Rolled into town Friday night and booked into the Pear Tree Inn on I-35, recommended by the tournament chair.  Pleased to get a room as far from the highway as possible.  In retrospect, maybe it would have been better to be close to the highway.  That might have helped muffle the sound of the TRAINS.  Doh!  Drop $80 (at least it wasn't $80 CANADIAN) to ensure being well-rested and end up much less rested than I would have been if I had just gotten up at 7 and made the hour and a half drive straight from Austin.

 

Somehow managed to get lost on the way to the playing site.  Google maps are nice, but driving directions with landmarks (2nd light, you'll see a Wendy's, turn right after the high school on your right, etc.) are much easier to follow (when I drove into St. Louis in March, we ended up in East St. Louis at midnight, which was an adventure of its own, because once you leave the safety of your directions, you're pretty much hosed.)

Got to the playing site 15 minutes late, at 8:45 (still with 15 minutes until game time.)  The good news is we drew a less-than-stellar team.  The bad news is that the event is handicapped.  Doh!

Our team was Greg Hinze, Patty Lozano (Greg & Patty are married,) Mike Doyle and me.  Mike and I filled out a card and away we went.

First half was brutal.  Flat board after flat board.  We compared and we not only hadn't chipped away at the 16 some odd IMP handicap, but it had grown to 30 with 12 boards to play.  Pairs game anyone?

The 2nd half was a different story.  Mike and I had huge plus positions on our first 4 boards and we held on to win by a dozen or so.

More bad luck when I was informed that we'd drawn the 2nd strongest team in the field (Lord it's hard to be humble) in the semi-finals.

2 hands from the semi-final:

xxxxx / Axx / Ax / AKx

I opened this one 1NT.  Mikey bid 2 Diamonds.  I bid 2 Hearts.  He bid 4 Hearts.  Playing Texas.  Move or no?  Rest of the story at the end.

KJ / x / AQTxx / AKQxx

Like a bad story in the Bridge World, LHO opens 1 Spade pass pass to you.  Abstaining is not an option.  Rest of the story at the end.

We survived these 2 hands (we didn't end up in the double-dummy optimal spot on either hand, but neither did our opponents) and were very solid otherwise and won the first half by 10 or so and the 2nd half by 1.  We'd won the 'money' match (paying 6.75) and now all that remained was the 'glory' match (paying only another 2.25 to the winner.)  On to the final!

Mikey and I had a very good first half, with a little help from our opps (opening 2NT bidder forgot they were playing puppet on one hand and ended up in 4NT down 1.)  Our only blemish was a couple of uptricks I pitched (see next paragraph for details) and a somewhat overaggressive 1M response to 1m by Mikey with a 4 count that ended up -200 instead of -110 or -140.)  We hoped that Greg and Patty had a few plus positions too and we could relax a little.  Unfortunately, that was not the case and we were up only 2 at the half.

(In the 1st half, I pitched an uptrick on 2 separate boards.  In one case, LHO opened 3 Diamonds in 1st seat and had already shown up with 10 HCP.  I had to choose between taking a normal finesse for a King through LHO or playing for a horrific defensive lapse by Righty.  I played for the horrific defensive lapse and LHO had the missing King.  In the 2nd case, I was in game, was only 90% sure a spot card (for a 2nd uptrick) was good, and wanted to conserve mental energy after a gruelling day at the table.  If it had been the last board I would have tanked until I worked it out but it didn't seem worth the trouble.  Besides, we had started the match with a 0.5 IMP handicap and Greg had suggested offering it to our opponents.  I had pooh-poohed that idea, but okay, here's your IMP.)

My previous 2 KO finals we'd been up at the half and ended up losing.  Would the streak finally end?

In the 2nd half, Mikey had to lead from xx Axx Jxxxxx xx against the uncontested auction 1S - 1N - 3D - 5C and his choice didn't work out the best.  He also took a gross all-white phantom save that should have gone for 5 bills but luckily the opps didn't double and so we had a lose 5 position instead.  Still, we had a few small plus positions here and there (I'd made a no-play 3 Diamonds. The opps had missed a filthy, but cold, 32 high 6NT after bidding Gerber for Aces AND Kings, then signing off in 5NT. I made a super-aggressive balancing double of 2 Diamonds and we defended flawlessly to beat it a trick.  We took a save at favorable against a red game that only requires a trump guess (our holdings were Ax opposite Jxx with no spots) and they forgot to double so we were only -100.)  I'd estimate a Butler of about 0.75 (a win 9 card.)

The good news is that I was thrilled with a victory that resulted in 2.25 points that evening.  It just wasn't my own.

My friend Joanie played in the pairs game with a great partner courtesy of the partnership desk.  When I looked at the 'round to go' results I was excited to see that she and her partner were only 1 matchpoint out of 2nd overall, well behind the event leaders, who were taking out their frustration from losing to us in the afternoon match and were shooting 67%, 10% clear of 2nd place.

Unfortunately, guess who Joanie and partner were playing against in the last round?  Sigh.

When the dust settled, Joanie dropped a little, but had held on to win first overall in B & C.  2.25 masterpoints. 

So back to the KO final ...

Greg and Patty brought back a lose 15-or-so card in the 2nd half and we lost the match by 7.5.  (At least my 2 uptricks didn't cost, if we'd have lost by a half I'd have been sick.)

The deciding board (at least, the only one that could have made a difference on its own, assuming double dummy play and defense) was the hand our opps stopped in 5NT.

Greg and Patty got to 6NT.  (Actually, I was wrong (we didn't spend much time going over the hands after the match and when they said 'we were in slam' I assumed NT) they got to 6 Clubs, which rates to be a better spot but has no play on the lie of the cards (KTx of Clubs on your Left, KTx of Hearts on your Right.)  The following analysis only applies to a 6NT contract.)

K92 / A7 / KQJ4 / A964

AQ / Q9862 / A8 / QJ32

You've got 2 legitimate chances for 12 tricks (excluding stiff K of Clubs or Hearts, which is much less likely.)  Either LHO has KT or Kxx of Clubs (in which case you can pin the Ten) or RHO has Kxx of Hearts (or either opponent has JT tight in Hearts.)  It's a very difficult hand (you have to manage your entries perfectly,) but if you avail yourself of all your chances, it makes.  The key is to play a low Heart from A7 early.  If RHO ducks, you have 3 Spades, 2 Hearts, 4 Diamonds and 3 Clubs.  If RHO wins the King, you can afford to test Hearts (they're 3-3) and you have tricks galore.  -100 was lose 13 and the match.

On the whole I was very pleased with the trip.  Greg and Patty are super-nice and everyone is entitled to an off-set bad luck is going to happen every now and then.  Mike was a real pleasure to play with.  We had almost no bidding misunderstandings, played very solid for the most part, and got along well both at and away from the table. 

...

So on the hand where I held

xxxxx / Axx / Ax / AKx

I tanked forever and ultimately passed.

AK / KJxxxx / Qxxx / x

xxxxx / Axx / Ax / AKx

Want to be in slam?

For sure.  It's not laydown, but it's very good.  I should have moved with my prime cards, in spite of my bare minimum.  We lost an IMP on the board when I decided to 'safety play' trumps since I was only in 4 (I took the hook to ensure that either I had no Heart losers or that I'd be able to ruff a Diamond in my hand.)

On the hand where I held

KJ / x / AQTxx / AKQxx

I couldn't bid 2NT (that's natural) so I doubled.  Mikey bid 2 Hearts, RHO bid 2 Spades and now I bid 3NT.  Your mileage may vary.

Mikey had

ATx / AT8xx / xxxx/ x

KJ / x / AQTxx / AKQxx

Diamonds were 2-2 so 6 Diamonds is a brick.  Not easy to bid, particularly for a first-time partnership.  We won an IMP on this board, I think, for +660.

Finally, on the hand where Mikey held

xx / Axx / Jxxxxx / xx

He led a low Diamond and Declarer, who was void in Diamonds, shed his Heart losers on Dummy's AKQ.  The killing lead is a low Heart (you know dummy is very strong and you know Righty has nothing but a very strong Club suit -- no guarantees, but I think a low Heart rates to be the winner in the long run here.)