sasioc

LCard counting and working out distributions is a hugely useful skill at all levels and one that I encouraged my beginners to learn from day one when I still taught. Start off by just remembering which picture cards have gone and move on to counting how many cards are gone/out in each suit (start by just doing it with trumps). Progress to trying to remember which hand played the cards you've seen (eg how many diamonds has rho shown up with, who played the ace of hearts). Once these things come easily you will be able to use them with your growing knowledge of bidding and carding to read opponents' signals and auction to attempt to place them with cards and shape that you have not yet seen (eg, lho has played 9 points worth of high cards and is therefore very unlikely to hold an outstanding ace as a passed hand). If you are struggling to remember what has gone you might find it helps to think about what you started with, eg if your starting shape was 5332 and you now have 3331 you can think "so I followed to two rounds of spades and one round of clubs. Did everyone else follow to those tricks? What high cards were played to them?" I've been told it can be helpful to think about how many cards oppo have between them in a suit rather than thinking in terms of individual tricks, eg thinking "oppo started with 5 hearts between them because we started with eight" rather than "I played one round of hearts and everyone followed, I then ruffed something in dummy and played another round of hearts, which everyone followed to. I have 3 hearts left in hand and 2 in dummy, how many are left?", which is a lot of thinking to do at every trick. Knowledge of possible layouts helps, eg having it in the front of your mind that if oppo have 5 hearts between them they are 3-2, 4-1 or 5-0. This sounds trivial but I've seen a lot of beginners struggle to work out how many cards one player holds after seeing another show out. Lastly, I'd just like to mention that this really does get a lot easier with practice and that it will come - it is a skill that takes time!

As several others have said, no, especially in a field where I am being gifted good scores for doing middle of the road things

Ok, that makes a lot of sense. But why are we splitting our 5 card spade invites into balanced and unbalanced? I assumed the point of distinguishing between bal and unbal here could only be to play in NT with two flat hands but I've clearly missed something! What you've said sounds like an argument to play 2S here as a 5 card invite but it seemed like the OP was saying they'd bid 2NT here with a different 5 card spade invite (a flatter one) , which is what I really don't get. Am I being particularly dense?

Repeat post

I like this as an invite with 4 spades because it allows us to play in the right partscore when partner is not accepting the invite (I play non-promissory stayman so 2NT would indeed show an invite without a 4 card major) 2) I don't really understand why I "don't fancy" transfer then 2NT on this - because I'm not balanced/semi balanced? Because of my small singleton diamond? I'd have thought balanced invites with a 5 card major sufficiently rare that I don't really want to take this bid up so that I can show them, particularly as I'm not really sure what the advantage of this is, except that I might play in 3NT instead of 4♠ sometimes when it's right. This feels like a smaller gain than being able to play in 2♠ with an invitational hand rather than 2NT when we have a reasonable spade fit. 3) I would not consider playing this as a weak run out because this feels like it is asking for trouble when p doesn't have useful spades - I'd just pass 1NT. On the hand that you have given as an example I'd feel pretty good about passing 1NT as we have the balance of the strength and I have a source of tricks. 4) With a hand that wanted to show 5 spades and force I'd start with a transfer and to show 4 spades and a force I would bid 2♣ and then my 5 card minor over partner's non-2♠ response or 3NT/4NT/6NT (all natural) if I didn't have a minor I could bid. With a 4144 hand I would have started with 3♥ (splinter) but if I was not playing that I would now treat my hand as balanced with 4♠.

I thought the was raise was more like 5-7. Given that p had effectively denied 11 by passing, I thought he'd need a bit less to go through drury, although this had not been specifically discussed. I expected him to have 8 points only if poor and balanced. It was teams, sorry I forgot to say that in my first post

I honestly have no idea if this is a really stupid question or not but here we go. You hold the following, 3rd in at unfav. You open 1♠ and your partner bids 2♠. You play 2 way drury so p could have shown a "good passed hand" with either three or four card support. Your partnership style is to open light in all seats, especially with a 5cM (p would open most flat 11 counts). Are you bidding again and if so what? ♠ AQJ92 ♥ AKT3 ♦ QJ ♣ T6

I realise that if p has no heart control, slam is pretty darn likely to be good but that wasn't really what I was asking - sorry if I wasn't clear. I meant that I don't understand what auction you are referring to. It sounded as if you were advocating looking for grand if p bid 5♠, which is what he is likely to bid on *any* hand with no club control, regardless of whether it contains a heart control or not because he will believe we are off 2 clubs. Surely 5♥, whatever else it shows, must promise a club control here.

Clearly part of the reason I passed was that I hoped that I'd be able to show my hand later but I could obviously run into problems on a competitive auction. I was also worried that if I opened 4S and oppo came in I'd be very poorly placed. When I passed I had certainly already decided that I would bid 4S later if I had to. At the table I bid 6♠ over 4 because my partner and I don't play together often and I wasn't sure what 5m would be - on one hand it certainly sounds like a cue bid but on the other I must surely have been dealt a very shapely two suiter to have passed and now be looking for slam, so maybe it should be NAT? Given that I wasn't certain what 5m should be and which m suit p would expect from me if I bid it (if I bid 5♦ and then try 6♦ later to look for grand I am certainly worried p will pass it) I thought 6♠ was the most practical bid. To whereagles, how will p show/ skip a heart cue? I'd have thought 5♥ over 5♦ would just show a club cue (kind of last train-esque), otherwise you have no idea what's going on when p bids 5♠? P put down Jxx AKx xxxx AQx so obviously small is all but frigid. To the (many) people who open 4S, what would do you if it went 4s p p 5H or something of that ilk?

You hold ♠ AKTxxxx ♥ - ♦ - ♣ JT9xxx 1st in at unfavourable playing teams. First question - what is your call? At the table I passed and the auction proceeded p (p) 1NT (2♥*) *H and a minor; 1NT = 14-16 3♠ (4♥) 4♠ (p) Do you agree with 3♠ (which is gf in principle but obviously I'm a passed hand so it is not impossible that partner will drop it - this possibility had not really occurred to me when I bid it)? What do you do now?

I'm certain I'd bid 4s at the table, although the more thought I put into this the more uncertain I feel :P

A number of H determined largely at random as I stick my hand into the bidding box :P. A part of me wants to bid slam but another part (presumably the bit that read jlall's post) is cautious to do so with no aces and only a fairly moderate inference that partner has something useful for me in spades.

I'd also have opened 1S. I will now bid 5S rather than passing because my hand is significantly more suitable for playing in spades than the hand that I have shown. I will consider 5H because I would like to play in slam if p has 2 aces and something useful in a round suit. I don't think I'll play in many slams worse than trumps 1-1.

I don't think this hand is "really random" at all, it's pretty middle of the road....

Pass and I don't think it's close. I think that passing gives us our best chance of a plus score, which seems very likely at this point - 3C will probably make and if oppo bid I think we are likely to beat their contract. It is possible that we can make 3NT or 5C but I'd expect p to have opened 3NT on the vast majority of hands where that is the case - I need to see a solid suit and an entry to make 3nt and I need to find partner with 7 tricks to make 5C, which is not possible on that many hands without a solid suit. I would be much more keen if I had a club.

I see your point about the vulnerability - I'm certainly not very happy with a 4nt bid on the hand but my initial feeling was that I didn't really have a choice. While partner certainly may have four tricks in his hand it surely could also be the case that oppo will struggle to double us if we have a decent fit and at the table I'd be nervous that 4S might make an over. Perhaps I'm being too pessimistic though! Could it also be the case that if they are making an overtrick it's because side suits break poorly, which will make it easy for them to double us in something and more likely to collect a large penalty if they do?

4NT seems fairly standard to me...am I missing something here?

4♥ - I think I'm far too good for 2H and this might end the auction.

I think this is a problem with your system - as you say, your partner has to bid this way with either hand type under your current agreements and you can't really tell which he has. I'm not sure if this is going to be a huge problem on that many hands but if you feel it is I'd look for a different way to show a 3 card invite. Some people play 1M:3M as a 3 card invite, although I prefer this to be pre emptive. 2/1 players frequently put their 3 card invites through a forcing 1NT, although I see you don't play 2/1. My own preference is to play 1M:3C as 7-10 points with 4 card support and 1M:3D as 10-12 and 3 card support, with better 4 card raises good enough to bid J2N or make whatever raise you normally do with a gf hand with 4 cards. Worse hands with 4 cards can bid 3M pre emptive. I prefer this to Bergen because I feel that Bergen uses two bids to show relatively rare hand types, where it is not really necessary to do so, where here you can still show these hands but have an easy 3 card raise too. Not sure what everyone else plays/thinks though. Alternatively it's not absurd to start with 1NT on 2 card support with 10-11 points.

I think the East hand is far too good for 2S. I'd bid 3H with that and if it went 4H p p back to me I'd bid 4S. As for the West hand, I'm not sure what you think he is meant to do over 3H - his hand is too good to pass and doesn't really have a clear bid either so I'd probably have doubled too (assuming it isn't pure penalties but rather just a good hand with no other action). I hate his second double - I think he should be bidding 4S now.

I have doubled with all of them. For me, 3) is automatic (I'd do with with a Q less facing an unpassed hand, which is the agreed style in my regular partnership). I don't really know if I'm meant to double on 2) but was seduced by the vulnerability (or rather the lack thereof).

For me the question isn't "2S or x then S?". I think that doubling and then bidding S shows a good hand but a hand more flexible than an immediate 3S bid, which is similar in strength - at least, if this is not the case I don't know what the difference is! 3S immediately and x then 4S are the calls I will consider. Given that p is likely to have something and certainly won't raise 3S to 4 with KQ in a minor and out or two kings I'll probably x then bid 4S.

I think an 11 year old child has the right to be consulted and informed regarding life-changing decisions that will affect them. Their level of input into the final decision should be dictated by the maturity of the child and their ability to understand their options as well as the nature of the decision and how directly it will affect them.

I will definitely bid 2♥ on this, especially love all at pairs. I do not play double of 4D as showing a weak hand but if you do I can see why people are tempted to bid slam. This said, it feels to me like if slam was good partner would have opened 2C (given that p is unlikely to have a club control it needs a lot in the majors to be percentage) and, especially playing the x of 4D as penalties (as I do), I am not moving again.

1) 4♦. I do not seriously consider any other call. 2) 3NT because I want to right-side it (have overcaller on lead, potentially having to guess which of his suits to play, possibly leading up to my QT) and I want to show p something in each of oppo's suits. Without any agreement about what 3♠ meant I would probably think partner was angling for me to bid 3NT. I hate 5♦ but if I am not bidding 3NT may bid 4. I'm not sure how I feel about 4S because I don't really know what partner has shown here. I'm reasonably suitable for playing in a 4-3 fit, although I have wastage in oppo's suits. I don't think a pick-up partner can be assumed to have denied a half-stop or even a full stop in H, and oppo might have to guess to start with a high heart lead anyway (where neither a H nor a top one was clear). 3) I think my choice is between 1NT and 1♠ and don't feel massively strongly about which one is better, although prefer 1NT. Make my spades a bit better or my doubleton xx and I might change my mind. I hate pass and double. If I bid 1♠ and the auction continues as you have shown, I pass. 4) 2♥ is out of the question and I am unlikely to pass. My feeling is that if I won't bid 2♠ showing spades and a minor on this, there's no point playing it as that because I'll never bid it. My feelings about double depend on your opening style but at this vulnerability I certainly prefer 2♠. 5) I'll try a low heart from dummy because I believe North is more likely to hold JTxxx than AKxxx (doesn't have to be 5 cards but seems likely) and there are other layouts where a low card gains but Q is only right with AK with North. I think North is less likely to hold AKxxx because he did not bid over 1NT with known tolerance for partner's spades and did not double (although xx AKxxx and some minor cards is certainly not a double, he can't have a lot else in his hand if those are his majors). Low also gains against AJTxx (KJTxx seems unlikely as he would have led the J). There is also some chance that, holding AKxxx, North would have led the A (especially with one of the J or T). Sorry I haven't given numbers out of ten for my answers; I'm a bit tired for that!