broze

1♥, if only because 1NT, 2♣ and 2NT are all horrible.

LOL. So close!! GIB - always full of surprises.

If I think my opps are better than me I pass. If I think they are worse I bid. A practical solution.

Personally I prefer an overcall here. You're not really that interested in finding the perfect strain with partner having passed. Nothing disastrous is likely to happen and it serves a good lead directional purpose, where often your side won't be bidding again after a t/o double.

Nice hand - does GIB find the right lead against 3NT? I expect not...

I have found the rule of 20 to be a good guide but it falls down on these single-suiter hands. Change A♠ to A♣ and 6♣ to 6♠ and suddenly it fits the criteria, which seems pointless to me. Also in a hand with such an excellent 7 card suit it makes sense to give greater weight to shortage. I would open 1♥ in seats 1 and 2 at any colours - not that I'm claiming this would be standard. Apologies for the off-topic post.

This sequence is one which I feel simulations would dictate what action you should take here quite nicely. I reckon partner has a penalty pass on a very high percentage of deals. I double.

Interesting. For me, 3♣ says very little about the strength of the suit - only that I have 4(+) and I am investigating strain. Partner will raise or cuebid with 4+ clubs, not improbable with his not having a 4cM. There are plenty of hands where a 4-4 ♣ slam will play much better than a NT slam and if I don't bid ♣ here we might miss it.

Surely your only real option is to bid 3♣ (GF). If partner raises you can initiate slam bidding and after 3NT bid either 4 or 6 depending on your mood!

Do you open these hands 1♣ then? What do you do after your p responds 1NT? I find that most of the problems in these auctions can be solved by opening 1♠.

Do you mean that you think the articles are out-dated? If so, which parts do you, or other experts think are outdated, and if not then what is your point?

4♠ EDIT: Oops, missed the fact that it was MPs. In this case I would make a 3NT probe with 3♥ or 3♦. I don't care much for 4♣ - it seems to me that if you're going to bid 4 you may as well bid 5. Though perhaps that's still my IMP brain talking.

People are always explaining their 2♣ openers as "xHCP or 9+ playing tricks." If this isn't one of those 9+ playing trick hands then what is? Is there any point in opening 2♣?

[hv=pc=n&s=skthqtdkqj5ca7632&w=sq987652h8dat843c&n=sa43hak752dckq854&e=sjhj9643d9762cjt9&d=w&v=e&b=16&a=3s4hppp&p=sjsts2sah2h3hth8hqs5h5h4sks6s4h6cjc2d8cqhah9d5s7hkhjdjd3c4ctcad4c7dtckc9c8d2c6s8c5d6c3s9h7d7dqsqs3d9dk]399|300[/hv] Played this hand today on BBO. What would you bid as North after a 3♠ preempt by West? After 2♠ I probably would have bid 3♠ myself but was unsure what to do here. Do you double and risk your p bidding 5♦ when 4♥ or even 3NT might be your best spot, or do you just bid a game? More generally, what does an overcall of 4♥ say about my hand? How limited am I and when should my partner be looking to bid on?

Why not both/partnership agreement? If for this partnership S is allowed to rebid 2NT with a known major fit then North is at fault for not checking back. And in turn if North is not mandated to check back with a 5c major then South is at fault. With presumably no agreements about any of this, it's mainly South's fault for shooting.

Just to clarify, what kinds of hands should the 4NT overcall be used for? Any minor two-suiter without the HCP power to penalise 4♥?

Will they often have the majority of the high card points though, with a passed hand opposite a preempt? I have to admit I would read a pass as forcing but it is certainly ambiguous.

Ok, yes, I have just seen the blurb for the advanced forum : "Experts are invited to help find solutions to issues raised here." In which case I imagine that the "Expert" forum will either be extremely quiet or mostly dominated by people who merely consider themselves experts - time will tell. Let us not speak of the content of "Interesting bridge hands", a title which one would hope should be almost completely redundant. For me, BBO missed a trick when upon starting these forums they didn't separate 'cardplay' from 'bidding.'

Yes, the problem is that the people least likely to need advice (and therefore post questions) are the experts but they are also those who are most qualified to classify a problem as an expert one. I'm not really sure at whom the forum should be directed, but I hope that people are not dissuaded from seeking expert advice because they think it presumptuous to post there.

Yes we are, and yes it can! :) I've been using chrome and firefox with Adblock for years now and I've never seen a pre-video ad.

People complaining about Youtube ads also greatly peeves me but for different reasons. Why aren't they using Adblock if it bothers them so much?

Yeah, drives me nuts. I feel like shaking it and then handing it back.

Ooh, another one of mine: people who tap cans of soda before they open them. I mean really, do they think it achieves anything?

If he had this he would surely have bid over the double. 3♥ now therefore in my book would be merely competitive and with a game going hand you could double 3♦.

"Of course?" You seem to make a lot of these kinds of unilateral statements in the forums without any justification. In my partnership I'm pretty sure this is not forcing since 2NT would deny a 5c ♥ suit so 3♥ would be some distributional hand unsuitable for NT.