Bridge Blog 573-A: Is it luck?

          Some people won’t play the Individual Game at the Airport Bridge Club because they say it depends too much on luck. To the extent that an outcome depends on the generosity of your opponents, I would agree. But was it luck or skill that gave me a 53.13% at Saturday’s Individual Game? Let’s see what I can deduce from my summary sheet.

          Bidding fool that I am, I was declarer on 11 out of 24 hands, making six of the contracts. Out of a possible 44 game points, I got 23.5, or 53.4%. My partners were declarers on nine more, making five. Out of a possible 36 game points, they got 15.5, or 43.05%. Some of that could be blamed on me, though, for pushing to an unsuccessful slam in one instance and setting up a bad sacrifice bid in another. Of the four contracts our opponents took, they fulfilled only one, giving us 12 out of 16 game points, or 75%. Maybe I should have let them win a few more bids.