Bridge in the Tri-Cities: Eight Ever Nine Never

Opening Lead: Six of spades.

A much used rule of thumb for bridge players is “Eight ever, Nine Never.” What it means is when you have nine cards in a suit and the ace/king, the odds favor laying down the ace/king with nine and the odds favor taking the finesse with eight. On this hand I had eight clubs and the odds were for taking the finesse.

The Bidding: North cue bid in spades to create a game going auction. South has a spade control and shows it by bidding 2NT. North carries on to game at 3NT.

The Play: Declarer won the opening lead in his hand and had to decide whether to finesse in clubs or play for the drop. He went with the odds and went down two!

What Happened: The overall winners of the event were E/W and managed to bring about a 5-trick set. I will leave it to your imagination to find a way for that to happen. The contract was bid at all eight tables but was only made twice.

Nex Time: I will follow the rule except when there is a reason not to. The odds are not that much in favor of the finesse. Perhaps a peek would be the way to go!

This story was originally published January 21, 2017 at 8:04 PM with the headline "Bridge in the Tri-Cities: Eight Ever Nine Never."