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OK, so I’ve been looking at the 4NT opening as well. What follows is an attempted summary of what others use the bid for (or suggest it be used for): (This certainly has merit. However I will choose to put this hand type through my 3NT bid even if it does go down). 4NT specific Aces I found this link. The probability of being dealt hands which meet this criteria are remote. 5NT 1-loser hand, void in both majors (Void in both majors is so rare that it doesn’t register a frequency % in BBOs deal generator, but no harm in having it as part of your agreements as I cannot think of any other use for the bid). And if truth be told, I need to confirm with my regular partner, but we probably play 5M as the old-fashioned looking for top honours (This also makes sense as a corollary to the 4NT specific Ace ask. Now you have 11 tricks missing the top 2 honours in the suit bid asking partner if he has them. 6M = I got 1, 7M = I got both). The probability of being dealt a hand which meets this criteria is 0.29%.

Flipping the ♠A and the ♥K as in your diagram changes the auction. Now slam won't even enter the picture. The auction will proceed like this: 3NT = any hand willing to bid game on its own 4♣ = what is your suit? 4♦ = ♦ is my suit 4♥ = Ace and King in two different suits (♥A) 5♦ = signoff, the ♥A helps me nothing, I have a void in the suit

I can't agree with either of you. Not every slam bid has a 100% guarantee of making. A bad trump break or a crucial card in the wrong defenders hand has defeated many a slam. If every slam bid had a 100% guarantee of making, a lot fewer slams would be bid.

Nice! In your diagram you have flipped the SA and the HK and now you have fooled antonylee (maybe some others as well). Every partnership is free to agree on whatever they wish. Leaving 3NT in (the old Gambling 3NT) will be according to your bidding style. The big downside here is that 3NT more often than not gets played from the wrong side of the table. If the E/W hands were reversed as in the diagram below, 3NT fails by 3 tricks on the ♥J lead followed by the ♥2. I understand that these sorts of bad results were the main reason by many dumped the Gambling 3NT in favour of something else. [hv=pc=n&s=s5hdakt76532ckq97&w=s97hj75432dq4cjt6&n=sajt862hk98dj8c82&e=skq43haqt6d9ca543]399|300[/hv]

Is this hand another failure for Puppet Stayman or just poor bidding by N/S? [hv=pc=n&s=sj984hj7dkq742c86&w=s62h963dj963cjt54&n=sak73hak842dt8caq&e=sqt5hqt5da5ck9732&d=e&v=0&b=14&a=ppp2n(20-21%20HCP)p3c(Puppet%20Stayman)p3hp3nppp]399|300[/hv] 1. East led the ♣3 to the Queen 2. What's your plan now? 4♠ can't fail. So was this hand poor bidding or just unlucky? Some may frown upon the 2NT bid when holding 5/4 in the majors?

This (not so) crazy idea may actually work. This completely random deal recently came up at the table. This was the actual hand and the bidding: [hv=pc=n&s=s5hdakt75432ckq97&w=skq43haqt6d9ca543&n=sajt862hk98dj8c82&e=s97hj75432dq6cjt6&d=e&v=n&b=2&a=p1dd(Text%20book%20t/o%20double)1sp3dp3np5dppp]399|300[/hv] 12 tricks were made. 1. West led the ♦9 to the King 2. ♠5 to the Ace 3. ♣2 to the Queen taken by the Ace. As West is unable to draw the last trump on table, 12 tricks are there for the taking, even if a bit fortuitous. Now if only I had a partner who was also bidding this new idea. Then the suggested auction would have gone something like this: P-3NT-P-4♣ P-4♦-P-4♠ P-4NT-P-6♦ P-P-X-All Pass 3NT = a hand willing to bid game on its own 4♣ = What is your suit? 4♦ = My suit 4♠ = An Ace and a King in two different suits 4NT = I am worried about a bad ♦ break. Signoff in 5♦ with 0-1 ♦. Bid the slam with 2+♦ 6♦ = I got 2+♦

Your anxious wait is over. Refer to my previous post in this thread to see what I will be using the 3NT bid for. Through constructive posting, I managed to figure out something that I intend experimenting with for the 3NT bid.

A further refinement (or better refinement?) of this could be something like this – 1. A direct bid of any suit other than 4♣ can be used to show the A and K in the suit bid with nothing to show anywhere else. The 3NT opener can use this information and bid game or slam directly now depending on whether the suit shown fits the rest of his hand e.g. AK opposite a void helps nothing. However AK opposite 2 small cards in the suit makes the slam easy. 2. A direct bid of 4NT can be used to show any two Aces and nothing else. Opener’s decision will now be to bid the small slam or the grand slam as the 3NT opening bid already showed a hand strong enough to bid game on its own. 3. The 4♣ bid would then show a hand with either, a) no slam potential wanting to signoff in game, or, b) a hand with an A and K in two different suits still leaving the door open for a slam try but able to signoff at the 5-level if necessary. Any thoughts?

There are actually a number of websites who have longs lists of these anagrams. Here are links to but three of them 1. Bored? 2. Anagram Sites 3. Everyday Vocabulary Anagrams

After reading what others had to say in this thread, how about the following refinement? 1. 4♣/4♦/4/♥/4♠ all show a hand within 2 tricks of making vul and within 3 tricks nv. 2. Then channel all the stronger single suited GF hands through the 3NT bid. These would be all the hands expecting to make. The hand can be majors or minors (7-4 holding as suggested by hrothgar also possible; the defining element is that you expect the contract to make). After 3NT, 4♣ asks for the suit. Bid it if it is ♦/♥/♠. If ♣, then bid 4NT to confirm ♣. Whatever the response to the 4♣ asking bid is, partner either signs off in game or makes a slam try with the appropriate hand. Any thoughts?

This post is an attempted summary of what others use the 3NT bid for: Other possibilities could be: 1. 3NT as a natural 24-25 HCP hand. Most would put these hand types through the strong 2♣ bid. 2. 5/5 or 6/5 in the minors and 11+ HCP (versus 2NT showing 5/5 in the minors and 5-10 HCP) Of these options, I still need to decide which one fits in best with the rest of my agreements.

What HCP range have you assigned to the bid? I'm guessing 5-10 HCP? What do you do with ♠ and a 5-card minor? With 10-11 HCP, using the Rule of 20 is easy. But what do you do with, say, 5-9 HCP and 5X♠ and 5Xm?

We’ve moved the 20-21 HCP balanced hands into our 1♣ bid which is forcing (Polish Club style). 1♦ shows 0-4 HCP. Anything else shows 5+ HCP. After a suit response 2NT (or 3NT) depending on whether the suit response was on the 1 level or the 2 level, now shows this hand type. The big downside is that 3NT is often played from the wrong side of the table. The upside is after a negative 1♦ response we are now playing in 1NT making versus 2NT going down 1. The trade-off is something we have decided to continue with until the scales start tipping towards the negative side.

Regarding the 2NT opening bid, these are the choices that I am currently aware of (no doubt there are plenty of others as well): 1. A standard strong balanced hand promising 20-21 HCP. In this thread Too Many 2NT Contracts are Going Down, after going down enough times myself, partner and I are starting to look for some other use for the 2NT bid. 2. 5/5 in the minors and 5-10 HCP. I’m not a fan of this opening as it is just too easy to defend against. Also it tells the opponents the hand layout making it easy for them to bid and make thin games in either major. 3. 5/5 in the majors and 8-12 HCP as played by Blue Team Club. The probability of being dealt a hand which meets this criteria stands at 0.43%. The biggest criticism that I have heard against this method is: “Why pre-empt your own side when you hold both majors?” The answer given is that, a) with 5/5 in the majors it is normal to open with 1♠ and then repeat the ♥ suit twice to show the 5/5 holding, and b) you want to avoid partner bidding 3NT when your hand is low in HCP. 4. Undisciplined 3-level pre-empt in either minor. 5. T-Rex (Martin Reid/Peter Newell from New Zealand) use it to show 2-9 HCP and a 6-card ♣ suit. Does anyone know of other uses for a 2NT opening? Once I know what all my choices are I can try something different to a standard 20-21 HCP balanced hand.

This was a typo error. The probability is 0.08% for a specific suit. As there are four suits, the probability is 0.32%, less than once in every 250 hands.

That's what I'm trying to find out. What do others use the 4-level for? What do you use it for?

My guess is that many bid 8-card suits and 5-11 HCP on the 4-level, which is what I am doing now. The probability of being dealt a hand which meets this criteria is low, standing at 0.08%. Some play 4♣ as Namyats but then you lose a natural 4♣ pre-empt. I read in a different thread someone suggesting to put an 8-card major pre-empt through the 3NT opening bid (I think it was Justin who suggested this). Then I still have the 4♣ bid available for something else. I have now also freed up the 4♥ and 4♠ bid to be used for something else. So what would be a useful bid for the vacant available bid now? Sure it will be something that has an extremely low probability of occurring. But if it's there, then why not use it?

I’m looking for ideas from others for alternate uses for the following high level opening bids: 1. 2NT 2. 3NT 3. 4♣ 4. 4♦ 5. 4♥ 6. 4♠ 7. 4NT 8. 5♣ I'm not convinced that my current agreements make optimal use of these high level opening bids. By nature, all of them are pre-emptive. But what or how do others use them? Hopefully I will find something more effective than what I am currently doing. Thanks in advance.

Acol Basic seems to be the way to go with these beginners. This uses almost no artificial bids. This is what I managed to find for Acol-Basic: 1 NT = 12-14 HCP, Stayman (interestingly no Jacoby Transfers) 1m-2NT = Forcing Strong Jump-Shift Responses by an unpassed hand Weak Jump-Shift Responses by a passed hand 2NT = 20-22 HCP, Stayman (no Jacoby Transfers) Gambling 3NT (not sure if a beginner should be taught this) Strong 2 Bids (archaic?) Takeout Doubles played through 4♥ New Suit Response to Overcall is forcing for 1 round Jump Raises are Invitational Weak Jump-Shifts to Partner’s Overcall Regular Blackwood Once you move from Acol Basic to Acol Intermediate, the number of add-on's becomes quite significant. Must say though, I still liked the idea of doing something that other players without much experience in our local club were using quite effectively.

Here is an tongue-in-cheek example of how to get a top score through "bidding what you have." A competitor was called away on an emergency from a bridge tournament, with still the last board to play. So the players asked a kibitzer to take his place although he knew nothing about the game. They told him "Just bid what you've got and follow suit". He sat South and the following bidding sequence ensued: [hv=pc=n&s=sj3h432d8765432ca&w=skqt8hjt97dqtckj8&n=sa9hakq65dakcqt54&e=s76542h8dj9c97632&d=s&v=0&b=11&a=1cp2hp2sp3cp3hp4np7ddppp]399|300[/hv] South took the lead of the king of spades with the ace, cashed the ace and king of trumps, came to hand with the ace of clubs and played all his diamonds. On the last one, West was hopelessly squeezed in hearts and spades, and ultimately discarded a heart, whereupon South made the last four tricks in hearts. When the opposition saw South's hand, they called the director, who asked for an explanation of the bidding, and got the following reply… "I was told to bid what I've got, and I have one club, 2 spades, 3 hearts and 7 diamonds!"

In our local club we have a number of inexperienced players who play something similar. In their own way they cope fairly well in most auctions. The fact that their system limits artificial bids reduces any possibility of a misunderstanding; you simply bid what you have! Seeing how they cope, I thought it might not be a bad idea to start beginners off with something similar. I find that beginners often struggle to understand artificial bids; why bid a suit you don’t have or don’t have any interest in? The OP has borrowed much from what these inexperienced players are already doing. There are some changes e.g. playing a 15-17 HCP NT versus a 16-18 HCP NT, 2♣ as a natural weak 2 versus a strong artificial 22+ HCP hand.

My goal is to design a system limiting artificial bids to the absolute minimum for beginners in my hometown. However basic artificial bids such as Stayman and Jacoby Transfers will be retained. Otherwise the only proposed forcing bid in the system will be a change of suit. So as soon as a suit gets repeated or NT bid, the auction is no longer forcing. So for starters opening bids look like this: 1♠/1♥/1♦ all promise a 5-card suit and 12 + HCP 1♣ of necessity must be artificial, promising 12-14 HCP often balanced or 18+ HCP and an unbalanced hand 1NT promises 15-17 HCP balanced 2♣/2♦/2♥/2♠ all promise a 6-card suit and 5-11 HCP NV, 8-11 HCP V 2NT promises 22-23 HCP balanced 3♣/3♦/3♥/3♠ all promise a 7-card suit and 5-11 HCP NV, 8-11 HCP V 3NT promises 24-25 HCP balanced First round responses look something like this: The 1♣ bid is forcing for 1 round. So over 1♣, 1♦ = 0-4 HCP. Anything other response on level 1 shows 5-9 HCP and at least 4-cards in the suit bid. [After a positive response to the 1♣ opening, a jump to 2NT by opener shows 20-21 HCP balanced]. 1NT shows 5-9 HCP and no 4-card major. A direct bid of 2♣ or 2♦ shows 10+ HCP and a 5-card suit, a 4-card major still possible as well. A direct bid to 2NT shows 12+ HCP and shortness in ♣ (either 4441, or 4432). Over 1♠/1♥/1♦ responses are natural. A single raise promises 3-card support and 6-9 HCP. 1NT shows 6-9 HCP. A direct bid of 2NT shows 12+ HCP and shortness in the suit opened (either 4441 or 4432). Any new suit bid is forcing. Differentiating between 3-card support and 4-card support for the suit opened is done as follows, a) a direct jump to 3 in the suit promises 4-card support and 10-11 HCP, b) a change of suit followed by a jump (or bid) in the suit opened promises 3-card support and 10-11 HCP. A direct jump to game in the suit opened promises 5-card support and 4-9 HCP. Over 1NT, Stayman and Jacoby Transfers are retained. Over 2-level suit openings, new suits are non-forcing. However now a 2NT bid of necessity becomes artificial and forcing, asking for a feature. Over 2NT, Stayman and Jacoby Transfers are retained. So what’s missing so far for the uncontested auction?

Having thought about this some more, 4♥ must be interpreted as kickback for ♦. So South now answers 5♣ (2 keycards without the trump queen). North can now close the deal in 6♦ on the cross-ruff potential of the hand.

Bidding this way actually has some merit; it makes it a lot harder for the opponents to enter the auction. The player’s hand making the jump bid is completely useless defensively. The only use is offensively. Partner may not have anything to help in the suit bid, but partner, via the opening bid has already indicated trick taking value in the other suits. So now the bidding goes: 1♠-P-3♥-? The 3♥ bid showing a 7-card suit and 4-6 HCP. The opponents have both majors covered and now you are forced to enter the auction in the minor suits on level 4. The opener’s hand is still unlimited. If you double, is it for penalty or takeout?

Don't give up on me yet. Let's see if we can find a solution using "Feature Showing" and allow the ♥ singleton as a feature. North will probably assume that it is the ♥K and attempt a sign-off in 3NT, able to count a possible 10 tricks. When South pulls 3NT to 4♦, North needs to sit back and think, "Hey, what's this idiot partner of mine up to?" Having had some time to think the situation over, North will hopefully come to the conclusion that 3♥ showed a singleton. Now North knows of shortness in both hands and the cross-ruff potential opens the door for at least a slam probe. Now I pass the ball back to you: What does North use to ask for keycards that would not be ambiguous? 4♥ as kickback? Will South interpret it as kickback? 4NT won't work because South will again read this as an attempted signoff. So in a situation such as this one, do you violate all accepted bidding practices and bid 4♠ as RKCB? It's still not clear how South will interpret the bid. So after 4♦ if North can find a way to ask for keycards, the slam may still be found. Hopefully someone can help here.