Fresh from watching pard wrap 3NT doubled with an uptrick ...
1st Favorable
AJ954 / Q9 / QT532 / A
I opened 1 Spade and Jeff bid 2 Spades (constructive.)
I used to hate constructive raises but now I'm ambivalent. The thing I like most about them is that they lead to less game tries than regular raises. Does the fact that this is a constructive raise make this a game try now? Was it always a game try?
Sure, it's easy to give pard a perfecta:
KQx / ??? / KJx / ???
But he's almost got to have that exact hand for game to be great. There are a bunch more hands he could have where game is on a hook, though.
I decided to make a try. It works for Meckwell.
Jeff bid 4.
Lefty led the 8 of Diamonds without much pause for thought. Jeff was the Jack of Diamonds away from the Perfecta. I might not have gone with his hand since he's already showed a constructive raise and he doesn't really have that, but at least game has play.
KQ8 / T76 / K76 / T765
AJ954 / Q9 / QT532 / A
Assuming you play low from Dummy, Righty, random BBOer, plays the 9. You win the 10. Plan the play.
This simple little hand really made my night because usually when I get Grosvenored I stay Grosvenored. This gift I kept, however.
The key to the hand is weighing the respective likelihood of 2 very remote possibilities. First, that Lefty has led the 8 from J8 or AJ8. Second, that Righty has played the 9 from AJ94.
It seemed to me from the tempo of the lead that it was almost surely a singleton. Yes, the 9 of Diamonds is a puzzling play, but if it's from AJ9, then 4 is always cold anyway. What can I do about AJ94, though?
I drew 3 rounds of trumps ending in dummy and led the 7 of Diamonds off the board. Righty played the 4. Surely the Beer Card wouldn't fail me now? I played the deuce of Diamonds from my hand and Lefty went into the tank and then, to my relief, showed out.
+420 was worth a very satisfying, albeit rather inadequate, 4 IMPs and change
http://online.bridgebase.com/myhands/fetchlin.php?id=1391051&when_played=1190470842
