Today I played a small bridge drive in Olst/Wijhe. Wonderful tournament, well organized, with a lot of people we know. To cut a long story short: we played very well in the morning session (65%) and had a wonderful lunch in the sun. The first table in the afternoon session we were a bit flabbergasted at the way out opponents were bidding and playing. I strongly suspected them of already knowing the deals. The same happened on a couple of other tables. When the drive ended we spoke with some of our friends who came back with similar stories. On one occasion the bidding went:
| 3♠ | pas | pas | 7♥ |
Bidding 6♥ is already tricky after a preempt (albeit not impossible). Bidding 7 is plain impossible, especially in this manner. Either way, we found out that a lot of people had cheated by telling “friends” about certain deals so that they’d score well (and of course these idiots took the prices home with them). Rats!
Anyway, we played well and we had a nice day in the sun. But still: it sucks that a few people like that manage to “wreck” an otherwise great tournament.