Pepsi, The Cynic, The Foot…

While this sounds like a Most Wanted-list of comic book villains, it’s only a selection of bridge players and their nicknames. Nicknames are odd things, and unless they’re online, we don’t necessarily choose them for ourselves.

What do other bridge players call you when it isn’t your real name?

I’ve been called a lot of things, but can’t repeat most of them here!

Here are 5 famous bridge players & their nicknames.

1. The Bridge Bum

The Real Name: Alan Sontag

If you’ve ever browsed through the ACBL Hall of Fame, Alan Sontag is a name that might ring more than a few bells. Yes, you’ll have read about him before (and if you have not, now is a great time to begin).

The Bridge Bum has won six bridge world championships. I call the act of making pancakes without any fires a success, so that’s not bad at all.

The name originates from his 1977 autobiographical bridge book, just in case you were wondering. According to further research, Sontag also goes by the occasional nickname of “Sonty”.

Alan’s a member of the BBO bidders challenge panel – see all the panelists here.

2. Pepsi

The Real Name: Jacek Pszczola

If you’ve never heard of Pepsi before, he’s a Polish-born American bridge player. He was chosen as the ACBL Player of the Year for 2019, and his list of accomplishments in bridge can only be expected to rise.

What isn’t obvious yet is how the nickname Pepsi happened.

Does he live a sugar-free life? Does he just prefer Pepsi to other branded sodas of the world?

We might never know.

Jacek’s a member of the BBO bidders challenge panel – see all the panelists here.

3. Mr Bridge

The Real Name: Bob Hamman

If you’ve been reading about bridge for a while, you will eventually hear stories and legends about a man called Mr Bridge.

That’s Bob Hamman, a famous bridge player and Hall of Fame member from Texas. I’m sure he’s won more bridge championships than I’ll get to see in a lifetime’s worth of gaming.

Outside of bridge, his business is insurance. He’s pretty damn good at this, too: Texas Monthly interviewed Hamman for the following interview, available by clicking here.

But here’s the thing: Older bridge resources also attributes the nickname Mr Bridge to Goren.

Now you know!

4. The Cynic

The Real Name: Anonymous

I first heard about a bridge player called The Cynic thanks to a column found in the Northwest Indiana Times. Written by Kerry Erickson, the Cynic remains unnamed – but his playing is covered thoroughly as an explanation to how the nickname got there in the first place.

If you enjoy bridge columns and game postmortems, be sure to read it!

5. The Foot

The Real Name: Mike Wilson

Who on earth is The Foot?

According to a 2005 article from Spokesman, credit for this nickname goes to Vancouver bridge player Mike Wilson. He earned his nickname due to the fact that he plays his cards using his feet.

First a stock-broker, Wilson is a bridge natural.