The Rueful Rabbit Strikes Again

Fresh from my previous Rueful Rabbit experience at the 2002 Washington NABC, I am playing with a pick-up partner in the continuous side pair game. Once again I am dealer and I pick up:

AQ4 / K8654 / Q / AQ62

I open 1 and partner responds 3, which we have agreed to play as forcing. There would seem to be a slam in the air, so I bid a control-showing 4, and partner responds with 4. This looks good. I bid 4NT Blackwood (probably unnecessary, but I need the practice), and partner shows two Aces with 5. I bid 6 with pretty fair confidence. West leads the 8.

It seemed like such a normal auction. But the instant partner starts to put down the dummy, he, and everyone else at the table, realizes that he has not one but two diamonds mixed in with his hearts!

	7 5 3 A Q (9 7) A J 10 9 7 K 8 7
	A Q 4 K 8 6 5 4 Q A Q 6 2

W	N	E	S
			1
P	3	P	4
P	4	P	4NT
P	5	P	6
P	P	P

The dummy is greeted with good-natured guffaws, jokes about referring my partner to West's son the ophthamologist, and so forth. But I still have to play 6. Reminding myself not to panic, I play the A, followed by the AQ. The J is covered and ruffed, and the K brings good news as both opponents follow. All that remains is to cross to dummy's K and discard three losers on the 1097.

Just a routine 6 making 7 for +1460 and 8 out of 8 matchpoints. It's better to be lucky than good!

The full hand:

	7 5 3 A Q A J 10 9 7 K 8 7
K J 10 8 6 10 9 3 8 2 J 10 5		9 2 J 7 2 K 6 5 4 3 9 4 3
	A Q 4 K 8 6 5 4 Q A Q 6 2

 

[Washington NABC, Summer 2002. This hand appeared in the Daily Bulletin.]