In actuality the hand is a reef laden with shallows and submerged rocks. South leads the top of his heart suit and West ruffs away the Ace. Now the diamond Jack is played as East trumps and South helplessly follows. Back and forth they go! Six ruffs ensue and then East and West grab two top clubs scoring a tidy eight tricks. The last five tricks are conceded as the set is recorded. Note the duplication in the trump suit as the top honors are compressed between the North and South hands. It is unfortunate that South’s beautiful hand was reduced to rubble, but that is the way the paste boards plopped. counting
The tolerance for bags is so critical that the score at the time really dictates the game plan. It is not worth taking four or five bags in order to set a low level contract. This is especially true early in the game. On the other hand (no pun intended), bags become irrelevant if the opponents are threatening to win the game if they make their contract. Of course, setting a nil results in a severe penalty to the opponents and is worthwhile — even at the cost of three or four bags.
The scores were ciose as East/West led North/South 476 to 436. It is also noteworthy that both sides had six bags each. East decided to bid conservatively upon hearing his partner’s one bid as he felt that all they needed was three tricks to end the game. It was a very scientific analysis. “What then followed was a lengthy dissertation by East regarding the mathematics and psychology of the game of Spades. He commented about he was an expert and prided himself on technique. Finally, he said to South, “This has been a great game, and you should not be ashamed of losing to us!” South led the club seven, and West played the four. North was in with the King. East immediately pounced on this with the nine of spades. Now everyone was treated to a discussion about the merits of reducing trump length in order to save bags, and how the use of the nine was such a “sweet” play. All soon heard this utterance: “I’d better make sure of our bid” and East promptly cashed the Ace-King of hearts (leaving North with the deuce). Next come the Ace of diamonds and assurance to his partner that an extra bag or two would be “peanuts.” East’s final comforting comment was “Don’t worry, be happy — I have covered your one bid.” He leaned back with a big grin on his face. North was careful to dump the Jack of diamonds on the first trick and South played the nine — a truly magnificent discard. Now East shifted to a small trump and South immediately cleared the suit by playing his three top winners. The King of diamonds was cashed and the deuce was placed on the table. East was buried alive with all good red cards as he easily reached 10 bags and dropped 100 points. The grin became an expression of absolute shock. It was a bad day for science! On the next hand North/South ended the game and East grumbled about how unlucky he was. These are the quirks which occasionally appear and you have to be prepared. East really played like a “drib” as he should have discarded the diamond ten on trick one, ruffed the expected club return (by his partner), and now taken his top red suit winners, as in the text. The diamond Queen is led, and South has no defense. If South grabbed the King, East would be out of the lead; if he ducked, East would have escaped with a low spade. (South has an interesting alternative by leading a club to his partner’s hand.)
This is the most incredible deal you will ever see. It occurred in a tournament game on the Internet. I have never seen this happen! This is a hand which will probably appear once every 100 years. The bidding appears to be reasonable and South’s nil looks quite solid. East led the three of clubs as he took an immediate shot at breaking the nil. South played the four, and West took the Queen. West now returned a club to East’s Ace. East played the Jack of hearts, South played low and West trumped with the five. Now West played the eight of diamonds and North played the ten while East ruffed. North made the comment, “Oh my God,” as he realized what was going on. East now returned another heart, South played the King and West ruffed with the nine, figuring North probably had the Ace. A diamond was returned as East trumped. Back and forth they went as they took eight ruffs SEPARATELY. West now cashed the Ace of spades, felling his partner’s King. This left the deuce of spades as the only remaining spade. Amazingly enough, South was forced to take a trick with this lowly card. This was truly an incredible result. Surely it was a once in a lifetime occurrence. I wonder how many people could have possibly figured that South would lose his nil to the deuce of spades, especially considering all of the trump strength amassed in both opponent’s hands. I guess it goes to show you that you never can tell what the Card Gods have in store for you.
This is my affection for casino.