The Setting Trick: Conversations with World Class Bridge Players
Alle afleveringen
113 afleveringen, van nieuw naar oud
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13. Kåre Gjaldbæk - Talks Danish Coffees
28 december 2019 · 1 uur 23 min
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." Lees meer
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
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12. Bart Bramley - Master Storyteller
22 november 2019 · 2 uur 16 min
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. Lees meer
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
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11. Amaresh Deshpande - The Future of Bridge
3 november 2019 · 1 uur
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. Lees meer
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
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10. James Holzhauer - Jeopardy Champion
17 oktober 2019 · 49 min
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(?). Lees meer
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
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9. Michael Rosenberg - Plays a Different Game
30 juni 2019 · 1 uur 4 min
Bridge came naturally to Michael Rosenberg.
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8. Dave Caprera - Sleeps on the Couch
30 april 2019 · 1 uur 22 min
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. Lees meer
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.
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7. Samantha Punch - Champions Bridge
19 november 2018 · 1 uur 35 min
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. Lees meer
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
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6. Adam Grossack - Sees the Angles + Mojo
14 september 2018 · 1 uur 45 min
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. Lees meer
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!
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5. Adam Wildavsky - Listener to Guest + Zia discusses a bidding problem
26 juni 2018 · 1 uur 30 min
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. Lees meer
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.
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4. Zach Grossack - Bridge Star
9 mei 2018 · 1 uur 32 min
Zach Grossack can play. He could do so as a fifteen year old star of Double Dummy Lees meer
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!
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3. Migry Zur Campanile - My First World Championship Partner
9 april 2018 · 1 uur 15 min
I first met Migry at the Phoenix NABC in the Fall of 2013. Shortly thereafter I received an email from Christina Lund Madsen asking if I wanted to hire her and Dennis Bilde for the 2014 World Mixed Teams Championship. My only concern became finding a female partner. Christina suggested Migry and thus a great friendship born. Lees meer
Migry is no shrinking violet! She has been a best friend, confidante, substitute mother, bridge partner and sounding board ever since we had lunch together on January 27th, 2014, her birthday, in New York City. We agreed to play the Mixed portion of the world championships together and after coming in 12th in the platinum pairs the entire 2014 World Bridge Series and cycle.
I have had some of my best results partnering Migry. She is a pleasure to play with and has a fantastic sense of humor. We love to laugh together. She continues to have great one liners, such as at the when I asked her about playing the Nickell team in the recent Vanderbilt. "We are not here to kibitz the opponents."
I have spent countless evenings at her New York City apartment talking about bridge and life with her and her equally delightful husband Pietro Campanile.
Our partnership almost never got off the ground because I had such difficulty understanding her on the phone initially. Migry did express concern about this for our listeners when I first asked her about doing the interview. One evening, over dinner, a waitress asked Migry what language she was speaking. Migry handled it with her typical grace and aplomb.
Through our time playing together Migry has graciously introduced me to countless friends of hers throughout the bridge world who I am now lucky enough to call friends as well. I am grateful that at no point during the interview did she call me by my one time nickname, "Baby John," and consider this an excellent sign of my increasing maturity.
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2. Bob Hamman - The GOAT
10 maart 2018 · 1 uur 14 min
Bob Hamman requires no introduction in bridge circles. His name is synonymous with success at the games highest level. Find out what makes him such a dynamic personality away from the table in this rare conversation.
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1. Gavin Wolpert - Bridge Life
18 januari 2018 · 1 uur 16 min
Gavin is a top professional bridge player who has represented both the United States and Canada in international competition. He is also the founder of bridgewinners.com a fantastic resource for learning the game. In our wide ranging discussion he talks about psychology at the table, including not underestimating your opponents, conserving energy, great plays and overcoming mistakes. How he changes his strategy when the situation dictates and how he generally plays to avoid making errors. Lees meer
I really appreciate Gavin for sharing so generously of his time and being my first guest.