[kgr]

You can loose 1 trump trick with:
AJxxx vs Txx
 
You need to finesse J and play A
OR
Play small to the T followed by the
 
depending on who you think has Hx?
 
- Probably small to J is best, because it also wins if LHO has HHx
- Small to T is better if you think RHO will play H from Hxx
Is this correct?

[jdonn]

I think it's correct.

[MarkDean]

Small to the jack also picks up HH with RHO.

[jdonn]

MarkDean, on Apr 1 2009, 07:39 PM, said:

Small to the jack also picks up HH with RHO.

But so does small to the ten...

[MarkDean]

jdonn, on Apr 1 2009, 04:39 PM, said:

MarkDean, on Apr 1 2009, 07:39 PM, said:

Small to the jack also picks up HH with RHO.

But so does small to the ten...

then how do you pick up Hxx on your left playing small to the ten?

[jdonn]

MarkDean, on Apr 1 2009, 07:44 PM, said:

jdonn, on Apr 1 2009, 04:39 PM, said:

MarkDean, on Apr 1 2009, 07:39 PM, said:

Small to the jack also picks up HH with RHO.

But so does small to the ten...

then how do you pick up Hxx on your left playing small to the ten?

Lol what is going on, is this an April Fools Day prank you are playing on me or have you been hitting the bottle early today?

[MarkDean]

jdonn, on Apr 1 2009, 04:49 PM, said:

MarkDean, on Apr 1 2009, 07:44 PM, said:

jdonn, on Apr 1 2009, 04:39 PM, said:

MarkDean, on Apr 1 2009, 07:39 PM, said:

Small to the jack also picks up HH with RHO.

But so does small to the ten...

then how do you pick up Hxx on your left playing small to the ten?

Lol what is going on, is this an April Fools Day prank you are playing on me or have you been hitting the bottle early today?

Probably just being a moron, but I really am confused.

AJxxx

Txx

You play small toward the ten, and RHO plays the king. What do you do next round? If you hook the jack, then you pay off to KQ on your right. If you play the ace, you pay off to Qxx on your left. What am I missing?

[jdonn]

Lol sorry, I was thinking of the other hand as south and thought you were simply making a very random subject change after bringing up KQ doubleton ONside.

[MarkDean]

jdonn, on Apr 1 2009, 04:55 PM, said:

Lol sorry, I was thinking of the other hand as south and thought you were simply making a very random subject change after bringing up KQ doubleton ONside.

Understandable - sounds like the kind of comment I would make.

[hanp]

Is jdonn posting in the A/E forum again? And what is this suit combination doing here anyway?

[jdonn]

hanp, on Apr 1 2009, 11:00 PM, said:

Is jdonn posting in the A/E forum again? And what is this suit combination doing here anyway?

Hey, it was the first suit combination I have known the answer to in a long long time MR.

[kgr]

hanp, on Apr 2 2009, 06:00 AM, said:

Is jdonn posting in the A/E forum again? And what is this suit combination doing here anyway?

I thought this combination was appropriate for intermediates but I did post it here because:
- I wanted adv/ experts to answer it and not be withhold by the type of forum the post was in
- I suppose that beg/int also read this forum and learn from it.
(That opens the question of what forum is most appropriate if you have a rather easy question, but prefers expert answer).

[catatonic]

definitive answer is .....it depends

if you have AJ8xx you should run the T ...if covered , win A , finesse 8 next time ; that presumes you have entry

otherwise finesse J , then lay down A ; of course if you think RHO isn't good enough to duck with Hx if you start with low to the T then you should do that ...increases your trick average from 3.19 to 3.24

as your post suggests , these things are close , so your estimation of your opps , inferences from the play and table presence are probably the deciding factors , not like A98xx opposite Jxx when you have to have 4 tricks

[Free]

Aren't both lines equivalent? I mean, it depends on how the suit splits. If LHO has Hx it's better to play small to the T, but if LHO has Hxx you better start with small to the J. HHx doesn't matter, since you'll always suppose LHO would cover with Hx.

[ceeb]

Free, on Apr 4 2009, 05:30 PM, said:

Aren't both lines equivalent?  I mean, it depends on how the suit splits.  If LHO has Hx it's better to play small to the T, but if LHO has Hxx you better start with small to the J.

They're not equivalent because after low to the 10 you have a guess on the next round. Only if you're a perfect guesser is low to the 10 equally good.

Low to the jack, then ace, picks up Hx and KQx onside plus any KQ doubleton. Hence it wins in 6+3+2=11 cases.

Suppose instead you play low to the 10 and 2nd hand is a weak player who never ducks from Hx. Then you'll finesse on the next round and end up winning against all Hx offside or KQ(x) onside, but that's still only 10 cases because you lose to KQ offside.

If 2nd hand is a good defender who often ducks from Hx, then the best you can do is your birthright of playing for that holding, and incidentally picking up KQ onside as well. That's 7 cases.

Reality may be between those extremes. Low to the jack is anyway clearly better.

Edit -- I overlooked OP's idea about 2nd hand jumping in with Hxx. Yes, against such an opponent low to the 10 could be better.

Quote

HHx doesn't matter, since you'll always suppose LHO would cover with Hx.

Cover what? I don't understand this comment.

[jdonn]

One last point about this suit is if you can afford to lose 2 tricks but not 3 you should play ace then low to the ten. Low to either the ten or jack on the first round risks losing to a singleton honor on the wrong side, and ducking the first round loses to KQ9x offside.

[dburn]

ceeb, on Apr 5 2009, 07:52 PM, said:

Suppose instead you play low to the 10 and 2nd hand is a weak player who never ducks from Hx.

I wonder: how often will a player of any level of skill play the queen from Qx?

[Walddk]

dburn, on Apr 8 2009, 01:11 PM, said:

ceeb, on Apr 5 2009, 07:52 PM, said:

Suppose instead you play low to the 10 and 2nd hand is a weak player who never ducks from Hx.

I wonder: how often will a player of any level of skill play the queen from Qx?

Much more often than you think. I reckon that 129,483 BBO'ers will; roughly 83%.

Roland

[gwnn]

I disagree, I think few people would even consider popping the Q. Maybe I have met the wrong noobs:).

[ArtK78]

---

Popping the Q in second seat would not be a success in this layout. So I guess the 83% of BBO players would lose a trick.

By the way, I was assuming that the Txx was in declarer's hand. Is everyone else on that page, or is the common assumption that the Txx is in dummy?