In a Duplicate Spades tournament, the same deal is played at every table. One of the pleasures of this format is that you can find out what the other folks have done with the same cards you just held. Were the various results a matter of skill, luck, or guessing? I'll save you some trouble. Your good results were always due to your superior skill. Poor results, if any, were unavoidable and merely unfortunate cases of bad luck.

The following deal was played seven times. Most pairs were successful in making their bids but there were sets at two tables, earned once by N/S and once by E/W. Let us examine the play at these two extremes. The team bids of 7+5 were perfectly normal at any form of Spades, even though some conservative Souths might devalue one of their kings.

K9 AQJ8 842 Q863 10 2 K74 AJ10765 J9 A854 52 Q9 A10542 QJ763 10963 K3 K7 North East South West 2 3 5 2 East led the A

At the first table, East took the A right away and continued clubs to South's King. South tried a middle heart. North successfully finessed the J and continued the A. So far, so good. But when South innocently tried to cash the Q the roof fell in.

West trumped the Q with the 2 and cashed the K, on which East discarded a diamond. The A was played, and East trumped the next diamond. On the club return, South trumped with a futile 6 only to be overtrumped with West's 10. The spade Ace later provided E/W with the setting trick.

Over at the next table, East made the unfortunate lead of a heart. Her partner's King fell to the Ace, and North continued with the Q and J. East trumped the Jack and shifted to the 9. West won the Ace and played back another diamond, and South was in the lead for the first time.

Now the 600-pound gorilla stepped to the plate. South led a low spade. North's King fell to the Ace and East took the A for her side's fourth trick, but this card was the last winner for E/W. South won the club return and ran spades, finishing with his high heart.

The two sets yielded results of 100% to the triumphant N/S and E/W pairs, and 0% to their unfortunate opponents. Skill, luck, or unfortunate guessing? A little of each, I should think, but you can reach your own conclusions.

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