STOP CARD OUT OF TURN

By Mike Swanson

'I do so like the Losing Trick Count,' said John. 'It really has helped me to get over my conservatism with unbalanced hands.'

'Yes, I agree,' replied Julie. 'But don't let it take you too far the other way and start bidding like a madman!'

Dealer: West. N/S Vul.     J 10 6 3   -   K 10 9 7 6 4 2   7 3     7 5 2   K 6 3   Q 8 3   Q J 10 5   8 4   J 10 8 2   A   A 9 8 6 4 2     A K Q 9   A Q 9 7 5 4   J 5   K

John couldn't believe his luck. 'Nineteen points and a six-card major and only four losers; it surely must be worth a Benjamin 2 opening,' he thought to himself.

Blissfully unaware that he was not the dealer, John withdrew the 'Stop' card and placed it on the table, at which point Julie screamed out 'John, it's not your turn!'

'Well you'd better complete your bid and then we'll call the Tournament Director,' suggested West.

John, who was all too familiar with such situations, knew better. 'No, my Stop card doesn't constitute a bid. I'll just call the Director now.'

The Tournament Director confirmed John's point of view. 'The Stop card merely constitutes unauthorised information for North, but the information is authorised for East-West. The auction should now proceed as normal starting with West.'

After two passes (Julie would never pre-empt with a four-card major on the side), East perused John's convention card and found himself on the horns of a dilemma. If John just had a weak two in a major, he felt he would be better off passing, but if John had a big hand then a slightly off-centre 3 opening might prove successful. Eventually he decided to pass in the knowledge that John had a certain reputation for getting into a mess on big hands anyway.

West	North	East	South
	Julie		John
Pass	Pass	Pass	2
Pass	2	Pass	3
Pass	4	Pass	4
Pass	5	End

When Julie bid 4, John began to realise the error of his ways as the bidding had gotten very high very quickly. However, he decided that he had better go through with his initial plan and show his second suit. The trouble was that Julie didn't have the faintest idea whether his 4 was a natural bid or a cue bid agreeing diamonds! She decided that she did not dare pass and reasoned that a raise to 5 was the safest course of action. John by now was wishing that he had never picked up this hand and was only too happy to pass.

West led the Q and East took his ace and returned another club, which John ruffed. John could see that the contract seemed to depend on bringing in the diamond suit, so he led the J. When West played small, John decided to play low from dummy as surely West would have risen with the ace if he had it, bearing in mind the seven-card suit on the table. After this successful guess the play continued in a slow and tortured fashion, but John eventually emerged victorious.
The travelling score-slip revealed a top for John and Julie as hardly anybody else had reached game in spades.

'Well, I am happy with the result,' said Julie, 'But I don't think very much of your hand!'
'It was a four-loser hand,' said John defensively.

'Four losers doesn't mean nine winners! I would only have opened one heart on the hand. Perhaps you should only turn to the Losing Trick Count when we have found a fit and rely on good old-fashioned playing-tricks to decide whether your hand is too good to open at the one level,' replied Julie scathingly.

John sighed in the realisation that even being lucky at cards wasn't all that it was cracked up to be.