System Information

Jacobs-Beatty System Summary Form, ACBL Convention Card

Casen-Krekorian System Summary Form, ACBL Convention Card

Jacobus-Wold System Summary Form, ACBL Convention Card

About the Players

George Jacobs

George Jacobs, photo by Peg Kaplan

At the age of 26, I was sleeping in cars or wherever I could. No permanent residence, no friends, no money, no place to go. I am a compulsive gambler. I spent 2 years staying with a friend and sleeping on his couch. I was estranged from my family, stole credit cards, checks and money. At the end, I would cash winning tickets at the track for strangers and accept the tax liability. 32 years ago I joined Gamblers Anonymous and have not gambled since. I have a pretty nice life today but never forget where I came from. There are meetings every week and I go regularly. Because I choose to speak about this, many bridge players and directors have gotten help for their own problems. That makes me so proud.In 1992, I was named Entrepreneur of the Year for Illinois. This was an Academy Award type of production and I was shocked that I won. They ask you to give a speech in front of thousands of people. I started out by saying that I had lots of experiece with speaking but it usually went like this: "My name is George J. and I am a compulsive gambler." The tribune carried a feature titled; "Ex gambler wins award".If you are looking for bridge history, I have won 5 majors, 3 reisinger 2nds, won the trials once with 2 2nds, 4 other national titles. I was captain of the olympic team in Salt Lake City, played in the China Cup twice, played in the IOC olympic showcase in Lausanne. I have a bronze medal in the Olympiad and I own 3 records in bridge:1) the 21 1/2 in the final of the national BAM for 82.69% 2) the largest national pair game score in history at 78.31% 3) the largest lead ever lost in the spingold semifinal of 71 impsI I am the auctioneer for the Cavendish and a viewgraph commentator at both live and on-line Vugraphs and once MC'd the Hall of fame dinner.

Steve Beatty

Drew Casen

Drew Casen, photo by Peg Kaplan

Drew Casen, of Las Vegas, Nevada, is a bridge professional, former accountant, 7-handicap golfer, and expert holdem (poker) player. He renewed his partnership with Jim Krekorian (from the late 80s and early 90s) in 2004. Since then, he and Jim have placed second in the Vanderbilt, third-fourth in the Spingold, and third in the Blue Ribbon Pairs. Drew also won the Men’s Swiss Teams in 1986, the Cavendish Invitational Pairs in 1987, the National Open Swiss Teams in 1990 and 1992, and finished second in the Vanderbilt in 1987, 2000 and 2005. He is a WBF World Master, having placed second in the Rosenblum Teams in 1990. He is as an avid sports gambler and is known for his raucous humor in the postgame discussions.

Jim Krekorian

Jim Krekorian, photo by Peg Kaplan

Jim Krekorian, formerly of New York City-now a recent Pensacolian, graduated from Duke engineering school in 1974 and served as a U.S Air Force pilot from 1974 to 1981, achieving the rank of Captain, C-130 aircraft commander. Jim traded options on the American Stock Exchange from 1986 to 2003, was a floor official for 5 years, and formed Blue Hercules LLC in 1999. At Duke he was a 3-year letterman in track and is still an avid runner and racer. Jim is now a fulltime bridge professional and consultant and part-time artist with oils being his favorite medium for his paintings. He won the Life Master Men’s Pairs in 1986, the Grand National Open Pairs in 1992 and 2009, the Blue Ribbon Pairs in 1996,  the Open BAM Teams 1997,  and in his renewed partnership with Drew Casen the Cavendish double (pairs in 1987, teams in 2007) and Senior KO's in 2010.

Marc Jacobus

Marc Jacobus

Eddie Wold

Eddie Wold

A bridge professional living in Houston, TX, and Las Vegas, NV, Eddie is #4 on the all-time ACBL Masterpoint Winners' list with more than 50,000 masterpoints. He has won the Barry Crane Top 500 three times. He won a Bronze medal in the 1978 Rosenblum Teams in New Orleans. Eddie won the first two of his many North American titles at the same NABC in the summer of 1977, winning both the Grand National Teams and the Spingold. He has since added second victories in the Grand National Teams and the Spingold, as well as winning the Vanderbilt twice, the Reisinger twice, the Men's Board-a-Match Teams twice, the Master Mixed Teams, the Open Swiss Teams, and the National Open Pairs in 2005. This last win put him on the cover of Rice University’s alumni magazine. He has also collected the Mott-Smith Trophy three times and the Lou Herman Trophy twice for the best performance at an NABC and has more than 600 victories in Regional events to his credit.