Sweepstakes Added To 2007 Bridge Tournament

The Cavendish Invitational, the world's largest money bridge tournament, will feature two open-play events at this year's tournament, which will be held in Las Vegas at the Green Valley Ranch Resort May 9 - 13th.

For the first time in tournament history, both a pairs and teams event will be open to anyone who wants to compete in them, giving bridge players of all skill sets the chance to play in the historic tournament. These open-play events will run in conjunction with the invitation-only Cavendish Pairs tournament, which brings together a hundred of the world's top bridge players to compete for prize pools as high as $1.5 million and the coveted title of Cavendish champion.

The Cavendish Invitational was first launched at New York's famed Cavendish Club in 1975 and has been managed by World Bridge Productions (WBP) since the club seized operation in the mid-1990s. The Cavendish uses a Calcutta format, which means that each pair is auctioned off to the highest bidder -- with the auction money pooled together and paid out to the owners of the top finishers. The world's top players are also invited to compete in the John Roberts Teams event, named after WBP co-founder John Roberts, who passed away in 2002.

Bob Hamman, an 11-time world bridge champion and co-founder of WBP, says his organization modeled the two open-play events after the invitation-only events to respond to the growing demand for world-class money bridge tournaments.

"Thanks to the arrival of online mind games and the recent focus on the mental and overall health benefits associated with playing bridge, there has been a significant resurgence in bridge and a growing demand for world-class money bridge tournaments that are open to a broader base of players," notes Hamman. "Our goal as an organization is to answer this demand."

To kick off the 2007 Cavendish, Hamman, who also operates SCA Promotions, the world's largest provider of prize coverage for promotions, games and contests, is adding a $100,000 Pick-the-Winners sweepstakes.

"Bridge is, without question, the best, most challenging mind game in existence and we are excited to do our part to get the word out and build new awareness for the game," notes Hamman, who adds that sponsorship opportunities are available for the 2007 Cavendish.