Hand 272 — Stayman

Play this hand
Dealer
S
User Side
N/S
Contract
4S
Declarer
S
Tricks Makeable
10
Recommended Lead
JH
Vulnerability
East-West
System
SAYC

Planning

With an intervening bid, south can still bid his 4c spade suit with 11 points. With 6-9 he can pass, as north still has an opportunity to bid again. Without the bid from east, and with 6-9 points, south would be obliged to bid.

The Deal

North
Q 8 7 3
A 3
10 7 6
A K Q 8
West
10 9 2
J 9 5
K 9 4 2
9 7 3
East
A 6
K Q 10 8 6 4
5
J 10 6 4
South
K J 5 4
7 2
A Q J 8 3
5 2
North: 15 HCP, 4-2-3-4 (bal)
East: 10 HCP, 2-6-1-4
South: 11 HCP, 4-2-5-2
West: 4 HCP, 3-3-4-3 (bal)

Bidding Sequence

S W N E
PassPass1NT2H
2SPass4SPass
PassPass

Final Comments

In a 4 spade contract we count our losers.
1 spade
1 heart
1 diamond
0 clubs
Only 3 losers, so we can make our contract.
Discipline is important. We have our 10 tricks, and we do NOT need to finesse this first trick.
After trumps are drawn, we could discard a losing heart from dummy on the third club.