North A 10 5 7 3 A K 10 5 7 6 5 4 West K 6 4 A K 6 5 Q 6 2 Q J 9 East J 9 3 2 Q 10 2 J 8 7 4 A 10 South Q 8 7 J 9 8 4 9 3 K 8 3 2 The bidding: East South West North 2 2 3 3 East led the A

The typical Spades player despairs if he takes too many bags. The expert player wants to take even more! In the deal shown at right, both teams had identical scores of 286. The difference was that East and West were bag-avoiders, while North and South were experts who knew how to win a bag or two.

The table total was 10, a situation that calls for bag-avoidance methods. East led the ace of clubs followed by a second club to South's king. A third round was topped by West, but East stepped in with the jack of trumps to reduce excess baggage. Now East exited with the ten of hearts to West's king. When West followed up with the ace of hearts, East took advantage of the opportunity to shed another potential bagger, the queen of hearts. A third heart went to South.

South switched to the seven of spades, ducked all around, even though East and West still needed one more trick for their bid. These cards remained:

North A 10 -- A K 10 4 West K 6 6 Q 6 2 -- East 9 3 -- J 8 7 4 -- South Q 8 J 9 3 8

South tried the eight of spades, and North won the ten. Next came the ace of spades, the ace-king of diamonds, and finally a club. As North had hoped, South took the last two tricks, leaving their opponents one short.

Was the set worth it, considering North and South incurred the 100-point bag penalty? The score was now 240 to 236, a virtual tie, but North-South had cleared their bag counter while East-West would be in bag trouble throughout the remainder of the game.