Deal 95	♠ ? ♥ ? ♦ ? ♣ ?		WEST   NORTH   EAST   SOUTH pass  BID        You are South and it is your bid. Decide what you would say, then click on BID .
	♠ A K ♥ 10 9 8 ♦ 8 6 5 ♣ A Q 10 8 2

 

Deal 95	♠ ? ♥ ? ♦ ? ♣ ?		WEST   NORTH   EAST   SOUTH pass 1♣ pass 1♠ pass  BID      With 14 points and only one biddable suit this was a snap. You open 1♣. Partner responds with 1♠. What do you bid?
	♠ A K ♥ 10 9 8 ♦ 8 6 5 ♣ A Q 10 8 2

 

Deal 95	♠ J 6 4 2 ♥ Q 6 ♦ A K 4 2 ♣ K 7 3		WEST   NORTH   EAST   SOUTH pass 1♣ pass 1♠ pass 1NT pass 3NT pass pass pass This one isn't such a snap. You sure cannot support ♠s with only 2 of them, even good ones. You aren't supposed to rebid your ♣s without a 6-card suit. You hate to bid Notrump with neither of the two red suits stopped, and you cannot pass. So you bite the bullet and say 1NT. Partner jumps it to 3NT and you pass, hoping he can stop the red suits. South plays 3NT. It turns out partner can't stop ♥s either and the defenders reel off 4 ♥ tricks, then lead a small ♦. Make a Plan, then click NEXT .
	♠ A K ♥ 10 9 8 ♦ 8 6 5 ♣ A Q 10 8 2

 

Deal 95	♠ J 6 4 2 ♥ Q 6 ♦ A K 4 2 ♣ K 7 3		South plays 3NT. The defenders win 4 ♥ tricks, then play a small ♦. Winners: ♠ 2 : ♥ 0 : ♦ 2 : ♣ 3 : Total = 7 You need 2 more tricks and you expect to get them from ♣s. This should have been evident while they were leading all those ♥ winners so you would not have discarded one of the ♣s from your hand. But you also had to be careful not to discard even one of dummy's ♣s, you need all three of them. If the ♣s split 3-2 it wouldn't matter, but if East happens to have ♣ J x x x then you will need dummy's third ♣ to make a finesse. You first play your ♣A, then lead a small ♣ to dummy's ♣K. West shows out on this ♣ so you know that East has ♣ J 9 left. You lead dummy's ♣7, finessing East out of the ♣J. Click NEXT to see the full deal.
	♠ A K ♥ 10 9 8 ♦ 8 6 5 ♣ A Q 10 8 2

 

Deal 95	♠ J 6 4 2 ♥ Q 6 ♦ A K 4 2 ♣ K 7 3		Suppose you had incorrectly discarded dummy's ♣3 on one of those ♥s. You would have played the ♣s by first leading small to the ♣K (West following) then the ♣7 back toward your hand. It is true that you COULD finesse now but you wouldn't know that you SHOULD since you wouldn't know that West was now void. This was a very difficult hand.  Deal 96
♠ Q 10 7 3 ♥ K J 7 4 ♦ Q 10 9 3 ♣ 4		♠ 9 8 5 ♥ A 5 3 2 ♦ J 7 ♣ J 9 6 5
	♠ A K ♥ 10 9 8 ♦ 8 6 5 ♣ A Q 10 8 2