Tim Verbeek on 28 Years of Bridge, Catching Cheaters, and Learning to Lose

In this episode of The Setting Trick, I sit down with Tim Verbeek, professional bridge player and Chairman of the Dutch Athletes Committee. We open by reminiscing about a memorable dinner in Lyon at the 2017 Transnational World Championships, where he helped pull me out of my post-elimination funk. From there, we dive into the depth of Dutch bridge talent, from rising stars Tim van de Paverd and Oscar Nijssen to the next generation keeping the Netherlands at the top of the game. Tim also shares the origin story of his 28-year partnership with Danny Molenaar, which started when they were just 12 and 13. 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