Mike Bell moved back to London after learning his trade in Manchester. He retired from being a very successful Poker professional and now earns his living playing bridge. In his spare time he designs bidding systems and is considered to be one of the country’s leading experts on bidding theory, especially by himself.
Mike played with David Gold on the Allfrey team for some years and won the Premier League and Spring Fours in 2016 and 2017. He has also won the Lederer twice both times in partnership with Michael Byrne and was on the London team that won the Tollemache in 2017 playing with his wife Sarah. He has recently formed a partnership with Ben Norton. They were in the England team that qualified for this year’s Bermuda Bowl and will also play in the European Championships later this year.
When not playing bridge, Mike may be found watching it instead – he has captained the England U25s, and coached the U16s in the World Championships in Italy in 2018 See Mike’s EBU profile page.
Michael Byrne comes from Manchester where he was born and raised, and teaches bridge for a living. He makes sporadic appearances in the Lederer and has won it twice in consecutive years.
He will be making his debut in the Bermuda Bowl in a few weeks, having qualified last Autumn at the Europeans, all in partnership with Kieran Dyke.
When he is not playing bridge he is the hard working squad leader of the England Under 20 Squad and has won many medals captaining them at European and World level.
Kieran Dyke is originally from Australia but has lived in London for some years. He plays in a regular partnership and will be playing in the Bermuda Bowl later this year.
Ben Norton is the youngest player in this year’s event. He and Mike Bell will be playing for England in the Bermuda Bowl and European Open Championships later this year.
Lederer Trophy 