Playing teenpatti this Diwali? Why Warren Buffett played bridge while Charlie Munger played poker

Diwali celebrations feel incomplete without friends and family gathering together, often joining for a game of teenpatti during the festivities. While teenpatti mostly relies on luck rather than skill, legendary investors Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger were big fans of two other card games.

Billionaire and market veteran Warren Buffett is known for his keen eye to pick stocks that would deliver strong returns over the long term. Famously, he spent as much as 80% of his day reading. But when he was not working or reading, he would mostly be indulging in a game of bridge.

"I play a lot. At least four sessions a week, about two hours a session," Buffett told the Washington Post during a 2017 interview. He was often found playing the card game with his long-time friend and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates. "I probably play 100 times as often as Bill, so that probably is the only game in the world where I would have a slight edge with him," he told CNBC in another interview.


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Why Warren Buffett liked playing bridge

But it was not a mindless pastime, according to Buffett. "You can play a hand every six or seven minutes every day for the rest of your life, and you will never see the same hand. It is a game you can enjoy when you are in your 90s, and you are seeing a different intellectual challenge every seven minutes," he said.

Buffett feels that bridge may be the most mentally stimulating activity and is the best exercise for the brain. The game is played with a standard 52-card deck and is typically played by four players divided into two teams, which aim to score points by making a bid, or by defeating the opposing team's bid.

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How poker helped Charlie Munger

Buffett's long-time business partner and fellow billionaire Charlie Munger meanwhile was inclined towards poker. After leaving the University of Michigan in 1943 at the age of 19, he served in the US Army during World War II.

Speaking to the Harvard Crimson in 2014, Munger said that playing poker while serving in the army helped him develop business strategies. "The chief thing I learned from poker was that when you really have an edge you have to push hard because you don't get edges that often."

Poker is a family of card games in which players bet over which hand is best according to that specific game's rules. While a Diwali game is fun, addiction to any game is however discouraged by most.

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Diwali 2026

Diwali this year has fallen on a Sunday, November 8. The festival of lights symbolises the victory of good over evil, light over darkness and knowledge over ignorance. People celebrate the occasion by decorating their homes with earthen lamps (diyas), colourful rangolis, flowers and lights. Families worship Goddess Lakshmi and Lord Ganesha, exchange gifts and sweets, and come together to celebrate the festival.

The Indian stock market will open for an hour on Sunday for the Muhurat Trading session. This would mark the beginning of Samvat 2083, or the new Hindu financial year. Muhurat trading sessions typically see low volumes as investors make symbolic first trades of the new year, a custom believed to bring prosperity and good luck.

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