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First Hand, Playing IMPS. You Hold:[hv=d=s&v=n&s=sqxhqj10987xdkxxck]133|100|Scoring: IMP[/hv] Comments and experience with these type hands are of interest... :) B) :)

THE DENOUEMENT Mr. Star Player bid 4♥! I had opened with [hv=s=skq10xxxhxdaj10xxxc]133|100|[/hv]. I passed naturally, figuring that ♥ would play better than anything else. BTW, the other room, with two star players bidding, went 1♠-2♣-2♦-2♥-3♦-3♥-3NT making 4. We went down as the hearts broke badly. Mr. Star Player berated me viciously for not bidding 4♠. It was as unpleasant an experience as I have had on BBO. For any star players who are reading this, you have an obligation to be leaders of the bridge community and to be extra sensitive ambassadors of the game. As it turns out, he quit the match later in a huff and it never got finished.

Mr. Star Player bid 2♥, then got a 3♦ rebid from me. Then he bid 4♣, followed by my 4!D. Now what would you bid?

Rex and I open most balanced hands 1NT, but for some reason I have found that it works well with ♥ as the five card major and badly when♠ are the major. So I think 1♠ is right here, and agree that partner was a little chicken.

I was playing with a star partner [in what galaxy I am not sure]. I opened 1♠ and he [and now you] held the following [hv=d=n&v=b&s=sjhakjxxdxcakjxxx]133|100|Scoring: IMP[/hv] What is your first bid and how would you think about this auction?

Here are Rex's own words in defense of the bid of 4♠ over opps 4♥. "So you are telling me that with a hand like Kxxxxx x KQx Qxx you are doing what over 4H if I pass? Qx is fair support. If I pass are you going to bid such a suit again at the four level? Now you are going to say that with your actual hand you will support clubs as you know in MU I must have real clubs. But I think that is resulting. How can we find 6-2 fit if I do not support with Qx? How do we not get to 5C with inadequate values when there is no spade fit? Once a forcing and unlimited 3S call is made it is not clear to me to pass this min with support this good. So put it out for the follow up question and lets see what they say." From the horse's mouth LOL :rolleyes: :)

The Unhappy End of the Story Partner has [hv=s=sa8xxxhxdq109cqjxx]133|100|[/hv] 4 spades is a disaster, whereas 5 clubs goes down one. Opps did well to push with the preempt. Should partner bid 3♠, double, or pass with this hand? See Part 1 a few threads back. I felt that Rex had no business bidding 4♠ over the 4♥ raise. He thought my 3♠ bid was not best. Thanks as always to the expert opinions here... :( :D

I don't think 4♥ is ever making on this layout--2♠ and 2♦ losers. 4♠ has much better chances though it could go down on best defense-- But one of the other virtues of pass is that opps will balance in many cases--probably 2♣ here for instance. Now there are a variety of ways for both of you to get back in the auction with less risk as you are both limited.

Roland---Rex and Jay is a politically mixed partnership, but both male! LOL :blink: :lol: :P Your analysis is right on however 8)) :rolleyes:

I like questions like this that seem simple and come up a lot but offer a bunch of difficult choices. Can I cast a vote for option 3, which is PASS! Partner is a passed hand, and you have a 12 point hand that I would pass in 1st and 2nd position [And there are days when I would pass this in 3rd hand!]. So I don't see missing game as possible. Pass wins anytime partner has 5 or more hearts. The only time it loses to spades is win partner is exactly 4-4. As to NT, you have no spots and no 5 card suit, and what values you do have are valuable in suit play. So my best guess is that one♥ plays no worse than 1NT most of the time. It also has the singular virtue of telling your partner that you have utter squadoosh, and partner will not be tempted to invite 2NT with 11-12 points.

You hold: [hv=d=s&v=n&s=sq4h97da109cak8642]133|100|Scoring: BAM[/hv] You open 1♣, now annoying LHO bids 3♥. Partner bids 3♠. If RHO passes, what is your bid now? If RHO bids 4♥, what is your bid now? Thanks to all for responding to TFMORAJ LOL :blink: :lol: :P :rolleyes:

You hold:[hv=d=n&v=n&s=sa8754h2dq109cqjxx]133|100|Scoring: BAM[/hv] Partner opens 1 club, playing 2/1 [this is the 2/1 board after all] RHO bids a pesky 3♥. What is your bid? Come back tomorrow and I will fill you in on what happened. As usual, it wasn't good! LOL :) :blink:

;) The Biggest problem is remembering the darn thing! If Rex had a nickel for everytime I forgot to switch the responses, he wouldn't have to be such a tightwad! LOLL B) :)

There are lots of great replies and I thank all of you. I should add two comments to Mike777 and the others. I (Jay, not Rex) am not enamored of the light opening style in 1st and 2nd, so not bidding bad or even mediocre 11-12 counts does not faze me. Also, with a good 12, we will stretch to open 1NT---though we have constant arguments about what constitutes a "good 12!" You should see those! LOL For 11-12 hands that we do open, we just suffer with a simple suit rebid at the 2 level. I hope that ends the confusion. I am total agreement with AWM. I have spent my whole life rebidding 1NT with singletons in partner's bid suit, and I never recall it causing much trouble. When I played a more normal 15-17, I found it much more valuable to limit my values quickly (11-14 in that case) rather than show my distribution in a likely misfit anyway. And as I argue with Rex, about the only hand this causes problems with is when I have EXACTLY 6 spades, and not very good ones at that. As someone mentioned, if I have g/f values and 6 lousy spades, I should bid differently anyway. Rex is in 100% strenuous accord with the 2 club bidders for all the reasons cited and really hates the 1NT rebid as much as I like it!! LOL ;) :D Like some posters, I suggested opening 1♣ and reversing to tell a different lie about the length of your suits. Rex felt that was even worse than a 1NT rebid! So here's the denouement: I held [hv=d=n&v=n&s=saj105hk4d1075c9874]133|100|Scoring: MP[/hv] When Rex rebid 2♣, i simply passed. I figured if he had 11-15 points, that was as good a spot as any (He MUST have 4 clubs for this bid in our system BTW, and there is a possibility he is 4♦,5♣ to avoid reversing with a minimum.) I knew there was a risk if he had 16-17. We got a low score as 3NT ends up making with every card under the sun on side. However, if you merely switch the East and West cards, 3NT will go down 2!! Rex feels strongly that I should bid 2♦ as a false preference instead of pass. He is usually right about these technical matters so I appreciate comments on that. Isn't it amazing how such a simple question can generate a great debate? That's what makes bridge fun. Best and thanks to all!! :rolleyes: ;)

2♣ is Non Forcing in our system if that helps any

Oops my bad--as usual, we were playing our 13-16 NT, so a 1NT rebid would show 17-18 HCP. Sorry for leaving that out.

Playing a 13-16 1NT opening (but 2/1 aside from that). You hold [hv=d=s&v=n&s=s7haq75dqj64cakj6]133|100|Scoring: MP[/hv] You open one diamond, partner bids 1 spade. What do you rebid? This is a simple but important philosophical issue I think.

So as a corollary to this question: You hold: [hv=d=n&v=e&s=sa6hk107652d105ck86]133|100|Scoring: BAM[/hv] Partner opens 1NT, playing the same 13-16 HCP count. What is your strategy for this hand?

Playing BAM scoring and a 13-16 1NT opening. [hv=d=s&v=n&s=sxxxhaqxdak9xcxxx]133|100|Scoring: BAM[/hv] The bidding goes--you open 1NT. Partner bids 2♦ transfer to hearts. You bid 2 ♥, now partner bids 3♥ inviting with a 6 card suit. Do you pass or go on? And would your answer change depending on the scoring system? Best to all as ever--- :blink: :ph34r:

pclayton is right I believe. Page 41 of the original book version. It is not clear to me what to do with a g/f 5-5 in the majors other than bid this way and rebid hearts.

The infamous Rex and I have had hours of arguments on this topic. Reverses are a bear. My personal preference is close to Ben, as i think the 2♠ rebid should be used as a warning that my hand stinks but I have spades. In this day and age, you could have J10xxxx xxx x xxx. So I hate the vague idea that 2♠ has to be F1 and could be a million different hands. :blink: Rex and I like a treatment called Lebensohl over reverses at http://www.prairienet.org/bridge/rev-leb.htm Good luck! There are no perfect answers to reverses IMO

B) [hv=d=n&v=n&s=s65haqj107dqj109ck8]133|100|Scoring: BAM[/hv] You open 1♥-1NT from p, showing either 5+ spades or 13+hcp with 4♠. You rebid 2♦, now 3♠ from partner. Choose one of the three options! thanks :blink:

:D Believe me, if you knew Rex and me, you would give us each 100% of the blame for playing with each other! LOL :D

I like 2♥ better myself than 1♥, though I still agree with my partner's original pass. I did not agree with the 4♥ jump for the reasons in my last post... This is what makes bridge such a great game! LOL :) :)

I appreciate everyone's responses--they have been very interesting. The biggest surprise to me is the number of people in hand one that overcall 1♥ with the 1-5-2-5 6 count. That never occurred to me--Rex says he thought about it but didnt feel it met our partnership standards so he passed. In the same hand, we didn't have a clear agreement for my double over 2♠. My number one intent was: This is BAM, and I think letting them play 2♠ undoubled and not vul is a sure loss to the other table LOL So bid something or leave the double in, whatever you think is best. I disagree with the 4♥ jumpers for that reason-- the opps have opened and responder has bid twice, so we are unlikely to have much more than half the deck. 4♥ is unlikely to make unless you catch the doubler with 4 card support, and that is unlikely. So I think 3♥ is plenty.