ROGOFF TEAM - Rogoff-Parker, Aker-Milgrim, Fleisher-Kamil - Seed 16

SYSTEM INFORMATION

ROGOFF-PARKER System Summary
AKER-MILGRIM System Summary . 2H opening Announcement Form and Defense
FLEISHER-KAMIL System Summary

ABOUT THE PLAYERS 

BRUCE ROGOFF

Born in Manhattan, Bruce presently resides in Nyack. NY, about 15 minutes from the USBC tournament site. He witnessed social bridge both at home with his parents and then with high school buddies who addictively played all night, ate breakfast, played afternoon softball and eagerly awaited the start of the nightly bridge sessions. However, at that time Bruce's priorities seemed to lie elsewhere. His college tennis and soccer activities (receiving double scholarships) precluded his succumbing to bridge. In fact, after two years, he quit college and sought greener pastures teaching tennis at Hilton Head, SC. It was not until he returned to New York and became an actuarial trainee at NY Life that he returned to the game. His professional career encompassed computer programming/consulting and options trading and hedge fund managing. Bruce takes great pride in having won four New York Reisinger Knockouts (with different partners and different teams) and he credits bridge with favorably impacting his last two careers as well as earning a coterie of marvelous friends through the years.

JOSH PARKER

Josh lives in Briarcliff Manor, NY, and has been playing bridge since 1971 when his parents bought him Charles Goren's Contract Bridge for Beginners. Bridge had a profound influence on his life. His legal career was put on hold when Mike Becker convinced Josh (and scores of other bridge players) to take a blind leap and try their talented hands at something other than bridge -- options-trading. The result: He and teammate Bruce Rogoff (plus three others) are partners in several options trading businesses and he is now running a successful hedge fund (probably with more master points per investor than any hedge fund in the world). Josh served as President of the GNYBA (1987-88), Chairman of the Board (1989) and Chairman of its C & E Committee for too many years. He joshingly refers to his being named runner-up to Jeff Meckstroth as the 1974 King of Bridge as his Bridge "claim to fame." To date, his most exciting victory was the 1986 Men's BAM with Ron Gerard, Danny Rotman and Hal Mouser.

JEFF AKER

Jeff lives in Westchester County, NY, within ten miles of the USBC site. Like many members of his team, Jeff was a protege of Michael Becker, and successfully traded options for eighteen years. He was also in good hands when it came to resolving bridge issues as his close friends, David Berkowitz and Michael Rosenberg listened patiently. For the last eighteen months, Jeff has been involved in running a hedge fund with two other members of his team. He lists with pride his reaching the quarter-finals of the Spingold, never having played a board with either of his two partners until two weeks before the event. Jeff served on the Boards of both the New York City and Westchester Bridge Associations and has had several articles published in The Bridge World. He often plays with journalist, Barry Rigal, making a very formidable twosome. The positive aspects of this partnership are self-evident; however, on a rare occasion if Jeff should ever fall from grace, he may live to see his name in print!

MICHAEL KAMIL

A New Jerseyite all his life, Mike credits his love of the game to his first bridge partner, his mother, who professed to him as a young lad that every hand is an adventure. Together they won several New York area Regionals and their capturing the 1980 Las Vegas NABC Flight B Mixed Pair (besting over 1300 pairs) was his biggest thrill. However, the high point thus far in his bridge career was winning the 1990 Vanderbilt with Gerard, Morse, Sutherlin, Pollack and Sanders. From 1985-2003 Mike was a stock options trader. Presently he is a "sometimes" professional player but devotes his energy toward building a philatelic business on Ebay. Most of his leisure time is spent with his wife and their ten-year-old twin daughters. Mike modestly confessed to a 'modicum of success with each of his partners' (including Mike Moss, Mike Becker, Christal Henner-Welland and Marty Fleisher) but only a deep rooted love of bridge could have evoked the words 'I love playing regardless of partner's or teammates' abilities.'

MARTY FLEISHER

Born in the Big Apple, Marty learned to play bridge at the age of eight by observing his parents and uncle. His biggest thrill is a tie between winning the Intercollegiate Championships at the age of 18 and his victory in the 2000 Cavendish Pairs. However, he considers his "greatest achievement" an absolute toss up between his marriage to his wife of twenty-two years and getting to the finals of the Grand Nationals in 1976 (at age 17 the youngest player to reach a National Championship final). But there was a famine of over twenty-eight years until he won the Swiss Teams at the 2004 Fall Nationals. It is interesting to note it may have been the longest stretch between 1st and 2nd for anyone. Indeed, it took Marty's teammates in the National Swiss (Gavin Wolpert and Vince Demuy) only one National to transcend from bridesmaid to bride! Marty enjoys few leisure moments for hobbies other than bridge as his professional commitment as an Employee Benefits Attorney and investment advisor is very time-consuming. 




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