Bad Beat by Foxymoron

A bad beat in poker is when you are very unlikely to lose but the opponent gets lucky. I remember playing in a €25 Texas Hold'em tournament in Slovenia. My hole cards were ♠A ♦Q and the flop came A♣ Q♥ A♥. I had gone all-in, and my opponent was almost "drawing dead" with a pair of deuces but he caught the other two deuces on the turn and the river to make quads and eliminate me. The origin of the phrase is apparently 17th century from any game of chance.

If I had gone off in 3NT on this hand from last night I would have regarded it as a bad beat. Some declarers even made an overtrick:

The normal lead here is the king of hearts, but this costs a fatal tempo. The only defence is for East to lead the two of clubs to the ace and another club back to North's king. Declarer can finesse the spades and now has three spades, four diamonds and one club, but nowhere to go for the ninth trick. If he plays four rounds of diamonds, East can spare a spade. If they find that defence against you, it is a bit of a bad beat.

The play after the king of hearts lead is quite pretty. Now East has to find the club switch to save the overtrick. Say that he exits with a diamond. Declarer cashes three rounds of these ending in North and now finesses the ten of spades and cashes the 13th diamond. North and East pitch spades, and declarer plays a club from dummy. West does best to go in with the ace and play another one, but North wins with the king and now leads the queen of hearts. West has to duck that or he will have to lead into the T8 of hearts. But on this trick East is squeezed and has to pitch a club, or declarer makes the small spade. Now North crosses to the ace of spades and sets up his tenth trick in clubs. A pretty squeeze. Stefanie Rohan found that line for a joint top.

Jack of Hearts by Foxymoron

The jack of hearts has achieved immortal fame. He was a notorious kleptomaniac in a children's nursey rhyme with a penchant for sweet treats and suffered a beating from the king as a result. More recently he featured in Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts by Bob Dylan, a song also popularised by Joan Baez.

The following version is of good quality, but with the usual five-second ad:

Bob Dylan - Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts (Official Audio) - YouTube

The last four lines are classic:

Lily had already taken all of the dye out of her hair.

She was thinkin' 'bout her father, who she very rarely saw

Thinkin' 'bout Rosemary and thinkin' about the law.

But, most of all she was thinkin' 'bout the Jack of Hearts.

Shelley Shieff and Raoul Fishman were thinkin' 'bout the jack of hearts on the following hand, and both got it right to have a joint top.

Raoul had a diamond lead and won with the ace, ruffed a diamond and drew trumps. Then he played a heart to the king after which he could not go wrong. This was not the best line however, and Shelley did better, ruffing the diamond lead, drawing trumps, cashing the ace of diamonds, pitching a club and then the ace and king of clubs and now playing a heart to the queen. East won and exited with a heart, but she reasoned, correctly, that with the AJx of hearts and KQxxxxx of diamonds East might well open 1D, so she dropped the jack of hearts. I was East and should have given her a harder time by ducking the queen of hearts, and ducking the ten of hearts if it is led from dummy. Now Shelly would have had a losing line of playing me for Jxx of hearts. As Lasker said, once you find a good move, look for a better one.

Claremont by Foxymoron

Our club held its duplicate this week in support of the Claremont Project, a local charity that provides day facilities for the older residents of Islington. It arose from the Claremont Methodist Free Church on the same site as the current building, which has not changed hugely since 1907.

In 1902, after the London Congregational Union acquired Claremont Chapel on Pentonville Road, plans were hatched for the formation of a settlement on the lines of Toynbee Hall, to have 'a rather important Entrance Hall or Vestibule as a means of approach from White Lion Street'. This scheme soon grew to encompass a complete new building in place of Nos 24–27 White Lion Street for the LCU's Central Mission. It was realized in 1906, as the Claremont Institute. The architect was Alfred Conder, who also designed the two-bay extension on the west side, built in 1910, once the site of No. 27 had become available.

The oldest picture I can find of the building shows most of the original facade:

The prestigious surname Claremont comes from the majestic region of Dauphiné, in France. There is a Claremont House in Esher with National Trust gardens. A Claremont Methodist Free Church can be found in places as far apart as Wallasey and Newquay. There are towns, schools and churches worldwide with the Claremont name, some of which will have the same origin.

But back to the bridge. 

No pair bid the excellent Six Clubs on this hand. I wholeheartedly support the Robot's choice of a strong jump shift over 1D, of 3C, showing a good suit. Now, it is a good idea to play that 4C is Minorwood, an asking bid in clubs, a little like Roman Key Card Blackwood. The normal responses are 4D= 0/3, 4H = 1/4, 4S = 2 without the queen and 4NT = 2 with the queen. North would bid 4NT on this hand, as having seven clubs it should show the queen. Of course this would be pearls before swine playing with a robot, and it just bid game.

"Cast pearls before swine" (from the series of "Flemish Proverbs").

Drawing by Pieter Brueghel the Younger (1564–1638).

In like manner the mysteries of the truth, that is, the pearls, are not to be given but to such as desire the truth and live with human reason. If then you cast them to the swine, that is, to such as are grovelling in impurity of life, they do not understand their preciousness, but value them like to other worldly fables, and tread them under foot with their carnal life. - Matthew 7:6

If you don't use Minorwood, then you might just jump to 6C as South immediately. What you don't want to do is play 5C at matchpoints, as over half the field did.

The duplicate raised over £400 for the Claremont, for much-needed medical equipment for the centre, including a vital defibrillator. 

The centre offers a range of classes and events. Membership is free (although donations are welcome) and there is a range of special events and online classes. It is hoped to resume face-to-face classes at some point. More information at www.claremont-project.org