Ep: 107: Adam Parrish on Leveling Up, Writing Bridge Books and What It Takes to Win at the Nationals
The Setting Trick: Conversations with World Class Bridge PlayersShow Notes
In this episode, I sit down with Adam Parrish, a two-time winner of the American Bridge Teachers Book of the Year Award, host of the Leveling Up podcast, and author of six bridge books. Adam spent all of 2025 on a self-improvement project, dedicating an entire year to getting better at bridge while documenting every step publicly. We dive into what that year actually looked like, from tracking hours of study instead of chasing results, to working with top coaches like Joyjit Sensarma and learning key lessons from players like Steve Weinstein, Bobby Levin, and Gavin Wolpert. Did he actually level up? We also dig into some boards from the team trials, the art of listening as a podcaster, and why Adam believes you cannot improve in isolation. He shares stories about his longtime partner Greg Humphreys, how their NABC Fast Pairs win unfolded in Reno, and his experience playing the USA Team Trials on LoveBridge. Plus, we explore his journey from learning bridge from his maternal grandmother to writing a bridge novel, and what it takes to truly level up at this humbling, wonderful game.
Key Highlights: 📋 The Leveling Up Project: Adam spent all of 2025 publicly documenting his year-long mission to improve at bridge, tracking hours of study and process rather than just chasing results.
🏆 NABC Fast Pairs Victory: The story behind winning the national Fast Pairs with partner Greg Humphreys in Reno, including the celebration dinner, the trophy photo scandal, and the near-repeat the following year derailed by COVID.
🎯 Learning from the Best: How working with coaches like Joyjit Sensarma, and picking the brains of Gavin Wolpert, Bobby Levin, and Steve Weinstein, transformed Adam's approach to system and decision-making at the table.
🖥️ LoveBridge Team Trials Deep Dive: Why Adam loves the USA Team Trials format on LoveBridge, how he uses VuGraph sessions for study, and who is more fun to share a room with Marty Fleisher or Kevin Bathurst at the event.
📚 Six Books and Counting: From a bridge novel to "When to Draw Trumps" and beyond, Adam explains what inspires each book, how student feedback shapes his writing, and why a simple request can turn into 350 pages.
🎭 The Art of the Interview: A candid conversation between two podcast hosts about preparation, listening, letting conversations breathe, and why going in without a rigid agenda produces the best results.
Resources & Next Steps: 🎧 Listen to Adam's podcast: Leveling Up with Adam Parrish.
📰 Explore Adam's monthly newsletter.
📖 Browse Adam's bridge books including When to Draw Trumps and his other titles.
💻 Check out the Love Bridge and experience the online bridge platform Adam recommends for serious study.
🎴 Watch hands and study expert play using Bridge Winners, the website built by Greg.
🎧 More Stories Like This – Subscribe to The Setting Trick wherever you listen to podcasts for more deep dives into the world of bridge.
📱 Follow @thesettingtrick – Stay connected on Instagram and for episode drops, tournament pics, and more.
Chapter Timestamps: 0:00 Introduction 1:05 Meet Adam Parrish and the Leveling Up podcast 4:06 What is the Leveling Up project and why he started it 6:57 Tracking process over results and working with a sports psychology coach 9:12 A tough year at the nationals with Greg Humphries 11:10 Why you cannot improve alone and the value of mentorship 13:26 Has Greg actually leveled up? Talking about his long-time partner 18:16 Live hand analysis from the USA Team Trials 25:00 What separates different levels of players on the same decision 27:13 The most consistent takeaway from a year of learning from the best 35:58 Learning bridge from his maternal grandmother 38:01 Finding duplicate bridge in high school and college 42:44 The NABC Fast Pairs win in Reno with Greg Humphries 46:41 Third place in the Platinum Pairs and the revoke karma story 50:47 Stories about Greg Humphries and what makes him special 58:30 Trying to wrangle G
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