shaky44

<snip> <snip> I've always assumed that when I am explaining my own bid online, that I am explaining what the bid means, not what my partner thinks it means. Is that incorrect? I've seen many players -- and I've done it myself -- explain their bid as a mis-click. In this situation (where I've mixed up two suits) I would explain the bid as a mis-click / mistake. Maybe I should just give an explanation based on our agreements, even if it's wrong.

The responses here have all been good and you have a lot of useful information. I only have a few things that I would add, mostly in way of summarizing. Double: Doubling a major suit opening with 4 cards in the other major and 16 points is pretty descriptive and I will usually lean toward this action. Doubling a minor with 3-3 in the majors is asking for trouble. If partner has passed, I might double a minor if I am 4-3 (or 3-4) in the majors and then pass anything partner does short of a cue bid or jump. 1NT: 1NT overcall can be pretty descriptive with a stopper in the suit bid. As stated above, you definitely don't want a double from LHO, but it's also possible partner has 10 points and you can make a game. Most people play systems are "on" over a 1NT overcall, so it can be a good way to find a 5-3 fit in a major via a transfer. Pass: I'll bet I pass most often in this situation just because I don't have a "real" stopper (Qxx is not a stopper, especially over a major suit opening) and I'm going to get a chance to bid again 95% of the time. If I were to give any advice, it would be: don't be afraid to pass over an opponent's opening bid.

BridgeBase works well on the Opera browser. I know it's not a well-known browser, but Opera has a pretty good experience all the way around.

I would bid 2S with your hand. To me, 4S in this spot describes a 7 loser hand. I think different partnerships can have different agreements, but that's the way I play it. From your partner's point of view, I struggle to imagine south with a 8-9 point hand that doesn't give me a play for 6S. This is probably the best route to get there.

Assuming 4NT is RKC, it's not really a viable bid, is it? North pretty much knows that south has 2 aces and now you're committed to slam.

What is the thinking behind bidding 5C? If you're sitting at the table for that sequence and you can promise to take 11 tricks with no aces and zero trumps, you're brilliant or peeking at your partner's hand. I'll bid 4H before I bid 5C. If partner doubled 1D without a spade OR heart suit, let him figure it out. I'd even bid 4D or 4S before I bid 5C. In this case, he'll bid 5C (or maybe pass 4H) no matter what I bid. But I'm certainly not bidding 5C.

No, but I do think they should be upfront about what they do have. Doing otherwise is no way to run a business.

I've been thinking about this comment all week and trying to come up with an analogous comment about a different business interacting with a new customer. Maybe, "I'm sure the mechanic didn't want to pad her labor hours, but what else could she do?" or "I'm sure the cook didn't want to overcook your steak, but what else could she do?" Neither of those is the best analogy, and maybe someone else has a better attempt. No matter, it doesn't make the auto repair shop or restaurant look good and no other business could expect to keep their doors open by treating new customers in that manner. In fact, we would all be happy to see those businesses close. I haven't played a lot of ACBL bridge, but I've done it sporadically over a number of years. I'm familiar with the issues we have keeping this game alive. To go through the process of being that "new customer" was pretty eye-opening: one director was able to put me in touch with two potential partners; the other wasted my morning lost me as a customer forever because, hey, what else could she do? I hope this doesn't offend anyone; that is not my intent. We all feel really strongly about this game and trying to grow its popularity. BBO and other "mass" programs are a big part of that marketing effort, but local clubs are probably the most important factor in whether bridge grows in popularity. If we accept that it's OK to treat new customers like this, I'm not sure I feel good about the future.

Your situation seems to be different from mine. Your partner has a history of good results, my parter was really happy with our 49% score. If anything, I may have caught my partner on a good day. I don't believe in criticizing my partners; aside from being rude, it's counterproductive in all but the strongest partnerships. I also don't believe in playing with people I know will test my patience. I haven't played since last week, but today I spent two hours on the phone and at a BBO Practice Bidding table with a potential new partner. We were put in contact by the other club director I emailed at the same time as the one I discussed in my original post. He and I will play in a local game on January 17th and have tentative plans to play in a (local) sectional the next day. I hope it is the start of a fruitful partnership!

Wow. Is a 149 game considered novice? They have a 20 game and I can see how the pickings would be slim there, but someone with 60-80 MPs should be pretty good, no? Or maybe players with that many points don't play in a 149 game?

Over the holidays I decided that I want to play more bridge in 2019. For the past few years, I've played only occasionally "live" and a fair amount online. My MP total is ~48, but I've had success playing in NLM games (I'm roadkill in open games). I wrote to a few different local clubs saying that I was looking for a steady partner; someone with experience would be great, but it's more important that the person be somewhat competitive and wants to improve; hopefully someone in my age range (I'm in my 50s). I received a response from one of the local clubs (~30 minute drive from me) that they have a 149 game on Wednesdays and always have people looking for partners. The day before the game, I wrote that I was available if she had an appropriate partner for me. I received a response that there was someone that needed a partner and requested that I commit to attending, which I did. My experience was less than awe inspiring. My partner certainly had bridge experience and, considering we had never met and had zero time to discuss conventions (she was 10 minutes late for the game), our bidding was OK. Her play was very random, however. Not only was she not able to count the suits, but she lost track of which suit was trump several times on the same hand. I lost count of how many ruff/sluffs she gave our opponents. At the end, she was pretty excited about our score ("49%! That's good for me!") and was interested in playing again. I did meet another person who might be interested in playing, but her schedule is pretty full (with tennis, she rarely plays bridge). So, I understand the problem that local directors face in these games; there are inevitably going to be players that don't have a partner because no one wants to play with them. How should they handle this? I guess you can perpetually pass them off on "the new guy," but that doesn't seem like a winning formula for building new games. I can't imagine I'll ever trust this director to set me up with a partner again. Or maybe I just need to accept that this is how it is - it's kind of a hazing ritual for new players to have to play with "that guy" until they randomly meet someone else. Thoughts? I'm genuinely interested to hear how clubs handle situations like this. P.S. I do have a lead on another partner from an email I sent to another club. This seems to have some potential.

I guess responder can't really show trump ace in this sequence: S: 4S N: 5C (indicates club control) S: 5D (indicates diamond control) N: 5S??? (probably indicates no further controls to show???) S: 6S??? (gambling that diamonds will run) The 4NT bid to show specific also makes it difficult to figure out which aces partner has on this hand: S: 4NT N: 5NT (two aces) S: 6S??? (impossible to know which two aces, plus already gambling that diamonds will run) The 4S opening does have the benefit of finding out if partner has any help in trump.

Yeah, I think this is the bit of reasoning I missed when bidding this hand.

I believe 4S was the most popular opening bid, which "partner" passed (with both black aces). EDIT: I went back and counted, opening bids were distributed as follows: 6x4S, 6x1S, and 3x2C GIB aside, how should the bidding go in your scenario when responder has both black aces? 4S-5C-?-?

When playing the hand, I dismissed 1♠ because partner could pass you with hands that are cold for 6♠, much less 4♠, such as: xx xxxxx xxx Axx Maybe I shouldn't be afraid to make a non-forcing opening below game, but all you need from partner is 2+ low spades and 2+ low diamonds and 4♠ makes. I guess the risk that opening 1♠ has is that partner has very little and the risk with 2♣ is that partner is relatively strong (8+HCP).

Instant tournament on BridgeBase, matchpoints, both vulnerable. Three passes to you, what do you open? ♠KQJxxxx ♥- ♦AKQxx ♣x

Forgetting that this is a robot race, I would pass; especially at IMPs. Even at matchpoints, I think there is a better chance to set 2S by two tricks than to make 3H. If partner does not have any points, it's possible opps could end up at 3S, which you can almost certainly set by two tricks. If the opponents were not vulnerable, 3H seems like a risky, but viable bid at matchpoints. If partner does not have any points, it's possible opps could end up at 3S, which will almost certainly be set by two tricks. There isn't anything going on that makes me think partner has 4 hearts. The opps have a 5-3 spade fit, it's not unlikely they also have a 2-4 heart fit, or worse. Trumps break badly for opps in spades, the same could be true at hearts. Also, having a void in clubs is only helpful to the extent you can trump with your hearts. If partner has three little hearts, you could be forced to choose between taking club losers and letting the opps gain control of trump. At IMPs, I would always pass. There is just too much of a chance 3H will be doubled and be set by two tricks.

It isn't obvious that 3d is a better bid than 4s? Really? What's the case for 4s? I don't even think 4s is the second best bid. For me, it's 3d or pass. Bidding 4s isn't even an option. Unless your 2s response promised an ace, bidding 4s is just hoping for the best in a situation where there are good options. How many ace-less hands can you have where that contract makes?