HOW TO BE A TRULY ETHICAL PLAYER: A LESSON FROM ALVIN ROTH..........( Short article by Bridgemeister Gibson ) There are some bridge players out there, who are prepared to expose their partners as unethical players....but in a clever and subtle way. For these honest and ethical players, it becomes imperative to undo the damage unfairly inflicted upon their unsuspecting opponents. Indeed, Alvin Roth demonstrated the true meaning of restorative justice by this wonderful example of making partner regret the error of his ways. Alvin was defending 7NT in a high stake money game. The outcome of the contract rested on the heart suit in a critical 3 card ending. Declarer had three to the king in dummy, opposite his own AJ10, giving him a 2-way finesse option. Alvin was sitting with 3 to the queen under declarer's holding. South, who had started with 4 hearts originally, opened up the suit leading the jack of hearts from his own hand. West went into an Oscar winning performance of table antics, in a calculated attempt to make South (declarer) believe that he had the queen.....but inevitably playing low. South, taken in by all of this, also played low......as did Alvin !! When Roth's crestfallen partner saw Alvin's queen eventually fall under declarers Ace, he rounded on Alvin in no uncertain terms. " You could have defeated this contract....so why in God's name didn't you take the first heart trick with the queen.....when you were given the chance ? " Roth politely replied with a soft hint of sarcasm in his voice..." Oh, I'm so sorry.....but the way you behaved totally convinced me that you had it....so much so.... I figured the queen in my hand must have been a figment of my imagination. "