gszes

5s not much defense tons and tons and tons of offense opposite a p that passed originally and piped in with 4s. we might easily make 5s just as they might easily make 5h. The 5s bid should at worst be a very cheap insurance policy against 5h making. Dont even consider x a pass merely means you prefer to let the opps make the last error or the 5 level belongs to the opps. These policies are a ton more acceptable at MP where it is just 1 board. Bidding 5s should virtually guarantee you will escape with -300 at worst and possibly even score up a double swing.

cannot imagine any call other than x (tox) surely we do not wish to emphasize our xxxx spades suit?? this x should let p know we are near max for our passed hand and they wherever they decide to go we should be happy with their informed decision.

not sure what your agreements about preempts are but 3h seems off target here. This hand has a lot of playing potential and kqx of spades behind opener gives the hand some defensive potential also. I would bid 2h. we cannot predict the bidding after that so lets get back to the original bidding. The only "unlimited" hand at the table is opener. 3h limits w 3s limits n and e 4h bid can be almost anything. The 4s bid can be made with authority knowing the opps will have precious little reason to x and if rho x the oppd of making 4s tend to go up drmatically since any finesses will work. 4s is a 2 way bid 1 it may well make and 2 it is at worst a small insurance policy vs 4h.

i like the xx we can always show spades later if we do not with to x the opps. why not x 1n what is the big rush to show spades now all of a sudden? Surely we would be happy with playing 1n x so lets go for it. If we did not intend to take advantage of penalty situations we should not xx. I have no idea how the bidding would go after x of 1n (presumably 2h by lho in which case now we can bid 2s) if rho gets antsy and bids 2h we have an anvil ready and waiting.

this makes a very strong case for xfer :))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

2d 5 of a minor is a lonnnng way off if p cannot scrape up a 3d bid i would give up on game. P bidding 2h does not excite me either and i would pass that. looking for game here opposite any min by responder is hoping for some kind of miracle and trust me if p has such a miracle they will find a raise.

2 methods that work reasonably well but give up on a direct penalty x 1. x is negative fits this hand perfectly 4 spades and game going values 2. 3n game going values no heart stop x = game going values with heart stop this methods would miss out on spade fit but comes up with a lot of frequency and even gets in some good penalty x when p leaves it in. you can also use this method to try and penalize 3h just dont be surprised if to wants to play 3n depending on vulnerability. like all systems there is no one bid gets everything and sometimes preempts work if they didnt noone would ever preempt. Whatever your system make sure you can do something when you have game forcing values.

if i x with this hand what will i do with say Axx KQxx xxx AKx if i x with this also how in the heck is p ever going to figure out what to do in any given situation (or even come remotely close to being right). pass

ok now all we need is chasetb to promise to show up and we have a foursome we also need mgoetze to notice this in time so he does not needlessly cancel the event everyone cross your fingers.:)))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))) i am going to show up around 30 min early and if chasetb has not commited i will drag a friend into the fray (unless mgoetze wants to play):)))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

chasetb saie he wanted to play tomorrow and he didnt mind playing with anyone so he and i can be one partnership are there any other volunteers out there tiem is running short

i HAVE NO INTEREST IN MAKING THIS A PUBLIC POLL MY INTENT IS TO MAKE SURE THAT ALL POSTERS HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO EXPRESS THEIR INTEREST IN PLAYING BUT TO DO SO IN THE RIGHT PLACE BBO FORUM EVENTS (MY APOLOGIES ONCE AGAIN FOR THIS OUT OF PLACE POSTING i WILL REMOVE IT IN A FEW DAYS (AT LEAST I HOPE I CAN). AS OF THIS POSTING THERE ARE INSUFFICIENT VOLUNTEERS TO PLAY THIS SAT TOMORROW AFTERNOON 2PM EST) A QUICK REPLY BY ANYONE INTERESTED WILL BE A BIG HELP. ITS A CHANCE TO PLAY THE BEST OF THE BEST AND TO TRY OUT YOUR THEORIES AGAINST A LIVE OPPONENT. forgive the caps lock I am trying to make the point that this great opportunity may bypass posters due to apparent lack of interest. I hope this is not the case please show some interest and at worst show up and post WHEN you would be interested in playing in case it is possible to rearrange the scheduling of the event.

ok i admit i dont see a whole kit and kaboodle of people lining up to play this weekend and its fri night. Even so, at least let me know whom you might contact in case of cancellation and i will belatedly try now and put togehter a team of friends (UNLESS WE GET A SUDDEN SURGE OF VOLUNTEERS HINT HINT))))) to play tomorrow afternoon. Let me know here if you wish.

i have the willingness and availability to take over coordination of the team events--If I do do it would be with the intention of trying to get posters to possibly play with other posters. The purpose of these events IMO is to be a strong learning experience. In case you havent noticed the forums are read by a HUGE number of people. I assume they are reading to try and learn. The more experience posters have the better they will contribute. I personally have many non poster friends that can fill in if needed to make up a team but I would prefer to do that as a last resort. There is little reason why various posters cannot play well with others (unless they have diametrically opposed views which happens sometimes). If you want me to take over u can email info to me at georgeszeszycki@comcast.net of leave me email on bbo gszeszycki (i only use gszes here).

pass over 3c and 4c over 3d It is much easier to envision p shortness in dia after a 3d bid than over pass. This greatly increases the chance of making game. If p wishes to advance over 4c they can bid a 4 card major on the way and we can play there instead of 5c. If we x now (lets say showing both majors) are we going to be happy if p bids 3h or 3s?? The club QJ are such superb support that not showing it via 4c will make it most diffcult for us to reach game.

this is similar to a discussion concerning negative doubles vs penalty doubles in general. Is it reasonable to assume p has a lot of "stuff" in the opps long and strong suit or is it more reasonable to assume their "stuff" lies outside. Yes indeed your p has a ton of "stuff" in opps suit but they should view this as a danger sign not a reason to x for penalty because a distributional partner will get carried away. This presents another interesting problem bidding goes 1c p 1h 4s p p what do you do with the 0724 hand now?? We are using p x to give us reason to bid at the 5 level are we going to use the pass to give us a reason to bid at the 5 level also (have to bid in case both 4s and 5h make---might still be a good sac if down 1 etc etc) interesting.

4s. When you first look at it 4c seems a standout but if you take time to think about if and start to place cards you see the futility in trying for slam. Aside fromm making it easier for opps to find a good club sace we also have the following: the problem with 4c is that there is no way we can convince p their spade Q is probably useless and they will think it is a positive value when we slam search. P needs either AQJx in dia or AQ of dia and heart Q. The card combinations when p has the spade Q are almost all losing combos and we cannot search for the spade Q w/o getting too high if they have it.

4n for me I am hoping p takes this a key card for hearts. If p can come up with 3 aces ill guess to bid 6h with less ill play 5h. It is just too big a position to try clubs (of course if 5h gets x i will give 6c some serious thought) (ouch).

dia ace----has four chances at success 1. neither opp has a dia control and we set it off the top 2. p has 0/1 dia and we set them at trick 2 again. 3. we hold them to 6 instead of 7. 4. If the dia ace does not appear to hit gold a heart switch might still set the contract. a case can be made for leading a small heart but i do not see that as being superior to trying the dia ace first followed by a small heart. is it possible leading the dia ace will be the only way they can make 6?? yessss it indeed is possible but if that happens do not buy a lottery ticket that day because you would have to be very unlucky.

welcome to las vegas they see you coming a mile away. Every once in a while one of these bids works and the player that makes it is keeps remembering that one success despite numerous failures. The other actions (besides pass) are the kinds of things players do when they feel they are doomed to get a poor score anyway so why not try and get a great score with not much downside. It certainly adds a bit of flash to the MP sheet but the rare success is generally not worth straining partnership relations unless you are both doing the same kinds of things and enjoy it. This auction is not over LHO has not limited their hand yet and might even be considering inviting slam when you suddenly give them a much better and safer way to acheive a superb MP score. Of course if you feel you need a top to win the event u probably will not get that top defending 3n so under those circumstances a gambling bid might be the way to go but you need to virtually certain you need a top.

it is difficult to imagine rho bidding 5c with much power though they might with shape say x x QJTxx Kxxxxx sigh its only 1 board--------the auction seems to indicate p is extremely short in clubs they also rate to have around 10 hcp yet they faile to act. IMO p is something like 5260 5350 3550 2560 and since their suits had no body they were stuck over 2c. If we are right our side should have decent play for 6 of wherever our major suit fit is. I would bid 6c and convert 6d to 6h.

i realize this post is after the fact but it changes my opinion in no way: when you x 1n you were showing a roughly balanaced hand (with at best nominal spade support) with about as much power as you have. I do not see the purpose in the second x there is nothing special in your hand and the heart K appears to be more poorly placed with the long hearts to your left. p running from 2hx is a strong sign they consider their hand very below average defensively. Once that happens you realize you might have to take most of the tricks in your hand and its hard to come to much more that 2 tricks once you pinpoint where the dia length is. Pass quietly and hope the opps belong in hearts (they rate to split well for the opps) or you can set them 1 by not warning declarer of the poor dia split and they get careless.

the declarers in 4 spades will lay down the A first because they do not care a whit if spades break 40 or not (assuming a dia lead that is) because they can pick up the spade suit no matter which opp holds the 4 spades. YOU however cannot survive a 40 spade break that way. Your best hope is to start small toward the J and hope the spades do not break 22 or the stiff Q fall. You need to be able to score 5 tricks the same as declarer in order to have a chance. Yes I would bid 4s since p might have had KQT987 and the spade suit would be dead to you if Axx(x) exists.

the first step to successful defense it to study the dummy and in conjunction with the bidding try to figure out what declarer is trying to do---once you have a good idea try to figure out how to thwart their plan. While this will not guarantee good results (good declarers try for the most flexible plans at imps) you will at least succeed on hands where declarer has little choice on the play. the second step is count count count count it is impossible to envision good defense if you have little to no clue how the cards are distributed in each suit and make sure you constantly reevaluate your count as evidence pours in from the play of the hand. LAST thing to remember is that defending is HARD to do right. So much so that bidding is becoming more and more geared to avoiding having to defend. The backs of the cards are a much greater hindrance to the defenders than they are to declarer and good declarers try to take advantage of this fog of war as much as possible. Since you defend roughly twice as often as you declare (in my case i defend 5 times as often sigh) it is worth the time and effort to continue working on this aspect of your game keep up the good work. C S Gibson steps 1/2/3 are a much more comprehensive approach and they will be needed when you start to get better overall.

2h or 3h may have chances for success but will leave partner forever in doubt about how to procedd in the future since your possible hand ranges are so wide they are unplayable. The main argument is for or against 1h. While some of the elements of a light opening bid are present not all of them are. 1. defense this hand contains 2 quick tricks and since they are outside our long suit the probability they are good quick tricks increases dramatically. 2. Lead direction while this is a 6 bagger the suit quality fails to meet this qualification. 3. preemption-the 1h bid actually increases the odds the opps will find spades because it is generally easier to overcall 1s than open 1s. This is bad---- If the void had been in clubs this hand would look better. 4. this is not the weak type of hand that plays reasonably well in misfit cases. The lack of heart quality does not offer one much hope of development if no heart fit so p will often put us in hopeless games expecting a significantly better hand. 5. Some success can be expected if lho passes and p can raise to 4h. This may shut out the opps that is the best scenario. The quesiton is does it occur often enough to make up for the frequent poor results. Overall I pass but I have some sympathy for anyone that opens 1h.

assuming we have a realistic chance to defeat this p probably has around 10 hcp and was silenced so they are unlikley to have a very distributional hand. The hearts are unlikley to provide timely entries so our lead needs to hit where p has some goods and fast (clubs split dia finesses are in favor of opps etc) A spade seems to fit the description the best and I lean toward the spade J since it offers a bit of extra protection against declarer having A9x with say Qx in dummy. If we can prevent declarer from taking 2 spade tricks our odds of setting go up dramatically. By holding the opps to 1 spade winner our heart holding now starts to stand out as a strong entry possibility.