The Hand You’ve Not Heard About by Richard Colker

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Source: IBPA Bulletins, October 1999

This is a shortened version of the story told to Colker by Dick Budd of Maine about a deal from the ACBL Nationals at San Antonio:

You are South:  A Q 10 8 x x x x   A x    K Q x   –

West North East South
 3  4
 Dbl   All Pass

“I was South,” said Budd. “RHO opened 3, so I jumped to 4. Now LHO doubled with the calm firmness of a man who has you precisely where he wants you. Not loud, but confident.

LHO led the smallest outstanding heart, and these is what you see:

 9 x
 10 x x
 10 x x x
 A J x x
 
A Q 10 8 x x x x
 A x
  K Q x
 

You presumably win the ace. What next?”

Dick Budd
Dick Budd

After a pause that was clearly longer than Dick could tolerate he said, “Okay, you try the Q. LHO wins the king, RHO pitching a heart, and then leads the K. You duck in dummy, ruff it in hand, and then play ace and another trump. Now LHO is in again. He can’t lead a trump or a heart because he has no more of either. He can’t lead a club or you’ll finesse and pitch your two losing red cards on the ace and jack. He can’t lead a low diamond or you’ll play dummy’s ten (LHO has the A-J), so he leads the A.”

“Aha,” I said. “Now I can unblock my K to endplay LHO.”

“Exactly, and that’s what I did. He then had to give me both a dummy entry and an extra trick. If he leads a club, I take the club finesse and pitch my two red-suit losers on the clubs; if he leads a second diamond, my 10 becomes a dummy entry and I can then pitch my losing heart on the A.”

“That’s a really great hand. Why didn’t you report it to someone in San Antonio so that it could get published in the Daily Bulletin?” I asked.

Dick just shrugged his shoulders as he tilted his head slightly and raised his eyebrows.

The four hands:

   9 x
 10 x x
 10 x x x
 A J x x
 
 K J x
 x
 A J x x
 K Q x x x
 
  K Q J 9 x x x

 x x 

 x x x x
  A Q 10 8 x x x x
 A x
  K Q x