Saturday, March 02, 2019
Bridge didn't disappear
Parallel to previous item about ulcers.
The card game of Bridge used to be an ABSOLUTE IMPERATIVE for status seekers in the '50s. My parents spent hours learning and practicing it, and even more tiresome hours playing with coworkers and bosses. They hated every minute. I'm pretty sure everybody hated it, but nobody had the guts to quit.
Because reputations were at stake, Bridge was fertile ground for cheaters. It was featured in a couple of FBI in Peace and War episodes and this Racket Squad episode.
I thought Bridge had disappeared entirely in the '60s. Instead it turned professional, and it's still fertile ground for cheaters.
Here's a cheater who got caught. Oddly his cheat was injected testosterone, not a marked deck.
Geir Helgemo, who is Norwegian but represents Monaco in bridge events, tested positive for synthetic testosterone and the female fertility drug clomifene at a World Bridge Series event in Orlando in September. After accepting he had breached anti-doping rules, Helgemo was suspended by the World Bridge Federation (WBF) until 20 November. He also had all titles, medals and points from the 2018 World Bridge Series revoked.The authorities claim to be puzzled by his choice of cheating method... but the authorities wouldn't have been testing the champions for hormones if the hormones didn't work. Sidenote: The cheater was Scandinavian, so naturally heshe injected both male and female hormones. ¶ 1:22 AM
