Roy Welland is the owner of New York restaurant Lotus of Siam NY, wine connoisseur, and world class bridge player. He currently lives in New York City with his wife, Christal Henner-Welland (accomplished champion bridge player in her own right; sister to Marilu Henner

Marilu Henner

Mary Lucy Denise "Marilu" Henner is an American actress, producer and author. She is best known for her role as Elaine O'Connor Nardo on the sitcom Taxi from 1978 to 1983.-Early life:...

), and fraternal twin sons, William and Christopher.

Early life

Welland grew up in Evanston, Illinois

Evanston, Illinois

Evanston is a suburban municipality in Cook County, Illinois 12 miles north of downtown Chicago, bordering Chicago to the south, Skokie to the west, and Wilmette to the north, with an estimated population of 74,360 as of 2003. It is one of the North Shore communities that adjoin Lake Michigan...

. His father taught mathematics at Northwestern University

Northwestern University

Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....

. In 1980, he moved to New York to pursue a career on Wall Street

Wall Street

Wall Street refers to the financial district of New York City, named after and centered on the eight-block-long street running from Broadway to South Street on the East River in Lower Manhattan. Over time, the term has become a metonym for the financial markets of the United States as a whole, or...

 and became an options trader. Over time, he became a wine enthusiast and amassed a wine collection of over 150,000 bottles.

Bridge career

Roy Welland began playing bridge

Contract bridge

Contract bridge, usually known simply as bridge, is a trick-taking card game using a standard deck of 52 playing cards played by four players in two competing partnerships with partners sitting opposite each other around a small table...

 in 1986 when he won the American Contract Bridge League

American Contract Bridge League

The American Contract Bridge League is the largest contract bridge organization in North America. It promotes the game of bridge in the United States, Mexico, Bermuda, and Canada, and is a member of the World Bridge Federation...

's (ACBL's) Rookie of the Year Award; he went on to win numerous national championships. In 2004, he was on the team chosen by the United States Bridge Federation to represent the country in the World Team Olympiad

World Team Olympiad

The World Team Olympiad was a contract bridge meet organized by the World Bridge Federation every four years from 1960 to 2004. Its main events were world championships for national teams, always including one open and one restricted to women...

 in Istanbul, Turkey. In March 2007, he won the Mott-Smith Trophy

Mott-Smith Trophy

The Mott-Smith Trophy is awarded to the player who wins the most masterpoints at the spring American Contract Bridge League North American Bridge Championship .-History:...

. Later that year, he won the Player of the Year Award for best performance in the 2007 national events.

Awards (3)

Year	Award	Event Type	Level
1986	Rookie of the Year Award	Masterpoint Masterpoints Masterpoints or master points are points awarded by national and other bridge organisations for success in bridge tournaments run under their auspices. Organisations which issue these points include the American Contract Bridge League , the American Bridge Association, the English Bridge Union ,...  Race	National (Rookies)
2007	Mott-Smith Trophy Mott-Smith Trophy The Mott-Smith Trophy is awarded to the player who wins the most masterpoints at the spring American Contract Bridge League North American Bridge Championship .-History:...	Masterpoint Race	National
2007	Player of the Year Award	Masterpoint Race	National

Wins (10)

Year	Tournament	On Team/Played With	Event Type	Level
2001	Cavendish Invitational Cavendish Invitational The Cavendish Invitational is the largest money bridge tournament in the world. The , which concludes the tournament.-History and format:The Cavendish Club, whose name is associated with the event, was founded in 1925 in New York City...  Teams	Welland	Teams	N/A
2001	Reisinger Trophy Reisinger The Reisinger national bridge championship is held at the fall American Contract Bridge League North American Bridge Championship .The Reisinger is a board-a-match event.-History:...	Welland	Teams	National
2003	European Open Bridge Championships	Welland	Teams	World
2003	Spingold Spingold The Spingold national bridge championship is held at the summer American Contract Bridge League North American Bridge Championship ....	Welland	Teams	National
2005	Cavendish Invitational Cavendish Invitational The Cavendish Invitational is the largest money bridge tournament in the world. The , which concludes the tournament.-History and format:The Cavendish Club, whose name is associated with the event, was founded in 1925 in New York City...  Teams	Welland	Teams	N/A
2005	Victor Mitchell Open Board-a-Match Teams Mitchell Board-a-Match Teams The Mitchell Board-a-Match Teams national bridge championship is held at the fall American Contract Bridge League North American Bridge Championship ....	Bjorn Fallenius, Chip Martel, Lew Stansby, Cezary Balicki Cezary Balicki Cezary Balicki is a Polish bridge player holding the title of World Grand Master. Balicki won the World Transnational Open Teams in 2000 and 2009, European Open Teams in 1989 and 1993 as well as the prestige London Sunday Times Invitational Pairs in 1994. His team finished second in the 2000 World... , Adam Żmudziński Adam Zmudzinski Adam Żmudziński is a Polish bridge player holding the title of World Grand Master. Żmudziński won the World Transnational Open Teams in 2000 and 2009, European Open Teams in 1989 and 1993 as well as the prestige London Sunday Times Invitational Pairs in 1994. His team finished second in the 2000...	Teams	National
2006	Open Swiss Teams	Henner-Welland	Teams	National
2006	Warren Buffett Cup Buffett Cup The Buffett Cup is a bridge trophy which is awarded biennially in an event between teams from Europe and the United States.The tournament is modeled on the Ryder Cup golf competition and is held in the week preceding the golf event at a nearby location. The competition was first held in 2006 and is...	United States	Point-a-Board Teams/Pairs/Ind.	U.S. & Europe
2007	Vanderbilt National Knockout Teams Vanderbilt Trophy The trophy is awarded for the Vanderbilt Knockout Teams national bridge championship held at the spring American Contract Bridge League North American Bridge Championship ....	Henner-Welland	Teams	National
2007	Silodor Open Pairs Silodor Open Pairs The Silodor Open Pairs national bridge championship is held at the spring American Contract Bridge League North American Bridge Championship ....	Giorgio DuBoin Giorgio Duboin Giorgio Duboin is an Italian professional bridge player. He has won four world teams championships along with six consecutive European teams championships and a seventh European in 2010...	Pairs	National

Runner-Ups (6)

Year	Tournament	On Team/Played With	Opponent in Final/Winner	Event Type	Level
2000	Spingold Spingold The Spingold national bridge championship is held at the summer American Contract Bridge League North American Bridge Championship ....	Welland	Meltzer	Teams	National
2005	USBC	Welland	Ekeblad	Teams	National
2005	World Transnational Open Teams Championship	Spector	Schneider	Teams	World
2006	Cavendish Invitational Cavendish Invitational The Cavendish Invitational is the largest money bridge tournament in the world. The , which concludes the tournament.-History and format:The Cavendish Club, whose name is associated with the event, was founded in 1925 in New York City...  Teams (Tied for 2-3)	Welland	Abdou	Teams	National
2007	Grand National Teams Grand National Teams The Grand National Teams national bridge championship is held at the summer American Contract Bridge League North American Bridge Championship ....	District 24	District 9	Teams	National
2008	Spingold	Welland	Gromov	Teams	National
2008	Warren Buffett Cup Buffett Cup The Buffett Cup is a bridge trophy which is awarded biennially in an event between teams from Europe and the United States.The tournament is modeled on the Ryder Cup golf competition and is held in the week preceding the golf event at a nearby location. The competition was first held in 2006 and is...	United States	Europe	Point-a-Board Teams/Pairs/Ind.	USA & Europe
2010	Reisinger Trophy	Smirnov	N/A	Board-a-Match	National

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