Sam Dinkin makes a living as a consultant for high stakes auctions at the firm Power Auctions LLC. He advised the leading telecom company in India to help them acquire $6 billion of telecom spectrum in the previous two auctions held by the Department of Telecommunications. He is currently advising the Okavango Diamond Company which is Botswana's government-owned rough diamond seller, selling two million carats per year.

Sam did his undergraduate work at Caltech and earned a doctorate in economics from the University of Arizona. After learning bridge at Caltech, he placed in the collegiate team championships. He later placed in the pair trials qualifying to represent the USA in U25 competition as USA I in 1993.

Sam's recent bridge credits include placing 5th in North American Swiss Team Championship at the Fall 2014 Providence NABC; 4th in the May 2015 Open USBC round robin; 7th in the Board-A-Match Teams at the EU Open Championship in Tromsø, Norway in Summer 2015 and 6th in the North American Swiss Team Championship at the Spring 2016 NABC. His bridge captaining credits include USA I winning a silver medal competing for the 2009 Venice Cup in São Paulo, Brazil.

His other hobbies include jogging and space journalism. Sam lives in Austin, Texas, with his wife, Lynn Baker, and their 17-year old daughter, Mahria.

An Istanbul native, Cenk was introduced to bridge in 1991 at the age of 20. Upon moving to the US in 1993, Cenk actively played for 3 more years then quit competitive bridge after the 1996 Summer NABC in favor of college and a software career.

Since his re-entry to tournament bridge in 2011 after a 15-year hiatus, this time as a career choice, Cenk has had much success including numerous regional wins and several NABC top finishes. In 2015, he earned a bronze medal in the Mixed Teams at the 7th European Open Championships in Tromso, Norway. Cenk debuted as an NPC in the 2014 World Championships in Sanya, China, where he led the Baker Team to victory in the McConnell Cup.

Currently working as a part-time software consultant and a full-time player, Cenk lives in Amesbury, MA with his wife and 14-year old daughter.

I am currently in the work-force, working as a business analyst at TIAA-CREF in Boston.  I play and teach bridge professionally as a second job. I graduated from Brandeis in 2014 with an undergraduate degree in business.

Bridge Accomplishments:
1st 2014 NABC Fast Pairs (with Zach Grossack)
2 gold/2 silver int'l junior medals
Teen king of bridge 2010

I love playing bridge with Zach. Zach is very fast and aggressive, two important qualities for modern day competitive bridge.  Zach and I have both benefitted tremendously from the usbf junior program (as individuals and a partnership).  Michael Rosenberg has been an incredible mentor and has taught us so much.  Looking forward to making the most of my last couple of years in the junior program.

 Born and raised in the Boston suburb of Newton, I was brought up in a bridge playing family; my mom, seeing an ad for bridge lessons, took up the game in 1999, and soon taught my brother.

At first, I was turned off to the game, but by the time I was nine years old, bridge had really piqued my interest. And soon, with the help of my family and a few mentors, I started playing the game competitively; at the age of 12.

Since then I finished second in the U21 Championships in Taicang, China, won the U26 championships in Atlanta, Georgia, and finished 5-8 in the U26 Championship in 2014 in Istanbul.

Currently, I am a student at Tufts University.