[pclayton]

Had an interesting 2 way finesse position I've never seen at the table:

---

You play in 4♠ after the following auction:

You.....LHO.....CHO.....RHO
------- ----- ------- Pass
2♦.....Pass.....2N.....3♦
Pass.....Pass.....4♥.....Pass
4♠.....All Pass

2♦ was multi.

I don't know what their 2♦ opener meant.

You receive the lead of a middle diamond. Plan the play.

[inquiry]

6♠, 1♦, 1♥ on top. So will need to generate a club (that is 9). I also have chance for 2♦ and 2♣ losers... so ♥K best be onside, so I can throw a diamond.

So, assuming ♥ hook wins, I am up to nine.

Would be useful to duck first diamond, for endplay purposes, but chances of EAST having 6♦ is too high (lose 1♦, 1/2♦ ruffs, and 2♣)....

So, win ♦ace, spade K then A, ♥hook, ♥ace (throw diamond). Diamond out. Ruff next diamond (any ohter, it is too easy), and play spade to dummy, then low club towards jack....

If east has AK club, you are home.. if east has only one honor and plays it you are home. So east plays low, you play jack and it loses to high club. Back has to come a club, or no problem. Now, you can play low, playing bidder for one high club and not the ten. This is how I would play

Ben

[pclayton]

Yes thats basically it. You can either play the diamond bidder by a straighforward hook of the 9, or endplay west as described by Ben. Certainly the odds favor west holding the 10, given the fact that east holds 5 or 6 diamonds.

Or is that random information? Oh, I'm so confused....

..............Whats behind door #3? A newwww carrrrrrrr! Here's that trap again!!!

[inquiry]

Well, I don't think this is monty hall at all....

Play low to the jack wins when EAST has two top honors (wiht or without the TEN), or when WEST has the club TEN (with or without any number of top club honors). Playing low to the nine works only when EAST has the TEN (or specifically doubleton AK).

I have been taught that two chances are better than one... and three chances better still...

The odds, if you want to play vacant space stuff? If EAST shows up with 6 diamonds, and zero spades, low to the jack wins 65.3% of the time, while low to the nine only 41.2%. If EAST has 6 diamonds and one spade, the odds of low to the club JACK wins 73.1% of the time, while low to the nine only 37% of the time.

Even ignoring vacant space stuff all together, small to jack wins 60.0 and the hook wins 50.998.. (singleton A, K, or doubleton AK in front of J9x count for higher than 50%).

Ben

[pclayton]

.......sigh

[paulhar]

East can't have club AK since he passed as dealer. West probably doesn't have them both either since he has the HK and tons of hearts and clubs and didn't bid over 2D. So, probably no extra shot of finding AK together unless West is something like 2-5-2-4.

I like Ben's line, unless... if through some miracle, West shows up with both spades and another diamond, I'm going to play clubs toward dummy's queen and back to the 9 playing East for more clubs than West.