As well as the booklet you received at the time, showing and discussing the hands, there was another later one.

This was a complete revelation to me. Each  booklet was individual for that pair. It gave the deal, what the auction had been when the experts played it, what the winning pair had bid, and if you had played it, what contract you ended up in.

It then gave all the most common contracts with  the number of pairs who chose them, together with the number of tricks made.

If that were not enough, it then gave the percentage score for each of the outcomes - for both pairs! 

I have chosen just one fascinating deal.

North: Spades 4, Hearts 43, Diamonds 965, Clubs K987532.

East: S KJ8762, H KJ97, D AJ2, C nil.

South: S A10, H A8, D Q10873, C AQ106.

West: S Q953, H Q10652, D K4, C J4.

On this deal there were 10 common contracts, and one unique one. 

If you were sitting N/S, 5C, 3NT, 5D, 5Cx, and 5D, in order of popularity. The sixth, the unique one, was 6Cx, making don’t ask how, and this one won a prize. 

If sitting E/W, they were, in order, 4S, 5Sx, 4Sx, 3S, 5S and 2S.

Because of differing numbers of tricks made, there were over 25 different scores on this one hand. By far the most common contract was 4S, at more than 300 tables, with most making 11 tricks.

When the hand was played by the experts, the bidding went like this:

West      North    East       South

Pass       Pass     1S         1NT

3S           4C        4S          5C

All pass. Not a double in sight.

At our table, our opponents bid to 5S, which we wrongly doubled. Having pushed them there, we should have left well alone.

At 69 tables the contract was the same, but nearly all the N/S pairs managed 11 tricks.

We were very lucky that our opponents only made 10, giving us an undeserved score of 90pc. 

This weekend the Bathurst club is holding its second novice tournament. I hope it is a great success.