SimonFa

(a) Fixed, thanks. Clubs and diamonds reversed (b) So my next bid should be? Simon

Pick-up partner and I butchered this hand and I accept part of the blame, but don't think it should be much. After partner's standard acceptance of the transfer I couldn't see the hand going anywhere, although I was uncomfortable not bidding one of my minors, probably clubs. After the super-accept I should have received (well I would super-accept anyway) I would probably bid 4♣as the start of a cue bidding sequence but not sure partner would understand. Both red, IMPS. ♠AQJ62 ♥KJ8 ♦A3 ♣J97 ♠K9743 ♥ ♦QT72 ♣AKT8 LHO deals, opps silent 1NT - 2♥ 2♠ - 3NT Double dummy solver reckons 7S can be made on a finesse. What you do opposite a partner that doesn't super-accept? Would you even think about slam? So, what's the best sequence, including any gadgets beyond B/I to get slam? Thanks in advance, Simon EDIT Clubs and Diamonds in partner's hand reversed

I am rereading Bridge, Probability & Information by Robert F MacKinnon in the forlorn hope that some of it will stick in the heat of battle. NS Vul, IMPS, West deals. However this question isn't about probability but a hand he uses as an example to describe the concept of vacant places (p68 in my version) in figuring out the play for the ♣Q. [hv=pc=n&s=sk5hk65dqj74caj96&w=st862haj843dc&n=s73hq7dakt83ckt87&e=saqj94ht92dc]399|300[/hv] P 1♦ 1♠ X 2♥ X 3♥ 3NT 4♠ P P 5♣ All pass What is South's double showing? Sitting North I would be expecting 4 Hearts and some clubs, probably with hearts being the stronger suit. I appreciate South has a good hand and can show this by bidding on after the double but isn't she in danger of misleading partner about the Heart holding? Thanks in advance, Simon PS Apologies for the poor format of the bidding but I couldn't figure how to put bidding in the diagram when not using all 52 cards and you can't use spaces as padding.

I think I need to know more about those because its usually the better players who do it and most people expect them to know what they are doing. I'll go an have a look at the EBU website. As for partner's comment about 3S being stronger than 4S, we play this in an uncontested auction, and shows 4-card support and 11/12 HCP, with 3-card support and 10/11HCP we use a delayed raise to 3S. In competitive auction we just jump to the level of fit. Basic stuff, but we are in the B/I category. Once again, thanks for the comments, Simon

Thanks for all the replies and general thoughts, especially MikeH some interesting stuff. I don't think many players in the main club play exclusion, even if they have heard of it, but FSF is common. The only issue I have come across with it is that some play it as forcing for 1 round and others to game. Simon

Thanks for the prompt replies and good to know that I have learned something in the past year or so. I have read the rule books but being a beginner find them almost unintelligible and I have found these forums a great source of understanding, so a general thanks as well. Simon

EBU. Local club night but with some serious players, including in this case our Opps. LHO deals, they Red we White: (1D) 1S (2H) 3S* (P) 4S All pass After my 3S bid LHO asked partner what it meant and partner explained it was a stronger bid than 4S. At the end of the auction I explained that in this competitive situation it was preemptive and showed 4 spades only with no description of strength. LHO, also an EBU Director, said he wasn't happy and wanted to reserve his rights. I wasn't happy with this state of affairs as I don't like this idea of a possible challenge hanging over me (well partner) but more because I thought that if there was a problem they had a right to withdraw their last pass and make a bid and not get in to a bun fight over damage. I called for the Director who, after the explanation of the problem, asked me: What does our card say? Nothing specific on this auction but its in our notes. I can't remember his exact words but he then said that was the end of the issue and we should carry on. 1. Was he right? Both LHO and I thought he should be given the opportunity to withdraw his last bid. 2. Was my action to call the Director OK or should I have waited until the end of the hand and see what Opps had to say? Thanks in advance, Simon PS Director is a playing Director if that makes any difference.

Pick-up partner whose play to this point and profile led me to believe they he was a reasonable player. My profile says SAYC. Red V White, IMPs. ♠KJT82 ♥AQJ754 ♦K2 ♣Void Ops silent, partner dealt: 1♣ 1♥ : I didn't see any point in rushing and planned to reverse to show strength and then rebid Hearts if it came to it 1♠ 2♦* : Partners bid threw me a bit and I had to think about it for a while and got hassling PMs from the table host. *I self alerted the 2♦ as game force. 3NT : now I was really thinking - partner must have a flat hand, maybe 4333 and with extra points, I gave them 16. Not sure what to do next, I would have liked more space to agree spades and then start cue bidding as I didn't want to use RKBC (in partner's profile) with a void. As I couldn't think of anything constructive to say I blasted to 6♠ with the expectation that partner had 4. Partner corrected to 6NT, which made. So, my questions are: 1. Given our limited agreements how should I have bid? 2. Having seen partner's hand what's the bast sequence with (a) our limited conventions and (b) if we were playing 2/1 which I am currently reading with a view to playing with a new partner. As always, thanks in advance, Simon

Only when playing online bridge :D

Gerben is right. The idea is that politicians bring in technocrats to make those unpopular decisions. and then when the economy picks up and we get near to elections politicians blame the technocrats for the misery and promise to start spending again. As Guido Fawkes, a British blogger and political muck raker reports today: Jean-Claude Juncker, the prime minister of Luxembourg , quips.. “We all know what to do, but we don’t know how to get re-elected once we have done it.” Simon

Thanks for all the helpful replies, they make think I'm starting to get a feel for the game. A special thanks to S2000magic for all those examples and I shall be adding the book to my ever increasing Christmas wish list. Simon

R V R, MPs, dealer South North ♠QJT64 ♥A97 ♦J98 ♣Q2 South ♠AK87 ♥KQT7 ♦75 ♣A94 This went horribly wrong when partner bid 3NT over my 1NT and West rattled off ♦AKQT42 for a bottom for us as everyone was in Spades, making 10 or 11. I suspect we would have survived on most days but how should I have replied to he question and what should I do? Part of the problem is that we are the only pair playing strong NT so its hard in these cases to compare our results and say we got the bidding wrong. I suspect the bidding at the other tables went something like 1H-1S-3S-4S with silent ops. My answer was that she should transfer me in to Spades and then bid 3NT to show the point count, giving me a choice of games, but I'm not sure now I think about it a bit more. Is there another bid she could make? Lets say partner does transfer to spades, should I bid a normal 2♠ or super-accept with a bid 3♠? I know I only have 16HCP and purists would say I guarantee a maximum, but surely ♠AK must count as an extra point? As always, thanks in advance, Simon

I cost us a game swing in a teams night by not bidding over partner's 3♦ because I was worried about entries and was wondering what sort of rules I should think about when considering a 3NT bid over a pre-empt. A new partner and to be fair to partner he did say that he does promise a good pre-empt in first chair but by the time we got round to this hand I had forgotten this comment. My other partners tend to be somewhat random when pre-empting so unless I have a good suit raise I tend to stay quiet. Both white, contract 3♦ with no ops bidding. My hand was: ♠AKQxx ♥Kxx ♦J ♣Qxxx I can't remember partner's hand but that's not the point - should I have bid with just a singleton J in partner's suit? I read somewhere that you should really have three cards in partner's suit to bid 3NT, but that seems excessive. Different at MPs? I suppose I should have realised that most of the field would bid 3NT and and played the percentage of following suit and also heeded some advice I was given that when I doubt at teams, bid game. (Followed by when in doubt don't bid slam) As always, thanks in advance, Simon

Thanks all. I discussed the partner I play Acol with and we agreed that that for 1444 hands we would open 1D and rebid 2C over a 1S response. The main reason being the one noted above, people tend to get less excited about minor suit fits.

I suppose so but from everything I read we should always strain to open.

I suspect this has been discussed at length elsewhere but can't find anything; if it has please direct me there. Also, this isn't a question about weak Vs strong NT, as economists say, there are no right answers, only trade off's. Playing 12-14NT and 4-card majors RHO deals and passes and you pick up this hand: ♠9 ♥KJ74 ♦A953 ♣A654 You can put your mortgage on partner bidding 1♠ no matter which suit you bid. From what I understand a number of Acol players play up the line so would start with 1♣. But what do you do if partner goes straight to 1♠? A response of 1NT over 1♠ would normally show 15/16 pts and 2-level bid is a reverse if you open 1♣/♦ with the intention of bidding hearts next time round. If you open 1♥ and then 2♣ over partners 1♠ they will take you for 5/4. I suppose they are reasonable hearts but good enough for a little white lie? Is this hand suitable for Crowhurst? Are there any other gadgets that help? As always, thanks in advance, Simon

As I said, partner was long in the tooth. So is LHO for that matter. Thanks all for rest of comments, I now feel a lot more confident.

We got a bit of a slaughtering tonight when playing pivot teams when non-regular partner and I were on different planets. RvR, I dealt P (P) 1S (2C) X (3C) 3NT All pass Playing Benji Acol and weak NT, so 1S could be 4333 ♠Tx ♥KJxxx ♦KTxx ♣xx When I put dummy down partner, a long in the tooth club player, made that well known sigh meaning that I had done something stupid. During the post-mortem in the the wreckage of a 4 down contract that would have made in 4H, I asked partner what he was expecting from a passed hand bidding a negative double. More points was the response, when pushed for more information he said 8-9. I knew when I made the bid I was a bit thin but surely that shouldn't lead to such a loss? LHO, a Lifetime Master or something similar, reckoned that 2H would have been the better "lie". It turned out partner was 5/4 in the majors. So, how bad was the double compared to 2H, on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being "what were you smoking at the half way break" and 1 being it was OK but...? As always, thanks in advance for you frank comments Simon

Firstly, I would like to say thank you to all commentators, the vast majority of what they say I find really informative. On the rare occasion I have asked a question or made a comment I have found the replies, normally on screen, to be polite and timely. Please keep up the good work and to those expert kibs, please remember that for some of us B/I kibbing is a great learning tool and the commentators have to talk to us as well.

1. I can see that one. It took me 6 months not to be frightened of it when I first started playing in a club and that was with a regular partner. On the other side of the coin I have since learned that if you bid over a multi-2 those bidding it at club level don't have the tools to deal with your interference and can really screw up. My motto - ignore it and get on with your own bidding if you have a good hand. 2. The better players at my clubs use multi-2 to allow them to play Lucas 2. Again this frightens the average club player and again I have found it best to get on with my own bidding. I should say that when I say get on with my own bidding I am mindful of: (a) The playing strength of my hand (b) My partner and the strength of the opposition © Vulnerability (d) The bidding position of player bidding Multi/Lucas But the main thing is not to be intimidated by the bid. I haven't kept track but just recently I reckon I am up on this approach.

Why do you assume 3NT is the place to end up? If partner invites at some point showing 12 points you could pass, unless your name is Lall and your partner is named Grue, or vice versa :D Also, from what I've been reading the aim is to get your bidding going first and with this hand I have a rebid.

I'm having a discussion with a pickup partner who didn't approve of my actions on this hand. As part of my learning I am interested to hear what members, especially A/E, think of my actions and what, if anything, I should have done differently. W v R, IMPs (would it be different at MP?) (P) P (P) 1♦ (P) ? ♠Q ♥KJT2 ♦762 ♣J9653 Partner's profile says simple SAC so I take that to mean SAYC. What do you do? What do you think about my reasoning and decision in the spoiler? As always, thanks in advance for you comments, Simon

I have found Acol to be a generic term that covers just about anything a person wants to play and it is best to sit down with partner and and discuss what they think it means. When I first learned the mechanics of the game it meant: Length then strength, bidding up the line with equal length, weak NT and strong 2s. But that was probably the book I and my partner were using to learn the game. This is a good start to find out a bit more: http://www.bridgeguys.com/ACOL/acol_bridge.html

Makes sense and close to some of our other agreements. I'll discuss this with partner. Simon

The redouble is "Exit transfer" and asking partner to play in clubs.