zenbiddist

Thanks everyone. What about this hand? Similar themes - came up two days ago. Lots of really pretty possibilities. Keen to hear what other people think: [hv=pc=n&s=saqt74ha9daj92cq3&n=shkqj54d843cak964&d=n&v=n&b=5&a=1h2s(WJO)pp3cp4np5hp6nppp]266|200[/hv] 6NT South, ♠9 led (matchpoints) Ps: So ♣, ♣ works when clubs are 4-2, but there are other possibilities. How do people think about this hand? It's quite juicy IMO. PPs: I'm aware my 4NT bid was probably not going to be interpreted as quant, but that was my excuse for being in the tight slam i was probably going to end up in :)

Yes. I'm not confident of gauging the probability of suit breaks very well, especially in a rush. At the table I judged that suits were probably breaking relatively nicely because my hands were balanced-ish and because nobody bid. Rather than hoping for a 3-3 break in a black suit, or playing for 4-1 trumps, I ducked a heart at trick two. The opponents cashed two diamonds then played a spade. I won and cashed ♥K, ♣K-A and ruffed a club, glad that I wasn't over-ruffed. Now I was able to cross to dummy's ♥A and pitch losing spades on the established clubs. My line goes off when the player with the third trump has only two clubs (slightly more likely I guess), and has a spade left. A few good players told me they'd play two top hearts, then club club club pitching a diamond. I'm still not sure which line works in the most cases. Is there a shortcut for this kind of thinking? I don't have the brain to go case-by-case quickly enough at the table. Thanks for looking everyone

4♥ South, ♠Q led (IMPs) ♠982 ♥A62 ♦Q6 ♣AQ853 ♠AK54 ♥K8743 ♦T5 ♣K7 How would you play this? What suggested your line of play? A strong player disliked my line and so now I'm curious about the hand.

Thanks for the in-depth analysis everyone! I'll read over it thoroughly when I'm properly awake

Yes - I won the lead, cashed the other top diamond, cashed the ♠K, and ran the clubs, ending with: ♠- ♥AQ96 ♦- ♣- ♠J ♥K3 ♦- ♣J

7NT by South, ♦ lead (no EW bidding) [hv=pc=n&s=saj8hk3dj95ckqj54&n=sk65haq96dak43ca2]133|200[/hv] I played this contract the other day, and tried to figure which was better: ♠ finesse, or, squeeze player with 4+ ♥ & either queen? Is this how you figure it out? Finesse: 50% Squeeze: a defender has one of two queens (75%), but the player with four or more hearts has at most nine vacant spaces (multiply by 9/10). 3/4 X 9/10 Squeeze: 67.5% Using that logic, the squeeze is more probable until hearts split 6-1 or 7-0. At the table I got as far as thinking that hearts were probably 3-4 or 5-2 due to balanced hands, and that the squeeze is probably better than 50%. I'm curious now if my maths is right (probably not :)). Also - if any of the mathematically inclined could be give me shortcuts for doing this kind of thinking at the table quickly, I'm sure my opponents would appreciate it :)

Thanks. I'll play around with DMPro next time I have access.

I was playing with someone I've only played with a couple of times, so I presumed we were bidding first round controls up the line.

Those agreements makes a lot of sense to me. Cheers! I'll re-read at a more sane hour (3:30am)

That looks good. By the way, after a keycard response, then a king response, what is a new suit at the six level? Gotta be a grand slam try but is it asking or showing? I've always avoided the bid for consufions' sake but I'd love to know.

I presumed 3♥ would be a splinter as it's an unnecessary jump. Partner was on the same page. 4♣, 4♦, 5♦: control bids 1st round then 2nd. Out of curiosity, why play GSF if playing keycard? It's good to know what a new partner would expect though, thanks.

Thanks, Exclusion / void-showing responses very useful. In this instance using 5NT as keycard (if understood) seems safe because partner didn't cue hearts, so the response can be deciphered (i.e. 2+Q response must be ♠KQ and ♣A). But I'm trying to avoid developing an idiosynchratic approach that could confuse a new partner, so thanks for the tips!

Can anyone recommend a program that can generate many hands to fit specified paramaters (hand pattern, HCP, etc) and offer a summary of makeable contracts? This thread suggests Bridge Captain can do that one hand at a time, but how about a quick analysis of say 400 hands at a time to test bidding scenarios. "If I make this bid how often will it pay?". Would be a quick way to strengthen bidding judgement in certain areas. Thanks

Playing Roman Keycard We had this auction, and it led me to a few questions you might be able to help me with: [hv=pc=n&s=skqt532h9864dkcaj&n=saj86hdaqj872ckt3&d=n&v=0&b=1&a=1dp1sp3hp4cp4dp5dp5n(RKC)p6sp7sppp]266|200[/hv] Should it have gone: [hv=pc=n&d=n&v=0&b=1&a=1dp1sp3hp4cp4np5sp5np6d(DK)p7sppp]266|200[/hv] After RKC and king response, what is the meaning of a new suit at the six level? (ie if North had bid 6♥ over 6♦) Another question: what kind of hand would South have to bid 3♠ over 3♥? Obviously a decent hand, but does it deny a control or carry any other implication? Also, is it a common treatment to play 5NT over a 5-level control bid as keycard? Thanks for reading :)

I came on to the forums to suggest the same idea! I think it'd be a fantastic option. I've used google translate to chat with people on BBO in different languages. It's a lot of fun, but very slow for the other players.