The following hand was from the lesson earlier today. Note the lead of the
T
http://tinyurl.com/y83wge2gIn the discussion afterward, the correct play was given assuming that the lead was the
K. It's true that I can still make the hand on the heart lead. I didn't. My question: Should I?
After the lead of the
K we trust the
Q to be where it is, after which we do not care where the
Q is. Just take the
A at T1, draw trump, play 3 rounds of hearts. As the cards lie, N wins and let's say he plays the
J. Up with the A, lead a
, S wins the Q, he is endplayed. Similarly if after winning the !h he plays a
, S wins and is endplayed.
As the cards lie, the same idea works on the heart lead. Win. Draw trump, play a top
and another
. No diamonds have been played yet but if N now plays one we go up with the A and lead another.
But: On the lead of the
T we have no reason to believe S holds both the K and Q of
.
But But. I am now thinking it is still right to try it. Win the
, draw trump, top
and another
. Say that a
is returned. Up with the A, the
A and another
. As the cards lie this works. But on a different lie N could win the second
. Then I have to hope that the
K is right, but trying for the endplay costs nothing. And in this case it works.
So yes, I think that I still should have made it.
Added: In my defense, I did have a plan. I was hoping that the opening lead of the
T was from T98(x). So the plan was to win the first
, draw trump, eliminate diamonds, win the second
, then throw S in by playing the
7 to his 8. Not a completely crazy idea. It's a matter of deciding, after the opening lead, whether to play S for
T98(x0 or to play him for
KQ(xx). Not for the first time nor the last: "I may be wrong but I'll be right someday".
I hope it is clear this is all meant as enthusiasm for, not criticism of, these hands.