Rune Hauge

Rune Hauge is a former European Open Mixed Teams Champion and he can be seen at most major Open bridge championships to gather with his team of fellow Norwegians. Rune is based in London and Guernsey, and is a well known football agent. He has been involved in major deals such as the transfer of Rio Ferdinand from West Ham Utd to Leeds Utd.

How did you start playing bridge?
I first got interested when studying economics in Germany.

How often do you play?
My business life is very full, so I can only manage ten major tournaments a year. In between, I squeeze in training sessions and the occasional duplicate at Young Chelsea Bridge Club. Unfortunately I am too busy now to continue playing rubber bridge, which I used to enjoy.

What does bridge mean to you?
A lot. I love it especially because it takes me away from business.

If you could change one thing about bridge, what would it be?
I like it as it is, and enjoy the different approaches to the game in different parts of the world. For instance, in my native Norway bridge organizers are very technologically minded, so you know your exact score board by board. That is fun, but I also like English tournaments where you only discover at the end of a match or session how you have done. That’s when it counts, anyway!

Name up to four people you would invite to your Dream Dinner Party.
Norwegian bridge champion Tor Helness (you never know what he’s going to do next), Martin O’Neill (the Aston Villa Manager), and Bill Gates. That makes us four at the table and we can play bridge after our meal . . .