The Setting Trick: Conversations with World Class Bridge Players

In this episode of The Setting Trick , I sit down with Nabil Edgtton , one of the best bridge players in the world, and AJ Antonios , a professional poker player who learned bridge from scratch and won the 2020 Gold Coast Open Teams three months later. Nabil talked AJ into moving in together, then a...

In this episode of The Setting Trick, I sit down with Tim Verbeek, professional bridge player and Chairman of the Dutch Athletes Committee, for a wide-ranging conversation about competitive bridge in the Netherlands and beyond. We open by reminiscing about a dinner in Lyon at the 2017 Transnational ...

In this episode, I sit down with Luc Bellicaud - a three-time Junior World Champion from France and the developer of Lia , the AI bridge robot at IntoBridge . Why is Luc the first French bridge player I’ve interviewed? Because last month, IntoBridge , launched a powerful new AI coaching tool, named ...

In this episode, I sit down with Adam Parrish, a two-time winner of the American Bridge Teachers Book of the Year Award, host of the Leveling Up podcast, and author of six bridge books. Adam spent all of 2025 on a self-improvement project, dedicating an entire year to getting better at bridge while ...

In this episode, I sit down with Avery Silverstein, a 17-year-old bridge prodigy who has fallen hard for the game. Despite her young age, Avery has already earned two medals at the Junior World Championships and reached the round of 16 in the Vanderbilt as my partner. We discuss her journey from fam...

I was inspired to interview Maya Jonas-Silver, because of this post she made on Bridge Winners bemoaning the lack of playing opportunities for her recent bridge initiates. After winning the 2023 20-50 Mini McKenney award Maya hasn't stopped. She has become a passionate advocate for bringing young ad...

In this episode, I sit down with Ethan Derman , a remarkable young talent who just got accepted early decision to the University of Virginia . Ethan shares his journey from playing baseball and water polo to becoming a junior world championship medalist in bridge. We dive into our dramatic Vanderbil...

I'm thrilled to welcome Antonio Palma from Portugal to the show today. Antonio has had an incredible run of second-place finishes in recent years, including the Rosenblum, European Mixed Championships, Soloway Knockouts, and Spingold. Last year, he broke through by winning the pairs in Madeira, lead...

In this episode, John McAllister sits down with Julie Marina Sigsgaard and Ella Rosthøj, two young Danish players whose friendship, partnership, and love of bridge have taken them from neighborhood kids to representing Denmark on the world stage. Despite only playing bridge for a handful of years, t...

In this episode, John McAllister sits down with Emanuel Unge, the creator of Cue Bids, the hottest app in bridge today. Emanuel shares how he discovered bridge at age 25. After years of poker and board games, and how that late start completely reshaped his life — leading him to meet his wife, build ...