 He died in Havana, Cuba, on February 26, 1949, evidently from a heart attack, after collapsing while playing cards with friends in his winter home.One month after Sims' death, Albert Morehead opened a "New York Times" bridge column with four obituary paragraphs beginning with the observation that "[m]uch of the color went out of tournament bridge when P. Hal Sims quit championship competition along about 1936".Six years earlier, however, he had covered Sims' entry in the annual mixed teams championship at the 1943 Summer Nationals.