ID: 35 Dealer: E Vul: E-W K Q J 10 6 3 A K Q J 3 Q 6 - 5 4 2 7 5 2 A K Q 8 5 3 2       N W        E       S A 9 8 7 2 8 7 5 4 K 4 10 7 - 10 9 6 A J 10 9 8 3 J 9 6 4

Bid: West North East South - - P 2D P 4N P 5C X 5S X P P P

Talk about a disaster! And it was all mine! I was playing North and started by bidding incorrectly and then continued by not paying enough attention during the play. I went down 1 but it should make. More importantly if I bid correctly we get to the game we should be bidding which is 4S. Interesting hand because it will also make 6H or 7D given the lay of the cards. First, I should not bid 4NT! I should bid 2NT to determine the quality of my partner's hand. We were playing feature asking, so his response should be 3D - not enough points to mention a feature if he has one. So he either has a feature with a weak diamond suit or he has just diamonds. Then I just bid 4S as I don't need for him to have any spades in order to make 4S. Second, having bid 4NT incorrectly, after he bids 5C, I should just place it at 5D as that is very likely to make, 1 diamond, 1 spade loser. (I was worried about how many clubs I might need to trump.) Instead I bid 5S! This should require him to bid 5NT at which point I would have to bid 6D! Was I being masochistic? Opponent's double let partner pass so I could place it where I wanted it. 5S is actually not a bad place and if I just pay attention while playing, it will make! This hand cost us 11 imps in a team game and made what should have been a close loss or even a win of the match into a disaster! It has caused me to have nightmares!

ID: 34 Dealer: S Vul: N-S A 6 A 9 6 J 7 4 J 10 7 6 5 K 9 4 K Q 8 5 4 K 5 A K Q       N W        E       S Q 7 3 10 7 2 Q 10 9 2 9 8 4 J 10 8 5 2 J 3 A 8 6 3 3 2

Bid: West North East South - - - P 1H P P 1S 3H P P P

I like this hand primarily as a good teaching tool. I've been teaching a lot of defensive signaling classes lately which probably made me more aware of signals than I might normally have been. I was sitting North on this hand and came out leading the A and saw my partner's discouraging attitude signal which somewhat surprised me given that the Q was on the board and he had bid them. My initial plan to get a ruffing trick would still work though since I had control of the trump suit. I continued the spades and partner played the 5. I took this as a suit preference signal now, so when I got in with the trump Ace, I could lead a club to his hand hopefully and then he could return a spade for me to trump and we could hold the opponents to making their bid but no overtricks. But alas! He should have signaled with the 8 for me to return a and then we do get the ruffing trick. As it turned out we let them make 4. The other table did the exact same thing, so since it was a team game, it was a push. It would have been nice to pick up the 1 imp on this board as it turned out to be a tight match, with our team winning by just 1 imp!

ID: 33 Dealer: W Vul: Neither K J K Q J 3 A K Q J A K J 7 5 3 2 8 7 5 3 10 8 7 5 4       N W        E       S 8 4 9 6 4 2 10 9 7 6 4 Q 6 A Q 10 9 6 A 10 5 8 2 9 3 2

Bid: West North East South P 2C P 2S P 4N P 5S P 7N P P P

This hand came up in a club session in Phoenix, AZ. I only put it here because I think it is the only hand where I have claimed at the first trick! I was North and when my partner's 2 bid indicated 8 plus points and a 5 card or longer spade suit, I asked for key cards with my 4NT bid. Her response of 5 indicated 2 key cards and the Queen of spades. Perfect! I can bid 7NT because my club Jack can get thrown on my partner's spade Queen! What a fun hand! It did not give us a top board, one North was doubled and of course we tied with several others.

ID: 32 Dealer: E Vul: Neither A A Q 3 A K J 9 7 A 10 9 3 J 9 8 7 8 6 10 K Q 8 7 6 2       N W        E       S Q 4 3 K J 10 9 7 5 2 J 5 4 K 10 6 5 2 4 2 Q 8 6 5 4 3

Bid: West North East South - - 2H P P X P 3S P 4NT P 5C X 6NT P 7D P P P

This hand came up in a knockout at the Nebraska Regional in 2010. It was interesting for a variety of reasons. At our teammates' table East opened with 2, passed around to North who simply bid 3NT, all pass, making 4NT. At our table, I was sitting North and clearly this hand is too strong to just bid 3NT. I chose to double to find out more about my partner's hand. We play Lebensohl when responding to doubles of weak two bids, so when my partner bid 3 I took this as a constructive raise with useful values and probably a 5 card spade suit. I was thinking at least 7 probably 8 to 10 points. Her hand does have 8 points total if you count the length points. At any rate I decided I wanted to make sure that she had the spade King, so I bid 4NT (1430 Roman keycard). (Perhaps I should have gone slower, bidding 4, showing my suit and 17+ points, but I didn't!) After she bid 5 to show that King, West doubled for lead. Well now I place the K and Q in West's hand, the K and J in East's hand. It's beginning to look like my partner must have Q or the Queen or both for their bid at the very least. So now I think we can run diamonds and spades and quite possibly make 6NT so I bid it. Partner immediately pulled it to 7. That turned out to be the right bid! However, if partner had correctly responded to the keycard inquiry I would never have bid 6NT. The correct response should have been 6, showing an odd number of keycards and a void in clubs. Now I know her hand is two suited - spades and diamonds, and I will bid 6. The opponent later told one of our teammates that we were "from outerspace! Who bids 7 with 5 points!" We got a nice plus 14 IMPs on that board but didn't need it for the win, a push would have done the job just as well!

ID: 31 Dealer: W Vul: Neither A J 10 9 8 7 2 Q 9 8 5 3 2 6 Q 10 6 K 6 Q J 8 7 5 4 2       N W        E       S K 5 4 7 5 3 A J 10 7 4 K 9 Q 3 A K J 9 8 4 2 A 10 6 3

Bid: West North East South P 1S 2D 2H P 4NT P 5D P 6S P P P

This hand came up in the side game at the St. Charles Sectional Tournament. We made our bid but this was just a second high board, someone else in the room bid the same thing doubled and made it. It needs the Ace lead to make. We were playing 1430 key card so South's correct response should have been 6 showing an odd number of key cards and the void in diamonds. My partner answered incorrectly, showing 3 key cards (based on the last bid suit of hearts). I however wasn't sure my partner actually knew the correct way to show a void and given the bidding thought she probably had a void in diamonds anyway. I chose to bid the 6. Interestingly, if she had shown the void we would not have gotten the A lead and we would not have made the bid. A is the lead from East, trumped in dummy. Dummy then leads the A, K, A, throwing away 3 diamonds in North. Club lead trumped in North with the 2. North then leads the last small diamond, trumping with the Q and the K falls in West! I lead a small heart from dummy, trumping with the 7. Note I have to trump the heart to return to my hand as I have to try to ensure that I will not be overtrumped by East because they can then lead a diamond for West to trump. Since East played their K on the second club trick after North had already trumped it, I am assuming they are out of clubs at this point. I then lead the A, another spade losing to East, and take their diamond return as West is now out of trump, and claim the remaining tricks with all my high trump.

ID: 30 Dealer: N Vul: Neither Q 9 J 8 7 3 A 8 5 4 8 5 2 K 5 4 2 Q J 10 2 A K Q 6 3       N W        E       S A J 8 7 6 4 2 Q 10 6 7 3 9 10 5 3 A K 9 K 9 6 J 10 7 4

Bid: West North East South - P 3S P 4S P P P

South leads the A with North playing the 3. South should take that as discouraging a continuation in hearts as North does not have the Queen. Given the board in West, South should underlead their King, as North should have the Ace. If East had the Ace along with the assumed Ace and perhaps the Queen or Jack of along with the Q then East would most likely have opened the bidding 1 instead of 3. When North wins the Ace, they can lead a heart through East's Queen. Ultimately N-S should then take a total of 5 tricks (3 and 2) for down 2 E-W. Of course, if East puts in the 10 instead of the Q, they can hold their heart losers to just 2 and thus only go down 1. When played at my table, I was sitting East and made 5. South continued with the K at trick 2 and then led hearts again giving me the chance to throw my losing diamonds on the club winners in dummy. So was this a top board for us? No it turned out to be just a little better than average! Why? Because all the E-W pairs made either 4 or 5, whether they bid to game or not. How is this possible? It seems that somebody in the room should have been able to figure out the correct defense!

ID: 28 Dealer: N Vul: N-S A K 6 2 Q 10 2 A Q 6 4 Q 10 4 3 6 4 3 8 2 K 8 7 5 4 3       N W        E       S Q J 9 8 A K J 9 7 5 3 6 2 10 7 5 8 7 5 K J 10 9 A J 9	Bid: West North East South - 1NT P 2NT P 3NT P P P
Opening Leads at NT demo. Sometimes it's about the 2nd lead too! East leads the A with West playing the 3. What does East lead next?

ID: 27 Dealer: E Vul: Both A K Q 9 6 5 43 Q 9 7 2 Q       N W        E       S 8 2 A K 10 6 A J 10 8 6 5 3

Bid: West North East South - - 1S 2C 3S 4H 4S X P 4NT P 5H P P P

This hand came up during a recent tournament at team play and demonstrates the need to thoroughly understand your Ace asking or key card asking system. The East- West hands are not shown here, as they are irrelevant. North is put in the position of guessing whether to settle on what would appear to be a game or venture into slam territory when West's preemptive raise to 3 interferes. After North guesses and bids 4 and East's apparent sacrifice to 4, South doubles the 4 for penalty. Now North views slam as a definite possibility due to the apparent trick taking ability in South's hand, but needs to find out if South has the Ace of diamonds. Without that Ace or a void in diamonds in South's hand, it is possible that the opponents will take 2 diamond tricks to start. North can safely ask for key cards using 1430, because any answer South would make would allow the partnership to stop if necessary or continue on to slam with no concerns. Unfortunately, when played at our table, south responded incorrectly, bidding 5, showing 2 key cards. Given South's double, North has to assume that perhaps one of those is the Ace of Spades and the other their club Ace. North thus settles for 5, passing their partner. The correct bid from South is 5NT, promising 2 key cards and a void. Now North can be reasonably assured that South has the Ace of clubs and the Ace of spades with a void in diamonds which would appear unlikely given the bidding or they have the Ace of clubs and the Ace of diamonds and a void in spades, which while highly unusual does seem possible given the bidding. Either way slam should make and North can safely bid 6. Oh well, maybe next time! (By the way, East came out leading the Ace of spades, allowing a sluff of a diamond in North's hand, trumping in South's, thus making 7 without needing a diamond split.)

ID: 25 Dealer: W Vul: Neither 4 K 10 7 2 A Q 6 4 9 8 5 3 K Q 5 3 J 9 J 7 3 A J 10 7       N W        E       S J 10 9 8 6 Q 4 10 9 5 K Q 4 A 7 2 A 8 6 5 3 K 8 2 6 2

Bid: West North East South 1C P 1S 2H 2S 3H 3S P 4S 5H P P X P P P

I was playing North at a club game when this deal came up. After East bid 3S and my partner passed I had already decided to pass because I didn't want to push them into game. Then West bid the game anyway, so I sacrificed to 5H. The funny thing was, it didn't turn out to be a sacrifice. 5H always makes even with a club lead, but without the club lead it makes 6 for a score of 1310, better than bidding the non-vulnerable slam, and a top board. Other NS pairs that day bid a partscore in hearts, making 6 for 230, or set EW for a score of 100, or let EW make 2S, which shouldn't happen, but evidently did because NS didn't take their diamonds before one of East's losing diamonds gets discarded on the clubs. At our table, West led the spade King. South won with the Ace, drew 2 rounds of trump, played three rounds of diamonds ending in dummy and that suit split too! The 4th diamond provided a place for the club discard. All that remained was to lose 1 club and cross-ruff the remaining spades and clubs.

ID: 21 Dealer: S Vul: Neither Q 10 5 Q J 9 4 Q 6 3 2 7 4 K 9 4 A K 7 A 8 5 4 J 8 2       N W        E       S 6 8 5 3 J 9 7 A Q 10 9 6 5 A J 8 7 3 2 10 6 2 K 10 K 3

Bid: West North East South - - - 1S 1N 2S 3C 3S 3N P P P

I was playing South when this hand came up during club play. My partner duly led the 5 and I rose with the Ace, returning the 2. I returned low as I knew the declarer had to have either 2 more spades headed by the King or Queen or possibly they just had a singleton King left in their hand. This had to be true given my partner's support of the spade suit and their low lead. At any rate declarer went up with their King and unfortunately my partner played the 10. Why unfortunately? Well after declarer tried the losing club finesse, I had no choice but to lead a small spade to my partner's Queen, but now I have no entry remaining to play my last 3 spades. If my partner unblocks by dropping their Queen under the King, then when I get in with the King, I can play out 4 spade tricks and declarer is down by 2 tricks.

ID: 18 Dealer: N Vul: N-S 10 9 8 6 5 4 3 2 A 5 A 8 7 Q 9 8 2 K 10 2 K Q J 8 7 2       N W        E       S K 10 7 6 3 Q 9 A 10 9 6 5 3 A K Q J 7 J 4 J 6 5 4 3 4

Bid: West North East South - P P 1S 2C 4S 5C P P 5S P P P

Opening Lead: K South can't quite make this bid, losing 2 diamonds and one heart, but since East/West can make 5, it is still a good sacrifice. The interesting thing about the bidding is that if North decides to preempt with 3, you have to wonder if East/West will ever find the club fit. South will raise the preempt to 4 which does make. Will either East or West jump in at 4 or 5 clubs? It will also make 5 for East/West. Can they find it? Even if East/West have a partnership agreement that a double is for takeout through 3, if North preempts, a double from East is dangerous as diamonds cannot be supported.

ID: 17 Dealer: Vul: N-S 10 7 3 K J 10 8 7 6 5 2 8 7 Q J 8 5 4 A Q J 10 9 6 6 3       N W        E       S K 6 2 4 2 A K Q J 9 8 7 4 A 9 9 3 A K Q 5 4 3 10 5 2

Bid: West North East South - - - 1D P 1H 2C 2D 2N 4H 5C P P P

This hand was played at Kids Bridge. South came out leading the A and followed that with the K which East trumped. East led three rounds of trump. All that was needed now was to lead a small spade towards the board, losing to South's marked A. (South must have this given the opening bid and the heart points in North's hand.) The interesting thing about this hand is that North/South could have competed on to 5, also making it with just one heart loser and one spade loser.

ID: 15 Dealer: S Vul: Both AQJ 10 9 7 4 3 Q J 10 8 2 5 2 9 4 3 K Q J 10 7 3 9 4       N W        E       S K K 10 8 7 5 9 A K 7 6 5 3 8 6 A Q J 6 2 A 8 6 5 4 2

Bid: West North East South - - - 1D P 1S 2C 2H P 4S P P P

Opening Lead: A When I played this hand as North at the W-S Duplicate Club on Friday night, I only made 6, unfortunately for my partner and I, another N-S pair did make 7 although nobody bid beyond 4.It only makes 7 with a slight mistake on East's part. After I trumped the opening club lead, I played both red Aces throwing away clubs. I then led a diamond to trump and was promptly over trumped by the singleton K. After I took the following heart lead in my hand, I led my Q which was covered by the King and the board trumped. I then came back to my hand with a heart ruff, drew the remaining trump and then played my good J, thus making 6. However, if East does not cover the Q, I win it and lead my last club, the Jack. Whether he covers that or not, I must trump it in dummy, come back to my hand trumping high, and then pull the remaining 2 small trump. Either way, making 6. I should have foreseen a singleton K, (although I'm not sure I should have foreseen the singleton diamond, but perhaps given the strange distribution I should have.) I can't draw trump without first coming to my hand to finesse the K. So after taking the first club, I can play my Ace throwing away a small club but then lead either a diamond or heart to trump in my hand. Lead the Q, if East plays the K, trump. Then trump a heart in my hand, draw trump and play my good clubs, thus making 7. It is worth noting that if East doesn't play the King, I can let the Queen ride and lead the Jack. If East still doesn't play the King, I cannot make 7, because if I don't trump West will be able to trump and can then lead a diamond which East's K can take as a ruff in diamonds. In which case I only make 5. So I would have to trump my J, then come back to my hand with a ruff in hearts, draw trump and then give East the remaining club trick, thus making only 6.

ID: 14 Dealer: E Vul: Neither K Q 10 6 3 J 6 4 8 5 Q 9 7 A 4 2 9 8 2 6 3 2 K 10 4 3       N W        E       S J 8 5 A Q 7 3 Q J 10 6 5 2 9 7 K 10 5 A K 9 7 4 A J 8

Bid: West North East South - - PASS 1NT PASS 3NT PASS PASS PASS

Assume West leads the 3 Where did you take the first trick? If you didn't take it in South's hand with the Ace, you can't make 3NT unless the defense helps you. You must take it with the Ace, then continue by leading a spade towards the King. (Why win it with the Ace? You need to assure yourself of an entry to the dummy in clubs.) If West doesn't play his Ace (a good defender won't), then you take the King. Return to your hand with the Ace. Then lead a spade towards the Queen. If West still doesn't take the Ace, you are now on the board. Lead the 10. West can take his Ace but cannot hurt you. If he leads a small club go up with the Queen on the board and take your 2 remaining Spade tricks. Then lead the J. If East plays the Queen, play your King. It holds and you make your bid (4 spades, 1 heart, 2 diamonds, and 2 clubs). It is likely to hold as it is unlikely that West holds the Ace in addition to the other points already shown. If East had not covered with the Queen, let the Jack ride and you still make the bid possibly with overtricks. You will probably make overtricks anyway because East and West are being stripped while you lead Spades. In fact, if you see East sluff a diamond, instead of taking the heart finesse, you want to take the diamond finesse. The key is you cannot take that 1st club trick cheaply because then you can't get back to the board to establish your spade tricks! If West does take his A on the second spade lead, it doesn't hurt. If he returns a heart, run it around to your K. Assuming East goes up with his Ace, he must then either set up 2 heart tricks for you, lead into your spade tricks on the board, lead a club helping to set up the Queen on the board, or his best bet which is to lead the Q. Take it or not, East/West can do no better than taking 1 trick in each suit. If West leads a diamond after taking his Ace, this also presents no difficulties. South takes the K and then works on setting up clubs as above. West can take his K and lead diamonds to East who can then do no further damage other than to take his A. So, as I tell all my students, PLAN the hand before you play to the first trick. It is often the first trick that will set you!