and neither has by discard or otherwise in the
play given a reliable hint as to the absence or presence of the
all-important card.

His duty is plain. By finessing he may lose 27 points and a penalty of
50, 77 in all, but the finesse gives him an even chance to win the
game; and whether it be the rubber, with its premium of 250, or merely
the first game, but still a most important advance toward the goal, he
should take his chance, realizing that the value of the object for
which he is striving is far greater than the 77 he may lose.

Under similar conditions, however, if the Trump be Diamonds, the
finesse should be refused. It would then take three more tricks to make
game, and but two are possible. One completes the contract, and winning
the finesse adds only 7 points, less than one-tenth of the 71 placed in
jeopardy.

The 21 points in the trick column assured by refusing the finesse are,
viewed from a practical standpoint, just as near a game as 28 would be,
but 21 makes the bidding for game on the next deal much easier than if
the effort to win the extra 7 had resulted in the score remaining at
love. In this case, therefore, not only when the chances are equal, but
even when unmistakable inferences of declaration and play indicate that
the success of the finesse is almost assured, the opportunity should be
refused.

"Penny-wise and pound-foolish" aptly characterizes a player who would
risk advantage of position and 71 points for the chance of gaining a
paltry 7.

PLAY FOR AN EVEN BREAK

The Declarer, in the absence of any positive indication to the
contrary, should base his play upon the probability of an even division
of the cards. That is, with seven of a suit in his own hand and Dummy,
he should play for each of the adversaries to have three; with nine, he
should play on the basis that the four missing cards are equally
divided. In the long run, playing for the even break will net many
tricks, but in a small percentage of instances it will result
unfortunately. The case in which the question most frequently arises is
when either in Trumps or in the Declarer's strong suit in a No-trump,
the two hands hold nine cards headed by Ace, King, Knave. The division
between the two hands may be

Ace, King, Knave, X, X and X, X, X, X

Ace, King, X, X, X and Knave, Ten, X, X

Ace, Knave, X, X, X and King, X, X, X

King, Knave, X, X, X and Ace, X, X, X