Recently a bridge book author named Hammond has posted several odd assertions here that seem to me to be off-the-wall. They caused me think more about his role in the Bertens matter.

Why was Huub Bertens chosen to be the scapegoat? That question occurs to me frequently to this day.

I used to think the most probable answer was he was a foreigner, and perceived to be a not-quite elite bridge player. Thanks to Mr. Hammond, and his ubiquitous graph he keeps sending me and others at every occasion, I now think that graph was what convinced the ruling USBF group to go after Mr. Bertens. On the surface, it looks convincing; Not so much when you know it is based on a seriously incorrect math evaluation.

Mr. Hammond also is on record to believe Curtis Cheek, another better known elite bridge player on Mr. Bertens’ team, watched what the USBF did before confessing to self-kibitzing.

I think it is just as possible the USBF did what they did so elaborately (6+ months valuable time, 700+ secret report, 11 secret standard deviations, and worldwide announced conviction report.) with the intention to come to Mr. Cheek afterward, and offer him a deal he should not refuse: Get what we gave Mr. Bertens, or get what Mr. Cheek got after confessing. And that deal will probably be offered future players the ruling USBF group takes aim at for whatever reason.

My current narrative answers many of the odd things I noticed about the Mertens matter. It is still very much a work in progress.

Douglas