Antrax

I've been playing my inverted raises wrong, I guess. I thought the rationale for jumping is the law and all that. No point in hijacking, though. Thanks.

Not sure how partner can bid 3♣ here when you could be a 7=2=4=0 21-count.

Matchpoints, unfavourable. [hv=pc=n&s=skq53haq64daqtc76&d=w&v=n&b=12&a=p2d(6-9%2C%206+%21D)p]133|200[/hv] In this seat and vulnerability, you can assume no diamond losers (given your hand). Partner will not have a four-card major so there is no point in looking for a major-suit game. What do you bid?

(I rotated the hand, we were EW) 100 100 100 100 100 -150 -150 -170 -170 -170 -170 -170 -170 -200 -200 -200 -500 -620 -620 -620 -620 -650 -800

Which is why I wrote that disclaimer :) I was actually pretty shocked they placed so high, this wasn't the only board we played against them where we came out significantly ahead, and their overall style seemed too wild to be a consistent winner.

[hv=pc=n&s=saq984hkjdat9ckt3&w=sjha9652dkq65ca62&n=st7532hqt43d87cq9&e=sk6h87dj432cj8754&d=s&v=n&b=15&a=1n2h2spp3dp3h3s4hxppp]399|300[/hv] The EW pair, BTW, scored 59.71% in that round and placed second overall with 61.09% after three rounds, so I guess their bidding is tailored to the level of the opposition.

[hv=pc=n&s=saq984hkjdat9ckt3]133|100[/hv] Playing 5-card majors and 15-17 NT, do you open this hand 1NT or 1♠ (planning to rebid 2NT)? Does it matter if responder can find out whether you hold a five-card major after opening 1NT?

Yeah, I'll open another thread about my choice of opening bid. I like the explanation of several posters here that 3♠ is like a super-accept to a transfer. I'll discuss it with partner - we never thought about continuations after a "signoff" bid. Not sure if the complete hand is interesting - at the table I only bid 3♠ over 3♥, LHO bumped to 4♥, partner doubled on ♥QTxx and a side Q and they went for 800 on a spade lead - dummy was 2=2=3=6.

It allows Vugraph commentors to receive kibitzer chat, I believe.

(I don't know if there's even such a thing as a PP here. I've never seen one being given, and this week I've been witness to someone telling their partner "no, don't alert this bid, it's natural" during the auction)

Matchpoints, unfavourable. [hv=pc=n&s=saq984hkjdat9ckt3]133|100[/hv] You choose to open a 15-17 NT (right?), and LHO chimes in with a natural 2♥ overcall. Partner bids 2♠, which is a signoff bid with five spades or more. RHO passes. What do you bid? If you choose to pass, LHO bids 3♦ and RHO corrects to 3♥. What now?

Partner thought his spades were too weak, and we have no way of showing him how good my spades were. The auction was something like 1♥-2♣; 2♥-2♠; 3♣-3♦; 3♠-4♥. We used to be able to get out in 4♣ here but decided to drop this a while back.

Okay, seems unanimous enough :) Partner forced to game (2/1) with this: [hv=pc=n&n=sk542ha4dq7ca8754]133|100[/hv] We had an intelligent auction that established that we have no 8 card fit and no ♦stopper, so we played 4♥-1. Not the worst result (3NT is down more and there were several) but I was wondering after the hand if we were unlucky or if I should just pass - I tried applying that principle of upgrading early and then showing a minimum throughout, but I guess this time the shoe doesn't fit :)

[hv=pc=n&s=sqt3hqjt86dj4ckq9]133|100[/hv] First seat all vul. at matchpoints, I chose to open the above and it led to a bad result. I'm wondering if I should've passed, and why.

Okay, thanks. There's no trick - I was just wondering if there's no penalty for making a claim that's basically incorrect. At the table I thought declarer thinks he's in a spade contract, as otherwise he can't "ruff any return", so I thought he might try to "ruff" a round of diamonds.

Yesterday I probably gave the worst performance since I learned how to play. I was seriously sleep deprived and at some point even the auto pilot went to sleep. Here's an example. [hv=pc=n&s=sajhkt632daqt6caq&n=s9762hj984dkck865&d=e&v=b&b=10&a=p2np3c(Puppet)p3hp4hppp]266|200[/hv] The lead is a ♦. See if you can blunder your way into limiting yourself to only 10 tricks (Matchpoints, so it matters). To the untrained eye, it seems you will score three clubs, three diamonds, a diamond ruff, a spade and between three and four heart tricks. However, that eye is not asleep. Here's how I played it: win in dummy. Decide to finesse in hearts "twice". Run the 9 to ensure E isn't tempted to cover. W wins Q, and switches to a club. Play the K from dummy, because God knows you're short of entries, and also it makes perfect sense to finesse again, and drop the Q under it. Now finesse again. Hearts were 2-2. E switches to a spade, and now you start thinking, try dropping the ♦J, try a psuedo-squeeze, and finally surrender another spade. I think my favourite part was when I looked at the scoresheet and said "I have no idea how you can make 12 tricks. Probably friendly defense" with total conviction - the idea of cashing winners never even crossed my mind.

I guess I was wrong when I thought this sequence isn't common. (http://www.bridgebase.com/forums/topic/57308-alert-mismatch/)

S, a defender, on lead. Hearts are trump. [hv=pc=n&s=sj2hd2cqt32&w=sk43hqjd98c&n=sq65hdq3c65&e=sat987hdckj]399|300[/hv] Declarer faces his hand. S asks for clarification. Declarer states "I ruff your return and everything is high". Director. How many tricks does the defense get?

Oh, we had a great session. Like I told him after: we may have made stupid decisions, but we made them together. Zero misunderstandings and one misbid by me.

A word of caution: there's a class of self-professed experts that always draws a crowd of kibitzers, usually to mock them or enjoy their wild bidding and play. So, while certainly a good method, keep in mind having a high kib count doesn't always mean the table is interesting for the right reasons. You can usually identify the "wrong" kind of table by either the description (it will have something like "exp++++++ fast play") or the usernames of the players (usually start with a 0 to be on top of the user list). It's not 100%, unfortunately, as sometimes good players get trapped in tables with the warning signs.

Yeah, partner had the ♦K but recognized we have to develop a club trick, and holding the ♣K but not Q, wanted me to lead the clubs.

To get it off my chest, our auction was: 1NT-2♠ 2NT(♣Hxx or better) - 3♥ (shortness, some slam interest) 4♣ (cue pls tks) - 4♦ (sure) 4NT (RKCB. Useless, in retrospect) - 5♠ (yes, I have everything the auction said I have) 6♣ (the "never bid 7" rule) BTW, since this is also an interesting debate: part of the reason I opened 1NT was that I thought K9xxx is a pretty lousy "anchor" suit. Is this consideration irrelevant?

Do you think the north hand is worth a game force opposite an opening?