Deal 5	♠ ? ♥ ? ♦ ? ♣ ?		WEST   NORTH   EAST   SOUTH pass  BID      You are South and it is your bid. Decide what you would say, then click on BID .
	♠ K Q 10 3 ♥ A 4 ♦ Q J 10 5 ♣ A J 2

 

Deal 5	♠ J 6 4 ♥ Q 7 ♦ A 9 8 3 ♣ K Q 7 6		WEST   NORTH   EAST   SOUTH pass 1NT pass 3NT pass pass pass You have a very solid 17 points and a balanced hand. You open 1NT. Partner responds 3NT and you pass. South plays 3NT. West leads the ♥J. You hopefully put on the ♥Q, but East plays the ♥K. Make a Plan, then click NEXT .
	♠ K Q 10 3 ♥ A 4 ♦ Q J 10 5 ♣ A J 2

 

Deal 5	♠ J 6 4 ♥ Q 7 ♦ A 9 8 3 ♣ K Q 7 6		South plays 3NT. West leads the ♥J. You hopefully put on the ♥Q, but East plays the ♥K. Winners: ♠ 0 : ♥ 1 : ♦ 1 : ♣ 4 : Total = 6 A hold-up won't help unless East had a doubleton ♥, giving West a 7-card suit. So you win your ♥A. The ♠ suit is solid after the ♠A is played, but before you could enjoy those 3 tricks the defenders would have really enjoyed a bunch of ♥s. Your only hope is to win 8 more tricks before you lose the lead. That means the ♦ finesse had better work. At trick 2 you lead your ♦Q, playing low from dummy if West doesn't cover. Repeat the finesse as necessary. When West has the ♦K you will make your contract, and when East has the ♦K you will go down. That's a 50% chance, just like most finesses. But remember, if you had tried to establish the ♠ suit instead of taking the finesse your chance of making 3NT would be 0%. Click NEXT  for the full deal.
	♠ K Q 10 3 ♥ A 4 ♦ Q J 10 5 ♣ A J 2

 

Deal 5	♠ J 6 4 ♥ Q 7 ♦ A 9 8 3 ♣ K Q 7 6		You can see what could have happened if you had tried to sneak even one ♠ trick. East would have grabbed the ♠A and played a small ♥. West would have happily taken 4 ♥ tricks and you would be down 1.  Deal 6
♠ 9 8 5 2 ♥ J 10 9 8 2 ♦ K 4 ♣ 9 8		♠ A 7 ♥ K 6 5 3 ♦ 7 6 2 ♣ 10 5 4 3
	♠ K Q 10 3 ♥ A 4 ♦ Q J 10 5 ♣ A J 2