jschafer

I don't understand bidding 3N on things like Kx or AKx. You have no guarantee that you can cash the ♠s on the first and could be using those ♠s to ruff things on the latter example. I would not bid 3N over 3♠ on a hand that relies on the ♠ suit as a source of tricks, 4♠ seems safer for those hands. When my p bids 3NT over 3♠ I expect him to have a source of tricks outside of ♠s, maybe a hand like ♠T ♥KQ ♦AKQT8542 ♣KQ. If I were to pull 3N it would be on an extreme hand, maybe on a 6-5 spade/minor two-suiter or something.

I like to think that for both, the odds are over 68%.

I am going for the splinter because that is how I want my partner to evaluate his hand for slam purposes.

I would try 4♠. 6♠ seems unlikely and quite hard to find without getting too high occasionally (would be more attractive played from this side). 3♠ is aiming at a pretty small target and doesn't help partner at all in terms of evaluating his hand. In 4♠ I'm hoping partner will have a doubleton in one of the reds and that the K♥ or A♦ will be onside. 3NT only needs a ♥ hook at worst though, so that looks decent too.

Wouldn't West want to show as many hcps as possible to pursuade declarer to take losing finesses? Surely making it look like East has the K♣ and no other points is counter productive if you want declarer to hook in a major?

[hv=pc=n&s=sakj764haq75d65c8&n=s2hj94dq43ca97542&d=w&v=0&b=8&a=pp2d(6%21ds%205-9)2sppp]266|200[/hv] West leads the ♦K and continues a ♦ to the Queen and Ace. On the third round of diamonds you decide to ruff with the 7, West overruffing with the 8. West now continues with the ♣Q, which you win with the Ace while you and East follow small. Matchpoints, how do you continue? If you play on ♠:

+1

The acol system is bugging me. On a more constructive note, you will either have to open 1NT with 5♥-332 or lie about one of your suits over 1♥-1♠. In your example hand where you opened 1NT with 5♥, you are probably fine because by the looks of it the opponents are making quite a few tricks in ♠s anyway.

The two lines are pretty close though (14% vs 17% if I entered it right on suitplay). ♠x ♥QJT976 ♦xx ♣KQxx looks like a 3♥ bid to me in this seat and vul. Whereas a ♣lead from KQ would be far less tempting after a ♣ cuebid on your right and a ♥ cuebid on your left. Having said that, I didn't think of running the Jack and it is a pretty neat way to play it.

I will try to make 5♠ tricks, 2♥ tricks, 4♦ tricks and a ♣ for 12 in total. I'll play the A♣ and 4 ♦s discarding ♣s. Then I will ruff a ♣ and play a ♥ to dummy. If LHO ruffs I draw trumps and make. If he doesn't I make my heart trick and get another ♣ ruff. I will go down if LHO discards a ♣ on the second ♥ trick and he is 4153 (except if he has KQ♣ obviously).

I was wondering, if you have no other information as to where the ♦Q is on this hand. Would it be a correct to play LHO for the ♣J because he cannot hold the ♦Q AND ♣K but can hold ♦Q AND ♣J. So playing him for the ♣J is playing LHO for any ♦ holding whereas playing him for the ♣K is playing for any ♦ without the Queen.

Why do you assume LHO has ♦Q? K♣, QJ♥ and Q♠ are honours LHO could hold aren't they? EDIT: If you remember where you think you recognise this hand from I would be curious to know where from :)

[hv=pc=n&s=sj764h93dt3ca9875&n=sak52ha6dk9cqt643&d=w&v=0&b=8&a=p1c1d1s3d3sppp]266|200[/hv] A small ♦ is led and you duck thinking it is more likely that RHO goes up with the Ace from AJ than that LHO underled his ♦A. RHO wins with the ♦J, cashes the ♦Ace and returns the ♠3. You cash the ♠AK finding the ♠s to be 3-2 and put LHO on lead with a 3rd round of ♠.He returns the ♥Q, which you win. You play another round of ♥s in case they break s for you. RHO wins with the T and gives you a ruff and discard by playing another ♥. How do you play the club suit?

You claim you psyche frequently for entertainment but I think you should take into consideration that you are ruining the game for at least 3 players at the expense of your entertainment. That doesn't even take into account the 15 other tables (or more in tournaments) which will get silly scores as a result of your bidding. I'm sure every person on this forum has been annoyed at the random moron on the other table going for something ridiculous like 7NTxx-8. Being bad at bridge and getting poor results is something people don't choose to do. However, deliberately psyching against poor players to ruin the game for everyone else is. Playing bridge is obviously not just about the scores but that doesn't mean you should go around psyching willy nilly because you feel like it. It is no fun playing against someone who psyches every 3 hands and it is even less fun to play with them because this is a partneship game. On two of the hands you posted your partner was still unlimited, how many times did you end up in a terrible contract after getting raised before you got a good result? If you psyche a bit less you would be able to keep decent partners around for long enough to actually enjoy the game without having to resort to excessive psyching. Don't get me wrong, I am not against psyching, but I do it in moderation and not against weaker players than myself who are trying to enjoy the game. EDIT: I also find it interesting how on the last hand your partner knew what everyone else scored right after the play. Considering you were playing a live tournament he must have beeen psychic!

I can't really imagine opening a vulnerable 2♥ on a suit worse than this and personally wouldn't even have done it on the given hand if it wasn't for the 4-card ♦ suit. This is a bad hand unless you play very aggressive vulnerable preempts.

Does 5422 qualify as 'unbalanced' for opening 1D?

I'm bidding 5♦, if that means I'm a chicken so be it.

What does the 3 bid show? Pass-(1♣)-2♦-(X) 3♠? Your side favourable, IMPs. Disagreement with my p here, so would like to know what you think this bid shows =)

[hv=pc=n&s=sk876hk43dkq75c92&d=e&v=0&b=14&a=1n(13-16)p3nppp]133|200[/hv] They play 13-16 NT but their responses are standard. IMPs. EDIT: Does your lead change if it is MPs?

This hand doesn't seem strong enough to bid 3♠ with the poor ♠ suit and stiff K♦ when vul. Passing doesn't look great either with a 6-5 and suits headed by A and AKQ. 3♥ is what I'd go for.

Thanks for the responses! I also agree about the comments on the 2♦ bid, it was a bidding problem I was given after the 2 bid was already made.

[hv=pc=n&s=skq7hjdt8532ca873&d=e&v=0&b=14&a=ppp1hp2dp2s(16+%20GF%20nat)p2np3hp]133|200[/hv] Just checking if I'm crazy or not ^^

I wasn't sure what this double was when it came up. (1♣)-Pass-(1♠)-Pass (2♣)-Pass-(Pass)-X

What does 2♦ accomplish which 3♦ doesn't? Partner is a passed hand and in the unlikely event you have game he will raise both 2♦ or 3♦. The more likely scenario is that the opps have game and/or a ♥ fit, in which case I would want to take up as much space as possible and make their constructive bidding tougher. Not only does 3♦ get the nature of your hand accross in one bid (preemptive) while consuming bidding space, it saves you the embarassment when partner doubles their making game when you overcalled a light 2♦ (or maybe he decides not to sacrifice expecting 4♥ to go down). The whole point of bidding is to bid your hand as accurately as possible in as few bids as possible while denying the opponents the opportunity to do the same. In that respect 3♦ is better, especially when it looks like the opponents have a game in ♥s and the vulnerability is favourable. At least that is my excuse when I overbid with my preempts :P

Mine would probably go someting like: 1♣-3♥(void) 3NT-4♣ 5♣-Pass/6♣