Every player knows that if you are sitting with the A,Q combo in a suit, you want to try and make the Queen good. Get that extra trick and possibly set the other team. But what about trying to pull a finesse if you are NOT the 3rd player?

This goes hand in hand with another tactic of letting your partner take tricks which you would not normally let go. Here is an example:

You are sitting with the A of say Hearts. Nothing else really in that suit. East plays say the 5H. Normal people will play the Ace without a second thought. BUT let's look at an alternative that has a higher success rate than most people think. Duck. Now something to think about before you do this. IF you have a LOT of that suit, you probably want to grab this trick because the suit may not go around a 2nd time. But say you have just the A & 4 of Hearts. The 5 is led. Now hmmm and haw around a little like you have to make a decision with the Q or K of Hearts (Yes, acting is part of the game), then slide out that low Heart.

This actually puts West in a really bad position and you could be watching him/her squirm right now. If West has the King he will probably be reluctant to play it. Right now, his pard has the trick but with a fairly low card. Since you did not play the Ace, West is now thinking you don't have it, which means your partner must have it. So West either takes a chance and plays the King or he goes high but not with the K. Hopefully your partner can go over him if he doesn't use the K. Your partner has to also play the part and come back with the suit to make your Ace good.

This will of course fail if West has the King Queen combo or for any other reasons decides to throw the King. Of course this will sometimes lead them to believe that their pard has the Ace and they will lead that suit back and you hopefully have not lost anything.

Best case scenario is that your partner can cover whatever West plays. This actually has a higher success rate than most people think simply because of the very poor lead by East. Basically East is clueless or is in a bad spot for lead cards.

However that is an entirely different discussion.

Don "Dinghus" Hammond has played spades since he was less than 10 years old. He has played and won many live tournies and did very well in tournies online at the Zone, winning about 30% of all that he entered partnering with whoever he was given. Currently, playing under a different nick, he is in the 2000s on the Zone's new format. He is also a web geek and you can see his site at www.DonOmite.com

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