Louie needs training in not playing too fast

Unlucky Louie is taking his family on a Florida vacation.

“We’re going to SeaWorld,” Louie told me. “I called to order tickets in advance, and they said I could get a discount if I said ‘Jump through a hoop!’ and ‘Flip!’ over the phone.”

“What was that all about?” I asked.

“They said my call would be monitored for training porpoises,” Louie said solemnly.

Cy the Cynic snickered. I groaned.

Louie needs training — in not playing too fast. When he was today’s declarer at four spades, a heart opening lead would have beaten the contract, but West naturally led the jack of diamonds. Louie won in dummy — with no pause for thought — and led the jack of trumps. Of course, he had no intention of letting it ride if East played low, but East might have erred by covering if he held Q-10-2.

Instead, East discarded. Louie took the A-K and next led a heart to dummy’s king. He lost three hearts and a trump for down one and complained about his bad luck.

It takes foresight to find the winning play in this deal — and certainly a little thought before playing to the first trick. South must win the first diamond with the ace and cash the A-K of trumps. When West discards, South continues with the A-K of clubs, a club ruff and a diamond to the king. He then leads dummy’s last club, and when East follows, declarer discards a heart as a loseron-loser.

East must concede the 10th trick. If he leads a heart, dummy’s king scores. If East leads a diamond, declarer discards a heart loser as dummy ruffs.