Dear Ed & Peter,

What to do when someone doesn't have enough cards near the end of playing a hand. Is there a penalty?? For whom? If the players make their bid, do they get their score??
Help.

C Rampike

Reply from Ed Hoogenkamp ('South'):

Dear C Rampike,

I'm sorry to inform you that, yes, there is a penalty. The player who is missing a card very likely has revoked in earlier play. The director will first establish which card is missing and after that will replay the hand with you to see when this missing card should have been played. Then he will, if necessary, apply penalties (normally one trick or more to the party that didn't revoke).

I normally finish with all my cards, but Peter is the real expert here. They say once he ran out of cards in trick eight!
Un saludo desde Barcelona

Reply from Peter van der Linden ('North'):

Dear C Rampike,

Typically Ed: suggesting I was five cards short while it was he who had five cards too many.
Yes, we were partners and defending: after thirteen tricks I, dummy and declarer were out of cards, while he still had five (from another deck). Until this day he maintains there is nothing wrong with a 5-4-4-5 distribution: 'An example of a balanced hand containing a black 5-5' were his exact words.

About your question: Ed's answer is correct. What to do:
1. Call the director, he knows what to do. He will act as follows:
2. The missing card must be located. Usually it is still in the slot of the board or on the floor (if another player turns out to have started with 14 cards, the director's job is going to be tough...).
3. The play must be reconstructed in order to find out whether the player in question has revoked (after all, often he will have shown out in the suit of the card that originally was missing). If so, the usual ruling applies (i.e. the transfer of one or two tricks, depending on the sort of revoke). I am not a director, so I suggest you ask a director about the exact ruling.

En hils fra Orkanger