Kaushik liked to research topics relating to Bridge. He had told Prabha, Padma and Kingo that he was researching why Bridge Players will make good stock traders. He had finished his study and he was going to narrate a few of his findings here:
- Business Insider deputy editor and bridge enthusiast Gus Lubin notes: “Bridge is a complex card game that fits the analytic side of finance, as poker appeals to instincts.”
- As recounted in William D. Cohan’s House of Cards, Jimmy Cayneplayed a tournament of bridge while Bear Sterns imploded. This can happen to anyone who has a secondary passion in life and can be attributed to bad luck.
- Eisenhower loved the game. The most relaxing thing he could do was to play a game in which the problems were tough, the solutions difficult, but the consequences of error were just a few hundred harmless points written down on a scorepad.”
- Due to the sheer number of rules and complexity involved with bidding, which precedes a hand of bridge. It is a challenging game. It is thus meant for analytical minds who have a competitive spirit.
- There’s no doubt that Wall Streeters enjoy the mental stimulation that accompanies a game of bridge. Warren Buffett once saidthat bridge has “got to be the best intellectual exercise out there.”
- “One of the reasons I’m here is because of the camaraderie,” said a loud and gregarious Philip Krone, a political and urban consultant in Chicago. “What other place are you going to get to play with the chairman of a Fortune 500 company, the counsel general of a major European power, or even a businessman from Shanghai on his way through?”
- While computers can now routinely beat all but a handful of chess grandmasters, they can’t come close to outplaying the world’s finest bridge players. Why is this? Because computers can understand math, but they can’t understand people – at least not yet.
- Buffett has elaborated on the similarities between the two pursuits. “The approach and strategies are very similar in that you gather all the information you can get and then keep adding to that base of information as things develop. You do whatever the probabilities indicated based on the knowledge that you have at that time, but you are always willing to modify your behaviour or your approach as you get new information. In bridge, you behave in a way that gets the best from your partner. And in business, you behave in the way that gets the best from your managers and your employees.”
Kaushik concluded saying, ”He has just listed a few points for discussion today. The similarity between Contract Bridge and Business in general and Stock trading in particular are amazing
Tailpiece. The discussion did not bother Goofy. He had no interest in investing and making money on money. He was only worried from where he is going to get his next meal and when he will get to chase cats and other small animals.
