Harlow the Halo

“Harlow got me again,” Unlucky Louie sighed. “Against him and his luck, the best I can do is a tie.”

While Louie contends with bad luck, the player we call Harlow the Halo is Fortune’s Favorite. His errors never cost.

In a team match, both Louie and Harlow played at six hearts. The Halo took the ace of clubs and led a diamond to his queen, and West won and led a trump. Harlow had only 11 tricks, but he took the ace of diamonds, ruffed a diamond, ruffed a club and ran his trumps.

THREE SPADES

At the end, Harlow had a diamond and two spades. Dummy had A-K-9 of spades. East couldn’t save the jack of diamonds and three spades, so Harlow made the slam.

Louie’s line was different: He took the ace of clubs, drew trumps and played a low spade from both hands. He ruffed the club return and ran the spades.

Louie needed a normal 3-2 spade break. Harlow needed the diamond finesse or an unlikely squeeze. Louie’s play was simpler, probably better; Harlow, as usual, was luckier.

DAILY QUESTION

You hold: 7 3 AK J 9 8 3 AQ 4 2 3. Your partner opens one diamond. The next player passes. What do you say?

ANSWER: Slam is possible even if partner has minimum values. In fact, if he has an ideal minimum such as A9 5, Q 6, K 10 8 6 3,A 7 6, seven diamonds will be all but cold. Tell him that slam is likely: Jump-shift to two hearts and support the diamonds next. You don’t need 19 points for a jump-shift, only slam interest and a promising trump suit. North dealer N-S vulnerable