West leads the Diamond Jack, won with dummy’s Queen.  Whoa, stop! Right away, the opponents’ should know playing more Diamonds is not productive unless they anticipate a ruff (one long, one short).  In a suit contract, opening leader (West) will not underlead an Ace. And since East could not overtake the dummy’s Queen by playing “third hand high”, the defenders should know declarer holds both the Diamond Ace and King.  As declarer, we can see the dummy does not offer ruffing potential and there are no finesse opportunities.  We seem to have six losers: one Spade trump, four Hearts and the Club Ace.  Ah, but if we could first drive out the Club Ace, perhaps we could sluff several Heart losers on the dummy’s Clubs – it is unlikely opponents would soon ruff our five card Club suit when they hold eight in the suit.  Opponents will typically have a 5-3 split, but since we need a 4-4 to make game, we must hope for the best.  So declarer leads the stiff Club 2, won by East’s Ace. Here’s the cards from South’s perspective:

	K 3 2 Q 7 6 - 3 2 K Q J -
	Declarer: South  Contract: 4 Spades	Q J 10 K J 10 9 - 6 - 5 4 3

East held a doubleton Diamond, perhaps thinking a ruff was a good idea, but is it?  Not really – East is due to win one Spade regardless of play (promotion or ruff).  What happens if East returns a Diamond or a trump Spade?  Declarer will win the trick, enter dummy with the Spade King and sluff three Heart losers on the Clubs.  Declarer makes game, losing one Club, one Heart, and one Spade.  But if East took a deep breath and returned a Heart Jack (top of broken sequence), the defenders win one Club, three Hearts, and one trump Spade to set the contract. Whether declarer or defender, be mindful of promotion plays that present an opportunity to sluff losers – the race is on!

One the next hand, the declarer will make a loser disappear as if by magic!

	Q J 10 6 5 4 A J 5 4 K 5 4
	Declarer: South  Contract: 4 Spades
	A K 3 2 3 2 K Q 3 2 A 3 2

West leads Hearts and the defenders quickly win two Heart tricks and play a third Heart. Do you ruff?  If you do, you will probably lose control of trump and get set! The opponents’ trump distribution is often 4-2, so if you ruff, one opponent will hold more trump than you – not a pretty picture.  So before quickly ruffing the third Heart, consider your options.  You are always going to lose a Club anyway – how about pitching a Club from your hand on trick 3?  Great – if they play a fourth Heart you can ruff in the short side, the dummy!  Now you can win four Spade trumps, four Diamonds, and two Clubs to make your game.  How did we do this?  Technically it’s called playing a “loser on loser”, but basically it’s a form of sluffing! Very good.