Not too late to come to San Diego

Above are the twin towers of the Manchester Grand Hyatt, the venue for the Fall NABC.


The inside of the Hyatt is nice.


San Diego is all about the water. The Manchester Grand Hyatt sits on the San Diego Bay. If you go outside, you can see the marina shown above.

Images by MOJO and shot with my P&S.

MOJO hits the road

I'm heading to San Diego for the national bridge tournament called the NABC (North American Bridge Championships) for the next two weeks, so I'll be doing limited blogging. There are three of these tournaments each year, and they are generally held at nice places. Next year it's Reno, New Orleans and Orlando.

In San Diego, besides the Americans and Canadians, other top players in the world will come. The Italians, the Poles and the Scandinavians will play along with the Chinese and Dutch, as well. Bulgeria is beginning to make it international bridge presence felt -- they'll be represented.

Generally the NABCs are stronger than the world championships. Huh? It's true. For most world championship play, countries can only send one (or two) team(s) in each event. Countries that have many strong players can send multiple teams/pairs to the NABC. Many countries send teams to world play that have no chance. There will be fewer of these type teams in San Diego.

If you like bridge, you can follow the tournament via the Daily Bulletins (beginning Friday), by clicking here. Look for Daily Bulletin, then look for the date. You can also follow the Reisinger Teams during the second weekend on (Internet) Vugraph at BBO (Bridge Base Online).

Happy Thanksgiving to both my American readers.


Images copied from the ACBL web site.

Something new at the poker room

I'm not going to be able to play poker for a while, so I went to the Gold Strike (Tunica) tonight. The poker dealers there are good. They handle the table and seldom make a mistake.

One mistake I occasionally see is when they prematurely turn and burn. What that means is this: The flop is dealt, the players bet, the dealer burns a card and puts the turn card out there. Then a player says "Wait, I didn't get to bet." That one is simple. The turn card is set aside. The player(s) left get to complete their action. Then the dealer burns a card and a new turn card is dealt. The betting then goes as usual. Before dealing the river, the card that was mistakenly dealt on fourth street is put back in the deck. What's left of the deck is shuffled, and the river is dealt without burning a card. One time I saw the same card that was put back in the deck dealt on the river!

I play almost every weekend, and I've seen the above maybe once every six months -- it happens. But what I saw tonight, I've never seen before. Here's the scenario: We were playing Limit Omaha-8 $4/8 with a half kill. The game was wild and crazy. On this one particular hand, the betting (preflop) was capped at $20 with seven players seeing a flop! That means there was roughly $140 out there -- who says you can't win money in a limit game?

The flop was dealt: ♥J ♠10 ♣10. Somebody bet, another player raised, and five players saw the turn. The dealer dealt the ♥A. A player checked, another bet, and it was called until it got to the button who raised. The guy who checked folded and everyone else called.

At this point the dealer said "Oh my god, just a minute folks. I've never done this before. Floor!" The floor came over and the dealer explained that she had burned twice before dealing the ace of hearts. What do you think the ruling is?

The floor had the players pull back their bets ($8 each), and had the dealer pull back the ♥A. He took the second burn card (which was face down), and had her put it on the board as the turn card: ♦8. Players started mumbling, but the floor took charge and explained that he was correcting the dealer error and the cards were now exactly as they were supposed to be. This made sense, if you think about it. There was another round of betting. Now he had her take the ♥A and use it as the burn card, and the river was dealt. The cards were back in order.

What happened? The players checked to the button who bet, one of them called him, and he turned over ♥10 ♦10. He had flopped quads!


I've played at the five casinos in tunica that have poker rooms, but I'm particularly high on the Gold Strike.

Image by MOJO and taken with my P&S.

Poker pearl #33

Mike Sexton was recently selected to the Poker Hall of Fame. He is a good player (two bracelets), but is better known for other things. He, along with Vince Van Patton, was the voice of the World Poker Tour. About the time poker exploded, he was on TV each week, and did a good job. Now, I watch poker on TV when I think about it. Back then, I never missed, and if I couldn't watch, I recorded it.

Sexton was also one of the main players in Party Poker surging to the top of online poker sites. He met with the PP programmers and guided them in the software development.

Sexton is also a bridge player and a member of the ACBL. He doesn't play anymore, but still pays his dues. I like to think it's so he can get the magazine each month, lol.

Image is a scan of the latest Card Player magazine.

Poker pearl #32

From the latest issue of All In magazine (image scanned above):

"I would have liked to apply for the role of Brutus."

-- Doyle Brunson, after Phil Hellmuth made his second entrance as Julius Caesar, this time at the WSOP Europe.

Surrounded by robots

I've been playing online in ACBL Individual Robot Tournaments at BBO. The bots often don't defend well against notrump contracts, but they can be surprisingly effective versus suit contracts.

                Dummy
                ♠ J 9
                ♥ A 9 4
                ♦ Q 7 3
                ♣ 8 6 5 4 3
                                You
                                ♠ A K 5
                                ♥ Q 10 8 3
                                ♦ 9 8 6 2
                                ♣ Q 10

You are defending as East. The bidding: There were three passes to South who opened 1♣. Your partner overcalled 1♦, dummy bid 2♣, you raised to 2♦, and South ended the auction with 3♣. Partner led the ♠3 to your king. Now what?

If partner had the ♦A K, they would have led that, so declarer is marked with a singleton ace or king. You need to switch to a heart, but which heart?

Actually, East was a robot, and it shifted to the ♥10. Here are all four hands:

                ♠ J 9
                ♥ A 9 4
                ♦ Q 7 3
                ♣ 8 6 5 4 3
♠ 8 7 6 3                      ♠ A K 5
♥ K 5                          ♥ Q 10 8 3
♦ A J 10 5 4                   ♦ 9 8 6 2
♣ 9 7                          ♣ Q 10
                ♠ Q 10 4 2
                ♥ J 7 6 2
                ♦ K
                ♣ A K J 2

I covered with the jack, West played the king and I won the ace. After drawing trumps, I exited with a spade. East won, led to West's ♦A, and it led another heart through dummy's 9, down one. Notice that it doesn't do any good for me to duck the ♥K. To make my contract, I have to know that East is making a surrounding play and withhold the ♥J. Deep Finesse says that then I can make it.

The bot made what is called a surrounding play. I'm surprised it found that. Why doesn't my robot partner make nice plays like that when we're on defense? You can read more about surrounding plays here or here.

Down one was a score of 38.29%. You can see all the scores if you click here.

Rueful Rabbit takes the long road home

The attendance at the Safari Club was larger than usual. It was club championship night and winners would receive extra monkey-points. Everyone claimed they played for the enjoyment of the game, but when extra points were at stake, for some reason there were more than the usual number in attendance. The animals whispered among themselves that they heard humans were the same way.

On this last board of the last round, the Rueful Rabbit was sitting South and was declarer in 3NT:

                ♠ K Q 4 2
                ♥ J 4 3
                ♦ Q 10 8 2
                ♣ 3 2
♠ J 8                          ♠ 10 9 7 6 5
♥ Q 10 8 7 6                   ♥ 9 5
♦ A K 7 6                      ♦ J 5
♣ 6 5                          ♣ Q J 10 7
                ♠ A 3
                ♥ A K 2
                ♦ 9 4 3
                ♣ A K 9 8 4

       West   North   East   South
       1♥    Pass    Pass    Dbl
       Pass   1♠     Pass    1NT
       Pass   3NT    All Pass

If West had led a heart, the Rueful Rabbit could put up the jack and make the contract easily. He could play on clubs and take three clubs, three hearts and three spades.

Instead, West led the ♦K and followed with a low one. The rabbit played low and East won the ♦J and shifted to a heart. The Rabbit won his ace and led a third round of diamonds, establishing the ♦Q. West won and exited with the ♠J, taken by the ace.

The Rabbit could still only count eight tricks. As he was deciding what to do, the ♥2 fell out of his hand onto the table. West was quick to grab his ♥Q and exit with another spade.

All four hands looked like this:

                ♠ K 4
                ♥ J
                ♦ Q 
                ♣ 3 2
♠ ---                      ♠ 10 9 5
♥ 10 7 6                   ♥ ---
♦ 7                        ♦ ---
♣ 6 5                       ♣ Q J 10
                ♠ ---
                ♥ K
                ♦ ---
                ♣ A K 9 8 4

Molly the Mule, the club's best kibitzer, was watching. "The Rabbit is in trouble now," she whispered to Billy Beaver. "The spade return killed the communication for a squeeze." Molly's advice was free and worth at least that much.

The Rabbit cashed dummy's ♦Q and when it was his turn to play, the ♥K fell on the table. "Oh, my," said the Rabbit. "I guess it doesn't matter, the ♥J is good anyway, or at least maybe it is. Let me think."

Finally, the RR cashed the ♥J and East was squeezed between the black suits -- making 3NT.

After the session, the Hideous Hog was dining and enjoying a bottle of fine wine -- Molino de Puelles 2004. Several of the other animals were gathered around. They enjoyed listing to the HH's evaluation of the evening's bridge game. The Hog wasn't afraid to say how he felt.

"The Rueful Rabbit is so lucky. He can't play the ♦Q at trick two and make it. He can also play on clubs, but he doesn't bother," said the Hog. "He doesn't think to try and set up his longest and strongest suit, but then accidentally finds a way to rectify the count, and then is accidentally able to keep his communications fluid with his spectacular 'discard.' It's a good thing that I'm so great I don't have to rely on luck."

The Hog wasn't shy when it came to evaluating his own game.

"This is a mature wine that has a satisfying feel and a great aftertaste on the palette. Waiter! Another bottle."

I'm royalty

My first royal flush in a while. I was killing time in a penny online Omaha-8 game.

I've had a royal live -- it was in a $1/2 NL hold 'em game at Sam's Town Casino in Tunica. I hit it on the river and had two others all in with me. $700 pot and the casino was having a special for royals -- they paid me another $200! Too bad I can't do that more often.

Rueful Rabbit pulls the wrong card

The animals were more excited than usual -- the Safari Club was holding a special game. Animals from the nearby Menagerie Club were invited, and winners would receive extra monkey-points.

With one board to go, Mike the Moose and Pete Pelican were in the lead. They faced off against Wally the Walrus partnered with the Rueful Rabbit:

                ♠ A K 7
                ♥ A K 6 5
                ♦ A Q 2
                ♣ Q 7 3
==
                ♠ 9
                ♥ J 9 8 7 3 2
                ♦ 7 4
                ♣ A 8 6 5

       West   North   East   South
       3♠    3NT     Pass   4♥
       Pass   6♥     All Pass

Mike the Moose opened 3♠, Wally bid 3NT and it was up to the Rueful Rabbit. He decided to run to 4♥ because he was so weak. The Walrus raised to slam. Even with the RR at the helm, there must be a good play for it.

It was the last board of the session. The other animals crowded around to watch, and the excitement was high. If the Rueful Rabbit went down, the Moose and the Pelican would win the event.

The Moose led the ♣9, an obvious singleton. With the ♣K on his right, the Rueful Rabbit knew the contract was likely to fail.

"He has no chance," whispered Molly the Mule to Billy Beaver. "The diamond finesse works, but he has two sure club losers." Molly was known to be one of the best players in the club, after she saw all four hands, and she liked to show off her ability.

The RR played low and won his ace. With my luck, the trumps won't split thought the Rabbit. There was nothing he could do about that, so he led a heart to the board -- both opponents followed. The RR drew a second round of trumps, and the ♥Q dropped on his left. Was that the last one? The RR could never be sure, so he led a third round to his ♥J. He'd felt proud of himself that he'd made this advanced play -- he'd heard it called a lurker check.

His finesses never won, but the Rabbit had to try. He played a diamond to the queen -- it won! He played the ♦A and another, ruffing in hand. The Rabbit knew he would have to lead a club at some point, but he decided to wait. Sometimes, good things happened.

The RR led to the ♠A, played the ♠K and discarded one of his losing clubs. He continued with the ♠7 and trumped it.

When he looked down, he had pulled the wrong card! Instead of playing a heart, he had played another club! The Rabbit's ears turned red -- how humiliating. The Moose gave him a dirty look and led a spade. Here were all four hands:

                ♠ A K 7
                ♥ A K 6 5
                ♦ A Q 2
                ♣ Q 7 3
♠ Q J 10 8 5 3 2             ♠ 6 4
♥ Q 4                        ♥ 10
♦ K 8 3                      ♦ J 10 9 6 5
♣ 9                          ♣ K J 10 4 2
                ♠ 9
                ♥ J 9 8 7 3 2
                ♦ 7 4
                ♣ A 8 6 5

The Rueful Rabbit ruffed in dummy and played his last club. He made his slam! The other animals were buzzing. The Moose and the Pelican had lost the tournament, and had sour looks on their faces.

Later the animals were discussing this hand. Hideous Hog was holding court, accompanied by a bottle of 1992 Pinot Grigio.

"Couldn't West have led from ♣K 10 9?" asked the Hog. "In any event, it can't cost to play the ♣Q at trick one.

"The Rabbit didn't bother doing that, but it worked out. Even when he pulls the wrong card, the bridge gods look out for him.

"This wine has a nice balance," said the Hog. "It's just corky enough and quite lively. Waiter! Another bottle."

Poker champ on Letterman show

Joe Cada, WSOP ME champ, was on David Letterman last night (thanks to O-Poker for the heads up). He looked like he'll be a good representative for poker -- down to earth, modest and all that.

Letterman did get him to admit he lost $100,000 in one day once. I think Cada should have sidestepped that question -- it makes poker sound like a wild gambling game when we should be promoting what a great hobby it is, how there's so much skill to it, etc.

Letterman (teasing): Why don't you get a real job, make some real money?
Cada: You sound like my Mom.

UPDATE:
After posting this, I see that Short Stack Shamus did a full review of Cada's appearance. To read it, go here.

Know your customer

I played live $1/2 NL hold 'em Saturday. A guy joined the table and sat to my immediate right. The first hand he straddled. When the betting got around to him, he raised and everyone folded. The next hand he raised again at his turn.

Mr. Aggro played just about every hand, and played them aggressively. Here's an example: The guy to his right raised preflop to $12, and he was the only caller. The flop was Q-Q-X rainbow. The preflop raiser had about $60 left, and bet $12. The aggressive guy moved all in. The preflop guy said: "I have to call. If you have a queen you've got me," and turned over A-A. The next two cards were dealt and Mr. Aggro mucked. He was representing a queen, that he didn't have.

Even though guys like Mr. Aggro can be tough, I love playing them. Two orbits later, several limped, Mr. Aggro limped, and I raised to $17 from the button -- only Mr. Aggro called. The flop was ♠A ♣10 ♦2. He checked and I bet $20 into about a $40 pot -- he called. The turn was the ♥5. He checked and I checked. The river was the ♥9 and Mr. Aggro bet $50.

I called and turned over ♥A ♥K. Mr. Aggro mucked.

I never saw what he had, but because I checked the turn, he thought it was his duty to take the pot away from me. Whoa, buddy, not so fast. Besides winning a nice pot, there were meta-game considerations. The next time that situation comes up, he may not be so fast to try and steal from a nice old man like me.

Racing the robots

I've been playing bridge with the robots on the BBO web site. For those not familiar, it's run like an individual. All the humans sit South and play with a GIB robot. The two opponents are also bots. Your job is to learn how the robots play, then introduce a strategy that will maximize your chances to get good boards. The main rule to remember is this: All's fair in love and bridge cyberland.

Glen Ashton played with the bots extensively during October. He has written a series of posts describing his interaction with them. I don't believe the bridge world is in any danger of being taken over by the robots, but, on the other hand, they don't play any worse than the average club player.

In one of his posts, Glen advocates the One Away Rule: you can open 1NT if you are within 1 point of 15-17 and one card away from a balanced distribution. The idea is to hog the contract. Hey, you play them so beautifully, why not? Anybody can let a bot declare. It takes a real human to grab the reins.

I tried this philosophy/strategy Monday on this deal:

                ♠ 6 5
                ♥ K 10 8
                ♦ Q 9 6 3
                ♣ A J 8 3
♠ J 2                          ♠ Q 9 4 3
♥ A J 9 5                      ♥ Q 4 2
♦ K 10 7 2                     ♦ J 8 5
♣ Q 7 4                        ♣ 10 9 5
                ♠ A K 10 8 7
                ♥ 7 6 3
                ♦ A 4
                ♣ K 6 2

I opened 1NT and the North Bot bid 3NT. The West Bot led the ♠J! Because I bid as I did, West's circuits heated up with 4.2 million simulations, and decided his partner likely had five or more spades. Hey, if it doesn't work out, his partner couldn't yell at him -- these robots haven't learned speech yet.

I won and advanced the ♣6 to the jack. Next I led a spade to the 10, and cleared spades -- setting up my fifth card in the suit. When clubs split, I had nine tricks, even though I took only one trick in the red suits (I could have arranged to take three -- low diamond, win the return in hand and lead up to the ♥K). I didn't need to do that, and was taking no chances. I could see that making 3NT would be a huge result. In fact it was 100%. Actually, bidding 1NT or 2NT, making three, would have been 81.82%.

Detractors might ask: Is this bridge or a turkey shoot? My answer is that I didn't make the rules, I'm just playing by them. In fact, isn't playing in just about any club game or sectional or regional tournament just as much a turkey shoot? I believe you know the answer to that one.

The board was played 25 times, and you can see all the results, if you click here.

Getting the news

                ♠ Q 7 2
                ♥ A K 9 7 4
                ♦ A 5
                ♣ 6 4 3
♠ 4                            ♠ K 8 5 3
♥ 10 8 6 5                     ♥ 3
♦ Q J 10 9 3                   ♦ K 8 6 4 2
♣ K J 2                        ♣ Q 10 5
                ♠ A J 10 9 6
                ♥ Q J 2
                ♦ 7
                ♣ A 9 8 7

North-South wore rose-colored glasses, and bid to an optimistic 6♠. West led the ♦Q taken in dummy with the ace.

South could see that he needed the trump finesse and no bad splits to make his slam. Five spade tricks, five hearts and two aces add to 12 tricks.

Declarer led the ♠Q and another to his jack. Next he led the ♥2 to dummy to repeat the trump finesse. He cashed the ♠A, drawing the last trump, and led the ♥Q. When East showed out, the slam could no longer be made.

Where did declarer go wrong? Let's go back to trick four. Declarer should have led the ♥Q to the ace (instead of the ♥2). Now, after East's trumps are extracted, declarer plays the ♥J, getting the news. The heart suit now runs after a finesse to the ♥9.

Should declarer know to do this? East could have had four hearts, after all. If so, South can't do anything about it. Besides, because East has four trumps, he isn't as likely to hold four hearts as well.

A stepping stone, sort of

One of the rarest plays in bridge is a steppingstone squeeze. It's a situation in which declarer can win all but one of the remaining tricks, but doesn't have the transportation back and forth to collect them all.

The Bridge World magazine defines a steppingstone this way: A squeeze in which an opponent is either forced on lead to provide a missing entry or threatened with the use of a blocked winner as an entry. You can read the Wikipedia description here.

I've been playing on Bridgebase Online (BBO) with the robots. You can blame Glen Ashton. He did it during the month of October, and wrote a series of posts about his experiences. You can go here and work your way back, if interested. If not interested, read his blog anyway -- it's first-class.

I played 3NT in a battle of the bots on this deal:

               ♠ 6 5
               ♥ 4 2
               ♦ A Q 9 8 7
               ♣ 10 8 7 5
==
               ♠ A J 10 4
               ♥ K Q 10 3
               ♦ K
               ♣ A J 6 4

I opened 1♣, Robot North bid 1♦ and Robot East overcalled 1♠. I jumped to 2NT, North bid 3♣, and I ended the auction with 3NT.

West led the ♥6. I played low from dummy and East won the ace. Don't you love it. Instead of West leading what East suggested, he led his own moth-eaten suit. East shifted to the ♠K. I won and tried the effect of a low club from hand. West won the ♣Q (East playing the 9!), and exited with the ♠8 to East's queen.

I won the spade continuation with the ♠J and West discarded the ♥9. Could the ♥J now be dropping? Not likely - the robots love to falsecard.

I now had these tricks: three spades, two hearts, three diamonds and one club. The problem was, however, I couldn't untangle them because my ♦K was singleton. Not to worry -- I cashed my top spades, top hearts, my diamond king while West discarded a club and a diamond. Next, I exited with a heart to West's jack. Upon winning, he (is a robot a he, couldn't it be a she, or maybe an it), had to lead a diamond to the board, or a club into my tenace. No matter how the East-West cards divided, West had to be the victim of a steppingstone or an endplay.

Here are all four hands:

               ♠ 6 5
               ♥ 4 2
               ♦ A Q 9 8 7
               ♣ 10 8 7 5
♠ 8 2                         ♠ K Q 9 7 3
♥ J 9 7 6 5                   ♥ A 8
♦ 4 3                         ♦ J 10 6 5 2
♣ K Q 3 2                     ♣ 9
                ♠ A J 10 4
                ♥ K Q 10 3
                ♦ K
                ♣ A J 6 4

The board was played 34 times and 3NT made 13 times (results here), so I had company. Still, I thought the ending was elegant.

Rueful Rabbit plays slowly and carefully

This was the last board played at the Safari Club's annual Charity Game. The winning pair would get their names inscribed on the prestigious Ostrich Egg Trophy.

                ♠ K Q 10 7
                ♥ Q 7 6
                ♦ A 5 4
                ♣ 6 5 2
♠ 3                             ♠ 2
♥ A K J 10 4 2                  ♥ 9 8 5 3
♦ J 9 3                         ♦ Q 10 7 6
♣ A 9 3                         ♣ Q J 10 8
                ♠ A J 9 8 6 5 4
                ♥ ---
                ♦ K 8 2
                ♣ K 7 4

The auction was the same at all tables. South opened 1♠, West overcalled 2♥ and North cuebid 3♥ (showing a limit raise or better). When East bid 4♥, South had an easy 4♠ call.

The play was short and sweet at most tables. West led the ♥K, ruffed. Declarer drew the outstanding trumps with one lead, and advanced a club from the table. The defense collected three clubs and was sure to take a diamond -- down one.

The Rueful Rabbit was playing slower than usual, and his was the last table to play. His partner was Polly Peacock. She hadn't yelled at him once, so he was trying to play slowly and carefully. The RR didn't know if that meant he was playing better than usual, or that she was nicer than most of his partners. As it happened, the Rabbit was in contention for first place! If he won, wouldn't that be amazing?

West led the ♥K, low from dummy, low from East and the declarer, the Rueful Rabbit, dropped a diamond on the table. "Oops, I meant to ruff," he said.

The Tournament Director was called, and the ruling was that a played card is a played card -- his misplay had to stand. Polly Peacock didn't say anything, but she gave him a look.

West shifted to a diamond. The RR felt the pressure. He won in hand, played a trump the king, ruffed a heart, then played a diamond to the ace.

"How can I recover?" the RR asked himself. Well, he thought, I'm not down yet. He ruffed a diamond in hand. Now what? He didn't know what to do, so stalled by leading a trump to the board.

Is that ♥Q good, he wondered. Yes, I believe it is, he thought. So, the Rueful Rabbit led it and discarded the ♣4 from his hand. West won this with the ace, but was now endplayed. A ruff-sluff would be trick 10, and a club exit would mean the Rabbit's ♣K would be good. Either way, the RR made his contract and won the event!

After the game, the Hideous Hog was holding court in the restaurant. The other animals loved to listen to his postmortem. The HH was drinking a bottle of 1995 Chteau Margaux. "The fragrance is so passionate," he announced. "This vineyard has learned the art of creating a hint of youthful spicy aroma -- just exquisite."

"The Rueful Rabbit is amazing," proclaimed the Hog. "He can barely follow suit, and isn't even capable of ruffing a loser. Yet, I have to admit he wins more than his ability would say. Perhaps he was born under a good sign -- the stars watch out for the little fellow. There's something in that."

"I'm thirsty!" exclaimed the Hog. "Waiter! Another bottle."

Facebook invaded

I've read that hundreds of Facebook groups have been hijacked. At first, Facebook denied it, but it's true. To read about this, click here.

Now, attackers have released a newer, more powerful version of the Koobface virus. (Koobface is an anagram of Facebook.) More than 300 Facebook groups have been taken over in the last few days. From what I've read, it infects a PC, then sends messages and wall postings to that computer owner's friends. If the friends follow the links, they can end up infected, too.

To protect yourself, do the stuff you've already heard you should do. Keep your virus protection up to date. If a link looks suspicious, even if from someone you know, don't follow it. If you find yourself on a page that is asking you to download a software update, don't do it.

You can read more about it here.

13 bloggers left in NFL eliminator series

At first there were 43, and it looked so easy. All you had to do was pick an NFL winner each week -- how hard could that be? Well, harder than you might think as there are now only 13. I'm talking about the NFL Eliminator Series that bloggers are playing in.

Two of my favorite bloggers, Lightning 36 and CK of BWoP are still in, as am I.

It only gets harder and harder, however, because you can only pick each team one time. Heck, I'd like to pick Indianapolis each week, too, but that isn't allowed. I did pick some bad teams early. I picked San Francisco, Buffalo (!) and a couple of other pretty bad teams. Why? Well, I have saved some good teams to pick in the coming eight weeks: Pittsburgh, Minnesota, New England, Dallas (at home against Oakland, yum!), Arizona (at home against St. Louis, more yum), Denver (at home against Oakland, super yum) and Cincinnati.

We'll see how it goes, but I want to win *really* bad. Bragging rights among bloggers -- it doesn't get any better than that.

Are/were you in a group? Are you still alive?

Preserve your assets

               ♠ 8 5 4
               ♥ A 9 6 5
               ♦ J 9 7
               ♣ A 10 9
♠ K 9                        ♠ 6 3
♥ K J 10 8 4 3 2             ♥ ---
♦ 2                          ♦ A Q 10 8 5 3
♣ Q 7 3                      ♣ K J 8 6 2
               ♠ A Q J 10 7 2
               ♥ Q 7
               ♦ K 6 4
               ♣ 5 4

South opened 1♠, West overcalled 2♥, North competed to 2♠, and East was stuck for a bid. They played that a double was a good raise to 3♥, so a responsive double was not available.

This passed out and West led the ♦2. East won the ace and returned the suit. South did well to duck, West ruffing. The ♥K was returned to the ace, and East ruffed. A second diamond ruff was followed by a second heart ruff. Declarer was booked before gaining the lead, and he still had a club to lose.

Do you see how South could do better?

At trick three, West led the ♥K. If declarer ducks, East can do no better than discard. East will ruff the next heart and give West a second diamond ruff, but the contract will be safe. Declarer can win the next trick, draw the last trump, cross to dummy with the ♣A (or the ♠8), and discard the club loser on the preserved ♥A.

It's an illusion

After South opened 2NT and was raised to 3NT, West led the ♠J on this layout:

                ♠ A Q 7
                ♥ 10 6 4
                ♦ 9 7 5 4
                ♣ 9 5 4
==
                ♠ K 5 4
                ♥ A K Q
                ♦ A J 10
                ♣ A 10 7 3

Declarer won with the queen, and led a diamond and finessed the jack. This lost to the ♦K, and West led another spade. South won in dummy, and finessed again by leading the ♦5 to the 10. Do you agree with this?

The ♦10 lost to the ♦Q (West had falsecarded). West cleared spades, and there was no longer any way to take nine tricks.

Here are all four hands:

                ♠ A Q 7
                ♥ 10 6 4
                ♦ 9 7 5 4
                ♣ 9 5 4
♠ J 10 9 8 3                   ♠ 6 2
♥ 9                            ♥ J 8 7 5 3 2
♦ K Q 8 6                      ♦ 3 2
♣ Q 8 2                        ♣ K J 6
                ♠ K 5 4
                ♥ A K Q
                ♦ A J 10
                ♣ A 10 7 3

UPDATE:
The question was: Do you agree with declarer's play? The answer is no. It's true that you take nine tricks if the diamond honors are divided. But the double hook in diamonds is an illusion. There is a better play. Do you see where declarer went wrong?

Here's a better plan. Win the spade lead with the king. Play the ♦A, followed by the ♦J. Win the spade return in dummy (a shift to another suit by the defense is no better), and lead to the ♦10. This makes dummy's ♦9 good. That's three spades, three hearts, two diamonds and one club.

Poker pearl #31

Scott Montgomery made the final table of the WSOP Main Event in 2008 as a member of the (first) November Nine. In the latest issue of Card Player magazine (scan of cover above), he was asked what sorts of things was he looking for to spot a bluff.

Beyond reading bluffs is convincing people not to bluff you. That's why having an image as someone who makes crazy river calls with bottom pair defintely helps a lot in tournaments. Pull a couple of those a day, and you'll scare people into not bluffing you.

Easily the best

Before his brutal murder in 1985 (which was never solved), Barry Crane was considered the best matchpoint player in the world. He had the most ACBL masterpoints, and it wasn't until six years after his death that Paul Soloway overtook him. Crane won the McKenney Trophy, given to the player who wins the most masterpoints in a given year, six times. It's now known as the Barry Crane Top 500.

Crane won all his masterpoints basically as a weekend player. During the week, he was a television director and producer. Mannix and Mission Impossible are two of the better known shows he was connected with. He was also credited with directing numerous episodes of such series as Trapper John, M.D., The Incredible Hulk, Hawaii Five-O, CHiPs, Dallas and Wonder Woman.

Crane would work during the week, then fly on the weekend to whichever regional tournament that appealed to him. He had partners scattered around the U.S. Back in those days, they didn't have a bunch of different events. On Saturday was the Open Pairs, on Sunday the Swiss Teams. The fields were huge, and, every weekend he would win at least one of the events, or so it seemed.

There are many highlights to his bridge career, but winning the World Mixed Pairs in 1978 with Kerry Shuman Sanborn might have been the best. They demolished the international field, winning by five boards!

Crane had an aggressive bidding style. He wasn't as effective in long IMP matches because he refused to shift gears. With Crane, it was his way or else. I remember this at a regional tournament: He was playing with Gunther Polak who's from Chicago. I didn't hear the conversation, but after the afternoon session, Polak must have said something that Crane didn't like. Crane took their convention card and tore it to shreds, and then tossed in on the table.

Crane had lots of rules. He didn't believe in taking saves. He always said: "Only Jesus saves." Also, with a nine-card fit missing the queen, he believed in cashing a high honor, then finessing (most people play for the drop).

When I ask people to give me a Barry Crane story, they invariably want to give me a bridge deal that they played against him,espcially if they had a good result. It's like playing golf with Tiger Woods. Suppose you shot 82 and he shot 68. If you beat him on only one hole, that would be the highlight of your day. The same thing with Crane at bridge.

Guess what? I'm the same way. One of my favorite hands of all time was against Crane. You hold:
♠Q 8 3 ♥A K Q 10 6 5 ♦A 2 ♣K 3.

With none vulnerable, my partner, Jeff Sparks, passed. Crane opened 2♠ -- what would you bid?

I tried 3NT. Q 8 3 of spades is a dangerous holding playing in hearts. Partner was a passed hand, so we weren't going to miss slam, and he rated to have a few values. It passed out, and my left-hand opponent, Tommy Sanders, led the ♠K. These were all four hands (low cards approximate):

                ♠ A 4 2
                ♥ J 8 2
                ♦ 10 8 5
                ♣ Q J 10 5
♠ K 7                         ♠ J 10 9 6 5
♥ 7 4                         ♥ 9 3
♦ Q 9 7 6 4 3                 ♦ K J
♣ A 6 2                       ♣ 9 8 7 4
                ♠ Q 8 3
                ♥ A K Q 10 6 5
                ♦ A 2
                ♣ K 3

I won the ♠A, drove out the ♣A and claimed 12 tricks! Needless to say, this was a top.

Did any of you readers play against Crane? Do you have any stories? If so, leave in the comment section.

Timing is everything

The World Championship of Bridge was held in Yokohama, Japan, in 1991. The U.S. women were allowed two teams to compete for the Venice Cup. For USA2, Rhoda Walsh withdrew, and the team added Lynn Deas.

On paper, USA1 was a powerhouse and the heavy favorite to win. USA2 wasn't give much of a chance. Sometimes things that look one way on paper turn out differently at the table. USA2 went on to win the world championship.

During the round robin phase, all the competing teams played each other, and eight advanced to knockout play. With one round robin match left to play, USA2 was in danger of not qualifying (hands rotated):

                ♠ Q 10 9 2
                ♥ A K 10 7 2
                ♦ ---
                ♣ K Q 9 4
♠ 5 3                          ♠ J 8 4
♥ Q J 8 6 4                    ♥ 9 5 3
♦ A K J 9 8 5                  ♦ Q 7 4
♣ ---                          ♣ J 8 7 6
                ♠ A K 7 6
                ♥ ---
                ♦ 10 6 3 2
                ♣ A 10 5 3 2

       West   North   East   South
                             1♣
       1♦    1♥     Pass    1♠
       2♦    4♦     Pass    4♥
       Pass   5♦     Pass    6♣
       Pass   7♣     All Pass

Deas, South and playing with Stasha Cohen, bid to 7♣ on the layout above. Looking at the North-South hands, it seemed like declarer could ruff two diamonds in the dummy and likely take four spades, two hearts, two ruffs, and five club tricks for 13. The 4-0 trump split, however, meant it wasn't that simple.

West led the ♦K. When the deal was played on Vugraph from the Bermuda Bowl (the open competition), the declarer went set. The commentators, having the advantage of looking at all four hands, analyzed the deal and stated that the grand slam couldn't be made if playing in clubs. The 4-0 split couldn't be overcome.

If Deas went set, her team wouldn't advance, so this was a crucial deal. Do you see how she made it?

Deas saw a layout that gave her a chance, but she had to time it just right. She ruffed the diamond lead in dummy and played the ♣K, getting the bad news. She continued with the ♥A K, discarding a diamond and a spade. The spade she discarded was a winner, so it was tempting to discard two diamonds. Doing so, however, would have been fatal.

Next, declarer ruffed a heart, and played three rounds of spades, ending in dummy. These were the cards that were left:

                ♠ 10
                ♥ 10 7
                ♦ ---
                ♣ Q 9
♠ ---                       ♠ ---
♥ Q J                       ♥ ---
♦ A J 9                     ♦ Q 7
♣ ---                       ♣ J 8 7
                ♠ ---
                ♥ ---
                ♦ 10 6
                ♣ A 10 5

Deas led a heart (anything else would have led to defeat), and it was immaterial what East played. She ruffed the heart, and ruffed a diamond in dummy. Deas led a heart (a spade would work, too) and was able to score her ♣A 10 and ruff her last diamond with the ♣Q.

Making 7♣ meant her team advanced to eventually win the event.

Using all your assets

The master chessplayer must make good use of his pawns to win. Even though they are minor figures, he will lose if they are not used to best advantage. Intermediate spot cards are the same for the bridge player.

               ♠ A Q J 10 5
               ♥ A K J 10 4 2
               ♦ ---
               ♣ A K
♠ K 8 6                     ♠ 7 2
♥ Q 8 7 3                   ♥ ---
♦ Q 8 4                     ♦ A K J 10 9 6 3
♣ Q 6 2                     ♣ J 9 7 4
               ♠ 9 4 3
               ♥ 9 6 5
               ♦ 7 5 2
               ♣ 10 8 5 3

After East opened 3♦, North cuebid 4♦. South bid 4♥ and North raised to 6♥. Six hearts to the ♥A K J 10 4 2 and 22 high-card points -- I wish I always had support like this for my partners!

West led a diamond ruffed in dummy. Declarer cashed the ♥A, noticing that East showed out. Looking at all four hands, what would you do?

South showed how to use his pawns -- the two major-suit 9s. At trick three, he led the ♥J -- this gave West a problem. If West won the queen, the ♥9 would be an entry to the closed hand to finesse in spades. Because winning would be hopeless, West ducked.

Now declarer led the ♠Q from dummy, and West had a different problem. If he won, the ♠9 would be an entry to finesse in trumps, so he ducked again. South followed with the ♠J. West had no answer -- he had to win this, or lose his spade trick.

Declarer ruffed the diamond return, crossed to his ♠9 and finessed West's ♥Q 8 to make his contract.

If South had played on spades before leading the ♥J, the contract can be defeated. Do you see how?

Close, but

...no cigar. I had been getting good cards and winning races, but lost A-K vs. 9-9 at the final table -- that was a killer.

Very short stacked, I ran ♣K ♣8 into ♣A ♥A, oops.

How was your Halloween?

My Halloween was busy -- I grabbed my camera, and visited downtown Memphis. I didn't go in costume -- it's easier to shoot without all that. I was having a good time, though, and I had someone take my photo that you can see in the first image here:



Images by MOJO and taken with my Canon on Beale Street, Memphis TN.