Hi all
I found Reno not a particularly interesting city. Sure there are casino’s, but it felt as a ghost town when strolling around. And when I see people frantically pushing buttons on slot machines, I feel wrapped in unease. A bête noire lurking in the shadows.
On the other hand I enjoyed playing bridge there a lot. Scratching the IMP Pairs with Drew Hoskins, winning two sections in side events, and some good bridge in the Vanderbilt as well. So I got home with my first Platinum points, a handful of Gold points and a couple of ACBL Reno mugs. What a bounty!
This deal is from the IMP Pairs. Drew and I easily qualified for the finals on Saturday, and out of the remaining 178 pairs we finished 43rd. Of course we could have ended about 20 places higher if I hadn’t blundered in blasting to slam off Ace – King of 
(-12 IMP). Hrrmph.
11. Of course this is nowhere close to a vulnerable overcall
Drew and I punished declarer for his lighthearted overcall. A to Drew’s Ace followed by a ruff, a 
to the Ace and another ruff. Ace of , King of and a third ruffed with the King (just in case). Drew put the icing on the cake by playing a fourth round of that I could ruff with my Jack in front of dummy. Down four!
Who needs to bid vulnerable games when you have opponents like this?