This is the month for being Thankful and appreciative of all we have.  At our last meeting, Kathy reported that due to increased table count and donations made to the club, we actually were in the black!  And, I have great news to share...we are now a 501(c)(3) Charitable Organization!  That means that any donation to the club is now tax deductible up to your personal allowance.  And you can make a donation directly from your IRA, SEP or any other personal tax deferred account (unfortunately not a 401k) and the donation will avoid being taxed at all.  We have a better explanation on our website by clicking here.   We will be sending out an email to our members with more details soon!  Our Thanksgiving Party this year will be a Casserole Contest so search your recipes and find your favorite to share.  The winner will get a trophy!  I love our parties and all of the great food and fellowship.  Nationals start the day after Thanksgiving so we will be off to San Francisco if the airlines are still flying, let's hope so!   I look forward to seeing you all at the club...until next month, Janice

IMPORTANT NOTICE!

Give a Little, Get a Little

Thomas Rush

PlayBridgeWithThomas@gmail.com

♠♥♦♣ ♠♥♦♣ ♠♥♦♣ ♠♥♦♣ ♠♥♦♣ ♠♥♦♣

Out to see my mother in the Palm Springs area, I had a chance to play at the Duncan Bridge Center in Palm Desert, California.  You may have heard of them, it is the 'Duncan' of the very popular Adobe Duncan online games.  Duncan Bridge Studio meets in a fantastic facility which is owned by the club -- so lucky!  On this particular day, they had 14 tables in the open game, and another 14 in a 0-750 game.  My original partner was unable to play at the last moment, and I had the wonderful opportunity to play with Beverly Hartin; the club's learning center is named for her.

Here's a hand that came up in that game; I believe many readers can benefit from it.  You get to the contract of 4♠ by South (hand rotated to make South declarer):

3♣ is preemptive.  Your partner's 4♣ bid was at least limit raise strength with spade support. 

You get the diamond 7 for the opening lead; how do you plan the play?

I asked the opponents about their leads; they lead top of a doubleton, and 4th from length.  I played the Jack from dummy, just in case the lead was from QT7.  It wasn't; East covered the Jack with his Queen and I won my Ace (neither opponent now knew who held the King -- partner, or declarer?).

Now I drew trump in two rounds (nice 2-2 split!), ending in dummy.  Since I'm pretty sure that East has the diamond Ten, I played a low diamond to my nine, which held the trick as West showed out, throwing a small club.  I cashed my remaining high diamond; dummy's diamond 8 is not a winner.  Is it time to play on hearts?  Do you play West to have the Ace, the Queen, both, or neither?  (Think about this before reading on)

Since you are in a trump contract with plenty of trump on this hand, I'm going to suggest that at this stage of the hand it is never going to be time to play hearts.  Specifically, playing hearts now is awful; you risk losing three heart tricks when East has the AQT over dummy's KJ8 -- if you finesse, West wins and still has a tenace over your remaining hearts; he will exit with a club or high diamond, and you'll take the heart finesse a second time, losing three hearts in total.  Do you pat yourself on the back for that result -- after all, you made your bid!

I don't think you should congratulate yourself. Why guess a suit, when you can get the opponents to take away your guessing?

In the position above, instead of playing on hearts, play the club Ace, and a club to dummy's King.  Now play the diamond 8 and resist the urge to trump. Instead, pitch your low heart.  This puts East on lead at a time when he doesn't want to be on lead -- a classic endplay.  If East leads a diamond or a club, he gives you a ruff and sluff, allowing you to pitch another heart from your hand while you ruff in dummy.  You'll lose only one heart and one diamond.  If East instead decides to lead a heart, he's leading into dummy's KJx, ensuring that you only have one heart loser (no matter who has the Ace, your King will win a heart trick) plus the diamond you used to endplay East.

Making 11 tricks on this hand was an 88% board -- being willing to give a little (the diamond trick) got you a lot!

Some comments about the hand:

1. Don't just settle for the first line of play that occurs to you.  Maybe you're better off setting up a long suit, or endplaying one of your opponents.  If you stop at "Oh, a finesse!  Let's go!", you'll consistently get below average boards on many hands.  Find the best line!
2. When you want to set up an endplay, eliminate the suits that give your opponents 'safe' exits.  Here, we had to eliminate the club suit from both N and S hands so that a club lead from East would give us an extra trick from the ruff/sluff, and his other choice (a heart) would allow our King to score a trick.
3. On this particular hand, declarer could eliminate clubs and then ruff that 4th diamond, finally leading a heart to dummy's Jack to endplay East... but I see many people who don't realize that, and who fail to eliminate the 'safe exit' suits first.
4. The hand is below.  You can replay it and try out different lines of play by using this link: https://tinyurl.bridgebase.com/yckjaku8

The moral of the hand?  Don't think you should take a finesse just because you could take a finesse.  Sometimes, you have to give the opponents something to get your best result on a hand -- they'll often help you if you set up the hand correctly.

♠♥♦♣ ♠♥♦♣ ♠♥♦♣ ♠♥♦♣ ♠♥♦♣ ♠♥♦♣

Do you have other interesting hands from recent games?  One where you pulled off a coup, or you can't figure out how to take more tricks?  Send me an email with a description, and I may write it up in a future column.  PlayBridgeWithThomas@gmail.com

Carol's Corner for November BCOH newsletter    

     Again I want to thank our members who shared their thoughts about Helen Pruitt for last month's newsletter. Phyllis Dillard expressed a feeling I have heard echoed about Helen. First she describes Helen as "a dear friend I cherish greatly. She was the link for many in transitioning from 'party bridge' to duplicate. Plus' she was never hesitant to play with a beginner as we moved on to the 'BIG Game!' And today she still mentors me!" Helen would provide practice hands, handouts, and a game for beginners after those wonderful lessons by Julie Halperin. And that's just some of Helen's selfless work for the Club. Would that all of us bridge players could leave such a legacy, huh?

     I need to make a correction. Apparently most of those games to which Helen was so adept at shepherding new players were directed by Julie Halperin!!! And this was in addition to Julie's lessons. I am so sorry I didn't get that information in time, Julie, but we also appreciate the hard work of all the others who helped so much with that game.  It has had a lasting effect on building and stabilizing Bridge Club of Houston. Helen is truly beloved by so many of our members, as was her precious daughter and outstanding bridge player Lou Edwards, whom we still miss. It's worth mentioning again that Helen has that 100^th birthday coming up on November 9! I hear there's going to be a BIG CELEBRATION at her favorite Mexican restaurant, so we all want to wish Helen Pruitt a Very Happy Birthday!!! And Felíz Cumpleaños!

     As always, if you have anybody you would like to see featured, just let me know. You may reach me at carolwilson@earthlink.net or (281) 642-4050.

     See you at the tables!!

When your aces are behind their kings, don't let them score their kings.

By Jeff Kroll

W 2S (weak)

Passed out.  South doesn't have the shape to make a takeout double with the singleton diamond, and the hand and clubs are to not good enough for a 3C bid,  Plus having 4 spades to the King and 2 outside aces are great for defense)

North leads the 3 of clubs (a low card should promise an honor, so I know North has the Queen of clubs.  East rises with the King and I win the ace.

After 3 club tricks and the Ace of diamonds.  North gives me a diamond to ruff leaving this position.

I must lead a low spade.  If I play a heart, it make East's King good.  If I play a club, West will pitch a losing heart and trump with the ace.   Then play the King of hearts putting me in with the Ace.  But then declarer loses only the King of spades after that as declarer's trumps are solid.

Cashing the ace of hearts, sets the contract but leads to a poor result.

After the spade lead. A diamond is led from dummy, as declarer doesn't want to lead away from the King of hearts and lose 2 hearts for sure.

I ruff.

Now I can return a club as East is out of trump.  West ruffs and I get 2 heart tricks/

The defense took:

The king of spades

2 ruffs

the ace of diamonds

2 hearts

2 clubs

8 total tricks - down 3

At the other tables:

For Newer Players

Lessons, Lessons, Lesson & Practice, Practice, Practice

New Lessons sessions coming in 2026 - Bridge in a Day and MORE!

0-50 Bridge Game, every Sunday at 1:30 PM for $5, For more info:  BridgewithCarol@gmail.com, 936-650-8180

FREE Lessons with Susan Banks-Johnson every Tuesday at 9:30 AM

In Person at the club:

• Mentor Games:  2nd & 4th Tuesdays @ 10:30 AM
• 299er Games:   Every Saturday at Noon
• I/N Game less than 1000:   Fifth Tuesday of any month​​​

Check the BCOH website calendar for up-to-date information! 
Contact Kas Rangan at 539-210-1333 for info or a partner. 

Online at Choose Houston! (BBO)                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

• Mentor Games              1st & 3rd Mondays @ 7:00 PM
• Open Game                  Every Thursday @ 7:00 PM         
• 0-20 Game                   2nd Saturday @ 9:00 AM (usually)

BBO Virtual club games

When you play on BBO, we ask that you play in SE Carolina or Choose Houston games whenever possible.
The BCoH home page has a link to SE Carolina's website and a schedule for Choose Houston games.

Choose Houston has an open game every Thursday at 7 p.m. and a Mentor/Mentee game on the first and third Mondays at 7 p.m. To be a mentee, a player must have fewer than 300 masterpoints and must pay for their own entry as well as the entry of their mentor.  If you need a mentor or wish to mentor someone, please contact Mike Linkins via Email:  mlinkins@swbell.net.

And always check the BCOH Website for more!

 Regular Club Game Schedule                                                         

Special Events at BCOH in November

          Parties begin at 11:15 am unless otherwise noted with food - meat provided, please bring sides to share - games at noon.                                                               

Next Newsletter deadline is November 15!  Don't miss out on getting your year-end and early New Year's info to our readers!