[nige1]

IMPS (Teams)
Both pairs are playing Acol, four-card majors, 12-14 NT.
All reasonable players.
Don't worry about your bidding.
What do you lead?

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[the_clown]

I dont know any reasonable player who will pass 4♥.

As for the lead, I would try a club. It looks like W has Hx in hearts and nice diamond support to justify his jump to game (in ACOL there is no limit raise in 1N right?).

[gszes]

spade might score a trick club might get 1 maybe 2 but for setting 4h (I would have bid 4s over 3d) I like the singleton dia lead as having the best shot at setting them. P may have an entry or two and I can picture the defense getting off to a dia to A dia ruff spade to A dia ruff and then sitting back and making sure the rain does not get my cc wet:)

[billw55]

I would not be on lead against 4♥.

I might be against 5♥. What would be the best shot? Leading the stiff ♦ amounts to hoping partner has the ♥A: possible, but optimistic. Meanwhile he very well might have ♦Qxx(x) when the lead solves declarer's guess in the suit.

In the end I think I would unimaginatively lead a spade.

[SteveMoe]

Someone said the ♦3 isn't a singleton if I don't lead it...

[mikeh]

Seriously? We are a reasonable player and we bid 3♠ w v r? and passed 4♥? Really?

[akwoo]

This is IMPs. I have negative tricks (since my 5th spade takes away a spade trick from partner). This being IMPs, I think I have to gamble with a diamond lead. I would never make that lead at MPs, because I don't think it's more than 20%.

[Cyberyeti]

I bid 4♠ first time and 5♠ over 5♥ without batting an eyelid.

I know the hand so don't know what I'd lead without prior knowledge.

[MrAce]

OP says "don't worry about bidding" He is not asking what should we have bid. See it as an artificially created leading problem even if this was the real auction.

Back to the question. I lead my singleton Nige1.

[Winstonm]

I lead myself to the toilet to avoid my partner's wrath. When I return, acting dizzy, I lead a club. I think we need to establish the club before partner wins his diamond trick. I expect one trick in each suit.

[mikeh]

If forced to fill in for the player who failed to make the obvious 4♠ call (over 3♦), I lead clubs. I am not playing partner for either red Ace, altho that is a possible holding. Leading a stiff diamond, when partner lacks the red Aces, is very likely to cost both a trick and a tempo. Meanwhile, we rate to score at most 1 spade, and quite possibly none, so I am looking either to cash some quick winners and/or find partner with Ax in clubs and the suit 3-3, or find partner with Qxx/QJx and set up a trick before they drive out his red suit stopper.

The diamond lead is a close 2nd.

Since Axxxxx xxx xx Ax may well constitute a double game swing (and when 4S fails, 4H is cold), and is consistent with the auction so far, saying that one should ignore the auction, and not criticize it is very artificial, compounded by the self-evidently wrong assertion that the auction was perpetrated by a 'reasonable' player.

[mr1303]

If I'm leading against the expected to be cold 4H, this only looks beatable if partner has a red suit ace. So the diamond it is.

[mr1303]

If I'm leading against the expected to be cold 4H, this only looks beatable if partner has a red suit ace. So the diamond it is.

[ahydra]

Put me down for the singleton diamond as well.

ahydra

[MrAce]

All those singleton lead votes (including me), you know if ♦ lead was a winning one this would not make it to "interesting hands" forum.

[Jinksy]

I think it was Pietro Forquet who said 'always lead your side suit singleton'. Since he's not here, I've cast his vote by proxy.

[PhilKing]

Jinksy, on 2015-July-10, 14:32, said:

I think it was Pietro Forquet who said 'always lead your side suit singleton'. Since he's not here, I've cast his vote by proxy.

Probably he did - but it's attributed to Garozzo, I believe.

[benlessard]

I lead my stiff against 5H.