Unlikely Destination

Lack of updates has become a common theme on ToyBridge lately but when this hand came up I knew I had some great material. I was playing pairs and since it was board 13 everyone was vulnerable.

Partner, West, started off with 1♥ which gave me the impression that he had 5 of them and opening values. North passed which presumably denied a bid. These assumptions will turn out to be false.

Still I held:

♠	6
♥	Q J 8 3
♦	5 3
♣	Q T 9 8 3 2

and the action obvious to me was to bid game in hearts. There's a good chance it'll make and even if it doesn't 3♠ may well make and opponents may misjudge whether or not to bid 4♠.

Another thing I didn't know at the time is that South now had a penalty double available. The axe slammed into 4♥ with a wet thump causing everybody to wince a little. Not to worry though as the double was pulled to 4♠.

West	North	East	South
1♥	Pass	4♥	X
Pass	4♠	?

I'll admit I'm embarrased at how long I thought here, there's no way I have anything more to contribute to this auction. South was visibly distraught that her penalty double hadn't stuck but trying to make the best of a bad situation bid 5♣.

And that's where it ended.

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