Hearts Tips and Strategies

Hearts Column of the Month -- January 2005

By Joe Andrews

A Tricky Puzzle

Is it possible to shoot the moon with this holding? (It sure looks good...)

Here are some facts (clues):

· Nobody holds more than three hearts.

· One opponent has the Queen of spades with four other spades, and the Ace of diamonds with three small accompanying diamonds.

· A different opponent holds only two diamonds and three small hearts, and will discard a heart at the earliest opportunity.

· A heart is tossed on the second round of spades.

· Hearts may not be led until a heart has been played previously, or you win the Queen of spades.

Here is the way the hand will play out for the first several tricks:

You win the Ace and King of clubs, everyone following. Now you try the King and Queen of diamonds, as one player tosses the three and the deuce successively. The Ace of diamonds does not appear. The player who tossed the low diamonds has no more diamonds. The player who holds the spade Queen and the diamond Ace is not required to drop Her Royal Majesty at first opportunity. You now shift suits and win the Ace and King of spades, and a heart is discarded on the King of spades. Assuming best defense, is it possible to shoot the Moon here? Is the Ace of diamonds a stopper? Here is one possible deal:

A K

A K Q J 10 9

K Q J

A K

Note: this is the optimal layout. Several other possiblities are there.

Solution:

Many readers recognized "The Soderlund Squeeze," named after the late Jack Soderlund, a Hearts legend in the 1970s. Jack executed the maneuver with this hand in the 1978 National Hearts event, which was sponsored by The US Playing Card Company.

	North 7 9 8 5 4 J 9 6 4 J 10 7 2
West (Soderlund) A 4 A K Q J 6 3 K Q 10 A 6		East K 6 5 3 10 7 5 2 K Q 9 8 3
	South Q J 10 9 8 2 2 A 8 7 3 5 4

The West (Soderlund's) hand is not as solid as the above example. However, the pattern remains the same. With his relatively thin holding in the black suits, West still reaches the Moon!

West ducks the first club, as well as the first round of diamonds from East. North wins the Jack of diamonds and shifts to a spade, and once again, West plays low, as South is in with his Jack. The logical club shift is taken by West's Ace. Now West takes the Ace of spades, North drops a heart, and South wisely hangs on to the Queen of Spades. This clears the path. The diamond Queen rides through. South can take the Ace, and intentionally lead the spade Queen - a ruinous sacrifice. (Why would he make such a move with a safe hand?) Now West has control. He merely rolls out the heart suit from the top down, and South will be squeezed in the two-card ending. This is how it happened then.

Now let's look at the sample deal. All four suits are solid. The only missing key card is the diamond Ace. Win the club, and lead the King of dimes. If the Ace is played, you are home free. If the Ace is held back, continue diamonds for one more round. If the Ace does not appear, then shift to spades. According to the puzzle, a heart is dropped on the second spade. (If South unloads his spade Queen, the hand is a song.) Cash another club, and then roll out the hearts. The hand will reduce to this position:

You:

South:

The heart nine will croak South, as he must give you Moon by dropping the diamond Ace, and now your good King of dimes extracts her Royal Majesty. What makes Soderlund's play so remarkable is that it was accomplished at a live event against top-flight competition, and with no information about the actual layout.

Readers’ Corner

I recently received this e-mail from Risa, an avid Hearts player:

"Thanks for all those wonderful Hearts articles, especially those for Beginners. I am hoping that you might do an article on "targeting the low man." Many times I will hold onto the Evil Queen, trying to hit the low man. After 3 or 4 opportunities pass, I've got to dump her, right? How long should I wait to get stung?

"Last week, I got the Queen 5 hands in a row. Everytime, I was forced to lay it down on someone other than the low man. Opponents often get VERY upset, but I had some lousy hands. Should I just eat those 13 points and move to 4th place? Is there a proper etiquette here? Please offer some offensive tactics in the future! Thanks."

I plan to feature a two-part series on "aiming for the low man" in my April and May columns. However, I will try to briefly answer your questions.

First, I am thoroughly convinced that if three players work together as a team, they can target the "low man," provided that he does not hold absolutely safe hands every time. Remember, Hearts is a game of collusion, and temporary partnerships are formed during the course of a game. Second, it makes no sense to unload the spade Queen on the high player, especially if you are in third place and it is late in the game. Third, it is imperative to observe the discards on the first round of spades. Good players will drop their low spades first when they hold the spade Queen, in order to preserve high spades to stop further spade leads. Finally, we know that if the low man is leading spades, he probably does not hold the spade Queen (probably, but not always!). I also agree with you that it does not make any sense to get nailed with the Queen if your hand is unsafe. Good players will observe that your cards were bad.

Survival in Hearts is paramount, especially if you are in third or fourth place and the game is almost over. However, I do agree that it is probably better to go down fighting, as you try to nail the low man, and reach 100 or more points. This will earn you the respect of the second- and third-place players, and will not incur their wrath if you blast the last-place person out of the game and finish in third place.

Hearts can be brutal!

Got Game?

WANTED!!! Hearts players for the National Championships in September of 2005, to be held in Cleveland, OH. If you "have game" and want to win some really nice prizes, then send an e-mail to mailto:mheartsmoon@aol.com You will receive an invite to the World Series of Hearts!

Happy New Year, everyone!