(2 hours ago) Eli Horn said: Many players know the “eight ever, nine never” rule. With 9 cards lacking the Q you play for the drop. How do you play AJ9XX opposite KTXX? With no additional information from bidding or defence, I play the J and cover with K and then play the T and cover with the A. It’s amazing to see how many players, applying the “cover honour with an honour” rule are tempted to place the Q from a QXX. Enjoy it!
(4 hours ago) One of my favorites is AJ9xx opposite 3 small, where the standard approach is to first lead to the 9 and then finesse the jack, hoping for KTx or QTx onside. But the standard play for a defender with that holding is to play their honor on the first play of the suit. So this creates a very interesting scenario for the declarer if the king or queen is played on the first round of the suit. How often (and against what caliber player) will an honor be played from KQx, and how often from honor ten third?