Both sides made their bid, the one bag going to North/South. Still, one side could have done better. How? Which was the worst bid/play of the hand? Submit your comments to: You Be the Judge

The Public Responds:

First, let's see what folks have to say about the bidding.

Purple Cow: I believe the bidding was solid all the way around.

USA_Justice: West could lose his 4-bid here in many situations. Especially knowing that you are 3rd bidder and your 4-bid takes the total to 11 already. That gives North the ability to nil safely or bid just 1 for a good chance to attack a weak bid. A 3-bid leaves you more flexible no matter what North does.

Phlexicon: Most often when the total bid is 12+, someone holds at least five spades. For this reason I would bid 3 with the West hand. West's length in spades is not likely to produce a second trick.

Hmmm... This may also be a smart tactic to discourage the 4th bidder from bidding a speculative nil. These are good reasons why the 3rd position should bid conservatively, as some people claim. Now let's turn to the play. After East wins two clubs, should South trump the next play?

David Rice: South shoulda dumped hearts on 3rd trick to save spades, and then run clubs at the end for the set.

Might this work? Sometimes it's right to discard rather than trumping. But here's one rebuttal:

Phlexicon: East's lead of the 2 is reasonable, as is South's ruff in 2nd position. East is very likely now void in clubs and wants a ruff.

Yes, exactly. South must not let West win the diamond and lead a third club. Another judge agrees, and then keeps going:

Purple Cow: Poor South! He must have been licking his chops when the A-K went by on the first two tricks, establishing his club suit. Even better, the diamond switch allowed for the trump break he was looking for. So far, so good. Eyeing North's 1-bid with a bit of trepidation, he nonetheless made the proper lead of a low spade, and when the Ace hit the table was undoubtedly bouncing in his chair sniffing the juicy set about to come his way. My, how spades can be a real test of your emotions!

So it's North's play at Trick 5 that comes under fire!

Phlexicon: The bonehead play is North's failure to return spades at trick 5! Merely the fact that his partner ruffed in 2nd position and led a spade, screamed for a spade continuation! But North was obviously asleep at the wheel! The lead of the 7 fails on several accounts, the worst being that he's weakening his partner's spades by forcing him to ruff. If he returns spades West will be limited to one spade winner.

USA_Justice: Trick 5: North's diamond lead here is going to be attacked by everyone. If North had a singleton (let's say) club and wanted to preserve a trump opportunity, then maybe he could justify this lead. But, not here; no way. Maybe he's trying to set up a cross-ruff? With the 4 and no more winners in his hand? Lead the spade!

Purple Cow: The diamond lead at Trick 5 from North ruins this hand. The only lead North should even consider is a spade return. That's what partner is asking for, not another diamond ruff. In fact, South is looking at his hand and thinking, "Anything BUT a diamond would work!" (If only he remembered this for later).

That last statement is a reference to Trick 7, which we'll take up presently. So is North's play the worst? One panelist thinks not.

Ruffkid: Trick 5, North's diamond return, will be the popular answer because it is the easy one to find. The worst play of the hand, however, was on trick 2!! The club lead gives N/S the only opportuntiy to set E/W. A dime switch, however, taps South's spades and gives them only their 6-bid. E/W obviously can be set until the goof on Trick 7 but E/W can make their bid easily with a red-suit switch at trick 2, preferably a diamond. When one side needs to lead a particular suit to make their bid and and the other leads it for them (lol), what's wrong with that picture?

What's wrong is that East's vision is limited to only his own thirteen cards. Without a ghost of a glimmer of a clue of what to do at his second turn, his club play can only be classified as an Unfortunate Guess. Now what's all this about Trick 7?

Purple Cow: Anyway, play proceeds [after North's diamond return], South trumping the diamond and leading the top spade (with a menacing glare at pard when he drops the 4) and exits to West's spade Queen. But North is not the only guilty party here. When West leads the diamond Ace, and everyone follows, why is South trumping? South knows he has everything but diamonds stopped. Unless E/W can get off two more diamond leads, they're already set. Why not pitch a losing heart? (Probably because he was still fuming over the diamond at trick 5 and not concentrating). Nevertheless, if South tosses hearts, West makes his two diamonds, and is forced to concede the rest, finishing 1 down.

Have we just defined a new personality disorder? Spades Rage? If so, who's to blame?

Purple Cow: Verdict: 70% North, 30% South. Not returning spades was the real killer, but that still doesn't excuse South from at least hoping for a favorable lie in diamonds [at Trick 7].

And so it shall be. The blame is divided, and North and South are sentenced to ten more games parding each other. Next case.