[Free]

Sry to disappoint you Al, but your sollution on #13 is wrong You lose against QTxx in north...

[inquiry]

xx1943, on Oct 17 2004, 05:35 AM, said:

Hi all,
To continue here a very common situation:

5432 KJ1098

#5a Lose only 1 trick! You have enough entries to dummy

5432 KJ1098

#5b Lose only 1 trick! You are after the lead the first and last time in dummy

Sincerly
Al

I merged the two threads... into one. Al, no "thead" is mine.. I started it because of the votes in the poll. IF more votes come in for another topic, I will start that, but if any wanted to start a Topic in the poll before then, I think we can all participate.

Now to your two problems. In case 14a.. low and finessee against the queen is clearly best to win four tricks when "sufficient entries exist to dummy".

In case 14b, you will not be able to make four tricks if Either hand has three cards to the AQx or all four cards. That leaves 2-2 splits and 3-1 with singlelton honor, let's lit hose.

1) WEST-A EAST Qxx
2) WEST -Q EAST -Axx
3) WEST Axx East -Q
4) West Qxx EAST- A
5) WEST Qx EAST Ax
6) WEST Ax EAST Qx
7) WEST xx EAST AQ
8) West AQ EAST xx

Of these, the ones in red will lose two tricks if you are in dummy for the last time. So they can be eliminated from consideration. The two lines of play are low towards the KJ and if EAST plays low, play either the JACK or the KING. Let's examine the outcome in the remaining five cases.....

When you lead low in case 3 and 7, your problem is solved and both lines (low to jack and low to king) become the same. So those two hands can be eliminated from consideration in choosing between the two lines. This leaves...

2) WEST -Q EAST -Axx
5) WEST Qx EAST Ax
6) WEST Ax EAST Qx

Without getting too technical, the odds of WEST holding Ax (ending 6) are exactly the same as the odds of WEST holding Qx (ending 5). So when in ending six, low to the JACK works, and in ending 5 low to the king works. The odds of these are the same... But what line works best here? Ah yes, low to the King. When the queen falls you safely knock out the ACE. See why this doesn't work if WEST has the singleong ace? You can duck one, but then you have to lead from your hand and EAST will score his queen after all...

For those interested, the odds of winning all but one trick with low to the JACK is 26.6%, and with low to the king 32.8... the difference being the exact odds of a singleton Queen in west hand (6.2%)... but YOU DON'T NEED TO KNOW THE EXACT ODDS to work out which line is better...

Ben

[inquiry]

Free, on Oct 18 2004, 08:41 AM, said:

Sry to disappoint you Al, but your sollution on #13 is wrong You lose against QTxx in north...

err.. free are you sure about half your statement? When the nine wins (north having QTxx), you have your three tricks.. the 9 and then the AK. I think what you meant to say, is that it loses to north holding Q87x and south stiff TEN...

But if leading low to the NINE is wrong? What is the right line? Well, I think I may have a good guess... hidden below....

Spoiler

If the suit is split 3-2 you always have at least 3 tricks. You are trying to protect againt 4-1 or 5-0 split and you misguess. The way to do this is frequently cash one top honor and lead towards the others... here is how in this case...

Cash the club king... If north shows out, play to your ace and lead towards the JACK... If south shows out, lead the JACK from WEST forcing north to cover. Win, go back to dummy, and lead towards you nine through north's T8.

If both follow the king, you are essentially home....now you play a low one from dummy. IF norht show out, jump up with ace and lead back towards the jack. If north plays low, insert the nine... And if norht plays Ten, win ace, and use the nine to set up the jack.

[inquiry]

You are right, Leading the TEN will cater to singleton KING with EAST. So they are roughly equal. So you should probably lead TEN or QUEEN based upon best bridge judgement who might have a hidden six cards in this suit. If only one has room for six cards, that will influence your play.

I estimated 76% based upon the same reason why playing for the drop of the king in missing two cards in a suit is not 50%, but rather 26%. This extra 1% is based upon the principle of vacant space.. too complicated for a beginner thead...but, using odds tabled, I looked this up. The double hook here has a 76.26% chance of winning three tricks in the suit. Now, if you want to estimate that as 75% that is fine... I don't see a big difference one way or the other. I would never calculate it out at the table.. i just add a tad for vacant space and move on.. 75, 76 no biggie.... Table feel is worth a lot more than this 1% difference anyway.

Ben

[cherdano]

Oh, I don't quarrel about 75% or 76% or 77% (and I agree that's just "slightly more then 3/4" at the table) -- just 87% seemed a little too much to me. O giess upo were tu[omg wotj upir rogjt jamd ,pved pme [;ace tp tje rogjt

Arend

[inquiry]

cherdano, on Oct 18 2004, 10:30 AM, said:

Oh, I don't quarrel about 75% or 76% or 77% (and I agree that's just "slightly more then 3/4" at the table) -- just 87% seemed a little too much to me. O giess upo were tu[omg wotj upir rogjt jamd ,pved pme [;ace tp tje rogjt

Arend

GACK.... TYpo.. I know this is 76... must have gotten my big fat fingers on the wrong keys.. shifting to the right and typed 87... DARN-0... As you tell from reading my post, typing is not my specialty, and doing so on a laptop with tiny little print (so I can't easily read what I type) and small keypad.... well, you see the problem... I "knew" what percentage I wrote and didn't even read the quoted section you sent back... .:-(

I have fixed my earlier post....

Ben

[jillybean]

When all else fails, how do you reveal the hidden answers? (other than printing the thread)

Thanks
jillybean

[inquiry]

jillybean2, on Oct 18 2004, 10:50 AM, said:

When all else fails, how do you reveal the hidden answers? (other than printing the thread)

Thanks
jillybean

Take your mouse. Press down the left mouse button, and keep it pressed down.. Then drag the cursor over the hidden text... Walla, all will be revealed.. Or you can mix some lemon juice in water with a little sugar, and smear it over your screen (actualy better to drink it)....

[inquiry]

sceptic, on Oct 17 2004, 06:41 AM, said:

here are some examples of what I struggle with occasionally

A

---

A

---

A

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A

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Please note I will be answering these myself before I check them out in books, as they represent the sort of hand I have probs with

A.) A low to the ten... If suit is 3-3 you lose 2. If it is 4-2, you got to hope WEST has doubleton Kx, Qx, or Jx, or EAST has KQ, KJ or QJ doubleleton.. But the pickup is when WEST has Hx doubleton

B,) How many tricks do you need? If you need six, you have to play Queen and hope to catch RHO with Kx doubleton. IF you need only five, it is better to play the ACE and lead up to the QJ... (sort of similar to QJxx opposite Axxx)

C,) Play small from dummy first, then ACE-QUEEN-JACK in future

D.) Play low the first time. If neither KQof J is played, play lwo the second time. IF someone wins K, Q, or J on first round, lead out the ACE on the second round.

Ben

[inquiry]

Al's (xx1943) card combition occurred in a great hand for beginners.. with several important lessons.. here is the hands...

Scoring: IMP

West North East South

 -     -     Pass  1♥
 2♦    2♥    Pass  4♥
 Pass  Pass  Pass  

Opening lead DIAMOND KING

---

Quite a few people, after winning first trick in dummy lead a black card, sealing their fate. Count your tricks, 2S, 2C, 1D, and if diamonds don't split 3-3, you can ruff your fouth one in the dummy. That comes to 6 tricks... So you need four hearts in your hand.

Soooo many declarers went wrong. I wonder how many had studied card combinations and discovered the "correct" way to play suits like this is low the JACK? That is correct only if you another entry or two to north. This is why I said earlier, you have to take other things into consideration. I am sure some of those that went down thought that they handled the card combination correctly.

Ben

[xx1943]

inquiry, on Oct 18 2004, 03:21 PM, said:

Free, on Oct 18 2004, 08:41 AM, said:

Sry to disappoint you Al, but your sollution on #13 is wrong    You lose against QTxx in north...

err.. free are you sure about half your statement? When the nine wins (north having QTxx), you have your three tricks.. the 9 and then the AK. I think what you meant to say, is that it loses to north holding Q87x and south stiff TEN...

Hi Free, hi Ben,

if South has the stiff 10, this comes down in the first trick and falls under the K. Now 3 tricks are no problem, by leading towards the 9.
Sry I forgot to say. Certainly go up with the K, if North shows out at the second round.

Your hidden solution is 100% mines, Ben. I only forgot to mentions the "obvious" cases, where someone shows out.

Al

[Free]

In this case, I probably misread your sollution... I'm ill and a bit fuzzy today

[jillybean]

Hi,

Does anyone have a solution for removing lemon juice and sugar from a plasma screen?

Thanks.

[inquiry]

xx1943, on Oct 18 2004, 01:01 PM, said:

Hi Free, hi Ben,

if South has the stiff 10, this comes down in the first trick and falls under the K. Now 3 tricks are no problem, by leading towards the 9.
Sry I forgot to say. Certainly go up with the K, if North shows out at the second round.

Your hidden solution is 100% mines, Ben. I only forgot to mentions the "obvious" cases, where someone shows out.

Al

Sorry Al, I read Free's response and took a very quick read with highlight text and didn't catch you said cash king first.. I see it is in there, and yes, your solution is my solution. So of course, we are both right, or both wrong. This time I am going to guess we are both right...

[inquiry]

This one came up in topflight yesterday....

20a. You need four tricks?

---

20a. You need four tricks?

---

20a. You need four tricks?

---

20a. You need four tricks?

---

[sceptic]

20a/. Low to the K, then if that holds then the 3 to the 10 for finesse, cover if LHO plays J

20b/. Play 3 to finese the 10, cover if J played by LHO

21a/. 3 to the 9 ? (that is a pure guess) lol

21b/.same again (another guees who has no idea)

[inquiry]

This one came up in topflight yesterday....

20a. You need four tricks? Lead low to the King. Protects against north having singleton ACE. Hook jack on way back.

---

20a. You need four tricks? Lead low to the King. Protects against north having singleton ACE. Hook jack on way back.

---

20a. You need four tricks? Lead low to the King. Protects against north having singleton ACE. Hook jack on way back.

---

20a. You need four tricks? Lead low to the King. Protects against north having singleton ACE. Hook jack on way back.

---

[luke warm]

jillybean2, on Oct 19 2004, 05:11 PM, said:

Hi,

Does anyone have a solution for removing lemon juice and sugar from a plasma screen?

Thanks.

well jilly, i asked my wife... she started saying things like "how'd she get that on the screen?" and "what is that, lemonade?"

a lesser man than i would have given up, but i persisted... so she finally said, "turn it off, let it sit, use a little soapy water then windex"

i have no earthly idea if that's a good idea or not... excuse me, she's calling.. she probably wants some lemonade

[Free]

inquiry, on Oct 19 2004, 04:16 PM, said:

xx1943, on Oct 18 2004, 01:01 PM, said:

Hi Free, hi Ben,

if South has the stiff 10, this comes down in the first trick and falls under the K. Now 3 tricks are no problem, by leading towards the 9.
Sry I forgot to say. Certainly go up with the K, if North shows out at the second round.

Your hidden solution is 100% mines, Ben. I only forgot to mentions the "obvious" cases, where someone shows out.

Al

Sorry Al, I read Free's response and took a very quick read with highlight text and didn't catch you said cash king first.. I see it is in there, and yes, your solution is my solution. So of course, we are both right, or both wrong. This time I am going to guess we are both right...

Yeah, I guess you're both right. However, I've always known another sollution, with about the same result :

Play small to the K, and next play small to the J. Doesn't matter if the suit splits 5-0 or 4-1, these are the first 2 tricks in the suit, and you'll know if you have to finesse the T or not...

---

[inquiry]

7. You need three tricks?
If you need three tricks, correct play is win the ace and lead towards the queen, playing the queen if north plays low

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7. You need three tricks?
If you need three tricks, correct play is win the ace and lead towards the queen, playing the queen if north plays low

---

7. You need three tricks?
If you need three tricks, correct play is win the ace and lead towards the queen, playing the queen if north plays low

---

7. You need three tricks?
If you need three tricks, correct play is win the ace and lead towards the queen, playing the queen if north plays low

---

7. You need three tricks?
If you need three tricks, correct play is win the ace and lead towards the queen, playing the queen if north plays low

---

7. You need three tricks?
If you need three tricks, correct play is win the ace and lead towards the queen, playing the queen if north plays low

---