SINGLETON LEADS

[sheilafran]

PLEASE CAN SOME OF YOU BRIDGE BOFFINS HELP ME

 

 

WHEN DOES ONE LEAD A SINGLETON??

 

 

IT SEEMS EVERYTIME I DO - I LEAD INTO A LONG SUIT AND THEY MAKE ALL THOSE TRICKS

 

WHEN I DON'T EVERYONE AT THE TABLE SAYS I SHOULD

 

PLEASE COULD YOU GIVE ME A GENERAL OUTLINE

 

THANKS SO MUCH

SHEILA

[Guest Jlall]

vs suits always lead your singleton unless you have natural trump tricks.

[whereagles]

Singleton leads work best when you have trump control (Axx, or Kxx), so that you can stop declarer from pulling trumps before you get your ruff. Having a weak hand helps too (easier that pard has entries to give you the ruffs).

[Apollo81]

vs suits always lead your singleton unless you have natural trump tricks.

I would even extend this to "definite natural trump tricks" I usually roll my eyes at people who make disasterous non-singleton leads when a singleton lead was available and then try to explain their logic to me.

 

Obviously this doesn't apply to leading their trump suit. Singleton trump leads generally work extremely badly.

[MFA]

Never lead a singleton when your caps lock button is stuck.

[mikeh]

There are a number of factors to consider: it is a more complex topic than the brief answers to date suggest.

 

1. If you have long trumps (in context) then it is usually correct to try to play a forcing game: lead your longest side suit in the hope that you can force declarer to ruff and run out of trumps. This doesn't always apply. Thus, if your trumps are 5432, and declarer likely has 6+ in the suit, he can usually pull all of your trump before you can get the force going. But if you hold Qxxx, then you are going to win a relatively early round of trump and (if all is going well) shorten his trump holding.

 

2. You would tend to lead a singleton if there is a decent chance that partner has an entry that can be used before all of your trump are gone. Obviously, the A of the suit you lead is ideal, but an early trump winner works (if your trump are long enough) and sometimes opener has to postpone the pulling of trump... or your threatened ruff forces him to pull trump before he wants to. This means that if the auction tells you that you hold all or virtually all the defensive values, there is usually little point leading shortness..

 

3. You should very, very rarely lead a singleton in a suit that opener has bid. Say opener bid 1♠ and rebid 2♥ and they reach ♠. It will be very rare for you to lead a ♥. Not 'never'.. but very rare.

 

4. Never, ever lead a singleton against a grand slam: often times you pick off a card in partner's hand that he might have scored otherwise... and there is no point trying for a ruff... that would be your second trick :P And against grands (bid to make, not as a save) your goal is a one-trick set.

 

5. LISTEN to the auction (see points 2 and 3): this, of course, is true of all leads... it always amazes me that so few players actually truly listen to the auction, with all of the inferences that are available, not just from what the other 3 players bid but also from what they did not bid. Then consider whether the auction suggests that the lead may hit gold... or whether it is likely to blow a trick or a tempo... and whether another lead may serve a better purpose.

[Fluffy]

I never lead my singleton when AK or KQJ is avaible, but I haven't got very good results on doing so.

[Quantumcat]

Hi there, singleton leads might turn out badly if you forget what you're trying to achieve with them. Gennerally you want to get a ruff, and for that to happen:

 

a) you have to still have trumps when partner gets the lead

B) partner has to be able to get the lead

 

So either you want partner to have the ace and declarer doesn't get the opportunity to draw trumps, or you want your partnership to have trump control so partner can get the lead in another suit before trumps can be drawn.

 

If partner bids the suit it's fine, he could easily have the ace. Otherwise you want to have a weak hand so that partner has plenty of high cards to get his entry with later, and having trump control helps, or you can just hope that partner has it. (the weaker you are the more likely this is) If partner recognises your lead as singleton (usually it is obvious) if he doesn't have the ace he can still give you a suit preference to tell you where his entry is, for if you get in first.

 

It's usually bad to lead a singleton in their suit because you are helping them to set up their winners but if you think partner will have the ace and you haven't anything better then go for it (for example he might have bid notrumps after they said that suit)

 

It's true that usually it is bad to lead a singleton trump but if the auction screams for leading trumps don't let rules get in the way of your judgement! You will probably be giving up the chance of a trick against a sure one.

[jmc]

Last time i lead a singleton and it didn't work out I spontaneously muttered, "Damn Benito Garozzo." Unfortunately neither opponents realized he recomended singleton leads unless they looked wrong. Later the opponents asked my partner if I was mentally ill. LOL, I am not.

 

jmc

[dcvetkov]

vs suits always lead your singleton unless you have natural trump tricks.

Is this really rule? Word always I thought does not exist in bridge;)

 

I can think of two exceptions, at least

 

1). Forcing game. when u have 4 reasonably strongish trumps, and a side 4 or 5 card suit, forcing game would take a precedence over singleton lead. Essentially you are hoping to take control of the hand, and leading singleton and shortening your trumps generally helps declarer. of course, bidding has to be taken into consideration.

 

2) When you are fully loaded, like 15 HP, and opponents are in game ( you have couple of aces or Kings) , usually you can forget about ruffs, even if you have Axx in trumps. Chances partner will get in are almost zero, and your lead can help declarer if partner has something like Qxxx or Jxxx. Make passive lead.

 

However when you have yarborough, like usual, it pays to lead singleton, even when u have no control in trumps. Chances are partner will get the lead once or twice, so its reasonable to expect he has the ace of your suit led, or can get in trumps, A or K. You may even score 2 ruffs or more.

 

My 2 cents