DAILY BRIDGE CLUB

“The man was born with a silver horseshoe in his mouth,” Unlucky Louie fumed to me in the club lounge, “not to mention a few five-leaf clovers.”

Louie was talking about the player we call Harlow the Halo. While bad luck stalks Louie on days that end in “y,” good fortune trails Harlow around like a large, affectionate dog. His finesses always win, his key suits split well and his errors never cost.

“Look what he did to me in a penny game yesterday,” Louie said, displaying today’s deal. “North opened one heart, and Harlow launched into an aceasking bid of 4NT. It never occurred to him that North might have only one ace. When North duly responded five diamonds, Harlow didn’t flinch: He bid six clubs like a man supremely confident.”

Louie led the king of diamonds: six, queen, three.

“Unless my partner turned up with a trick in trumps,” Louie said, “I knew I could beat the slam only if Harlow had misbid. But which mistake had he made? Had he bid slam off two aces, or had he used Blackwood with two fast losers in an unbid suit?”

Louie wrongly tried to cash his ace of diamonds. Harlow ruffed and peeled off eight rounds of trumps. At the end, dummy had the A-K-J of spades, and Harlow had a spade and the 9-6 of hearts. East was squeezed. Compelled to keep his queen of spades guarded, he discarded all his hearts, and Harlow guffawed and claimed. His nine of hearts was high.

Harlow’s 4NT was an outrageous case of Blackwood abuse. He got away with it, but his luck will run out.