MickyB

Not as such, you just got the black suits mixed up. Easy mistake

Wouldn't pard bid with that? No, double would be clear - all five strains are possible at this stage, bidding would emphasise one of them far too much. Doubling then bidding a suit is typically 5431 with three cards in advancer's suit.

Cheers Arend. In that case I'm sticking some money on Obama and blaming you if he loses :)

Despite a pretty big lead for Obama in the polls, the bookies seem to think he is only about 75% to win. Is this because it takes a relatively small percentage of voters to change sides to swing it, or because there's a belief that some people are saying that they will vote for Obama because they think doing otherwise would make them appear racist? Or something else that I've missed?

I bid 3NT without much thought, it was suggested to me that 3♠ would have been a better bid.

[hv=d=n&v=n&s=saktxhxxdxxcaktxx]133|100|Butler IMPs. P-P-1C-2H 2NT-P-??[/hv]

Thought I'd already posted, seems not. 2♦ looks auto to me. I wouldn't WJS here, I rarely do with three-card support for opener's suit.

KJxxxx and an outside K is certainly too good to pass 1NT at teams, I'd have thought. I don't know why, I just seem to have a bit of a blind-spot over this issue. I'm posting this because I felt I hadn't properly dealt with a pupil's question on this issue, so maybe I should have posted this in the B&I forum instead. I guess QJT9xx you'd certainly transfer...With AKxxxx you are unlikely to be passing 1NT, but with AQxxxx or KQxxxx there's a fair chance your suit will run, there's also a fair chance you could be totally stranded from it in 1NT.

Not sure, but it seems rather arbitrary to take the arithmetic mean of the two middle values, rather than the geometric mean.

When you hold a hand too weak to look for game opposite a 15-17 1NT opener, how do you decide whether to transfer to a 6+card minor or not? Obviously whether you have a singleton or not is a big factor...any thoughts?

Agreed, can't think of anything else to say.

I prefer rebidding 1NT. I like to know whether opener is balanced, and I prefer methods where unbalanced hands tend to show and balanced hands tend to listen. It's important to have a checkback method that lets you find your 4-4 fit when responder has 4S5H weak.

[hv=d=s&v=b&n=saqjxxxxhq98xdcxx&s=sxxxxhaktdq98xxxc]133|200|Scoring: IMP 1♦-P-1♠-2♣ 2♠-3♠-4♠-P P-6♣-X-AP Strong NT, better minor, no support doubles[/hv]

K ??? AKx JT8xxx Love all, 3S-P-4S to you. How good do your hearts need to be before you are worth a double?

You better check with your pard about this. In my partnerships, 3♥shows a heart stopper (and denies a club stopper), and says nothing about heart length. It can show: Ax KQx AQxx xxxx. Fine - I bid 4H, pard knows my shape and will correct if he doesn't have hearts.

no

Apparently Nevena is annoyed with how Brian was portrayed by the editing. Hardly surprising, but there ya go. I watched it with a few other people who know them (including one who plays bridge with Brian semi-regularly), found it to be hilarious. Would have been disappointed if I hadn't, think half the tournament players in the country have been looking forward to it since it was announced!

7-(25-10)/5+8*100 Wasn't timing, didn't feel like 30 seconds though

2NT = INV+ enquiry. Now 3m = min, 3M = extras with corresponding minor 3C = Pass-or-correct You could bid 3C and correct 3D to 3H on this hand, but I'd be inclined to bid 3H directly.

Sigh, misread so misvoted. Immediate 3C is stronger

Pard couldn't act in third or over 2H when he has the presumed heart shortage. Pass in sleep

If double of 3D includes most hands (18-19 bal no stop, takeout, etc) then how would you bid now with a decent hand that's 4-4 in the majors with a diamond stop?

Fair enough - I thought X would be more like 18-19 bal.

Right, that's the answer I was looking for. The hand in the original post didn't actually happen, it just occurred to me when I was holding a 4306 on this auction. Is a 4315 15-count really doing anything other than bidding 3H here? I can't imagine what else it would do, but I'm not experienced with support doubles.

Agree with this. 3 card raises don't take the push to the 3 level unilaterally without a reason. Right. Any other shapes that might have to bid like this?