Entertainment

Bridge

Unlucky Louie came into the club lounge from his penny game with his eyes glazed.

“I just missed tying an all-time record,” Louie croaked to me. “Look at this hand I held.”

Louie grabbed a napkin and wrote down today’s North hand.

“Look at that. My pip total was 47. The worst possible hand has 41.” “That’s a bad hand, even for you,” I nodded. “Did your opponents bid and make a slam, or was it darkest before dawn?”

Louie’s partner opened one spade and bid clubs next. Since East’s 1NT had promised some values, West promptly doubled two clubs, and when Louie took a two-spade preference, East hammered that.

West led the king of hearts, and Louie put down his dummy looking like one of Custer’s lieutenants at Little Big Horn. East and West greeted dummy with hilarity, but when West continued with a second heart (not best), South ruffed and led the king of clubs to West’s ace. South won West’s diamond shift with the ace, took the Q-J of clubs to discard a diamond from dummy, and led his last club. When West followed, dummy threw another diamond.

West shifted to his eight of trumps: deuce, 10, queen. South then ruffed a diamond, ruffed a heart and ruffed a diamond. East overruffed with the jack, but when he led a trump from his K-5 at Trick 12, South finessed with his nine and won the 13th trick with the ace.

“Making three,” Louie said. “We were plus 870.” “I don’t know what you were worried about,” I said. “You should have given thanks for your six of spades.”