Player A – 3♥, 3♣, 3♦, K♥, 10♦, 9♠, 8♣, 6♦, 4♦, 2♥, A♣
Player B – J♣, J♦, 7♠, 5♠, 4♥, 4♣, 3♠, 2♣, A♥, A♠
Conditions: This is a must-gin hand with both players on the score. The dealer is vulnerable on two games.
Play of the Hand:
Player A – His first discard is the A♣ rather than the K♥ because if the K♥ were picked, he would have no way of knowing which way it was being used and could wind up in a position of having to hold too many useless cards against this pick. The A♣ however, could only be used one way.
Player B – Takes the discard and throws the 2♣. Even though he has definitely indicated Aces, the 2♣ represents the only card in his hand which can be used only one way. He follows this play with the 4♣, a reasonably safe card, as well as a salesman for the 4♠.
Player A – Going to the deck, he pulls the K♠ and discards the 2♥.
Player B – Picks form the deck the 7♥ and now discards the 4♥ as being slightly safer than the 4♣.
Player A – Picks the Q♠ from the deck. At this point he decides that it is most advantageous to break his three since he has a dead 3♥ to throw, to be followed by a relatively dead 3♣. He would prefer to use the 3♦, 4♦ as an offensive combination rather than break into a new area. He discards the 3♥.
Player B – Draws the K♦ from the deck and discards the 4♣.
Player A – Picks the 9♦ and discards the now dead 3♣.
Player B – Buys the 8♠ from the deck and now also breaks his three Aces. This is a rather important play for him. It gives him three safe discards, a chance to develop all of the other matched cards in his hand and prevents him from having to open up with live cards to his opponent. He is playing safely but offensively, breaking his most important run since it only has one way to be filled as a four-card run. Also, his opponent knows of the run and will then not throw an Ace. His breaking of the run also gives his opponent the impression that he is in trouble and then he is already starting to defend the hand. This may cause his opponent to open up to him. He discards the A♣.
Player A – Picks the 8♦ and discards the 9♠.
Player B – Takes the discard and throws the A♥.
Player A – Going to the deck, he buys the 5♦, which puts him in a perfect gin position. He throws the 8♣.
Player B – Buys the 8♥ from the deck and discards the A♠.
Player A – Picks the 9♣ which indicates that his earlier 9♠ discard was picked for a spade run. So, he discards the 9♣.
Player B – Draws the 6♠ from the deck and discards the 3♠.
Player A – Picks from the deck the 7♣ and throws it as a reasonably safe card.
Player B – Going to the deck, he pulls the Q♥ and now throws back the 9♠. He does not need a five-card run. Also, the move gives his opponent the further impression that he is once again breaking his hand to defend. Although his opponent could consider that he merely changed a high spade run to 10’s or Jacks, he will have to bear this in mind in his future throws.
Player A – Picks from the deck the 10♣, knows that the hand was not changed by the 10’s, and discards the card as his best offensive play even though it may give his opponent a 10♣, J♣, and Q♣. This play might even bring back the J♠.
Player B – Obtains the J♠ from the deck and now has a major decision. Should he throw the K♦ at this stage and leave himself the gin opportunity that the 7♥, 8♥ provides, or should he break the 7♥, 8♥ and play to develop either Kings or Queens? He realizes that, with his holding, his opponent could very well be holding the 9♥, 10♥, and J♥ or any two of these cards. He does not actually have two safe throws; he only has one, the 7♥. If the score were reversed, and he had his opponent vulnerable, he would have to throw the K♦ and play for a winning opportunity. As the score stands though, and being vulnerable himself, he has to throw his 7♥ and try to develop his hand in another area.
Player A – Draws the K♣ from the deck for gin. This was the only card open to him with which he could gin his hand. If his opponent had picked it, the hand undoubtedly would have gone to the wall. This hand indicates that even though properly played, there is no guarantee that a hand can always be taken to the wall.