dogsbreath

I dont care at all for 'experts' who lodge appeals on hands of this type. 4S was top so presumably 4S-1 was bottom .. would they appeal against their own top? In my humble opinion this is as close to cheating as you can get .. trying to intimidate 'weaker' opponents when you get a poor result. Rgds Dog :rolleyes:

Hi :rolleyes: I'm not crazy about 6D .. but over 6H y got Club control and 5 good spades .. what more can p be hoping for from a passed hand? 7s from me also :)

Hi, Steve,Ece .. I been away most of last 2 weeks so have no knowledge of issues involved. But it will be a loss to BBO community .. please reconsider Regards, Dog

Sorry the layout got a bit mangled ..hope y can manage it .. I'll try harder the next time ;) Rgds Dog

Greetings. A few deals from the Eniskillen congress in N.Ireland Here are a few hands from the Pairs and Teams events. Various items of interest ,,some less 'serious' than others. I cant file full details of the deals till Thurs night at the earliest due to work commitments.. sorry if y dont approve of the bidding or contracts, but y know how it is at such events ;) There are a few strong players in the field but they are mostly playing with 'pick-up' parteners, so the general standard is not high .. if that influences your action on any of the following.. 1: NS Vul Dealer S .. MP's you are East.. S: KJxxx H: Qx D: xxx C: Axx bidding : S W N E P 3H 4D 4H 5C P P ? what now? 2: Are you chicken? MP's Dealer E E/W vul you are N.. S: Ax H: KJxx D: xxx C: 1098x bidding is .. E: 1S S: P W: P N: ? .. are you a 'balancer' ?? 3: part-scores same as slams at MPs... MP's, equal vul , dealer S Bidding: S: 3D W: P N: P E: P N: S: xxxx S: x H: Axxx H: Kxx D: -- D: KQ98543 C: AKxxx C: xx Lead is 10H ... (i dont think any 'x' is relevant) plan the play 4: We all been here.. but is there any inference to be taken from the defence and the lack of opps bidding... IMPs 4-board teams match. love all. Dealer W. Bidding: W N E S P P P 1D P 3D P 3S P 4S P 5D ...all pass North: S: K10x South: AQx H: xx xxx D: Qxxx AJ9x C: Qxxx AKx defence starts A,K Hearts from W and 9S switch.. 5: We play multi 2D as weak 2 Major, or 21/22 balanced or any strong unbalanced, usually single-suited, not 5-5 or more shapely :lol: ... IMPS. N/S vul dealer W W N E S P 2D P 2S P ?? ..2S response is not constructive, but shows marked pref for Hearts -v- Spades (maybe y dont like 2D .. G/F 2C opening possibly better choice) North holds S: AKQxxx H: AK10x D: QJx C: -- by our methods.. 3S shows strong hand, 6+ Spades, but not absolutely forcing. 3NT show strong hand 6+ Hearts (ok ..only 4 but maybe y want to lie :lol: ) 4C = cue-bid in support of H 2NT = 21/22 balanced and 3H=signoff ..so what now? 6: this should be a no-brainer, but sometimes the opps give y a chance... Dealer North IMPs 4-board teams match equal vul Contract 3NT by S after simple 1D P 3NT P auction... North S: Ax South S: K9x H: Kx H: Jxx D: Qxxxx D: K10x C: Qxxx C: AKJx Opening lead 2H (opps playing 3/5 leads) Play low from dummy, 9H from E. Win JH This should be hopeless, but when y cash 4clubs finishing in dummy, east follows to 1st C then ditches xS, xH, 10H. What's going on? (East is a strong player but his P is a punter and they were arguing about a hand from the prev round when they came to the table. :( ) Maybe y wish that y'd finished in hand rather than dummy .. but what now?? 7: Apologies in advance.. this is a 'moan' B) ..y are leading the Teams tourney with 3 rounds to go.. yr next opps are allegedly 'rabbits'. So they show un-erring judgement by stopping in 3Major on the first 2 marginal games which only make 9 tricks, but bid confidently to the 3rd marginal game which rolls home! board 4 is.. North S: KJx S: Ax H: Ax H: KQJ D: AQxx D: KJx C: 9xxx C: AQ876 both sides bid to 6NT. At our p's table, opp wins opening H lead with the Ace, plays xC to the Queen losing to the K and claims!! I also win H lead in dummy, play 9C, get 10C cover and play AC ..so we salvage something from the wreck when LHO has stiff K clubs and opps go -1?? ..no chance.. C are 2-2 :) .. y just got booted round the room by the least experienced team in the event :) I am at least grateful that my team-mates took it in good grace and congratulated the opps on their win! No brownie points for us! But it's a fun event with great local hospitality, if you're ever in the area. Also great fishing venue if you need to escape from p for a while :) Full hand details on Thu or Fri. Regards, Dog

1NT. Not happy to pass 1s. agree that something odd is going on but i am not mis-discribing my hand with this bid. seems natural and simple. Rgds Dog

My opinion is that p should press on to 4S.. even if on this hand it is slightly non% .. there is clearly a good fit with all his cards useful. He cant possibly know that 3S is the limit of the hand.. bid game in these positions and let the defenders worry .. additionally.. the opps may take the 'sac' at white-v-red.. Rgds, dog

I suspect some inconsistency here, in relation to a thread i had recently about wether or not New Minor was forcing by a passed hand. I was advised that I should be opening 1D with a 2-2-4-5 shape. Clearly in this case (3S bid) opener is not 2-2-4-5, but are we now play 2/1 with minor-suit canape? If p has only 4 D's on this auction we are in difficulties I think... Rgds Dogsbreath

Slothy //please behave or issue health warning ..I just fell into my coffee reading your post ;)))

Hi Bambi .. I try to avoid unclocked tourneys but occassionally play them when invited. I appreciate the efforts of all who run tourneys and there is no excuse for rude comments toTDs ..i sympathise with you. Dont give up :D Regards, Dogsbreath

dog has read all 11 pages ..very interesting but tiring :huh: I have no sympathy for cheaters nor any understanding of why they do it on a not-for-money site , but I am concerned about the complexity of the proposed solutions. Working on these committees will be tiresome work ..so the cheaters are likely to eventually drain the volunteers of any enthusiasm for their task. Additionally, an almost equal effort is required to deter the accusers.. I have had 2 unpleasant incidents recently where a silly comment about bids/leads has seriously upset an inexperienced partener. It has also been pointed out to me that we have many bridge teachers playing on BBO who regard such accusations against them as potentially very damaging. The effort required of these volunteers would be much more productively spent in mentoring or other development activities. This inclines me towards Lois' attitude that we must learn to live with the limitations of on-line bridge. If Fred,Uday etc feel that 'cheating' is adversely affecting the reputation or viability of the BBO site then they will be driven to find a workable solution. It seems to me that we are moving to a situation where you only play with people you trust, or in a club, or accept the conditions you find at other 'random' tables with as much good grace as you can muster ;) The cheaters will eventually go away.. they dont really like bridge anyway and will find another stream to pollute.. Rgds Dogsbreath.

Thanks to all for most interesting replies. I dont think opening 1D is viable unless previously discussed with p, however i see some logic to it. Was a little surprised that no-one suggested giving pref to 2H rather than pass 2D .. i did consider it. Partener actually had 11 HCP with weakish 6-card Hearts, so 2H works fine if p doesnt get too excited. Noone commented as to wether p's bidding is constructive or not .. why cant p have weak 5-5 in the red suits? ..or constructive with (eg) 1-5-4-3 shape? ( yes..opps havent bid S yet...but i dont know that LHO is passing again).

Agree (mostly) with Misho. following leb principles it is unlikely to be useful to play X as penalty when they have freely bid & supported a suit. With regular p, our x here would say ..S support but not 4-cards AND 'constructive' in nature. As misho said.. cant be right to give up 3NT bid as 'to play' and S raises possibly unwise. May also make p's action easier if opps compete further. Rgds Dogsbreath

In a recent BBO table game (IMPS scoring), with opps silent, bidding goes .. P, P, P,1C P, 1H, P,1NT p, 2D, p, ? playing 'NMF' is 2D systemically forcing, or subject to p'ship agreement? (do y bid on with Qx, Jx, AQxx, A109xx ??) ..Looks like a bad time to play NMF but hey! 4-2 fits can be fun :) I passed .. p displeased :)) Regards Dogsbreath

I guess it depends on the situation.. I drew a very elderly lady in a 'fun' morning event at a tourney in Scotland recently. She asked me if i played 'the takeout x' and when i replied 'yes' that ended the system discussion :)) (We didnt win)

I been playing a good while on BBO and never experienced this myself, tho have heard the stories. It never bothered me in the slightest.. i feel sorry for anyone who thinks they are improving their reputation or standing by cheating.. but i guess that now we some full-time/professional players and teachers on-site it may be necessary to adopt a more rigid approach re such claims, if only to protect reputations. BBO administrators have run this site well to date, so i support any action they think necessary.

yes.. NIBU, SBU and DAMP (dogs against mosquito players)

On the topic of alerts.. i agree with the sensible approach mentioned by a few.. y shouldnt alert something y dont have an agreement about, but answer q if asked obviously. ..but dont feel strongly about this ..will go with the flow.. As regards on-line bridge in general.. it's a great bonus for those of us in countries (like N.Ireland) where the general standard is low and the few strong players only play in teams, trials and a few major tournaments. In addition to that i get the chance to play against systems not commonly played here (even 2/1 is 'unusual'!) Finally.. i get a chance to keep in touch with 'old' friends/opps from my few spells overseas (like 'The Hog'!) .. all this I regard as a great bonus. Regards, Dogsbreath

dont agree D switch is clearcut. I expect p has 2 OR ZERO hearts.. must seriously consider returning H. would like to know more about my p's bidding style ..why no o'call or jump in S?

definitely forcing in traditional Acol - unless agreement to the contrary.. but maybe not in sayc or 2/1. reason is to accommodate p having a strong 4-1-5-3 or 4-1-6-2 which is not good enough for a strong 2 opening. In particular ..4-1-5-3 strong hands surely need a cautious approach till p shows some life.

I'm all for 'blasting' ..but not very good at it! Last blast was 2d X 6d .. turned out p's 2D wasnt a weak 2D but some sort of multi :) ..must remember to look at p's profile :))

I wish you success with the Gold-Star club .. as Ron says ..what's the problem?.. will be pleasant to have quality games to watch occassionally.

thanks for the comments Ron & Luis B) ..opps hands were.. Kxx QJxxx 108 Q9x Qxxx A10x Qxxx 10xx ... I played to make trick with JH after using C entries to ruff 3rd & 4th spade ..ruffing 4th S high ..but no joy on the layout. Still think i coulda /shoulda made it tho :o)

This hand from last weekend's InterProvincial tournament in Dublin.. 4H by South, no opps bidding.. South North S: x A1097 H: AK7xx Jxx D: Kxx J8xx C: J8xx AK defence starts with 2D to A and 10D returned. I'm not good at deriving the % lines on this sort of hand.. ..any ideas? ruffing 3 spades in hand and trying to make 10th trick with JH looks attractive.. or cash AK Hearts and play x-ruff? .. this looks dead-in-the-water if Hearts 4-1 .. or did I miss something? B)

It has always been a condition of playing on BBO that courtesy ,or at least lack of rudeness, is shown to others.. surely this gives Fred et al enough scope to deal with this matter without over-complicating the issue. As another contributor said.. there are lots of tourneys now.. if you dont like the look of it dont join.. contentious titles or conditions are probably against the site rules already. Regards, Dogsbreath