The Beggar

The beggar is coming to the club every Tuesday at 3 minutes to five (the tourney begins at five) as he knows I am too busy then and will try to get rid of him as quickly as possible. He has a small box with coins inside and he flips it hard to make a lot of noise to announce his presence. Naturally , I go straight to him and give him the "usual fee" so that he will leave. He always wears the same dirty old  clothes, his hair is gray, greasy and wild, and he always has a one week beard.

He always welcomes me with: "Good afternoon, Maestro," along with a shiny white teeth smile. The teeth somehow don't fit: They are actually perfect. How can a beggar have such perfect teeth?

But this week he surprised me. He  came as usual at 3 minutes to 5, made (as usual) a lot of noise to announce his arrival, but when I ran to him to give him his usual fee, he said:
"Good afternoon, Maestro. Sorry, but I raised the price. 1 more shequel please (1$ = about 4 shequels)”. And before I had the time to think about it he continued: “Please understand, for the old price it is no longer profitable for me to get out of my bed, and show my face here."

So... I gave hime the new fee, wondering if the "service" I get is worth the cost I just paid.

The next day I went to the Eilat Bridge Festival. It's a great festival, as hundreds of players from all over the country plus many guests from abroad join for ten days of bridge, staying in the best hotels the city offers. The main events are played at the "Royal Beach" 5-star hotel.

On this deal I came to play against unknown opponents.

Dealer West, none vulnerable


South decided that his hand is worth bidding, non vul, at the 3rd level, and his partner, who expected a little more, raised to game.

Sitting West, I lead the ♦5. My partner took the ace, switched to heart and I won my ♥AQ and continued with the ♦8.

Declarer's situation looks bad, as besides the 3 tricks he already lost, he has 3 more losers: a spade, a club and a diamond. Not knowing how to gather information he tried the ♠AK, hoping to drop ♠Qx . When this didn't happen he went 2 down, losing a diamond and a spade, with the club finesse working.

He asked me politely: "Oren, could I have played better?"
So I said: “Yes, this hand is a perfect example of counting and assuming.
My 2♥ opener shows max 10 points. You already saw the ♥AQ in my hand and in addition you must assume I also hold the ♣K, beause otherwise you can't make your contract.
You also must assume that the clubs are 3-3.  Placing the ♣K in my hand is giving me 9 points together with the ♥AQ, which means that you must place the ♠Q with my partner as there is no room for 2 more points in my hand.
You also need to ensure 2 more entries to dummy: one to ruff the 3rd club and another to cash the 4th club.
To do that, win the 4th trick with the ♦K, play a club to the ♣Q, continue with a spade to the ♠10, finessing East's ♠Q and play the ♠A. Continue with a club to the ♣A, ruff a club in hand and play a 3rd round of spade to dummy's ♠K, pulling out East's ♠Q. Throw your losing diamond on the 4th club and claim."

"Wow! That was a great analysis! Thank you, Maestro," he said and smiled showing his perfect white teeth. And only then I realized...
"YOU!" I said.
"Yes, it's me," he confirmed.
"But, I just saw you yesterday, filthy, unshaved, wild hair, smelly, with your old torn clothes, robbing me for one more shequel, and here you are..."
... and he continued "playing Bridge against you, all dressed up, smelling good, and a guest of the Royal Beach hotel. Yes, I'm a profesional beggar. Yesterday you saw me with my work outfit. The greasy hair and the beard are fake. I make 1 and a half shequel per minute, which means 90 shequels an hour. Tax free, no expenses like rent, cleaning, secretary, etc. I have regular customers, like you.  I have a home, a family, a car and a life after my working hours, and as you see I take my vacations too. Good luck for the rest of the tourney! I'll see you next Tuesday at work, at 3 minutes to 5!"