[kgr]

Scoring: IMP

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You end up in 4S (opps passing).
LHO starts with the ♦K (natural leads).
How do you play?
(No need for adv/exp to post hidden. I simply want this hand out of my mind. Going -1 vuln at a team match was not really fun. Hope beginners can learn from it).

[Winstonm]

My general plan is to lose a spade, a heart, and a diamond, so I win the Ace and then cross in clubs and lead a low spade to the Q, reserving the J in dummy for an entry. If LHO wins this and can manage a diamond ruff and overruff to kill the Jack, I still have entries needed to double finesse the hearts.

[pclayton]

If I am playing this hand for my soul against the devil, I have 10 tricks (5 spades, 1 heart, 2 diamond and 2 clubs), assuming LHO did not make a deceptive lead.

So, A♦, A♠, Q♠. If RHO wins, he does best by playing a club. Spade to hand and diamond up for 10.

If RHO ducks the Q♠, ♦ up immediately.

[cherdano]

pclayton, on Sep 24 2006, 11:37 PM, said:

If I am playing this hand for my soul against the devil, I have 10 tricks (5 spades, 1 heart, 2 diamond and 2 clubs), assuming LHO did not make a deceptive lead.

So, A♦, A♠, Q♠. If RHO wins, he does best by playing a club. Spade to hand and diamond up for 10.

If RHO ducks the Q♠, ♦ up immediately.

I wouldn't recommend betting your soul on this, as surely devil will manage to place both heart honors off-side and give RHO ♠Kxx and ♦xx. He takes the second round of trumps, plays a heart through, and LHO plays ♦Q and a diamond to kill ♦J. Nothing you can do about this, however. (First round spade finesse seems riskier.)

Arend

[1eyedjack]

My instinct is to win trick 1 and play another Diamond at trick 2. It would be a shame to establish the Diamond Jack only to run out of entries to cash it.

[ArcLight]

What was the bidding?

I assume South opened 1 Spade?

Might West overcall 2♦ with
♦KQxxxx - (I'd like to know what the x's are in the hands and played by East!)
and some of ♠K, ♥K and or Q?
Unless the Spade King is stiff.
If West has both heart honors with 6 Dimes, I think they would venture a 2 Dime bid.

If ♦ are 5-3 then its cold, even if West has the guarded ♠K and both ♥ honors. Duck the heart lead and waht can west do? Win and be end played.

So 6-2 is the problem hand.

You need to make the ♦J if 6-2

The situation that Arend mentions requires:
4-0 or 3-1 Spades with K with East (better than 25% because West has fewer vacant spaces that east because of the♦ length)
And west needs both heart honors - less than 25% because of the Dime length

Thats around 7%? (maybe I'm off and its 10%?)

Compared to the chance of the 1st round spade finesse losing (<50% because of wests Dime length) and both heart honors with West? Around 13%? (maybe a bit more 16%?)


I'll play Spade Ace and Queen.

I'm still ok if East has one or more heart honor

[pclayton]

cherdano, on Sep 24 2006, 03:33 PM, said:

pclayton, on Sep 24 2006, 11:37 PM, said:

If I am playing this hand for my soul against the devil, I have 10 tricks (5 spades, 1 heart, 2 diamond and 2 clubs), assuming LHO did not make a deceptive lead.

So, A♦, A♠, Q♠. If RHO wins, he does best by playing a club. Spade to hand and diamond up for 10.

If RHO ducks the Q♠, ♦ up immediately.

I wouldn't recommend betting your soul on this, as surely devil will manage to place both heart honors off-side and give RHO ♠Kxx and ♦xx. He takes the second round of trumps, plays a heart through, and LHO plays ♦Q and a diamond to kill ♦J. Nothing you can do about this, however. (First round spade finesse seems riskier.)

Arend

That would mean that LHO didn't overcall with ♠x; ♦KQTxxx; ♥KQx(x?). Possible I guess.

[bid_em_up]

I'm lazy. I would just return a diamond at trick 2. Now I can find out if the diamond J will stand up before deciding how to play spades.

[kgr]

I hope I'll learn to be more concentrated near the end of a team game.
I played ♣ to the K and ran ♠J. With my last bit of concentreation I kept ♠2, but was down as West had ♠Kxx and returned ♣