Ruff and Sluff

A ruff and sluff occurs in a trump contract when a defender leads a side suit that declarer and dummy are both void in. If declarer and dummy both possess trumps, then one hand can ruff while the other hand "sluffs" (i.e. discards) a loser.

For example, assume that South plays in hearts in this 6-card ending, and West is on lead:

		Dummy
		532
		KT5
		--
		--
West				East
J876				AKQ
--				2
93				54
--				--
		South
		T94
		J97
		--
		--

If West leads a spade, then the defense collects three spade tricks. However, if West leads a diamond, then South benefits from a ruff and sluff. The diamond is ruffed in one hand, and a spade sluffed from the other. South consequently loses only two spades.

A ruff and sluff can happen by:

• A defensive error. The defenders fail to recognize that declarer and dummy are both void in a given suit.
• An endplay by declarer. A defender is "thrown in" and forced to concede a ruff and sluff.
• An intentional play by the defense for strategic purposes (rare). See: Husbands and Wives, an article that exemplifies this situation.