AP Warren Buffett plays bridge at the 2005 Berkshire Hathaway shareholders meeting

Warren Buffett says he's addicted to Bridge.  To emphasize just how much, he told CBS News, "You know, if I'm playing bridge and a naked woman walks by, I don't ever see her."

While he makes it sounds like this is a commonplace occurence at his local bridge club, he did add with a laugh, "Don't test me on that!"   (I'm relieved that Omaha is not actually a hot-bed of debauched bridge parties.  Dealbreaker isn't so sure.)

Over the weekend, CBS News Sunday Morning featured a piece by John Blackstone on how Warren Buffett and Microsoft's Bill Gates love to play bridge, and what they're doing to get more young people interested in a game that mostly attracts older players.  Buffett and Gates often play together online, and sometimes in person. 

Along with putting a lot of money into a program to teach bridge to junior-high school kids, Buffett also lends his name to the Warren Buffett Challenge Match, pitting the USA against Europe in  the "Ryder Cup of bridge."  The USA won the first match in 2006. 

A rematch is scheduled for this coming September in Kentucky.  The site includes an interesting essay titled Buffett on Bridge, in which international player Sharon Osberg says Buffett is near world-class due to his "logic, his ability to solve problems and his concentation."

In the CBS piece, Buffett talks about the business lessons he's learned from playing bridge:

"You have to look at all the facts. You have to draw inferences from what you've seen, what you've heard. You have to discard improper theories about what the hand had as more evidence comes in sometimes. You have to be open to a possible change of course if you get new information. You have to work with a partner, particularly on defense."

As CBS puts in, "You can do worse than heeding advice from Warren Buffett."

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