Dlr: East
Vul: N-S
North
83
63
AQT9
QJ852
West East
9
QJT62
K975
8
85
K6432
AKT974
63
South
AK754
AQJT42
J7
Auction:
East South West North
P 3 NT P P
P
I am submitting this hand largely because I found the bidding perplexing.
The pair was playing some Precision variation (but I was unaware of that when this hand came up). 3NT was alerted as gambling, and even with my rag of a West hand, I thought about balancing 4
, because typically a gambling 3NT is a solid minor and I might get a lucky fit.
I got lucky by not bidding and finding us in the middle of a buzz saw.
I got unlucky because they were in the only makeable game.
I wasn’t going to bother with the play because with that opening bid, that dummy, and profiles that indicated beginners, I was dizzy trying to figure out what declarer held. I suspect partner was in the same boat. However, the play was more advanced than I normally would attribute to a beginner.
Essentially, partner started a top
, then shifted to a low
. Declarer then passed the J
, which I ducked. Next declarer led another
, going up with the A, and now gave up a
. Normally, I expect a beginner to repeat a “proven” finesse. Then if we can keep him off dummy, there are a total of five losers.
Going up with the A
assured the contract.