jono...@gmail.com
2021-02-01 20:42:51 UTC
Cheating scandals have rocked the bridge world over the last few years, particularly since the game has gone (almost exclusively) online. The attempt to prosecute cheaters has been slow and cumbersome, and It looks like it may have claimed its first innocent victim, Huub Bertens.
In all other cases there were multiple instances of highly fishy/questionable decisions that worked out well for the cheaters, but this case seems to rely entirely on Mr. Bertens' consistent play. In a recent tournament he made fewer mistakes than one would expect a player of his caliber to make more than once per ~25 tournaments.
Okay ... AND?
If this is truly the entire case for the prosecution, Mr. Brad Moss should be removed immediately from his position as President of the USBF and banned for life from ever serving on the USBF board again. Ms. Jan Martel, COO of the USBF, should be dealt with likewise.
If the accused player (on the same statistical evidence) had been a friend of Mr. Moss, someone like Fred Gitelman, or Joe Grue, or Bobby Levin, or Steve Weinstein, this case never would have been brought. And if in some parallel universe it had been brought and a guilty verdict reached, the entire American expert bridge community would be coming to the defense of the convicted player, as they did with Mike Passell, whose case was overturned in spite of overwhelming evidence against him.
Assuming the case against Mr. Bertens is as weak and flimsy as it appears to be, shame on Mr. Moss, shame on this reprehensible committee, and shame on the toxic community at "BridgeWinners" for joining in on what seems to all appearances to be an utter travesty and miscarriage of justice.
In all other cases there were multiple instances of highly fishy/questionable decisions that worked out well for the cheaters, but this case seems to rely entirely on Mr. Bertens' consistent play. In a recent tournament he made fewer mistakes than one would expect a player of his caliber to make more than once per ~25 tournaments.
Okay ... AND?
If this is truly the entire case for the prosecution, Mr. Brad Moss should be removed immediately from his position as President of the USBF and banned for life from ever serving on the USBF board again. Ms. Jan Martel, COO of the USBF, should be dealt with likewise.
If the accused player (on the same statistical evidence) had been a friend of Mr. Moss, someone like Fred Gitelman, or Joe Grue, or Bobby Levin, or Steve Weinstein, this case never would have been brought. And if in some parallel universe it had been brought and a guilty verdict reached, the entire American expert bridge community would be coming to the defense of the convicted player, as they did with Mike Passell, whose case was overturned in spite of overwhelming evidence against him.
Assuming the case against Mr. Bertens is as weak and flimsy as it appears to be, shame on Mr. Moss, shame on this reprehensible committee, and shame on the toxic community at "BridgeWinners" for joining in on what seems to all appearances to be an utter travesty and miscarriage of justice.