38. Mike Levine - Hires the Best!

The Setting Trick: Conversations with World Class Bridge Players

Our first ever sponsor to be featured on The Setting Trick is Mike Levine. As many bridge players know, a match up against the Levine Team should be dreaded, unless one enjoys being demolished. In tow with his ultimate dream team, which includes two partnerships considered by many to be the greatest pairs of all time, Mike recently won the first 3 North American Online Bridge Championships in a row, a feat of absolute dominance.

In life, Mike Levine has somehow managed to top his massive successes at the bridge table; he is one of the world’s most illustrious inventors, holding more than 60 patents. Through his shared insights on topics like population control, I got to see the creative force behind his many inventions. I am excited to share my conversation with this fascinating man.

Episode Highlights:

2:28- The progression to the inception of Mike Levine’s current team

8:34- Mike isn’t the weakest player on his team???

11:25- Mike’s approach to bridge is understanding concepts logically, rather than memorizing

15:50- Mike’s recipe analogy to bridge

18:10- Mike doesn’t fully subscribe to the common wisdom for pros that “Your job is not to win. Your job is to not lose.”

19:00- Why Mike is willing to spend so much money to hire top players

25:10- Why Mike’s physical disability does not hinder him

29:04- The Lake Trail that Mike brought to existence

34:30- Mike’s education

36:05- One of Mike’s joke patents

39:52- Mike’s solution to global warming: prevent overpopulation

44:05- More thoughts on population control

48:00- “All things complicated are not useful”

53:40- Is Stayman really a convention?

58:35- An example of Mike’s “wonder bids”

1:03:15- Take a glimpse into Mike’s mind as a bidding theoretician