[EricK]

Scoring: IMP

East/West will pass throughout

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You stumble into 6♦ and, after the ♥J lead, you are releaved to see that dummy has some useful cards for a change.

What is the best approach to this hand (especially with regards to the ♣ suit)?

If you start to draw trumps, you will be pleased to discover that EW both follow to two rounds.

Eric

[awm]

I'll go with pulling trumps, then ♣A and a club up. Makes if ♣3-3 or ♣Q onside or ♣Q stiff offside. Against weak opponents might try ♣8 if LHO plays low club in tempo.

You can try to improve chances slightly by playing a club towards the jack before pulling trumps, to add the additional chance of clubs 4-2 with the doubleton club with doubleton diamond. However, this also gives you the chance to go down when clubs are 5-1 with the queen onside, or when hearts are 6-1. I believe these things are likely enough that your overall chance of making actually gets worse if you don't pull trumps.

[cherdano]

It seems best to me to draw one round of trumps and then try to play a clubs to the jack. If the Jack loses to the queen, I draw a second round of trumps and then cash ♣AK. The advantage over drawing trumps first is that I can make also with clubs 4-2 when the short clubs are in the same hand as the short diamonds (by ruffing the 4th club). When I draw a second round of trumps before playing a clubs, RHO can prevent this when he has 3 diamonds and four clubs to the queen by returning his diamond.

I pay off to some ruffs, but that does not seem as likely as someone having 4 clubs and 3 diamonds and RHO having the club queen.

Arend

[han]

Same as Arend.

[Kalvan14]

I'll go with Cherdano's line

[Free]

First you need to test trumps. If they're 4-1, then you have to hope for ♣Qx with the singleton ♦. If they're 3-2, I'd just take my (estimated) 65% chance in ♣: 3rd round of trumps, cash ♥s (you never know it helps locating some cards if the suit splits realy bad), next ♣A and small to the J.