masonbarge

My cc function suddenly doesn't work 3 times out of 4. My Account->Convention Cards is empty, and when I try to pull up a cc in a game (either mine or opponents') I get the popup, but it is blank white. I have tried using different browsers but it happens in all of them. Any ideas?

Thanks. I was hoping there was a keyboard shortcut but I can handle that.

Okay, I see a place to save a line of text in the Chat Manager, but I don't know how to put it in the text box. That is, I want to type my system and carding info into the Table chat when a new set of boards starts, and I have the message saved. I just don't know how to load it. Is there a keystroke?

My regular partner can't make it and I want to go to the Chattanooga Regional in two weeks. I live in Atlanta. I'm looking for a good player, a student of the game, who is a serious player but has a sense of humor and proportion. I'd like to qualify for "B" flights, so <3000 masterpoints would be preferred, but I am competitive in "X" bracket events. I started playing on BBO in Dec. 2014 and in clubs in @ April, 2015. I won the 50-100 Mini-McKenney and Ace of Clubs last year and I'm running 2d to 4th in the 500-1000 this year. I'm 300 on the Barry Crane list for June, but that will come up a bit in July as we just finished the Atlanta SuperSectional. Email me if you're interested: masonbarge@gmail.com Thanks, Mason Barge Oh yes, I'm a nice guy, don't yell or make nasty cracks to my partners, and have a somewhat excessive sense of humor. I like to play good bridge but I like to have fun.

I'd say pretty much "definitely yes" and award 6♣ to NS. You're obligated to know your system, especially by the time you're playing at that level, and it's impossible to say that NS were not damaged.

If you double 4♦, you will not have the chance to double 5♦

That's all well said. There's a lot of strongly-stated nonsense going on here. I wanted to add, for purposes of determining whether a hand is strong enough for a 2♣ opening, I count AKxxx as 3 1/2 to 4 winners. I wouldn't open this hand 2♣ because, as Max Hardy pointed out, when you have 19 or less HCP, a one-bid in a suit will almost never get passed out. Then you can show both your strength and your shape (usually) at the 3 level.

There is actually an ACBL directive on this! The reason being, that it is illegal to open a game-forcing 2♣ bid with insufficient strength. In fact, psyching an artificial opening bid is forbidden on the SuperChart. Most people use 8 1/2 or 9 tricks as the benchmark for a possible 2♣, and the hand in the original question qualifies. It's not the best bid, however, IMHO.

The hand is at least close to 2♣ in terms of strength. The reason not to bid 2♣ is that, with 18 HCP, you won't get passed out in 1♠ and will be able to bid your hand much more descriptively at a lower level, which with 5-4 in the majors is a huge consideration. That 5♣ bid is terrible. In the first place, if you bid 5♣ to show a suit with the tops, you can't do it without AKQJxxx or AKQxxxxx. In the second place, I wouldn't do it anyway. Partner might have AKQxxx of hearts or better. I will say, if I were holding that hand and partner bid 5♣ over a 2♣ opening (showing a self-sustaining club suit), I'd bid 7 without a second thought. But my partner would be holding the ♣J, so . . . .

The spade overcall screws the chance of a 3-3 heart break. No realistic squeeze because of the entry situation. So, club finesse, club ace, small club. There's a very long shot at a strip squeeze if east shows out on the first or second club., now that would be fun.

No, we are saying that partner's hand might have some bearing on the best contract! Are you saying that you want to play in ♥ across from a singleton heart and five clubs? That you don't want to be in 3NT across from a double spade stopper and 5-5 or so in the minors? That you don't want to play in 3♠ doubled if partner holds AQJxx and short hearts?

I started playing BBO in Jan 2014 and started playing in clubs in Feb/March, 2015, after a 35-year layoff. I was a serious player and had to just give it up for career/family. So, my skill level is on the high side of "advanced" - generally close to expert dummy play, decent defense, struggling to learn the fine points of 2/1 and develop bidding judgment. Like a lot of guys with "card sense". I stopped playing BOT tournaments when I discovered Gold Rush :) I was getting 60-70 MP per month but stopped cold so I could get some Gold while still under 750. I'd like to find a good player in a similar situation, or a really talented new player, to grab some color points before my MP get over 750. I have a few people to play with in the 3000-7500 range, although I'll play with anyone a couple of times, and I got some "A" strat points at my first regional recently, but still -- Gold Rush is a lot easier. I'm a really nice guy and "good partner", never get mad, screw up about once a game myself, and I like to have fun. It would also be fun to have a shot at a national title in the B or C strat for GNT or GNP. I'm in Atlanta, so would prefer someone nearby - although don't be shy, one of my high-point partners is in Canada and I will travel to play with someone I have a good time with and some chance of success, at whatever level.

5♣. The fit is powerful and the secondary fit in spades is a plus. Partner should have enough in high cards to beat 5♦ but he needs to know about your long clubs to make a decision about doubling. Or he might like 6♣ which is not impossible.

I've seen this hand too many times. I'm bidding 2♥. Don't let yourself be talked out of your bid just because you're strong in a suit bid by the opponents - although this is "very strong indeed". I don't like to mastermind. My system calls for a 2♥ bid with a good 5-card heart suit (who called the hearts "weak"???) and 12+ points in an unbalanced hand. That's the most descriptive bid.

There is only one good rule as far as I am concerned, and that is Hamman's Law. Decide the strain first and then the level. If you haven't found your suit yet, don't start a slam sequence. The only exception I play is that the appropriate person might decide to play in 6/7 NT, either for matchpoints or to get a lead up to a tenace. There is nothing more miserable than making a big at the 5 or 6 level that your partner is not absolutely sure what it means. Or at least "reasonably" sure, to the degree that he at least knows whether or not you are proposing to play the final contract in that suit!