80
that any loss under 600 is a gain. The estimate is correct; the claim, ridiculous. Whenever the next deal furnishes the player who offers the gambit sufficient strength to capture the rubber, he gains, when his loss has been under 600, but at best it is not more than an even chance that he will win, and when the pendulum swings in the adverse direction, the only result of the performance with the flag is to increase the size of the adversaries' rubber by the amount of the sacrifice. This continued indefinitely is bound to produce Auction bankruptcy.
The player who figures that, on the doctrine of chances, he and his partner will hold the strong cards once in every two deals, should remember that the fickle goddess would never have deserved nor received her well-earned title had she been even approximately reliable.
A run of bad luck may continue for an indefinite period. It has pursued good players not only for a day or a week, but continuously for months and years. It does not sound warnings announcing its appearance or disappearance. To attempt to fight it by the flag-flying process as a rule only multiplies the loss many fold. And yet, it must not be understood that the flag-flyer should always be shunned and condemned. When his loss amounts to only 100 or 200, or when, not detecting his purpose, the adversaries fail to double, and the loss is, therefore, smaller, the odds favor his exhibition of nerve. Flag-flying, however, is like dynamite: in the hands of a child or of one unfamiliar with its characteristics, it is a danger, the extent of which none can foretell; but used with skill, it becomes a tool of exceptional value.
It is only during the rubber game that even the most enthusiastic and expert flyer of the flag should allow it to wave. With a game out, to make the play successful Dame Fortune must bestow her favors twice in succession. Before taking such a long chance, a player should realize that there are future rubbers which he has an even chance of winning, and that it is bett