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Congratulations to nige1 who has been selected to represent Scotland in the 2018 Senior Camrose next May. Nige1, and his partner, were not in the winning team but have been added as the third pair after finishing second in the cross imping, having scored more than double the third-placed pair. I believe this is nige1's first international selection and he is rewarded with a trip to Wales. There is a fair chance he will meet lamford at the table, who is competing in the Welsh trials next month. Well done! Paul

Yup, 7N is a terrible contract, 7♥ is very decent but < 70% so not 100% clear you want to be in it, but I think I would want to be.

Yes, I agree PASS probably satisfies the requirements for a comparable call. But LHO could certainly prevent him from making this change if he accepted the 3NT call!

Well, when there is a 4-4 heart fit and one hand has a void, it seems that someone at some point should bid hearts. In the Soloway style of jump shifts, as played for example by the bots, it is impossible to find the hearts after the 2S bid. But nobody, including me, likes the 2S bid. So suppose it starts 1C-1S -1NT, a reasonable beginning. Now the problem is, as it so often is on bbo, that probably the partnership has not discussed much of anything about what now means what. If we are playing 2 way nmf after 1NT, or x-y-z, then 2D is an artificial game force. Opener should now describe his hand. He has four hearts, he does not have three spades, the description is straightforward, he bids 2H. He has already described his hand as fairly balanced and presumably 12-14 highs, his partner has asked for a further description, so he gives it. Now some play that with three spades and four hearts opener first shows the three spades, some play that he first shows the four hearts. I have a slight preference for first showing the hearts, but my real preference is for knowing which it is that we are doing. After responder learns of the 4-4 heart fit it is basically up to him to select how high they go. If the pair is playing standard nmf rather than 2-way then 2D is still artificial and the response is still 2H, but we are not yet in a game force. It would be good to have agreements here as to what happens next. The hands fit very well and the hearts break 3-2 so it makes 7H. But only experts, maybe not even experts, can find out about the fitting spade K, the fitting diamond Q, and the club A for pitching the long diamond. And no bidding system uncovers the fact that the hearts are splitting. But after 1C - 1S - 1NT - 2D - 2H it should not be that tough for responder to choose 6H, maybe just by jumping to 6H.

This is insane. 2H is the systemic call. It allows you to agree hearts at the 3 level, forcing, allowing cue bidding room, which is hugely useful. If you bid 2nt, responder is supposed to proceed under the assumption that you DON'T have 4 hearts, or 3 spades, and will look for diamond fit not heart fit. Future heart bids should be interpreted as cues, not length. You already made a call that described your hand as NT-ish: 1nt!!

not 2♠, 1♠. new minor force or 2♦ as gf by responder after 1♣ - 1♠ - 1NT - 2♦ and opener bids 2♥ and 4/4 fit found

Playing strong jump shifts, I would never bid 2♠. The suit isn't good enough, there's no major fit for clubs, and hearts or diamonds may be the best trump suit which probably can't be found after a jump shift in spades. A simple 1♠ response lets you investigate other contracts.

... in these last days of the year to all those I met at the gaming tables and in the posts where we exchanged informations and also to all the moderators and programmers who here in BBO have allowed us with their work to be able meet and be together.

Merry Christmas.

Merry Christmas to all the BBF posters! It's definitely a white Christmas here in Upper Michigan, and is snowing as I look out toward the lake. Have a big family gathering here for the holidays, and will be even more when our youngest son and girlfriend arrive. They were supposed to arrive around midnight, so Constance and I went to pick them up at the airport. Alas, the plane circled around for a bit, the pilot decided it was too dangerous to land, and the plane returned to Chicago. Maybe later today!

Let's simplify the math. Let's say that there are 100 million households in the US. That means that 1 million are part of the 1%. If 1 million households own stock, mathematically it is possible that 100% of stock-owning households are from the 1%. (It is also possible that 100% are from the 99%, I am making no claims either way). Therefore, your statement makes absolutely no mathematical sense. One cannot know what percentage of stock market advances accrue to the benefit of the 99% until one knows what percent of the stock market they make up. I would be beyond shocked if they make up 99% of the households investing in the stock market.