Goren on Bridge

Damon Runyan is often credited with this bit of advice for gamblers: “The race is not always to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, but that’s the way to bet.” That is great advice for bridge players as well. We always want to place our bets, or make our plays, based on their likelihood of success. The play may not work this time, but in the long run, that’s the way to bet.

North’s opening bid would not be everyone’s choice. South, knowing that his partner didn’t have heart values, must have strength in spades and diamonds for his opening bid, so he made the reasonable decision to bid a slam. East in today’s deal was Australian expert Paul Dalley. He had to decide where to place his bet at trick two after winning the opening heart lead with the king. He knew that declarer had exactly four spades with long, strong clubs, and surely only one heart. Should he shift to a spade at trick two?

Dummy’s diamonds were intimidating. A diamond to the jack would be risky for declarer, but it would provide all the needed tricks for slam unless West had a trump trick. Dalley decided that his best bet at trick two was to lead a diamond into dummy’s powerful suit. The winning bet! South won with dummy’s jack and discarded a spade on the ace. When he tried to cash the king, Dalley ruffed and the contract drifted down two. Nice play!

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