Some deals you never forget. I held this hand in 1980, and I'd say it "launched my career:"

Q J 10 9 8 5 4 2
--
A K Q 7 5
--

In the Vanderbilt teams, I dealt and had to make the first bid. My partner was Ron Gerard, and I hoped he had read what I had read. What had I read? That an opening bid of 5 or 5 shows this type of hand -- 11 winners missing only the ace and king of trump. So, I opened 5, a bid that took everyone by surprise. My LHO passed, and my partner, with a sly look on his face, jumped to 7. Hopefully he knew that he should raise to 6 with one high trump, and to 7 with both high trumps.

This was the full deal:

Vul: Both Dlr: South	AK  KQ752  102  Q942
76  A9864  64  AKJ3		3  J103  J983  108765
	QJ1098542  --  AKQ75  --

West	North	East	South
--	--	--	5!
Pass	7!	All Pass

West trusted our bidding enough not to double, and he also trusted it enough to lead a trump (and not try one of his aces). Still, I was able to ruff one diamond in dummy and easily claim 13 tricks for 2210. At the other table, my counterpart opened 2 and reached only 6. Our team went on to win the match, and this deal was written up in the New York Times bridge column; my first claim to fame!