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3 unusual facts about Ely Culbertson


Gary Pomerantz

The Devil's Tickets evokes the last echoes of the Roaring 20s and the darkness of the Depression when a suave and cunning Russian-born American named Ely Culbertson became the Barnum of a bridge craze that fueled marital uproar across the nation, including a husband-killing and sensational trial in Kansas City.

Henry Beasley

The first match, Crockford's v. Culbertson, took place in 1930, after the Buller–Culbertson match.

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Beasley's bridge team played two matches against the formidable Culbertson team, losing both, but helping to develop the game in Britain.



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