mr1303

All my cards look to be working well here. I don't mind forcing to game on this one: 3C.

Today an opposition MP was arrested under anti-terrorism legislation for publicising leaked home office documents that the Government didn't want publicised. In other words, for doing his job properly. The 3 most evil dictators of the last 100 years: Hitler, Stalin & Gordon Brown.

Aww bless

This is more personal advice than society in general, although feel free to comment on anything relevant.

Imagine you're a single girl in your early 20s. There's a boy you like, but you're not sure if he likes you. Should you a) ask him out yourself, or b) try to hint to him that you like him and get him to ask you out?

Brown is the most dangerous man in Britain. I'm going to be completely fleeced due this idiot's stupidity.

Thanks for all the replies. 5D and 5H were both down 1, so double was the winner. I tried 5H :P Partner held 5 hearts to the 10 and not much else, losing 2 spades and a club. In fairness though, +100 wouldn't have won a huge number of matchpoints either, since most pairs were scoring +620. -200 was a complete zero unfortunately.

RHO is a LOG (like a LOL but of a different gender)

[hv=d=w&v=n&s=s98xxhakjxxdcak10x]133|100|Scoring: MP[/hv] Bidding goes as follows: 1D P 3D X (agree?) P 3H 5D ? 3D was a limit raise. They have no forcing minor suit raise if it makes a difference. What say you now? Pass is not forcing here in case anyone wonders. Please note the form of scoring (matchpoints) and you can expect the field to not have the same auction as you.

4C for me. If things are going to break badly, why not make them guess at the 4 level e.g. 4C (4S) X and collect 1100 or so?

Sorry, really disagree with this. For one thing, most Acol players would open this 1NT. And if I were playing a strong NT in this position, I would still open 1D

I'm not really happy about anything on this hand. I expect that we're doubled and going for sticks and wheels no matter what I do. So a very unhappy 3C it is.

I would agree that you have the playing strength for this bid. However I am concerned that partner may bid too high in a major to do this. For me it's either 2C or pass. I hate both options though,

No, I'd already said that I can't remember the actual hand (and really can't remember it now, several weeks later). It was something like a reasonable 17 count or so, but she went 2 off in 6 and blamed me for raising [to the 3 level] on a 9 loser hand.

A friend of mine has a moral dilemma that he told me about. We'll call him Dave (name changed to protect the guilty). I didn't know what advice to give him, so I thought I'd throw it open to the enlightened forum readers. Dave's story goes something like this: I've been seeing my current girlfriend Louise (again name changed to protect the guilty) for the last 5 years, give or take. We've been living together for the last 3, and earlier this year we bought a house together. I would have said that we are very happy together. However, last weekend I met up with an old female friend (called Jane) of mine for lunch. It turns out she's been a bit down on her luck of late. Anyway, lunch goes very well, and lunch carries on into the evening and we have a bottle of wine or two. Jane ends up pouring her heart out to me, so I consoled her with a hug, and eventually we ended up kissing. Nothing more than that happened. The trouble is, I've been thinking about her all week and would really like to see her again. I really feel that Jane needs me at the moment. I sent her a bunch of flowers to try and cheer her up (although they haven't arrived yet, so I haven't had a reaction from that). So, any suggestions?

I put down the dummy and tell partner not to make stupid bids.

I'm not convinced by double either, but I think pass deserves a mention. This hand isn't much better than a solid raise to the 3 level, and whilst partner should have a good hand at this vulnerability, perhaps we're expecting too much of him?

This one happened to me at the club last night from my regular partner (who really should know better). No comments really required (unless you want to), just posting it for amusement really. [hv=d=s&v=n&n=sxhdkqjxxxcakqjxx&s=saqj10xxhj109xdxcxx]133|200|Scoring: MP[/hv] P 2C 2S 3D 3H 4NT 5D 6C 6S 7C all pass

Glad to see it wasn't clearcut. I bid 3H and partner went to slam. She went 2 off and then had a go at me for raising to the 3 level with "a 9 loser hand". I don't remember her hand unfortunately, but I remember not being a fan of the losing trick count.

[hv=d=n&v=n&s=saxxxhaxxxdxxcjxx]133|100|Scoring: MP[/hv] Partner opens 1H which could be a 4 card suit, and we play a weak (12-14) NT. You don't play any sort of Bergen raises, so you have the choice of bidding 2H or 3H. Which is it to be?

If I was going to bid game, why did I bother making a game try?

I'm not convinced that in the real world so many will stop in 5D. Opposite as little as the ace of hearts and ace of clubs 7D is virtually laydown. You don't need much of a diamond fit with that suit either.

Any views on this Stanford Twenty20 international? It seems that England (despite the large prize) really wish they didn't have to play and could just play a normal game of cricket.

[hv=d=n&v=n&n=sqj10xxhxxdcaqj10xx&s=shkqj9xdakqjxxxcx]133|200|Scoring: MP[/hv] How do you bid this one?

If I have a group of 8 friends that I want to play team games with, why shouldn't I start up another one once the first one has finished?