Trumping Partner's Ace

[RedDuke]

Happened last night.

I'm sitting in third seat, holding this:



First round, everybody passes on the upcard (I forget what it was).
Second round, my partner named Hearts as Trump.

He led the Ace of Clubs. Second seat followed suit.

I had to pause for a minute to figure out what to do. I actually trumped him with the ten of hearts, with the intent that with what I'm holding, I had a pretty good chance to run the table and make us two points for taking all five tricks. Ultimately it worked. My partner (smartly) kept his left bower to the end, when he was able to take the final trick, which was me leading the King of Trump.

Obviously, the outcome was favorable. But I'm just wondering if you think it was the right play given the circumstances. I had no idea what my partner was actually holding when I trumped the Ace. Would you have done the same thing in my position?

[irishwolf]

It should would help to know what suit went down, he in 1st seat.

So your partner is leading an off suit Ac before leading trump? What does that mean? Possibly, he made next, only has two trumps so he leads a green Ace. If he had had three trumps and led an ace first, he needs to be spanked. So one has to assume he probably made "Next" and only has two trumps. Crossing the suit I don't think is an option here. Only if he has two trumps would it be acceptable to lead a green Singleton ace.

For me, I think could have improved on your play in going for a sweep. I would sloughed my green ace. Why, because if he has two trumps then there are two unknown. Assume he has the Left guarded, then the Ah and either 9h/Qh are out and with opponents or the stock. You slough the As (a green ace).

But you trumped with the 10h. You trumped too low and too early. Using the 10h is not much better than trumping with the 9h. And it is not the time to trump an ace. You should have sloughed your As to the first trick. This now 'signals' - I am loaded lead me trump. At that point you did not know he had the left. So what, it says lead trump. But he did have the left. He now leads his Left. It also says, to lead to my Spade void or lead another trump. Either is not acceptable - it gives more options to optimize your partnership.

If he leads his Left, now you can pick up that 2nd trump that in the event one of the opponents has two trumps. The way you played, leading your right on trick 2 then your aces, an opponent could have stopped your sweep once you got to leading that Ad (as your partner probably has a diamond).

So were you good or lucky?

Irishwolf

[RedDuke]

It should would help to know what suit went down, he in 1st seat.

So your partner is leading an off suit Ac before leading trump? What does that mean? Possibly, he made next, only has two trumps so he leads a green Ace. If he had had three trumps and led an ace first, he needs to be spanked. So one has to assume he probably made "Next" and only has two trumps. Crossing the suit I don't think is an option here. Only if he has two trumps would it be acceptable to lead a green Singleton ace.

For me, I think could have improved on your play in going for a sweep. I would sloughed my green ace. Why, because if he has two trumps then there are two unknown. Assume he has the Left guarded, then the Ah and either 9h/Qh are out and with opponents or the stock. You slough the As (a green ace).

But you trumped with the 10h. You trumped too low and too early. Using the 10h is not much better than trumping with the 9h. And it is not the time to trump an ace. You should have sloughed your As to the first trick. This now 'signals' - I am loaded lead me trump. At that point you did not know he had the left. So what, it says lead trump. But he did have the left. He now leads his Left. It also says, to lead to my Spade void or lead another trump. Either is not acceptable - it gives more options to optimize your partnership.

If he leads his Left, now you can pick up that 2nd trump that in the event one of the opponents has two trumps. The way you played, leading your right on trick 2 then your aces, an opponent could have stopped your sweep once you got to leading that Ad (as your partner probably has a diamond).

So were you good or lucky?

Irishwolf

I'm reasonably certain that the turn suit was black. Thus, my partner actually made a reverse next call here from first seat while holding a relatively weak hand. There was definite luck involved that I was holding a hand that I was seriously considering trying as a hearts loner.

You hit on the other strategy that I was considering... essentially sloughing the ace of spades. As you said, that should tell my partner that I'm loaded to the teeth with trumps. I figured that he was very low on trump because he crossed the river and then did not lead trump. So, when second seat followed suit, I made a calculated gamble that the dealer wouldn't overtrump the ten. He couldn't because he had clubs. I was assuming that because I was void in that suit then the odds of another player being void in it weren't that high.

I wasn't sure what to make of the call+lead. I actually guessed that my partner called while only holding the left. I knew that he didn't have a hand full of aces because I had two of the offsuit aces and he had the third. Surely if he had two trump, he would have led the left?

I don't know why he called this, but maybe it was because he was hoping to avoid a reverse next loner.

[irishwolf]

Cross the suit with guarded left, then lead what was turned down or next? Get a new partner!

[RedDuke]

Cross the suit with guarded left, then lead what was turned down or next? Get a new partner!

Yeah, that move did confuse me to no end!