BEST BRIDGE PLAYERS IN THE WORLD: POLL RESULTS YET AGAIN OVERLOOK BIGOT-JOHNSON................................................ ( News report by Carp ) Following the latest poll, Bigot-Johnson has been seen pulling out what is left of his hair. To say the man was gutted is an understatement. After recent winning performances at the 2009 Walnut Tree Allotment Congress Swiss Pairs and Teams events, not to mention countless numbers of 70% + scores at The Cardinals.....he felt he was in the running to break into the top ten. He was so distraught I felt obliged to quote him the reassuring words of Mosha Ufneed, who had posted some interesting observations about this matter on the web: " It is difficult to determine who the best bridge players in the world are, since there is no reliable ranking as in tennis, chess, and other competitive sports. Some claim that relying on tournament results is not a good way to identify the best bridge players either. The reasoning is that tournament results are affected not only by luck, but also by partner's skills, as well as the team's. Therefore, many players prefer to rely on "soft" factors such as reputation, and the subjective opinion of players who claim to pertain to the experts' group." Well, I know, and so does Bigot, that he has made a real name for himself over the years, with his style of play and table presence. The man sees himself as a genius, who has been held back by the bumbledog partners he seems cursed to play with . On the occasions he has ventured onto the big stage, his top ten placings seem to go un-noticed. But locally, he is the most talked about bridge player ever. So let's get real here...for any person to go deliberately off 11 in 6S ( see earlier post ) with 9 trumps, including the AKJ, plus a fistful of outside top honours in the other suits.....requires card playing skill of the highest order. This feat alone should have put him in the ranks of the world's best. Other great feats he has performed on, under, across, over and around the bridges tables have all left on-lookers stunned and flabbergasted with disbelief and amazement. And so I am appealing to this group of experts who make their selections, you clearly need to look further afield to acknowledge the existence of unsung heroes of the game. Bigot-Johnson sadly ( until now I hope ) has remained one of these unknown talents....a shy and modest man if the truth be known, whose generosity knows no bounds. The cheque he sent me to write this article has set me up for life. So there we have it : the10 players voted as" the best" are certainly the "best-well known", but are they really the best?.............Bigot definitely thinks otherwise.