A New Life:Mick Kelly speaks to a man who has bridged the gap between work and play - he traded in his insurance job in order to play bridge
When Tom Hanlon's mother, Annie, introduced him to bridge as a teenager, she surely could not have known that her son would eventually be able to earn a living from the card game.
Hanlon grew up in Rochfortbridge in Co Westmeath, and, as a 14-year-old, his mother encouraged him to go to weekly lessons. "My best friend's father was a grand master and we were both sent to him for lessons, but to us it was just a way to get off homework. We were the only two young lads playing at the time so we were mostly playing against older people. But that didn't matter to me, I just loved it."
Having completed his Leaving Cert, Hanlon went to work for an insurance company in Dublin and started to play bridge in the Bankers Bridge Club in St Stephen's Green.
"There were loads of people my own age playing bridge there. We used to play five or six nights a week and then we would end up back at someone's flat playing until 4am or 5am. We played a bit of poker as well, but mostly bridge."
In 1986 Hanlon played his first match for Ireland, on the U-25 team at the European Championships in Budapest ("we finished last") and he made his senior team debut in 1994.
It was during his time in the junior set-up that he started playing with his long-term bridge partner, Hugh McGann. "In the junior ranks he was my main rival, it was always one or other of us winning and we decided in 1991 to join forces. We started doing better and better and getting a lot of good press abroad."
Why are partnerships so important in the game?
"A big part of bridge is the bidding where you are exchanging information with your partner.
"We have an extremely complicated bidding process, which we both have an in-depth understanding of, and there are things we know about each other's style of play that you wouldn't discover if you were switching partners all the time. If you want to be in any way successful in bridge, partnerships are sacrosanct."
Balancing his career in insurance and his bridge commitments, Hanlon found himself under increased time pressure. "The tournaments with the Irish team were taking up about four weeks a year and we were also getting a lot of invites to play tournaments which we had to turn down. I also felt we were arriving at events not as well prepared as other teams.
"Every minute of my spare time was taken up with bridge and I started to feel like I wasn't giving 100 per cent to work or to bridge."
In fact, 2006 was to be a turning point. The Irish team won the silver medal at the European Championships in Warsaw, a remarkable achievement given that they were the only amateur team in the top 10. Their podium finish in Poland qualified them for the World Team Championship, or Bermuda Bowl, which takes place in late September in Shanghai.
"I decided that it was time to give it a try for a few years and I handed in my notice at work. Because we were now a silver medal-winning team the number of invites we were getting quadrupled. Hugh and I were asked to play on the European team for the bridge equivalent of the Ryder Cup and I was being offered money all the time to play in tournaments. I am also lucky in that I can play poker to supplement my income if needs be."
While Hanlon still lives in Dublin, McGann is based in Leeds, so the pair use the internet to practise. "We do about one or two hours every night via the internet. We would deal maybe 40 or 50 hands in an hour and we use Skype to discuss hands and talk as we are bidding.
"It's a fantastic way to learn more about each other's thought process."
Their practise regime seems to be paying dividends - in August, Hanlon and McGann won the Brighton Swiss Pairs tournament, the UK's premier pairs event in which 1,200 players competed.
In the past nine months his new career has taken him to Japan, Australia, Las Vegas, Nashville and Turkey. Given that the Irish set-up is not professional, how does he earn a living?
"This year my commitment is to the Irish team, especially with the Bermuda Bowl coming up, and I am lucky I have an alternative income with poker. But once the Bermuda Bowl is over I will be able to make money playing with other teams.
"You can make money in bridge from teaching but the real money at the professional end is where some rich dude hires five guys to play in a championship, it might be in Japan or the States. You would expect to earn $20,000 plus expenses for about 10 days' work in that set-up."
Given that his initial plan was to take a few years out to focus on bridge, can he see himself going back to insurance? "Not a chance. I've survived the first year and I am looking forward to playing even more bridge in the future. It was a risk to start with because there are no guarantees of income in this game but the potential rewards are much higher. I was very lucky to have a job in insurance for 15 years but it didn't make me happy. Playing bridge for a living doesn't feel like work to me."
The 2007 World Team Championships (Bermuda Bowl) will be held from September 29th-October 13th, in Shanghai, China.