Sometimes, players in a regional or higher tournament let their egos get in the way of good judgment; i.e., sometimes the opponents are going to get the “good” hands. That’s the nature of the beast.

In some instances, players make “psyche” bids in order to dissuade their opponents from getting to the correct contract. Psyche bids are not illegal per se but most directors will not tolerate more than one in a round. The following two hands illustrate what psyche bids can and cannot do.

Adam Kaplan and I are playing in an Open Swiss event in the Clearwater Sectional (we always seem to be playing in a sectional in Clearwater). In fourth seat red, I have a 12-count with six spades headed by the AJ10. LHO passes and Adam opens a Precision Club which I alert. RHO bids 1 Spade and I bid 1 NT. Adam jumps to 3 NT and RHO passes. I should sense that something is wrong. Adam would not bid game in NT without at least two spades and a big hand. But, I pass and LHO fumbles for a lead. On a red card lead, Adam tables a 19-count dummy including four spades headed by the king. We are cold for six spades. After the hand is played, I call for a director. I explain the bidding sequence to Karl Miller and all four hands are exposed. Karl rules that this board will be matched to whatever are partners made. He also warns RHO that another psyche bid will earn him a quick exit.

There are bad psyche bids and there are “really” bad psyche bids. Adam and I are playing in the finals of the Strat B Knockouts in the 2008 Sarasota Regional. We are red, they are white, and in second seat I hold: S-AQJxx, H-AQx, D-Axxx, C-x. RHO opens 1 Club, I double, LHO bids 1 Heart, and Adam passes. RHO bids 2 Hearts, I bid 2 Spades, LHO bids 3 Clubs, and Adam bids 4 Spades. Now the fun begins: after two passes, LHO bids 5 Clubs which Adam doubles, RHO bids 5 Hearts which I double, and LHO bids 6 Clubs which Adam doubles to close out the bidding. We set them seven for +1,700. LHO had three hearts (jack high) and five small clubs and nothing else. LHO didn’t want us to score a vulnerable game. Guess what? Their partners go down one in 4 Spades so we earn 18 IMPs on one board. There should be a happy ending but Adam gets a 5-0 split and goes down in 4 Hearts on another board. Our partners use the “rule of 20” to open 1 Heart in third seat red (UGH) and the opponents get to 3 NT which makes. We lose the knockout by three IMPs, I cannot think of a worse time to make a psyche bid than in a team game. How do you explain -1,700!

Hush up hon, we won’t get into trouble -- it’s on the card.

Sincerely, Jim Somma