"Don't you think luck plays any role in bridge?" Unlucky Louie asked me.

I hesitated.

"I know I blame my bad results on bad luck," Louie said, "but the fact is, I believe in luck."

Louie showed me today's deal. You can guess where he sat.

"I held one of my usual hands," Louie said, "but I wasn't worried, even when my opponents bid a slam. I led a diamond, and my partner took the ace and returned a trump. Declarer drew trumps and led the jack of spades to finesse, and East's queen won. We got a plus score!"

SMALL MINUS

"With your hand, I'd have settled for a small minus."

"I expected to go plus," Louie grinned. "After all, I had all four sevens."

Louie would be minus 1,430 points despite his sevens if South played well. After South takes the A-K of trumps, he can combine his chances by cashing the A-K of spades. When the queen falls, he easily takes the rest. If instead both defenders played low, South would draw the last trump and try the club finesse.

DAILY QUESTION

You hold: S Q 2 H 5 D A Q J 10 9 4 C K 8 5 3. You open one diamond, your partner bids one spade, you rebid two diamonds and he tries 2NT. What do you say?

ANSWER: Since you have minimum opening values and unbalanced pattern, bid three diamonds. Partner should respect your signoff and pass. If you held Q 2, 5, A J 7 6 4 3, K Q 5 3, you could look for a club fit by bidding three clubs, but in your actual hand, the diamonds will be a self-sufficient trump suit.