SCORING: The Cavendish Pairs (Friday-Sunday) is IMP scoring across the field. Each boards is played (simultaneously) at every table. If N-S score, say, +600, it is IMPed against every other N-S pair in the field.  If 20 other pairs are +600, and 20 are -100 and 8 are +630, this is what would happen:  the pair would "push" against the other 600's, win 12 IMPs times 20 against the -100 and lose 1 IMP 8 times against the 630's. That would be 20 x 0, + 20 X 12, - 8 x 1 or a total of +232 cross-imps  (a wonderful result).

WHY LARRY HABITUALLY COMPLAINS ABOUT THE SCORING: The big boards carry too much weight. If you sit down and watch your opponents bid and make a vulnerable 6S on a finesse (-1430) you can expect to lose about 300 cross-imps. It is very difficult to make this up. In a matchpoint game you would just get an average minus--and be able to recover on the next board if you make a nice overtrick in 2H. Here, you'd need a ton of nice overtricks in 2H to every make up for that one slam on a finesse.  I suppose the luck evens out in the long run, but it just killed me when I played in this event to endure the huge swings of luck. Then again, what should one expect in Vegas!

THE FIELD: Is selected by invitation only. Full listing here.

THE BBO BROADCAST: Volunteers do the Vugraph at the table and commentating on line. Schedule is here.

RESULTS: There are awards for each session and overall standings. Results are here.

AUCTION/MONEY: Before the event begins, each pair is auctioned off for anywhere from $12,500 to sometimes up to $60,000 or more. The winning bidder "owns" that pair. If first place pays, say $260,000 -- that money goes to the "owner" of the pair. These ownerships are often divided up by selling back pieces/percentages -- usually with a decent portion going to the pair themselves.  Additionally, there is a smaller "Player's Pool" that pays money to the top-finishing players--regardless of the owner from the Calcutta auction.

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