 * United States Bridge Championships (13) ** Open Team Trials (13) 1972, 1974, 1975, 1977, 1979 (Jan), 1979 (Dec), 1984, 1995, 1998, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2007 * 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 lo ...

(1) 2006 ** Cavendish Invitational Pairs (1) 1995

Runners-up

(2) 1975, 2005 * World Open Team Olympiad (2) 1972, 1980 *

(18) ** Vanderbilt (3) 1971, 1976, 2002 **

(4) 1973, 1990, 1994, 1996 **

(4) 1986, 1990, 1993, 1994 ** Open Board-a-Match Teams (3) 1995, 1998, 1999 ** Men's Board-a-Match Teams (2) 1970, 1984 **

(1) 2005 ** Men's Pairs (1) 1969 * United States Bridge Championships (1) ** Open Team Trials(1) 1969 * Other notable 2nd places: ** Cavendish Invitational Teams (5) 1998, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 ** Sunday Times Invitational Pairs (1) 1990

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Soloway, Paul 1941 births 2007 deaths American contract bridge players Bermuda Bowl players Game players from Los Angeles Sportspeople from Seattle