Bridge

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Unlucky Louie had endured another losing day in his penny game, though not by as much as usual.

“If we’d made this slam,” Louie told me, displaying today’s deal, “I would have broken even.”

“You bid seven hearts?” I asked in disbelief.

“With a prayer,” Louie admitted. “But I think my prayers are gobbled up by the bridge god’s spam filter.”

Louie’s partner gave the contract a reasonable play. He took the ace of clubs, cashed the A-K of trumps and followed with four rounds of diamonds. When East followed suit, South took three more trumps. If West had held three or more spades, he would have been squeezed. But East guarded the spades, and the result was down one.

“Next time I’ll stop at six,” Louie mourned.

Bidding speculative grand slams is against the odds. If you fail, you lose a small-slam bonus plus a game bonus. Good players usually bid seven only when they can count 13 tricks. Still, Louie’s prayer could have been answered. After South takes the ace of clubs, he can cash the A-Q of trumps, then take four diamonds to pitch two spades. Declarer next takes the A-K of spades and ruffs a spade. He draws the last trump with dummy’s king and scores the good spade. The theoretical best play is unclear. There was no reason why East couldn’t have had 2-34-4 distribution, and then Louie wouldn’t have lost money.