Surprising statistics stacked up by the Bridge Doc

MEDIA RELEASE FROM HOUSE OF CARDS

Surprising statistics stacked up by the Bridge Doctor

The Christchurch-based BridgeDoctor.com website is three years old, and it's already three-quarters of the way around the world.

At the current rate of play, in just another year it will have circled the world, based on the current rate of dealing 2 million hands a year for its dedicated global community of bridge players! That's 16,666,666 a month, 41,666 a week, 5952 a day and 248 an hour.

More than 1000 hands a week are being dealt to satisfy the demand. If those 52 cards per hand were laid end on end, they would stretch for 9204 kms, about a quarter of the way around the equator.

Director Tina McVeigh said one player has just notched up 4000 games over the past eight weeks - that's 500 games a week, or 71 a day. On a regular club night, playing 6.5 minutes a game, most experienced players manage 25 hands in an evening.

"We've got a cluster of card players based in Florida for the winter, and they can be very enthusiastic, and competitive, playing against themselves, others and the computer,” Tina said.

Bridge Online was established by Tina McVeigh and Graeme Tuffnell three years ago (2004) as a sister company to House of Cards, and since then they have teamed up with Christchurch web developer Dennis Asher to create BridgeDoctor.com with the aim of spanning the globe. In December 2007 Tina McVeigh became the sole owner of House of Cards, holding the company in just one hand. The original partners remain shareholders in BridgeDoctor.com, which is managed by Graeme Tuffnell who is now based in Tokyo.

Tina McVeigh said the potential for global bridge was just being tapped. She and Graeme Tuffnell are taking bridge to the high seas on a Hawaiian Cruise in August, and she sees many great opportunities for international bridge events in New Zealand.

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