I hate Mondays

I skipped a game with Agent 99 to cover for a director that had jury duty. Big mistake. The Monday afternoon crowd is awful, and just about everything that could go wrong, did go wrong. All in all, a thoroughly unpleasant experience. Paying me twice as much wouldn't be enough.

There was one of those nasty hesitation rulings included. Bidding: 1C - 4H - 5C - (pause)pass - pass - 5H - director. At one level, this is a straightforward case - at least everyone agreed on the events (it was a very long pause), and the rule of thumb is reasonably clear. If pass was a logical alternative for North (rather than 5H), even if only a minority of players would likely choose it, then if East-West don't like their result I should order the hand scored at 5C. But here's North's hand.

S: A 7, H: A K 10 8 5 4 3 2, D: A J, C: 4

You can argue that pass is a logical alternative, but I can't honestly think of anyone I know who wouldn't bid 5H at that point in the auction with this hand. Speaking with another (more experienced) director, he said that if North had bid better in the first place (say, double first and then bid 4H), he would be more inclined to believe her claim that she would always bid 5H. But to me, that logic seems backwards. If you have already shown a really strong hand, pass becomes a much more viable alternative. If you have committed the gross underbid of the direct 4H, the undisclosed strength pushes you towards 5H. I suppose he meant that if she would underbid so badly once, she would do it twice. I don't know.

Anyway, hearts makes 11 tricks, clubs makes 10 tricks the other way. Big swing!