Jack Doubletons in Columbia

One more day left in the Columbia regional. We have amassed 45 points somehow, but this is the story of the jack doubletons.

In the first KO, in which we finished 3rd/4th, I went down in a slam when I finessed for the HJ holding Qx opposite AKTxx. I knew that clubs split 6-2 and in another side suit each opponent had at least two but that's as much of a count as I could get before having to decide on the heart suit. Apparently the odds still didn't sway in favor of taking the hook, but that one didn't really matter in the outcome of the match - we won anyway.

The next one comes from the second round of the second KO and cost us another date with Joyce Hill's team in the semis.

-
AKTxxx
AQxxx
KQ

QTxxx
Q9
KTx
xxx

We were white and they were red, and lho opened 2S in 3rd seat. This pair plays weak twos 3-7 often with a five card suit.

She led a low club, ruffed in dummy, I played a heart to my hand to ruff another spade and seeing no ace decided she opened a five card suit. She then showed three hearts. Now the question is how to play diamonds. If she was somewhat sane, she wouldnt be 5332 so that rules out 5-3-3-2. A 5-3-1-4 hand would be much more suitable to a preempt.

Alas, the lady had Jx of diamonds and I finessed into her. It was a 26 imp swing and we lost that match by 9 (and lost the other match in the three-way by 4).

Thursday in the Swiss I was put to the test again.

Txx
KT9x
Kx
Qxxx

AQJxx
A8xx
Axxx
-

We reached 4S. LHO had overcalled 2D, and the hand eventually came down to getting the heart suit right for no losers. He had dropped the J under the HA and I knew from the play he started with exactly 5 diamonds and 2 spades. This one was pretty easy to work out to drop the QJ doubleton rather than play him for a singleton J and finesse through RHO. The main inference is from  the fact that he did not make an unusual 2NT overcall. with 2-1-5-5 distribution he may well have done that instead of overcalling 2D: Kx, QJ, QJxxx, AJxx is more consistent with the bidding than Kx, J, QJxxx, AJxxx. It was just funny seeing Sean's reaction and being worried that I was going to finesse and lose to yet another jack doubleton.

Winter has had a good time here. The DoubleTree is pet friendly, making this one of my favorite regionals, even if it is a bit on the small side. I really like Columbia. The Riverwalk along the Broad River and Bush River has been a place Winter and I have been almost every day to walk/jog. The final table count will probably be around 1650, substantially down from 2010, but that was kind of expected given its position right between an Atlanta supersectional and the Las Vegas NABC and a Raleigh regional just over a month ago.

Later today I will begin my summer travels, sort of, with 3.5 days at the Atlanta super sectional. It’s already off to an ominous start as team plans dismantled at the last minute. After last weekend’s plans didn’t pan out, I had decided to make no more plans and just play everything by ear. That’s so not me. I got anxious last night and started making plans – or at least attempting to, and that was probably a mistake.

 

Although I’m usually pretty adaptable, I like having a plan because it gives me peace of mind. I recognize that some people simply have difficulty planning ahead, and I’m kind of afraid that I’ll lose them if I push them too much to plan something rather than go along with their non-plan of “I’ll call you when I get free that day.” There’s got to be a happy medium somewhere. Anyway, it’s lunch at Chipotle, bridge with Sean, then brewery and whatever else needs to be done to celebrate David’s birthday today. More of the same tomorrow except it’ll be the nation’s birthday instead of David’s. Saturday and Sunday look about the same, with a tennis match thrown in Saturday morning and possibly an evening session of bridge. Hopefully I’ll get to see all of my Atlanta friends and make some new ones during these evenings with no bridge. It’ll be fun.

 

I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned this before, but I think I actually like these morning and afternoon games, at least when I don’t care about being productive like this Atlanta sectional. Many tournaments, however, I have other responsibilities and things I’d like to accomplish like jogging, playing with the dog, and working on the D7 News or the daily bulletin – the morning and dinner break are much more conducive to productivity than an evening with no bridge.

 

I don’t really have anything actually about bridge today because I haven’t played serious bridge in several months. I’ve been having quite an active social life, and the whole buying and fixing up a condo in Atlanta has taken up a lot of time.