DAILY BRIDGE CLUB:

“What’s Minnie doing playing in the penny game?” I asked Cy the Cynic.

“Her Social Security check came today,” Cy said, “and she decided to try her luck.”

Minnie Bottoms, my club’s senior member, wears ancient bifocals that make her mix up kings and jacks. Minnie was declarer at four spades, and West cashed the K-A of diamonds and led the queen.

Minnie ruffed in dummy and led a trump to finesse with her 10, and West casually played low.

“Minnie nodded with satisfaction,” Cy told me, “and next led the jack of trumps!

“Thinking it was the king, of course,” I laughed.

West won, but when he led a heart next, Minnie won with the jack, drew trumps and ran the hearts for club discards. Making four. But unless she leads the jack of trumps at Trick Five, she loses control of the play and goes down.

“If she played in the penny game every day,” Cy said, “she could get along without Social Security.”

DAILY QUESTION: You hold: ♠ Q965 ♥ 72 ◆ A KQ3 ♣ K 10 8. You open one diamond, your partner responds one heart, you bid one spade and he tries two clubs. You bid 2NT, and partner next bids three hearts. What do you say?

ANSWER: Your partner almost surely has six cards in hearts, and if he had a decent suit but only game-invitational values, he could have jumped to three hearts at his second turn to invite. Bid four hearts.