The Setting Trick: Conversations with World Class Bridge Players

Latest Episodes:

13. Kåre Gjaldbæk - Talks Danish Coffees Dec 27, 2019

Show notes

Originating from Denmark, Kare Gjaldbaek is our next guest. Kare is currently pursuing a PhD in mathematics. This coupled with the fact that he has new children to take care of means he is forced to take a hiatus from bridge. But once life calms down for him, he plans on "returning to the bridge scene with a vengeance."

Similarly to our previous guest, Bart Bramley, Kare has interesting stories to share. Unlike Bramley though, Kare has more …. wild stories to tell. One particular narrative involves a combination of alcohol and late-adolescence hormones, leading to a lack of clothing in adverse locations. Reflected by a feisty and jolly personality, Kare effectively demonstrates the thrills and vicissitudes of junior bridge.

Highlights from Episode:

3:50- What Kare misses about playing bridge

6:30- Difficulties that prevent Kare from playing in tournaments

8:00- Kare's best accomplishments in grand events

9:20- Kare's story about swimming naked in public

10:30- Another story of dubious-teenage-actions

17:30- A hilarious story about teaching bridge

26:40- Kare's best bridge advice

35:40- Kare's reason for not asking about his teammates' results

49:00- Kare's thoughts on leaving his math career to pursue professional bridge

53:10- A bridge lesson that Kare learned from Bart Bramley

1:13:40- How bridge should be taught

12. Bart Bramley - Master Storyteller Nov 22, 2019

Show notes

Being on our longest interview yet, Bart Bramley, a world-class bridge champion, delivered throughout the entirety of the podcast. This episode was not a typical interview. Indeed, it was Bart who steered the conversation, captaining the exploration of his fruitful life. As a master storyteller, Bart recounted innumerable adventures and provided an incredulous level of detail in each of his stories.

At the age of 71, Bramley has lived life. He may be old in terms of the myriad memories he can reminisce about, but he still has the sharp humor of a young man. Bart invites you, listeners, to experience vicariously his life journey and encounters with some of the world's greatest and most renowned players.

Highlights from Episode:

5:30- Bart's relatively low weight and his experiences with it

12:50- John Mcallister's weight and height

17:00- Bart's recollection of tournaments that he played in

21:10- Stories about Lou Bluhm

37:00- Stories about Bob Hamman

40:10- Bart's outside-of-bridge- career path

48:40- Bart's experience partnering with Bob Hamman

57:40- Bart's explanation for why Bob Hamman is a great bridge player

58:50- The importance of putting a bad board behind you

1:01:15- Bart's love for baseball

1:07:00- A funny space work project

1:27:40- A story about Harold Lilie

1:36:30- Stories about Sidney Lazard and the famous 6D hand

1:45:30- The famous Geir Helgemo hand

1:53:40- Bart's favorite event

11. Amaresh Deshpande - The Future of Bridge Nov 03, 2019

Show notes

Best known for being the inventor of the now famous game, Hool, and other bridge-related apps - like Kida -, Amaresh Deshpande is our next guest to share his thoughts. Originating from India, Deshpande began his career as a math teacher, but he now finds himself mainly teaching bridge.

Concerned by the current difficulty in introducing bridge to short-attention-spanned children, Deshpande had set off on a quest to solve the issue of how to teach bridge in a society governed by distractions and immediate pleasures. He ended up designing Hool: a game that could be a stand-alone experience or a "soft" introduction to bridge. Hool has now taken a life of its own, with there already being Hool tournaments in colleges. Perhaps being our most lively guest, Deshpande turns this interview into a truly natural conversation.

Highlights from Episode:

1:20- Amaresh's career in teaching

2:45- Amaresh's thoughts on when to transition from Hool to Bridge

4:20- the goal that Amaresh hopes that Hool will accomplish

11:05- Amaresh's view on the current problem with introducing bridge to newcomers

12:50- A new game called Double Dummy

17:30- Amaresh's funding for his programs

18:30- Amaresh's current work with other projects

22:45- insights that Amaresh garnished through teaching Hool

31:20- A potential event where Hool and Bridge is combined

35:35- Amaresh's experience with Mahjong in Wuhan

36:55- Amaresh's thoughts on why the Bridge world needs Hool

39:45- John's current work with his documentary Double Dummy

10. James Holzhauer - Jeopardy Champion Oct 17, 2019

Show notes

James Holzhauer is, by far, the most famous interviewee we have had on the show. Breaking several records in the game show Jeopardy!, Holzhauer and his massive win streak have astonished the world. During his winning streak Jeopardy! viewership grew from 10.4 million to 13.3 million a week. He is already in the Jeopardy! Hall of Fame. Holzhauer is more than a Jeopardy! champion; he is also a bridge player. James can execute a double squeeze yet prefers to play one way new minor forcing(?).

Highlights from Episode:

2:30- James' first exposure to bridge

3:20- James' relationship with books in general

5:15- James' engagement with bridge today

7:20- James' skill level in bridge

10:20- Las Vegas Bridge World

11:50- James' level of celebrity

14:30- James' tactics in sports betting

17:50- Applications of strategies in sports betting and poker to bridge

19:10- An interesting bridge deal encountered by James

20:10- James' mentors

23:20- James potentially quitting sports betting

24:00- James' aspiration to become a world class player

31:50- Project 150

33:20- James' experience with Jeopardy and his preparations

39:50- James' reputation now as a sports bettor

43:20- The impact his fame has had on his relationship with his friends

9. Michael Rosenberg - Plays a Different Game Jun 30, 2019

Show notes

Bridge came naturally to Michael Rosenberg.

8. Dave Caprera - Sleeps on the Couch Apr 30, 2019

Show notes

Dave Caprera is the author of the recently published bridge book, Sleeping on the Couch. All proceeds from the sale of Dave's book go towards the USBF Junior Fund. Dave is on the USBF board and serves as a coach for some of the junior teams.

Dave's regular partner is his wife of 42 years Anne Brenner. For all those non-bridge players who are thinking of taking up the game with your, spouse listen to this episode.

Dave averages about 10 points a day at a tournament which has made him a Platinum Life Master. He has also participated in every Master Solver's Club in the Bridge World since 1978 without ever having gotten a perfect score, Dave, we are rooting for you.

The title of Dave's book is a testament to his sense of humor. I first ran into Dave at the Manatee Regional in Bradenton, FL and have seen him as far away as the Gold Coast of Australia and Tromso, Norway. He has encouraged me time and again with Double Dummy and I am grateful to be his friend.

7. Samantha Punch - Champions Bridge Nov 19, 2018

Show notes

Samantha Punch started playing bridge as she finished up her PhD in Sociology. Now she is on the Scottish Women's bridge team. Placing 7th in the 54th European Team Championships, allowed her team to qualify for the Venice Cup for the first time.

Sam is a sociologist at the University of Stirling and is helping them to start the academic study of the Sociology of Bridge. Sam hosted a screening of Double Dummy at the Macrobert Filmhouse in June. In this episode Sam shares how that screening has led to the creation of a university bridge club with people aged 8-78 making appearances.

The University of Stirling is in the process of setting up a crowd funder for the Sociology of Bridge research that Sam is leading. If anyone would like to find out more, including the best way to make a donation (which can be tax efficient), please contact alumni@stir.ac.uk or email Sam directly: s.v.punch@stir.ac.uk

Sam is also happy to hear from those who would like to be added to the bridge research mailing list (you would be sent a summary 1-2 times a year) or who are keen to participate in future research collaborations. You might like to follow them on Twitter: @soc_of_bridge

She also mentioned the Bridge Zone, which is a 30 minute radio programme dedicated to bridge topics and supported by New Zealand Bridge. You can listen to the recent podcast (or via https://oar.org.nz/event/the-bridge-zone/)

http://accessradio.org/ProgrammePage.aspx?PID=6379a3ce-8450-482c-bad1-6b4cc2574313

6. Adam Grossack - Sees the Angles + Mojo Sep 14, 2018

Show notes

On the phone with Adam Grossack this May, we started talking about the regional tournaments he plays with Jeff Meckstroth and Eric Rodwell and a husband and wife. It's an unusual pairing because Meckwell never play together. Rather, Adam plays with either Jeff or Eric depending on whether the husband or wife is playing with the other half of the famous partnership.

I started to ask Adam questions about what system he plays with each of them and he told me, "let's save this for my podcast episode." I love that Adam thought so far in advance about being able to share these types of insights with our listening audience. It's typical of how he is at the table and how he approaches bridge.

The second half of this episode is a conversation with Morris Jones, commonly referred to as Mojo. Mojo is hosting our first Tugg screening of Double Dummy on September 18th in Pasadena and moonlights as a bridge teacher/director for newcomers two nights a week on top of his full-time job as an engineer for Dreamworks Animation!

5. Adam Wildavsky - Listener to Guest + Zia discusses a bidding problem Jun 26, 2018

Show notes

Adam Wildavsky is recognized as a Grand Life Master by the American Contract Bridge League. He has represented the United States finishing as high as third in the Bermuda Bowl and won the Reisinger Board a Match teams partnering Doug Doub with whom he had not even planned on initially playing the event.

In addition to my conversation with Adam we have bridge superstar Zia Mahmood discussing a bidding problem shared with me from my friend Anindra Sarkar.

4. Zach Grossack - Bridge Star May 09, 2018

Show notes

Zach Grossack can play. He could do so as a fifteen year old star of Double Dummy

Now as a twenty year old, he is developing into one of the world's best. He and older brother Adam Grossack form one of the top young partnerships in the world. In this wide ranging conversation, Zach is both insightful and playful, much like he is at the table.

Here are some highlights:

9:18 - Get Zach's thoughts on Danish starlet Christina Lund Madsen, including playing with her when she almost called the director on him.

15:38 - How Zach feels like he missed the golden age of professional bridge.

20:33 - On what Zach is doing to help bring new players into the game including starting a bridge club at Tufts, and how it takes so much time before one can even say that they "suck" at bridge.

29:35 - Adam Grossack might like it here where Zach refers to himself as a, "professional projector."

30:18 - How Zach and his brother Zach recovered from almost not qualifying for the finals of the NAPs to winning in Philadelphia in March, including Adam and Zach's partnership rule on Adam tanking and what it's like to play with your brother.

38:38 - How you put into practice the age old rule about not talking about hands during the game.

48:15 - Learn about Zach's previous experience with podcasting.

51:37 - Double Dummy is going to be available through Tugg.com more likely May 11 for screenings, including Cinema-on-Demand.

59:53 - Zach's backup plans if being a bridge pro does not work out.

1:07:23 - Best win of Zach's career to date in his mind.

1:11:05 - Listen as Zach hatches his plan to keep me from ever becoming a Platinum Life Master.

1:19:32 - Zach's bridge hero, playing against him and with him.

Enjoy!