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Fred and Bridge Friends, As others have mentioned, becoming a top player in robot games certainly seems to require curious bidding "skills" not found at the table. Making a quick scan in myhands database of a top BBO robot player over 24 Average-plus boards, I noted the following bidding style: (1S) - 1N with KJx..K98x..Kxx..Kxx Opens 1N with Q..KJx..KQJx..A10xxx LHO/RHO Robot Spade holdings AK1098 J76543 Dummy baby singleton LHO leads SA, S2, S3!, SQ. LHO switches! Opens 1N with A987x..Q8..Kx..A10xx Opens 2N with AK..AQx..QJ109xxx..10 Opens 2N with AKQ9x..Q10x..KJ8x..A While becoming the ranking BBO player against bots, one is left with the impression that "something" is going on here that is not quite according to Hoyle, err duplicate Bridge! Perhaps we should be sympathetic to claims by others who question the supposed benefits of dealing the best hand to human South when the system can significantly be gamed. Of course, those wanting to be top competitors in robot duplicate games can always study peculiar bidding styles by top players using BBO myhands, yet these winning skills seems a far cry from anything resembling F2F Bridge. Robot games are off to a great start with numerous benefits to our fair game. Keeping an open mind, communicating facts and sharing our thoughts here on BBO is a great way to improve this exciting new form of Bridge play. Warm Regards, Michael BridgeHands

Hi Bob, As part of our BridgeHands video commentary on Partnership Agreements/Understanding (Law 20, 40, 75), we recently asked subscribers to respond to a survey regarding common opening bids. Survey item #7 included two-suited bids such as the Michaels Cuebid with some of our respondents commenting that they prefer using a dual-range (high-low) when using Michaels. If you are interested, you can try the survey, review the results, watch the video commentary, etc at our blog: http://www.bridgehands.com/bridgeblog/?p=2215 The beginning of this video provides feedback on the Michaels Cuebid: http://tinyurl.com/476pjbk Warm Regards, Michael BridgeHands

Hi Mgoetze, Wow, North's hand really is a rock crusher for the points, wouldn't you agree? A fair number would rebid 3 Notrump with this holding, assuming: 1. The normal lead of a Heart (South's doubleton suit) 2. An eventual lead by opponents with an onside Heart Ace 3. Partner holds at least the Spade Queen and some length (with 22 HCP in hand and 18 HCP out, even a so-so partner will have a few points) 4. The Diamond suit runs (with 8 vacant spaces in 3 seats, it's unlikely an opponent holds Jack-fourth) Regarding missing a 4-4 Heart fit and Heart contract, it's usually a moot point when holding 4-3-3-3 shape and partner opens 1 or 2 Notrump. However, with 22-24 HCP, things get a bit more interesting. Using a simulator like Dealmaster Pro, you'll find that even with a 4-4 major suit trump fit, the double dummy odds favor playing in a Notrump contract. For instance, assigning declarer's hand as a balanced 22-24 HCP holding with 4 Hearts and entering responders hand, we get the following result (based on 100 random declarer hands - the simulator looked through several million to locate 100 that met the criteria after giving responder the given 13 HCP hand: Tricks: 11 12 13 Hearts: 100% 90% 39% Tricks: 11 12 13 Notrump: 100% 90% 27% So once again, Fred's spider sense and flawless logic pays off. But with the lower 25 to 33ish HCP hands, the simulator favors the Notrump bidders. And of course, body cards matter more in game contracts than bidding slam. On one of our recent "Polling You" contests, responders hand was: S: J 10 x H: J 10 9 8 D: K 10 x C: K 3 2 In that lesson, we provided our members a video demonstrating the simulator that showed that despite a 4-4 Heart fit and neglecting the 10 point Notrump premium, the odds were far better playing in a 3 Notrump contract (down less, makes game more often, makes an overtrick more often). http://www.bridgehands.com/bridgeblog/?p=1078 Videos here: http://bridgehands-videos.s3.amazonaws.com/Poll_20/Poll_20.html http://www.youtube.com/bridgehands#p/a/u/1/0TNGjOnlSyQ Happy trails to you, Michael BridgeHands