Bridge Harlow the Halo

“The man overbids

like a maniac,” Unlucky Louie complained to me in the club lounge. “He can afford it; some benevolent angel has taken up permanent residence on his shoulder.”

Louie was talking about the player we call Harlow the Halo, whose luck is as unfailingly good as Louie’s is terrible. In a penny game, Louie was today’s East. Harlow was South and bid as if he were absent when they passed out fear. He committed to game despite the threat of a misfit.

Against four hearts, West led a diamond, and Harlow took dummy’s ace, led the queen of clubs to his ace and ruffed a club. He returned a trump to his king and ruffed another club.

“I overruffed with my eight,” Louie told me, “and led another diamond. The Halo ruffed, lost a trump to my ace and ruffed the next diamond. He conceded a club to West, ruffed the third diamond with his last trump, and won the last three tricks with good clubs and the ace of spades. It wouldn’t have helped me to win the first trump and return a trump.”

“Too bad,” I said.

“My partner should have led a trump,” Louie grumbled. “Harlow’s as lucky as a pig in the mud.”

South’s uninhibited bidding should have been punished. On the third club, Louie must discard instead of overruffing dummy.

Declarer is in trouble. He can return to his hand only by ruffing something, and then he loses trump control, can’t use his long clubs and goes down one.

Harlow was lucky — that Louie was sitting East.

North dealer

Both sides vulnerable