Luck or Skill?

[mycroft]

True. Cue the Howell that I got a little suspicious of off the top, so starting counting HCP. I averaged 7.7 (including the 14-count that I opened an Acol 2♠ on). "But everybody had the same hands". Yes, but nobody else had my 27 :-(.

 

I am so well known as being a bad card holder that there's a convention on my card (that is not on my partners'): APAD. Always Pass As Dealer. I pity those playing in my line, sometimes to the point of apologizing to them.

 

This is cherrypicking and confirmation bias, I know; just as much as "those damn computer hands are". But it's fun.

 

But seriously, on the "cards fall the same way for everyone else" - that would be fine if bridge players were uniform spheres of constant density skill. And it is better than non-duplicate. But if you defend the no-way-to-bid grand showing up against the only pair in the room playing Relay Precision, or play your easy grand opposite the only pair in the room that opens that dreck 3♥ EHAA in front of you, or the "auto" squeeze against the best pair in the room, who figured out how to break it up at trick 3 - "everyone else gets the same cards" doesn't have the same ring.

[barmar]

This month's Bulletin has a review of the latest Menagerie book by Mollo. It includes an excerpt about a hand where Hideous Hog was in a doubled contract, which he figured out how to make on any normal defense. But he didn't account for Rueful Rabbit. He made a play for the totally wrong reason (as is normal for RR), but it happened to ruin the timing needed to set up the end-play. And the only reason RR was playing with Papa in the first place was because Karapet missed his flight and wasn't available.

 

If that isn't bad luck, what is it?