tysen2k

We bid: 1♥ 1♠ 2♦ 2♠ P

Our homegrown precision: 1♦ - 1♠ 1NT - 2♣ 2♦ - 3♦ 3NT - P 1♦ = artificial promising 4cM 1NT = 11-15 balanced w/ 4♥ 2♣ = art checkback 2♦ = min w/ 2♠

2NT

I pass here but bid 2N at IMPs. Game is unlikely.

1♠ 2♠

I only use them when RHO's bid is less than 2M.

If you are playing MP, I don't think you lose a lot if you allow yourself to pass potentially strong 1-bids with trash. Sure, you can lose out if partner has a strong hand, but maybe the opps will balance. Plus there are gains everywhere else in your bidding. Hopefully you've designed your bidding system to take advantage of this. This is assuming the potentially strong 1-bids are natural. Even playing IMPs, I think the harm is not too great, especially if you can gain some sort of advantage somewhere else in your bidding structure by having the strong 1-bids in the first place. Tysen

I think I read somewhere that the standard deviation of bridge deals is about 5.5 IMPs/board. So in a 64-board match, you are looking at about +44 IMPs. So you would need to win by ~88 IMPs for it to be significant. Do you have any idea how much the edge a team of 4 experts would have over 4 average players in terms of IMPs/board? Final piece in the jigsaw! Expert (I'm talking super expert here) against average players I think is like 1.5 IMPs/board. So that means the average players would win a 64-board match about 1.5% of the time. That's a huge advange though. Drop that down to 1.0/board and the average players win 7.3%.

Depends on the player, but I'd say a combination of the two for most.

I think I read somewhere that the standard deviation of bridge deals is about 5.5 IMPs/board. So in a 64-board match, you are looking at about +44 IMPs. So you would need to win by ~88 IMPs for it to be significant.

3 or 4-point ranges will work. It just has to mesh well with the rest of your system. I'm currently using a 5 point range, 11-15 with no 4-card major... and 8-15 in 3rd seat.

I don't really understand what you mean here. That's why bankroll management is an important poker skill. You need to play at reasonable limits so that this doesn't wipe you out. Fluctuations will occur and you have to be able to ride them out.

For poker, you must record your results for 20,000 hands for you to have a reasonable idea about how good you are and 50,000 to be much more sure. But even after 50,000 there is still some error. In live play at about 30 hands per hour, that's 700-1700 hours of play or 4-10 months of a full-time job. Playing online and 4 tables at once, you can get up to 240 hands per hour. So 80-200 hours of play will do it: 2-5 weeks full time. Needless to say, you can't tell anything about anyone's skill level after only a few hours. Tysen

If this is true then 4♠ should be worth about 18 or 19. I'm a non-relayer and I get to 4♥ or 4♠ depending on my mood. 1♣ 1♦ - 17+ with distribution; 0-8 HCP 1♥ 1♠ - any balanced or 2-suited with better hearts; any balanced or any 0-5 2♥ 4M - 17-22, 5+♥, 4+♠; double fit is nice but keep it simple P

That's the thing I've always hated about these contests. If you preempt, your opponents never judge wrong and go too high. If your auction goes 1M-2M, they never make the wrong balancing decision. If you open a strong club, your opponents never jump in with nothing...

I almost didn't post before, anticipating the response... :) The only advantage I saw over a "match" was speed. The pairs could go through a larger set of hands.

I would love to see something like this and then a place where merits/ideas could be discussed. The problem I always have with things like this is that it's not real bridge. The hands are not everyday hands and there is rarely/never any competitive bidding. Perhaps a 4-handed contest would be better? That way you can test your competitive bidding styles. Tysen

Question for those who bid 4♦: After you bid 4♦, what would 4♠ by partner show?

[hv=d=w&v=b&s=skqxhakqjxdxcakjx]133|100|Scoring: IMP (3♦) - P - (P) - Dbl (P) - 3♠ - (P) - ?[/hv] What now?

You're right that 3S should be forcing. I was forgetting that a WJS was available after the double.

I like the bidding. If it were favorable I might even bid 4♥ on my second turn. :)

I think the scoring makes a difference. This is an easy 2♠ at MP, but not so easy at IMPs. I think I would pass if I can't make a convential bid, but it's close. Tysen

I'll bet partner has ♣&♥ and good strength. After all if you had xx AKTx xxx AQxx how would you bid the hand if your RHO opened 1♦? On the second one, 3♠ seems too weak. Isn't it NF? Maybe I should have started with a XX last round. Not sure what the best bid is, but I don't really like 3♠.

I'm with free on this one. I occasionally raise on 3 cards, but not too often. If I have a 5332 or 4432 shape I almost always rebid NT.

Not much else to do but double. Some experts have double in this case being "optional, suggesting takeout" but I think standard is "optional, suggesting penalty." You have to double here in either case. I'm not sure which method is superior.