A couple of the 42 players talk about finessing. And I wonder just how often you are able to finesse in 42. After all, there are only seven tricks in the round. And the “cards” in your hand are members of two suits. Usually, the focus in this game is to take the point bones (3:2, 4:1, 5:0, 5:5, and 6:4). However, there are times where you are “booked” and points do not matter. You must take all of the remaining tricks.
It seems to me that the finesse in 42 is an all or nothing proposition. Definitely when you are “booked.” But also when the opposing team is looking for opportunities to dump points onto a loosing trick. You do not normally want to loose control of what is led since you often have losers that you might be forced to play.
Whereas, it might not be that case in bridge. With so many more cards, I think all might not be lost if your finesse fails. You can try some other strategy. Or am I wrong?
In bridge, you will frequently be in contracts that make if a finesse is on and fail if a finesse is off. However, with more tricks, there can be strategy in which order to take finesses in, or which direction to finesse in (for a queen, or if you can take a ruffing finesse). On some hands, you may also be able to avoid finesses entirely or use them as a fallback by trying a different, and possibly higher-percentage, line of play (playing for a 4-2 or 3-3 split in a suit you can ruff out, for example).
Thanks, Adam. I suspected that finessing hand many more strategies in bridge.