Mark Lair

Mark Lair (born 1947) is a professional American bridge player from Canyon, Texas.

Lair is ranked 5th all-time on the American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) Top 500 listings with over 79,000 masterpoints (as of July 2026). He is an ACBL Grand Life Master and World Bridge Federation (WBF) World Life Master; he was inducted into the ACBL Hall of Fame in 2009.

Bridge accomplishments

Honors

ACBL Hall of Fame, 2009
Honorary lifetime appointment to the ACBL Goodwill Committee, 1997

Awards

Fishbein Trophy (1) 1986
Barry Crane Trophy (1) 1990
Herman Trophy (1) 1994

Wins

World Championships (2)
- The d'Orsi Seniors Trophy - Seniors Teams, 2015, Chennai, India
- The Rand Cup - Seniors Teams, 2018, Orlando, FL, USA

North American Bridge Championships (23)
- Blue Ribbon Pairs (2) 1984, 1994
- Reisinger (2) 1988, 1992
- Spingold (2) 1986, 1989
- Vanderbilt (3) 1979, 1997, 1998
- Jacoby Open Swiss Teams (2) 1991, 2000
- Truscott Senior Swiss Teams (1) 2008
- Senior Knockout Teams (1) 2009
- Keohane North American Swiss Teams (1) 1998
- Mitchell Board-a-Match Teams (4) 1986, 1988, 1993, 2024
- Chicago Mixed Board-a-Match (4) 1977, 1978, 1979, 1990
- Roth Open Swiss Teams (1) 2026

Runners-up

World Championships (1)
- The Rand Cup - Seniors Teams, 2022, Wroclaw, Poland
North American Bridge Championships (12)
- Blue Ribbon Pairs (1) 1972
- Reisinger (6) 1978, 1980, 1990, 1993, 1994, 2000
- Spingold (1) 1994
- Chicago Mixed Board-a-Match (2) 1984, 2005
- Mitchell Board-a-Match Teams (1) 1995
- Truscott Senior Swiss Teams (1) 2025

References

↑ Manley, Brent; Horton, Mark; Greenberg-Yarbro, Tracey; Rigal, Barry, eds. (2011). The Official Encyclopedia of Bridge - Biographies and Results (compact disk) (7th ed.). Horn Lake, MS: American Contract Bridge League. p. 31. ISBN 978-0-939460-99-1.
↑ ACBL Top 500 listing at the ACBL official website
1 2 "Induction by Year" Archived 2014-12-05 at the Wayback Machine. Hall of Fame. ACBL. Retrieved 2014-12-16.
↑ Awarded annually to the winner of the ACBL total masterpoint race. Reference: Manley, Brent; Horton, Mark; Greenberg-Yarbro, Tracey; Rigal, Barry, eds. (2011). The Official Encyclopedia of Bridge - Biographies and Results (compact disk) (7th ed.). Horn Lake, MS: American Contract Bridge League. p. 350. ISBN 978-0-939460-99-1.
↑ List of previous Herman Trophy winners, Daily Bulletin (PDF), vol. 81, November 26, 2008, pages 16–17.
↑ World Bridge Federation (WBF) 2015 tournament results
↑ World Bridge Federation (WBF) 2018 tournament results
1 2 "Blue Ribbon Winners" (PDF). American Contract Bridge League. 2013-12-03. p. 5. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-10-21. Retrieved 2014-10-17.
1 2 "Reisinger Winners" (PDF). American Contract Bridge League. 2013-12-06. p. 6. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-10-21. Retrieved 2014-10-17.
1 2 "Spingold Previous Winners" (PDF). American Contract Bridge League. 2014-07-21. p. 12. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-10-21. Retrieved 2014-10-17.
↑ "Vanderbilt Previous Winners" (PDF). American Contract Bridge League. 2014-03-24. p. 6. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-10-21. Retrieved 2014-10-17.
↑ "Jacoby Open Swiss Previous Winners" (PDF). American Contract Bridge League. 2014-03-29. p. 9. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-10-21. Retrieved 2014-10-17.
↑ "Trustcott/USPC Swiss Previous Winners" (PDF). American Contract Bridge League. 2014-07-22. p. 7. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-10-21. Retrieved 2014-10-17.
↑ "Baze Seniors Swiss Previous Winners" (PDF). American Contract Bridge League. 2013-11-29. p. 8. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-10-21. Retrieved 2014-10-17.
↑ "Keohane Swiss Teams Winners" (PDF). American Contract Bridge League. 2013-12-06. p. 4. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-10-21. Retrieved 2014-10-17.
1 2 "Mitchell BAM Winners" (PDF). American Contract Bridge League. 2013-12-01. p. 8. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-10-21. Retrieved 2014-10-17.
1 2 "Mixed BAM Previous Winners" (PDF). American Contract Bridge League. 2014-07-24. p. 14. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-10-21. Retrieved 2014-10-17.

External links

Citation at the ACBL Hall of Fame (archived) – with video interview

[OEB-1] Manley, Brent; Horton, Mark; Greenberg-Yarbro, Tracey; Rigal, Barry, eds. (2011). The Official Encyclopedia of Bridge - Biographies and Results (compact disk) (7th ed.). Horn Lake, MS: American Contract Bridge League. p. 31. ISBN 978-0-939460-99-1.

[2] ACBL Top 500 listing at the ACBL official website

[HOFby-3] 1 2 "Induction by Year" Archived 2014-12-05 at the Wayback Machine. Hall of Fame. ACBL. Retrieved 2014-12-16.

[4] Awarded annually to the winner of the ACBL total masterpoint race. Reference: Manley, Brent; Horton, Mark; Greenberg-Yarbro, Tracey; Rigal, Barry, eds. (2011). The Official Encyclopedia of Bridge - Biographies and Results (compact disk) (7th ed.). Horn Lake, MS: American Contract Bridge League. p. 350. ISBN 978-0-939460-99-1.

[5] List of previous Herman Trophy winners, Daily Bulletin (PDF), vol. 81, November 26, 2008, pages 16–17.

[6] World Bridge Federation (WBF) 2015 tournament results

[7] World Bridge Federation (WBF) 2018 tournament results

[Blue_Ribbon_Winners-8] 1 2 "Blue Ribbon Winners" (PDF). American Contract Bridge League. 2013-12-03. p. 5. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-10-21. Retrieved 2014-10-17.

[Reisinger_Winners-9] 1 2 "Reisinger Winners" (PDF). American Contract Bridge League. 2013-12-06. p. 6. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-10-21. Retrieved 2014-10-17.

[Spingold_Previous_Winners-10] 1 2 "Spingold Previous Winners" (PDF). American Contract Bridge League. 2014-07-21. p. 12. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-10-21. Retrieved 2014-10-17.

[11] "Vanderbilt Previous Winners" (PDF). American Contract Bridge League. 2014-03-24. p. 6. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-10-21. Retrieved 2014-10-17.

[12] "Jacoby Open Swiss Previous Winners" (PDF). American Contract Bridge League. 2014-03-29. p. 9. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-10-21. Retrieved 2014-10-17.

[13] "Trustcott/USPC Swiss Previous Winners" (PDF). American Contract Bridge League. 2014-07-22. p. 7. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-10-21. Retrieved 2014-10-17.

[14] "Baze Seniors Swiss Previous Winners" (PDF). American Contract Bridge League. 2013-11-29. p. 8. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-10-21. Retrieved 2014-10-17.

[15] "Keohane Swiss Teams Winners" (PDF). American Contract Bridge League. 2013-12-06. p. 4. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-10-21. Retrieved 2014-10-17.

[Mitchell_BAM_Winners-16] 1 2 "Mitchell BAM Winners" (PDF). American Contract Bridge League. 2013-12-01. p. 8. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-10-21. Retrieved 2014-10-17.

[Mixed_BAM_Previous_Winners-17] 1 2 "Mixed BAM Previous Winners" (PDF). American Contract Bridge League. 2014-07-24. p. 14. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-10-21. Retrieved 2014-10-17.