GrahamJson

I think it was Bobby Wolff who said that when faced with a choice of calls, one of which is 3NT, bid it. I think that this is one of those occasions.

Damn those autocorrects. Overcall not over all.

Looks like a routine 2D over all to me too.

Pass on the first round. I'd redouble on the second round, but apparently that's not allowed, so 3H seems about right. Not many points but in all the right places.

The easiest solution is simply to play an immediate response of 3M (and 3m, if you like) as a slam try. Opener bids 3N with no fit, 4M with a fit and a minimum and cue bids with a fit and a maximum. Old fashioned I know but works.

In theory partner should be short in spades and have length in hearts, something like 1543 distribution. Unfortunately that is not consistent with your own hand. Also with such a hand it would be better to pass and wait developments. If partner is a random BBO player whose game you don't know I reckon he will have something like KJxxx in spades and is one of those who just likes to make a noise.

S should sign off in 4S. N will go on if slam is good (e.g. Qxxxx AQxx x KQx which still needs spades to break).

It's close, but I think pass is the percentage bid. If I did make a try, lacking any agreement 2S looks best. Partner can then show values in clubs (bad) or diamonds (good) .

I think deciding whether it is forcing or depends on whether you want to win the hand or win the post mortem. Other posters have given good technical reasons why it should be not forcing. However from what I have seen few BBO players read the text books. If you bid on and it was meant to be non forcing it is unlikely you will lose much, but if you pass and partner has a big hand you could miss game, or even slam (strange things go on around here sometimes).

It's all a matter of style. With my regular partner we play an immediate bid of a new suit as non forcing (although could still be reasonable values) whilst a double followed by a new suit is forcing. However others play it the other way around. With an unfamiliar partner I would treat the current sequence as forcing as passing could risk missing game if partner also assumed it to be so.

Whether you open 3C or pass is a matter of style and partnership agreement. With an unknown random partner a pass could not be criticised. Having opened 3C the best route to a slam is a simple one; 3C - 6C. A more scientific one is likely to make a spade lead odds on, in which case the slam is not a great one.

Opposite some 4S bids I have seen on BBO 8NT would be an underbid. Playing with a random partner it's a complete guess what to do. Playing with a sensible partner it's a clea pass.

I agree with the last comment. It sounds to me like 4H was bid to make, in which case the distribution may come as an unpleasant surprise to declarer. I have seen it many times. My observation on BBO is that players get too busy. They often get away with it because oppo get too busy too, for example by sacrificing ahead of partner. Against good oppo they would do so well.

I don't trust oppo that much. These days players will open 2H on Kxxxx because "it's a bidders game", so there is no guarantee oppo have a nine card fit. Some days they may not even have eight. Yes, 4S could easily be the winning bid, but on average I think Pass is the percentage action. There is also partnership confidence. Partners aren't generally happy if you go for 1,100 by taking unilateral action when they re sitting on HKQJx. They are more likely to understand not coming in at the four level on Qxxxx. But maybe I'm still attached too much to Reece's ideas.

Ok, if partner had xxx that would give him 14 cards, but you get the idea. Voids are great once you have found a fit, but in competitive situations like this they are often warnings of a misfit.

Pass. Why give oppo a second chance to bid 4S?

Other posters have made much of having a heart void. This may not be such a great holding as it makes it more likely that partner is sitting with KQ10x or better and can't wait to defend. In many respects xxx would be a better holding as then partner is likely to be short and have a fit for one of your suits.

Of course I don't know that partner has four hearts, but I think it is quite likely. He always does whenever I bid 4S on this sort of hand.

Partner figures to have four cards in hearts, but failed to bid 2NT, so probably has a maximum of 14 points, most likely less, maybe much less. If he is short in hearts then he will be even weaker as he failed to double. Of course bidding could be the winning move but I reckon the percentage action is to pass.

4N is theoretically probably the best bid, but most random partners on BBO consider every 4NT bid as Blackwood and will tell you how many aces they have, so you will end up in a 4-2 fit at the five level.

4N is theoretically probably the best bid, but most random partners on BBO consider every 4NT bid as Blackwood and will tell you how many aces they have, so you will end up in a 4-2 fit at the five level.

For what it is worth, my copy of "The Official Encyclopedia of Bridge" says that a jump cue bid overcall asks for a stop. It makes no mention of differentiating between major and minor.

Pass. Is this a problem?

No need to think about this. An automatic pass.

I think that you can over analyse this. Just show what you have with 5D and let partner work out what you don't have. If you sign off in 5H partner might reason that as you don't have anything extra in C or D you must have something in hearts, which may be what he is after. And yes, I would have opened, 1NT in my case, being an Acolyte.