Paul Soloway

Paul Soloway (October 10, 1941 – November 5, 2007) was a world champion American bridge player. He won the Bermuda Bowl world team championship five times and won 30 North American Bridge Championships "national"-level events.

Soloway was inducted into the ACBL Hall of Fame in 2002.[1] At the time of his death he held 65,511.92 masterpoints – more than any other player in history, and more than 6000 points ahead of second place.

Paul Soloway at the 10th World Bridge Championships, Lille, France, 1998.

Early life

Born and raised in Los Angeles, California, Soloway nearly drowned at age three when he fell into a swimming pool at the home of family friend George Raft. He was saved by his uncle, gangster Bugsy Siegel, who jumped into the pool and pulled him out.[2]

Soloway learned to play bridge in college, where he majored in business studies. He first played duplicate bridge in 1962.[3] Shortly after graduation, he became a bridge professional. In 1971, he joined the Dallas Aces bridge team, but left after one year. In 1998 he joined the Nick Nickell team. He lived in Mill Creek, Washington, and died at a hospital in Seattle, Washington, from a heart attack during his treatment for Staphylococcus aureus.[2] He was cremated with a deck of bridge cards in his hand.[4]

Bridge accomplishments

Honors
  • ACBL Hall of Fame, 2002[1]
  • Lazard Sportsmanship Award 2001

Awards

Wins

Runners-up

References
  1. "Induction by Year" Archived 2014-12-05 at the Wayback Machine. Hall of Fame. ACBL. Retrieved 2014-12-21.
  2. Phillip Alder (November 8, 2007). "Paul Soloway, 66, World Bridge Champion, Dies". The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 25, 2014. Retrieved 2007-11-11.
  3. "Soloway, Paul". Hall of Fame. ACBL. Retrieved 2014-12-21.
  4. Manry, Kaitlin (November 16, 2007). "Mill Creek man won renown as 'Babe Ruth of Bridge'". The Everett Herald. Retrieved September 15, 2019.
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