Howard Coley says he loves computer-generated deals. Well, Howard must have been in his element in the open sessions of the Brooksville Sectional.

The gremlins inside the ACBL computers must have been working overtime, but fortunately, I had two excellent partners (Adam Kaplan on Thursday and Richard Wan on Friday) and we scored very well. My birthday is on Christmas, but presents were being doled out at an alarming rate by our opponents.

On Thursday, Adam and I face the formidable Tampa pair of Ed Schulte and Paul Gallizzi. Paul deals and opens 1 Diamond, Adam passes, and Ed bids 1 Spade. With both sides white, I hold: S-AQ10x, H-Qx, D-Jx, C-Qxxxx in fourth seat and I pass. Paul bids 1 NT and Adam doubles for the unbid suits. Ed bids 2 Spades, and with my great spade spots and a five-card suit, I bid 3 Clubs. Paul and Adam pass and Ed doubles which is passed out. Paul leads a spade (what else?) and Adam tables the dummy: S-xx, H-J10xxx, D-Ax, C-Axxx. Ed plays the jack and I win the queen.

Suspecting that Ed holds both missing club honors, I play a club to the ace and Ed drops the king! I lead a club to my hand and give Paul his club trick. He then leads another spade which I win with the 10. I slough a diamond from dummy on the SA and lose two hearts, but a diamond ruff is my ninth trick and +470 is a cold top.

On Friday morning, Richard and I enjoy the hospitality of our opponents who make very creative bids. RHO opens 1 Club, I pass, and LHO bids 1 Spade. RHO now reverses with a 2 Heart bid, and LHO launches into Blackwood, ending in 6 Hearts. The only thing of value in my hand is five hearts to the A109xx. I am assured of two heart tricks but I don't double. RHO struggles but she can’t deny my heart holding. If I had doubled, she would have bid 6 NT which is unbeatable.

At another table, RHO opens 1 NT, LHO transfers to spades and then goes into a Gerber sequence. RHO shows two aces and two kings and LHO bids 6 NT. I hold the HA and little else, and not wanting to go to bed with an ace at no trump, I lead the ace. Dummy has about 15 points and five solid spades and two small hearts. On the ace, Richard encourages as RHO drops the jack. Richard, you must be kidding - but he’s not. I lead another heart and Richard plays the king! WOW - another gift.

We get two tops on the offensive side. In second seat, I hold: S-void, H-AJxxx, D-KQJ1098x, C-x. RHO opens 1 Spade and I bid 2 Diamonds. LHO bids 3 Clubs and RHO bids 3 Spades. I would love to get the heart suit into play, but I’m afraid a 4 Heart bid would show six hearts, so I persist with 4 Diamonds. LHO bids 4 Spades which Richard doubles, but I pull to 5 Diamonds which gets doubled. LHO leads a spade and dummy has 3 diamonds and the Kxx in hearts. I ruff the opening lead, knock out the DA, lose a club, and ruff a club. I pull the last trump, go to dummy with the HK and lead a heart toward my hand. RHO plays the queen as hearts split 3-2 and I take 11 tricks.

In fourth seat, I hold: S-xxx, H-AKJ10xx, D-Axx, C-A. LHO deals and passes and Richard bids 1 NT (15-18) - WOW! I could transfer but computer hands ensure a 5-0 heart split, so I bid Gerber. Richard shows me the SA and I bid 6 NT. Richard plays the hand like a pro, taking two finesses - one to his queen of spades and one to the jack of hearts, making 6 NT for a top. Six hearts makes but at match points we top out. What a lovely day.

Sincerely, Jim Somma