After all the adversity Unlucky Louie has faced in my club’s penny game, he’s become something of a fatalist.

“If my ship ever came in,” Louie said to me, “it would be a hardship.”

Louie blames his poor results on bad luck despite all the evidence to the contrary. When he played at today’s four spades, West led the jack of diamonds and a diamond to East’s ten. Louie ruffed and wanted to ruff his heart loser in dummy: At Trick Two he led a low heart.

East won and led a high diamond, and Louie was in the soup. If he ruffed with the ace, he would lose two trumps; when he ruffed low, West overruffed with the ten, and East still got a trump trick. Down one.

“Another hardship case,” Louie groaned. “I make the contract if West has three trumps.”

Louie’s approach was wrong. After he ruffs the second diamond, he takes the A-K of trumps. He ruffs a diamond, leads a club to dummy, ruffs a diamond and leads more clubs. The defense gets only East’s high trump and a heart.

Daily question: You hold: ? A 7 6 4 2 ? A 6 3 ? 6 ? K Q 10 6. You open one spade, your partner bids two clubs, you raise to three clubs and he tries 3NT. What do you say?

Answer: I would be reluctant to play at notrump. I would pass with KQJ92,A6,76,K1065 — with semibalanced pattern and a source of winners in spades — but on the actual hand, slam is possible. Bid five clubs or cue-bid four hearts. If partner has 8,KQ5,A873,AJ984, you make six clubs.

East dealer

Both sides vulnerable

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