Pro bridge player Nagy dies playing poker

Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2003 | 8:45 a.m.

Peter Nagy, a professional bridge player who escaped communist Hungary and lived in California, died of an apparent heart attack Thursday while playing poker at the Bellagio.

Nagy, a former stock options trader, moved to Las Vegas in 1994, where he and his wife, Donna Hay, and 13-year-old son, David, lived until moving to Encino, Calif., two years ago.

Services were held Monday at King David Memorial Chapel, 2697 Eldorado Lane.

A member of the American Contract Bridge League, Nagy won Silver medals twice in the World Bridge Championship, once representing Canada and once representing the United States.

Nagy, born in Budapest, fled his native country in 1957 and settled in Canada, eventually moving to the United States, where he learned English and graduated from Princeton in 1967.

He met his wife at a bridge tournament in Minneapolis 20 years ago, Hay said.

"We traveled all over the world with bridge, including China, Japan, South Africa, France and England," she said.

"We made a lot of friends and a lot of people will be sad with his passing."

Nagy's death was the lead news item on the bridge league's website Monday.

The bridge player was playing poker at the Bellagio Thursday night when he was struck by the apparent heart attack, Hay said. Nagy was visiting Las Vegas for the weekend.

Donations in Nagy's name can be made to the American Heart Association, the Holocaust Survivors Group or the Canadian Bridge Federation Charity Foundation.

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