Here's another good and bad hand from my 'crazy' set with Jeff.

We'd been getting hammered for 7 boards in a row (losing almost 40 IMPs in the process,) mostly due to BBO's limited field protection, when this board came up.

All White, First

AJ874 / J86 / 54 / Q42

 

I wasn't quite desperate enough to make a weak 2 with this (though had I been 5-4, I might have) and passed.

The uncontested auction proceeded:

1H - 2C - 3C - 3D - 3H - 3NT

I made the normal Spade lead.

Q5 / AQT95 / J93 / AJ8 Dummy (LHO)

AJ874 / J86 / 54 / Q42

The Spade went around to Jeff's 9 and Declarer's Ten.  Declarer led the Queen of Diamonds around to Jeff's King.  Jeff continued with the 3 of Spades and Declarer followed with the 6.

Q / AQT95 / J9 / AJ8 Dummy (LHO)

AJ87 / J86 / 5 / Q42

What's the plan?

Seems right to duck here.  Declarer's unlikely to have 4 Spades on this auction (and has carefully preserved the Deuce if he does.)  If pard has made this series of plays from K9xx, you need a new partner (though Declarer would certainly have a funny story of how he scored 2 tricks in Spades with Q5 opposite T6.)  It's important that you keep the communication with pard open with no other fast entry to your hand.

Declarer still should have made it but played the Ace of Clubs from here and no longer had 10 top tricks.  We got in with a Club and cashed our 3 Spade tricks for down 1.

It was a pretty strange line from the get-go.

 

Q5 / AQT95 / J93 / AJ8

 

KT6 / 72 / AQ6 / K7653

+50 was worth 7 IMPs and change

 

http://online.bridgebase.com/myhands/fetchlin.php?id=1396229&when_played=1190470842

And finally:

4th Unfavorable:

Q8 / T5 / KJ3 / KT8743

Lefty opens 2 Spades.  Jeff bids 3 Diamonds.  Righty bids 4 Spades.

Wonderful.

No singletons, 3 card support, Queen of their suit, unfavorable.  Am I really supposed to raise with this?

If I'm sure we won't get doubled, 5 Diamonds is probably pretty cheap insurance.  The alternatives of passing & doubling (and I suppose someone out there would bid 5 Clubs) have significant downsides too.  I bid 5 Diamonds.

Lefty (the 2 Spade bidder) whipped.  Float.

The King of Hearts was led:

Q8 / T5 / KJ3 / KT8743

K7 / A73 / AQT964 / 65

Not the hand I was hoping for.  The King of Spades was a disappointment.  Give him the Ace of Clubs instead and game is excellent.  That's the not-so-lucky side.

On the lucky side, the opps hands looked like this

AJT964 / J8 / 8752 / A

532 / KQ9642 / - / QJ92

Had Diamonds been 2-2, 4 Spades would have of course had no play.  As it was, 4 Spades is cold double dummy, but it's a very tricky hand (for both declarer and potentially for the defense) and went down half the time in practice.  The jury's still out on my 5 Diamond bid, which only cost -200 when the defense kindly cashed out, sparing Jeff a difficult guess in Clubs.  -200 was lose 3 IMPs and change.

http://online.bridgebase.com/myhands/fetchlin.php?id=1396859&when_played=1190470842