We dig into one of the most uncomfortable topics in competitive bridge: cheating. Tim walks through real cases, from the Lotan Fisher scandal to an online cheating incident during COVID to a Dutch Bridge Federation player who duplicated a key to access hand records. He explains how he developed an eye for spotting suspicious patterns, and why the standard of evidence to convict in bridge is frustratingly high compared to doping in other sports. We close on the emotional toll of losing, raising a four-year-old while traveling the pro circuit, his bridge school with Simon de Wijs, and the missing beginner's guide to bridge.
Key Highlights
🇳🇱 The Golden Era of Dutch Bridge: Why the Netherlands keeps producing world-class pairs every 5–10 years, and Tim's bet that the Dutch will be world champions again within the decade.
🏆 From Fill-ins to Teammates: How Tim and Danny became permanent members of Patty Cayne's team, thanks to an Israeli pair's bad manners and a notorious cheat.
🔍 Catching Cheaters: From the Fisher–Schwartz scandal to a player accidentally sending strategy messages to the wrong group chat, Tim shares how pattern analysis exposes cheating.
⚖️ Bridge vs. Doping: Athletes get banned for trace substances, while suspected bridge cheaters often walk free because federations demand impossibly high proof.
💔 The Weight of Losing: Tim and John get personal about heartbreak in bridge, and how even top pros lose far more than they win.
👶 Life as a Bridge Pro and Father: Tim on two-week tournaments away from his daughter Rosa, and coming home to find "everything is done by Mommy."
📚 The Missing Beginner's Guide: Why bridge still lacks a simple universal learning path, from Berry Westra's untranslated book to Scott Hoffer's Tricky Bridge app.
Resources & Next Steps
🎴 Dutch Bridge Federation (Nederlandse Bridge Bond)
📱 Tricky Bridge app by Scott Hoffer
📖 The Complete Idiot's Guide to Bridge
🏅 Dutch Athletes Committee
🎧 Subscribe to The Setting Trick on Apple Podcasts
YouTube Chapter Timestamps
00:00 Cold open: luck, near-misses, and cheating
01:05 Introducing Tim Verbeek, first Dutch guest
02:25 Two Tims: van de Paverd stealing the name
03:28 Depth of Dutch bridge talent
06:40 The American Bermuda Bowl win
07:47 Lyon 2017 and dinner after elimination
09:40 How Tim and Danny landed on Betty's team
12:36 Winning the 2015 Open Europeans
13:44 The Ace of Spades signaling story
16:21 John's heartbreaking misdefense in Lyon
18:27 The Lothar Fischer scandal
20:29 Catching online cheaters during COVID
22:03 The accidental group chat message
23:17 The Dutch Federation key-duplicating case
28:50 Why reputation doesn't rule out cheating
31:39 Athletes Committee and doping comparisons
36:02 Tim's threshold for reporting cheating
39:22 Two-year suspensions and second chances
42:26 Bridge friendships across countries
47:40 A hand from St. Louis
49:01 28 years with Danny Molenaar
54:53 72 boards a day: the physical toll
59:09 The Alex Hydes cheating conviction
01:00:47 Jason Hackett and pop culture crossover
01:03:33 The psychology of losing
01:05:44 John's Vanderbilt elimination
01:09:10 Tim's painful Queen of clubs misplay
01:14:54 Rosenblum plans and Dutch team
01:17:30 Rosa and the traveling bridge pro life
01:21:22 Maaike's gold medal
01:25:22 The Champions Cup
01:27:50 Bridge school with Simon de Wijs
01:31:02 Becoming Athletes Committee chairman
01:33:02 Berry Westra's guide
01:36:55 The need for a simple bridge learning path