Always Play for the Set

Squeezes and other exotic plays are great fun, but they don't turn up too often. The expert's bread-and-butter is the 11-total set. The 11-bid is the most common table total, occurring on more than half of all deals. If you do not get the occasional set on an 11-bid, victory may be a matter of chance. You are at the mercy of the cards.

This article is the first in a 3-part series on setting the 11-bid. The series cannot possibly cover all the ground, but it deals with the most common 11-bid situations.

It is true that on most 11-bids, neither side can possibly be set. A pair that bids 5, for example, can start out taking an ace-king and a side ace, and sit back to wait for the QJ108 to win the final two tricks. Your efforts to set such a hand can only result in taking a couple of bags. That is no excuse for not even trying. Whenever the table total is 11 tricks, Always play for the set.

The Will to Set

The most important ingredient in the 11-bid set is a player's attitude. You must have the will to set. The vast majority of intermediate players will not even try to set an 11-bid. They see such total bids as bagging situations. This concept is completely erroneous. An 11-bid is a setting situation, until proved otherwise.

Many players go wrong as early as Trick 1. They flamboyantly pitch their queens and jacks under aces and kings. Their opponents may have overbid to a hopeless level, but a single such throw is all it takes to remove all possibility of a set.

A. West leads the K. North Q 7 2 West 8 6 5 East A K 10 9 South J 4 3

B. South leads the 9. North 10 8 6 4 West A Q East K J 5 2 South 9 7 3

In Example A above, East leads the King at Trick 1 and South foolishly plays the jack. North is too good a player to throw his queen, but later, when East-West find themselves in trouble, East finesses against North's Q to fulfill a shaky bid.

In Example B, South starts play with a low club and West plays the Q. His partner "helps" him out by overtaking with the K. Later, East is able to drop his J under the A. Each of these players believe they have played well. Their idea of Spades is that it is all about bags.

Win One More

Most Spades players who go wrong in the beginning of play also go wrong in the ending. Once their bid is made, or is in sight, they immediately switch over to anti-bag mode with no sense of shame. The right idea is to win one more bag on speculation. It is a small price to pay to keep alive hopes of a set.

C. East leads the 7. North J 5 2 West K Q East 10 9 7 South A 6 3

In this Example, North-South have already made their bid plus they have taken one bag. When East leads a spade, South plays a low spade and West the Q. North drops his J with a sigh of relief, pleased to throw away a potential bag card. He has also thrown away a juicy set.

D. East leads the J. North 8 4 -- West 6 5 -- East 10 J South J 9

North and South have already taken one bag in Example D. East leads the J and West trumps. How should North play?

North has no idea who has the boss spade. Furthermore, the odds are 2 to 1 that an opponent holds the J. The most likely result of North's winning this trick is an extra bag for North-South. But the correct play, nevertheless, is to overtrump with the 8 and win this trick, following the principle of win one more. If the opponents win the last trick, North has taken an unnecessary bag -- a trivial thing. But if North undertrumps and South has the J, North-South wind up with the worst possible result -- all the bags and a blown set.

Take the bags when necessary. If you refuse to take a bag, how can you ever possibly set? One set is well worth the cost of several bags over the course of a game. Always play for the set.

Judging Whether to Bag or Set

It may seem as if the pair that tries to set 11-bids will always wind up with all of the bags. This is not so. The advice of always playing for the set only applies for the first few tricks. It will quickly become apparent whether a set is possible or hopeless. As soon as it seems as though both sides will make their bid it is time to abandon the quest for set and watch out for the bags.

How can you tell? What do you look for? I offer two tell-tale signs to determine whether a set is likely or if the quest will be fruitless.

The Count Card Principle

The Count Card Principle states that if a player loses one of his count cards, and it cannot be replaced, his side is in danger of being set.

[Another use of count cards is to place the spade honors. See Down for the Count, and Dustin Stout's Sacrificing Partner's Winners. ]

E. West leads a heart. North J 7 6 3 West 10 9 8 4 East K 5 2 South A Q

F. East leads a heart trumped by West; North overtrumps. North J 7 2 West A K 8 4 East 9 5 South Q 10 6 3

The heart lead in Example E causes East to lose his K, one of his count cards. Since North and South have the Q and J, this trick cannot be replaced.

A long spade that is overtrumped usually cannot be replaced, unless your LHO ruffs from a spade holding with a natural trump trick (e.g., Qxx). In Example F, West has lost one of his count cards.

G. North plays the A and K. North A K 7 3 West Q J 9 2 East 5 South 10 8 6 4

H. East leads the 7. North Q 5 West K J 10 4 East 7 6 3 South A 9 8 2

In Example G, East trumps the second round and North has lost a count card. A first- or second-round ruff is a very common means by which players lose count cards.

By watching the win and loss of count cards in the early rounds, a player can judge whether his opponents are ripe for a set, or whether its bagging time.

Unexpected Tricks

The second key principle deals with winning unexpected tricks. These are usually queens and jacks that win early rounds of their suit. In order to set, a side needs to win tricks beyond its own count cards. Whoever wins an early unexpected trick is unlikely to go set, and is in a good position to set the other side.

I. North leads the 4. North Q 6 5 4 West A J 8 East K 7 2 South 10 9 3

J. West leads the Q. North K 9 West Q 6 East A 7 5 4 2 South J 10 8 3

North leads a low diamond in Example I and West takes the Jack. When the A and K also stand, East-West have won an unexpected trick. There is a certain symmetry to this position. If West or East starts diamonds, then the third round unexpectedly goes to North-South.

In Example J, West leads the Q, covered by the K and won by the A. A second round of hearts goes to South's 10. So far North-South have neither lost a count card nor won an unexpected trick because the 10 is simply a replacement for the K.

Now South leads the J. If West declines to trump, North-South have won their first unexpected trick. A fourth round of hearts puts pressure on West. He can again refuse to trump, giving North-South their second unexpected trick, or he can trump and be overtrumped, which may cost him a count card. In any case, North and South are the favorites to bring in a set.

Weaken their Trumps

It may seem as though your side is in trouble when an opponent cuts your tricks. In reality, each time a player trumps he is weakening his own spade holding.

Few Spades players realize that you don't win extra tricks by trumping from a long spade suit. They love to cut -- it's so much fun! When a player who started with four or five spades cuts twice, he may be ripe for the kill.

K. North J 10 3 West 8 5 East K 9 7 4 South A Q 6 2

L. North A 5 3 2 West Q J 9 6 East 10 4 South K 8 7

Example K shows the original spade holdings. Suppose East trumps twice. Now the lead of North's top spade picks up all of the opponents' spades.

It is the same situation in Example L. West uses two of his spades to cut, and two spade leads from North-South put an end to his party.

Note that you are not taking away any of the opponents' count cards with these actions. In both examples we assume the player with a 4-card spade suit bid 2 on these spades, and he has already scored twice with ruffs. Your two spade leads simply prevent either opponent from winning any more spade tricks -- and keeps them from staving off the set.

Summary

1. On 11-bids, always play for the set.
2. Do not start bagging operations with high-card discards at the start.
3. If a set is still possible at the finish, try to win one more.
4. Keep track of count cards, both yours and the opponents.
5. Unexpected tricks are a good thing for your side.
6. Weaken the opponents' spades and then lead the suit.

Regards,
Popsicle