gszes

I hate passing out hands in general. I see small downside and some good upside sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo 1s

Pass in a heart beat. What in the world do I think I can accomplish by bidding here? Hoping against hope partner has clubs and a strong hand and will leave a tox in is scary and probably useless since the opps may easily have many places to run to. We should have almost no chance at game and clubs might be our best spot and I prefer the opps play 1c. I jus do not see us making anything much and there is always the risk the opps opened 1c with a great hand and can back their way into game. Leave well enough alone when you have garbage hands like this.

I personally think this hand is just too good for splinter. It only takes 12 HCP and a spade fit for a grand to be great A9x Ax xxxx Axxx. My choice of auction would be (as a non puppet user over 1n) 1n 15-17 2c stayman does not promise 4 card major (4 way xfers), do NOT get the wrong idea, hearts is not the main goal. 2d no 4 card major 3h smolen I realize this only promises 5 spades but we can amend that view later. The main point now is to get p to start reevaluating their hand thinking about us having at least 9 cards in the majors. 3n no known fit and at least sort of stops in the minors (qxx dia? sigh) 4c worth one more try and this bid at least pinpoints short suit. p might think this is 5404 but they will more likely think 5413 or 6403 with extra values. We can convert any club contract to spades. 4h cue for clubs not much in diamonds (4d = ace) (4n = sign off) 4n keycard for clubs 5c 0-3 6s partner has enough for us to make 6 but 7 is too elusive to try for and at best (even if p has the club QJ) is we will need to find the spade Q which should be around 62% at best and if p has the spade Q but not the club Q the odds seem even worse. If p bids a 4n sign off over our 4c bid I will convert to 5s. This will STILL allow us to reach 6s if p has Qx AQx Axxxx Axx

sigh no and do not expect much sympathy from the "its just too stinking boring to pass crowd". I do not see the benefits. I do not wish to encourage a weak partner to bid 2s I have ZERO quick tricks (aces) or SPOTS. I would not even game force opposite a 3rd seat opener so all in all silence seems to be the best choice OH and did I mention no good lead directing bid? let me see what else can I complain about:) I open balanced 12 counts a lot but not these boring aimless 12 counts.

One of the more frustrating aspects of 2/1 is the use of the Principle of Fast Arrival (PFA). Most think of it as a jump to game to express minimum values but it also has other applications. This hand is dead min and thus the PFA indicates the hand go quickly to show itself via a 3h splinter. Why is this important? If your had was KJxxx void AKxx KQxx. A bid of 3h would be premature since you have extra values that might be dangerous to show if partner bids 3n. The latter hand is vastly better off bidding 2d and hearing partners next bid before deciding how to proceed. The latter hand value increases dramatically if partner does not bid some number of NT over 2d and slam cannot be too far off. This is NOT the case with a dead minimum where 5m or 3n might not be the best contracts but our best chance to make game. Letting partner know our shape immediately sends a signal of weakness and telling p the ball is in their court and to make a decision if possible.

I assume p has applied any downgrade to their holdings being IN FRONT of the opening bidder. That means my 6 card suit and singleton are more than enough to bid game. 4h. A more interesting quandary might result if opps manage to bid 4s:)

If I am declaring I would exit trick 2 with a small club going for the 32 split and not worry too much about blockages. Who knows, Rho looking at KQTx might even "mistakenly" insert the T.

I have seen many MANY players adopt a line of thinking due to the skewed results of ONE HAND. Opening this hand 1c with the intention of overbidding a 2d reverse seems like we are heading in the wrong direction. 1N for me even though I am quite certain partner will overbid with their inevitable 55 in the majors using the assumed trump fit principle:)

One can write a BOOK on splinter continuations but these hands do not require much special handling. I would not worry about showing extra values when showing a singleton or void after a J2n bid. The main reason is there is usually a lot of space below game to start slam bidding. Important corollary, just as in normal slam cue bidding, when you cue bid you are stating you do NOT have sufficient information to take over the bidding (this is almost always due to lack of extra power vs looking for a grand). 1h normal 2n excellent choice with no 5+ card side suit which makes splinters a tad less desirable as a slam search mechanism unlimited. 3s short spades and no 5+ card side suit unlimited. 4d cue insufficient info to take over the bidding (almost certainly due to lack of club control). 4s verifying void AND a club control 4n enough info to take control 5c 0-3 keys 5s showing the ace (in case NT is right) and asking for more information (also promises trump Q else 5d asking for it) 6h no kings to show 5n would show a side Q and p can name a suit if interested in that information (this would allow us to bid 7 if north also had the club K or dia Q.

This is not a one size fits all question (though many partnerships successfully have meta agreements about always bidding the 4 card major OR the 5 card club suit first). Just as not all 12 counts should be considered game forcing. There are a lot of questions that need to be answered each hand and normally one chooses the safest path to get the answers needed. Game or no game Major suit fit or no Is NT reasonable Which hand should be declarer (right siding) Kxxx xx xx AKQxx I would consider this to be a GF 2c bid and also a hand that has almost zero reason to want to declare. I would start with 2c as this would appear to give partner the best chance to declare the hand in whatever our final contract may be. AQxx AQ xx xxxxx and suddenly this hand wants to declare and should try a 1s bid vs emphasizing the umm err club suit. Most bidding sequences are far less clear and over time you will develop judgement (which wont always be right sigh) on the best course of action. Kxxx Kx Kx Kxxxx I would not consider this GF but ideal to declare

a 2h bid now is bound to get your side in trouble since it might take all day for p to figure out what you meant (I had to go through almost 50 concepts before this 4h and long diamonds and strong came into my head and dismissed it on the grounds that p failing to x the first time made this unlikely. There is just too much risk (of missing a 44 heart fit) involved with pass the first time.

4d both majors WHY so much you might reasonably ask? LHO 12-14 RHO around 6 (much more than that and they have to be thinking 3n with a 6 card minor). You have a solid 8 count (ie not hurt by having the 12 - 14 behind you). That leaves partner with around 13 behind the NT opener which means their hand is probably worth closer to 15.5. The opps have a 8 9 or even 10 card dia fit so it seems reasonable we have at least 1 8 if not 2 8 card major suit fits or one longer than 8. We are close to game and this is IMPS so we push a bit with our 4d bid. Foolproof? Hardly but we can always blame the backs of the cards for keeping us in perpetual confusion. Why not pass the decision around to partner they have heard the bidding and can balance right? Maybe, would you balance with Kx KQxx xxx AQxx worrying about partner bidding spades opposite our doubleton? Opposite that hand we might even make 6 on a good day.

south's 2nd x should be penalty oriented. Axx Ax AJTxxx AK or some such. The first x (followed by 3d) adequately described the south hand and pass over 3h would have been the best course of action allowing partner to evaluate what to do. Having nothing that looked like defense vs 4h I would probably pass out the 3h bid as north though at MP I can certainly see a case for 4d.

With a HUMAN partner I would start with 2n since I can convert all diamond bids to hearts. With a bot forget about it because if the bot holds more diamonds than hearts it will convert to diamonds again no matter how high the bidding sigh. Since the bots do not bid very well I would begin with a mere 1h and take it from there since the bidding is unlikely to die there:))))))

There is nothing wrong with being "lucky" and winning. No matter how much we hate the idea this is a perfectly legal concept in bridge. A player pretending to have a certain ace when they hold three small (for ex) in order to dissuade such a lead from a bot (or human) opponent is taking a chance their opponent does not have a holding where leading that suit will not hurt. If I ever tried it I am certain the robot would laugh at me x and lead the AKQJ at least but others are not worried so much about how much they go down. They feel they are playing the odds and that is their right. Personally I am more disgusted we do not have a declare only challenge with both players getting the same opening lead. I then would not worry about how the bots got me into some putrid contract since my opp has to suffer the same way and the play would be the thing. We all have stuff we dislike:))))))))))))))))

its possible that 2hx is right but it seems wrong to leave the opps in their probable 9+ card fit at he 2 level when we have a very viable game opportunity in 3n. I would start with a simple 2s to let p know I do not think 2hx was a good idea (they would realize it was due to distribution) and see what they decide. If somehow it goes 3h x I leave the second x in since I have already told partner I do not want to penalize hearts.

w/o special agreements the best course seems to be 4c Diamond support and at best iffy 3n cards. The club bid acts as a cue in case responder is near max for a passed hand and still allows for 4h to be the final contract. The heart AQ almost convinces me to try 3/4h but if partner is x Kxxxx Kxxxxx x I see no good reason to risk a 42 or 51 heart split especially if this was IMPS where 5d is still quite a good contract. Change partners hand to x Jxxxx KQxxxx x and would much rather be in 5d. The nice part about the 4c bid is that it still allows for slam bidding if partner is short in spades void Kxxxx Kxxxxx Qx.

when you first look at this hand do you only see the HCP or do you imagine possible different places to play depending on what p has? If you do the latter you can begin to see the importance of bidding as slowly as possible. Start with 2c p mostly will bid 2d but what if they can bid 2h or 3c (natural and decent suit)? In this case getting to 6 will be simple and seven not too difficult. Over the more normal 2d bid 2s see what happens don't jam your own bidding with a totally unneeded (and wrong because suit is not long enough) 3s bid. Who knows what kind of good things can happen when you give partner a chance to show their hand at lower levels.

We require a LOT from p for slam to make (given the bidding) and IMHO it is not worth the risk(s) for the potential long shot reward. 1. We might wrongside 4s opposite xxx xxxx Qxx xxx when p bids 1s over the x 2. We might wrongside 6c opposite xx xxxx Axx xxxx when p bids 2c over the x 3. We might jeopardize making 6s by revealing our club length when p does not have a club fit xx xxxx Axxx xxx 4. We might wrongside 6s opposite xxx xxxx Axx Jxx when p bids 1s over the x I would opt for 4s and hope that concludes the bidding and then try to make it opposite the inevitable spade void in p hand and total garbage:)

FWIW I liked the 4d bid because it will set up my anticipated 5h bid (I see I am always going down) I hope partner will realize there was a good reason for my 4d bid when I bid 5h and that reason is every red ace they can give me should lead me closer to a small/grand slam. It just seems wrong somehow to assume an opening bid by partner will be so horribly useless to us.

A close inspection of the bidding has revealed a TON of information. Not only has a fit (spades) been uncovered but the partnership now knows it needs to concentrate on slam prospects and how well the hands fit with diamonds and hearts and find a club control. 3N is normally considered a useless final contract here so many use it as a form of promising extra values and leave other bids as cue bids or splinters with a simple 4M as saying min with a poor hand for slam KQxx Qxxxx K QJx.

the bidding would have been best served with 1d 1s 2n. It is true the strong hand is not totally balanced and diamonds are the main feature BUT bidding is a practical art. The slight shortage of HCP is compensated by the extra tricks in the diamond suit AND all of the side suits are stopped with partner bidding 1s. Most minimums by partner will not yield game so 2n asking partner to bid game if near top is a very practical idea. Many will consider opening 1n do to the HCP count but this hand is worth a bit over SEVEN tricks while most 1n opening bids are closer to FIVE. This makes the 1d 1s 2n rebid even more practical.

hand 1 3n becomes a much more viable contract with the 5 card club suit but the backs of the cards make this impossible for north to see so they chose the far less radical idea of 4s vs 3n. That's life. hand 2 1d I would open 1c but that's me 2d inverted minor does not deny 4 card major 3h splinter the key to this bid says there is enough power to force to game and maybe just maybe we can find a slam. It is important to note the 3h bidder must be willing to accept 3n so it seems imperative to have clubs and spades stopped or else embark on a different sequence. Note that there is no huge hurry to bid spades if 3n is not viable then spades can be introduced on the way to 4/5/6 or higher diamonds. 5d easy bid with 10 count < dia J an iffy value at best> outside hearts and let partner decide how high to go. pass singleton with 25 hcp outside short suit should stop at 5 level w/o some sort of extra length somewhere but its a close decision since slam is probably no worse than a finesse if the partnership does not put much faith in jacks for slam hands:) hand 3 after 2s 3c 3s NT still primary task 4s short p should have a decent hand for 3s bid and this hand improves a LOT when p cannot bid 3n 5h offering alternative contact in case of 53 fit partners clubs have to be pretty darn good to force to 5 level over 3s 6c 6h is ok but that preempt seems to increase the odds of a 41 heart split so 6c seems safer with any spade ruffs shortening trump suit and eliminating a safe search for 41 spit.

someone has been having fun reading up on Commander Pawle's book of tricks:)))))

I hate to admit it because the bots are just plain nuts but by some accident they have managed to do the right thing for the following (logical not bot) reasons: 1. You KNOW the comp has at least 5h and 3c 2. Your 2d is weak so the first thing your 2/1 partner does (with their minimum) is try to get out of the bidding as safely as plausible AND it assumes YOU are doing the same thing with your 2d bid. So the following happens 3. You did not choose 2h OR pass which would have been very easy safe spots for you to choose rather than 2d 4. Your 2/1 partner decides you chose 2d for one of 2 reasons exceptional length AND/OR solidity of suit. You might choose 2d with a hand like Kxx xx QJT98 xxx KNOWING that even opposite a void your hand will score 3 dia tricks while you may score zero in a heart contract. You might also choose 2d with Qx xx Axxxxxx xx KNOWING your hand might be worth 5 dia tricks but only 1 dia trick in hearts. Note that in both case you hold 2 hearts and meet the described standards provided for a 2d bid. Your 2/1 partner will not always honor your 2d bid (with a minimum) IF p has a heart suit that might play just as well as your diamonds are suspected to be IF they have a void so you might see a 2h bid with AQxx KQJT9 void xxxx where the computer says well shoot I KNOW my hand is worth 4 heart tricks but might be worth nothing in a dia contract. Unfortunately the heart suit does not meet the requirements for such a pull. Your hand has some potential and it seems a shame to just pass or bid 2h. I would try the impossible 2s (I see above its supposed to promise a club fit but I have never heard it be that constrained) which I know to mean at least invitational but no clear direction yet OR no spade stop looking for NT. The computer will bid 3c rather than 3n with its highly distributional minimum hand and you can be happy and pass (mp) or give 4c a try (at imps)