S2000magic Posted December 2, 2011 Report Share Posted December 2, 2011 Having recently started playing at a local club after an hiatus of some 17 years, I have noticed an interesting trend, and wanted to know if it's within the rules. Many declarers when ostensibly asking dummy to follow suit with the smallest card available, will say, simply, "Play!" I don't want to be a jailhouse lawyer by insisting that the declarer designate specifically which card to play - I'm new at the club, after all - but I wonder if the imperative "Play!" might violate the rules requiring declarer to specify the cards played by dummy. (Of course, there was also the gentleman who would, as dummy, play the cards without declarer asking him to do anything; I understand that that partnership has since disbanded.) Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billw55 Posted December 2, 2011 Report Share Posted December 2, 2011 As far as I know, "play" is near universal slang for "play the lowest". I have no problem with it. Of course, playing cards without declarer saying anything is an infraction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bbradley62 Posted December 2, 2011 Report Share Posted December 2, 2011 Many declarers when ostensibly asking dummy to follow suit with the smallest card available, will say, simply, "Play!"I haven't been at a club/tournament table in over a decade, but this sounds 100% standard to me. If declarer designates a suit but not a rank he is deemed to have called the lowest card of the suit indicated. Since dummy must follow suit unless he is void, the suit is automatically designated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aguahombre Posted December 2, 2011 Report Share Posted December 2, 2011 It helps us determine, when playing against strangers at a tournament, what their level is. It also gives the ones who use it the chance to say "the ACE" after dummy's LHO has already followed with a card which would have won the trick. We learn to wait for a card to be detached from dummy and clearly played after being burned on that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackshoe Posted December 2, 2011 Report Share Posted December 2, 2011 "Play" is becoming common around here because, I think, it was started by a guy who is pretty good (I'd call him advanced now, but intermediate when he started doing this a few years ago) and pretty popular. When he does it, he means "play low". I haven't seen any problems such as agua describes (yet), certainly not by the player who started the trend, who is very ethical. Still, I don't like it. The first time I heard "play", it sounded to me more like "play anything" than "play low". It still sounds that way, but I've learned that declarers don't mean it that way. Since the modern way seems to be to follow Humpty Dumpty ("words mean what I want them to mean, neither more nor less") I suppose we have to live with it. :blink: Note that Law 46B does not describe correct procedure. It describes what to do when declarer fails to follow the correct procedure (described in Law 45B and Law 46A. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S2000magic Posted December 3, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 3, 2011 The first time I heard "play", it sounded to me more like "play anything" than "play low".To my ear, it also sounds a bit rude (as if declarer can't be bothered with explaining his desires fully to his partner). Frankly, it sounds worst when it's perpetrated by people whom I know to be - otherwise - the soul of politeness. I have a similar aversion to such phrases as, "Go up!" Is that easier, cooler, or whateverer than saying, "Ace, please"? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BunnyGo Posted December 3, 2011 Report Share Posted December 3, 2011 I have a similar aversion to such phrases as, "Go up!" Is that easier, cooler, or whateverer than saying, "Ace, please"? In this specific case, I try to say anything except "Ace" or "Ace, please" etc. because of the enunciating issue with "eight". I'll say "Big" or "Up" or even just motion vehemently up with my thumb, but I find all of those easier to understand than "Ace". 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bbradley62 Posted December 3, 2011 Report Share Posted December 3, 2011 To my ear, it also sounds a bit rude (as if declarer can't be bothered with explaining his desires fully to his partner). Frankly, it sounds worst when it's perpetrated by people whom I know to be - otherwise - the soul of politeness. I have a similar aversion to such phrases as, "Go up!" Is that easier, cooler, or whateverer than saying, "Ace, please"?Do the gentlemen at your club wear jackets and ties to the game? And the ladies wear pearls? And everyone sips tea with their pinkies extended? If not, please get a grip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aguahombre Posted December 3, 2011 Report Share Posted December 3, 2011 I prefer, "Up your Ace." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S2000magic Posted December 3, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 3, 2011 Do the gentlemen at your club wear jackets and ties to the game? And the ladies wear pearls? And everyone sips tea with their pinkies extended? If not, please get a grip.I'll give it a shot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S2000magic Posted December 3, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 3, 2011 In this specific case, I try to say anything except "Ace" or "Ace, please" etc. because of the enunciating issue with "eight". I'll say "Big" or "Up" or even just motion vehemently up with my thumb, but I find all of those easier to understand than "Ace".Not unlike someone with, say, a Bostonian accent choosing to say "No bid" instead of "Pass" because of the chance that "Pass" will sound too much like "Heart". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vampyr Posted December 3, 2011 Report Share Posted December 3, 2011 The first time I heard "play", it sounded to me more like "play anything" than "play low". It still sounds that way, but I've learned that declarers don't mean it that way. It also just sounds weird, and doesn't make sense as a way of calling a card. Of course dummy is going to "play" something, because it is his turn; the question is which card. Also it's not easier or quicker than "low". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aguahombre Posted December 3, 2011 Report Share Posted December 3, 2011 If I partner one of those people, I will say, "Sorry, I can't; I am dummy. You folks are the players." But, it won't happen unless it is an Indy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barmar Posted December 5, 2011 Report Share Posted December 5, 2011 This basically comes down to whether you consider "play" to fall into 46B1c ("If he calls 'low', or words of like meaning") or 46B5 ("declarer indicates a play without designating either a suit or a rank"). In my experience, as most others here have confirmed, the intent of declarer is practically always 46B1c. So based on how common this practice is, I think we can conclude that this is a "word of like meaning" to "low". Also, this practice is generally only used when dummy is following suit (can anyone recall a counterexample?), so the suit is designated implicitly, even though it isn't explicitly named. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluejak Posted December 6, 2011 Report Share Posted December 6, 2011 Much as I dislike the practice, my experience in both England and the USA is that "play" is generally understood to mean "play the smallest card of the suit led". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mycroft Posted December 7, 2011 Report Share Posted December 7, 2011 I don't know who it was - probably John Probst - who pointed out to me the A-8 issue. Since then I've used the person's suggestion, if both are in dummy: "top spade" or "eight-spot". I've only once had a problem with it - and that was a dummy who couldn't parse "eight-spot" because he wasn't expecting it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barmar Posted December 9, 2011 Report Share Posted December 9, 2011 I think I've noticed that my regular partner says "play" (or "play it") when it's a singleton. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluejak Posted December 9, 2011 Report Share Posted December 9, 2011 I always say "top" to play the top card of any suit. Thus I never say "ace" so it cannot be confused with "eight". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trinidad Posted December 9, 2011 Report Share Posted December 9, 2011 In our club, it is common to ask for 'a small spade' when the only spade in dummy is the ace. I guess that someone with some sense of humor did it once, at the right moment, a long time ago. Now, virtually everybody does it, every single time they have the opportunity. :( Maybe I should tell dummy to "rise" sometime when he has a singleton deuce. Or, then again, maybe I shouldn't because everybody will start doing it. Rik Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackshoe Posted December 9, 2011 Report Share Posted December 9, 2011 Generally, I specify the rank and denomination of the card I want. One of my regular partners has picked up the habit. Yay! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aguahombre Posted December 9, 2011 Report Share Posted December 9, 2011 Generally, I specify the rank and denomination of the card I want. One of my regular partners has picked up the habit. Yay! :)Leadership by example is not dead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordontd Posted December 9, 2011 Report Share Posted December 9, 2011 I've noticed that many people have trouble distinguishing "two" from "three" when their hearing declines. This doesn't matter much in the play, but it does when using spoken bidding. When I first learned to play with my grand-mother (who was a bit deaf) we used to get round this by saying them in Swahili - "mbili" is not at all like "tatu"! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjj29 Posted December 9, 2011 Report Share Posted December 9, 2011 I think I've noticed that my regular partner says "play" (or "play it") when it's a singleton.I sometimes go with "your choice partner" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mycroft Posted December 9, 2011 Report Share Posted December 9, 2011 ...or "pick one". I've also seen/heard "play the one, please". I go with "always falsecard from dummy" when they lead the 3 into the 4-2 or the 9-8-7 - unless it's ♦9-8-7, of course. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trinidad Posted December 9, 2011 Report Share Posted December 9, 2011 Leadership by example is not dead.Good, since that would be a really bad example. ;) Rik Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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