A few years ago I used to play Rubber Bridge from time to time with an elderly gentleman called Leo Halpern. Leo was unfailingly polite, good-humoured and kind. He was also very, very slow. One day, when he was playing a laydown 3NT he thought for ages and one of the other players finally said: ‘Leo, what on earth are you thinking about?’ He looked rather surprised and answered, ‘I’m not thinking about anything, but the slower I play the less money I lose!’
Rubber Bridge is about getting as many games into a session as possible for most people, and while occasional long tanks are not a problem, too many cause irritation. I thought about Leo when this hand came up at TGR’s recently:
I was sitting South and decided to open my hand a strong NT, hoping that my partner was not a member of the point Gestapo.
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