ArcLight

Pick up, IMPS, red/white P - P - ? ♠ x ♥ K T x x x ♦ Q x ♣ A Q x x x 1. What do you open? 2. how would you rate a bid of 4♥ ============================= Is this worth a 2♥ overcall (all red, IMPS) P 1S -? ♠ Q x ♥ A K x x x ♦ K x x x ♣ x x

Arend, Assuming we signal encouragement on trick one, pard will suspect (and soon know) we have the K. If pard plays the J, are we not forced to win the K, in case declarer holds Qx and pard AJTxx. We can't know pard has the Q. I think leading the Q is not a suit preference signal, it gives us the option of overtaking or ducking

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Card Placing for You by Andy Kambites Pretty good book on placing high cards based on bidding, or assumption (i.e if East doesn't have the Ace of Clubs you are going down, since East is a passed hand and has already shown up with XXX he can't also have the Q). Some good problems on drawing inferences on the defenders actions such as - -why did they not force you to take a ruff -why allow you access to dummy for a finesse -why did they duck this trick For Advanced Interemdiates (and advanced players too - a few will get you)

I doubt there will be life. That Rde Dwarf wasn't always a Red Dwarf. When it was younger it would have scorched the planet and probably boiled away the atmosphere and water. Its probably a rock.

>>Right Through The Pack. Darvas & V. Hart. 1947. 327p. $14.95 Level=Expert Grade=C- I'm sorry you didn't like that book. :( I did and thought it was really clever. I don't remember if it was hard to follow, I will take a look. If I recommended it to you and you didn't like it I apologize. :) 3 No Trump in Depth by Augie Boehm Good beginner / intermediate level book on (you guessed it) 3NT contracts. The book has 2 sections, play and bididng. The play section is pretty routine and I've seen that material in a million other places. Ducking, Avoidance Play, Dangerous opponent, Rule of 11, Communications. All worthwhile for beginners and those who are not comfortable with all this. I found the bidding section more interesting. While not complex it may be material that many intermediates are not familiar with. Such as: - with 2 unbid suits, a new suit shows a stopper for NT - with 3 unbid suits, the 4th asks for a stopper or half stopper, depending on teh sequence - showing a half stopper (Qx or Jxx) - asking for a stooper, such as 1S (3S) with a long running minor - showing a concentration, such as AQx, when you are considering a try for slam or 5 of a minor - some tricks in a sequence involing a natural NT bid. Overall, the book is very worthwhile for beginners, and ok for intermediates. If you are an intermediate who is into bidding tricks and are familiar with what I listed above, you might not get much out of teh book. I rate it a B+/A- for beginners, and a B for lower level intermediates.

Can someone please post some good links and examples if Turbo.

Why not bid 4NT (RKCBW) instead of 4♣ as responder? At that point you know you have 5♦ tricks, a club stop, and a heart stop. You have a reasonable slam opposite not much more than: AQxxx xxx Ax xxx (and another useful honor) Maybe the defense leads hearts, and the above hand alone is good.

Rather than sit and watch a game, I would like the ability to look at the hand records of some of their games. Probably Zia doesn't want to be bothered so plays under Sunningdale. Whats wrong if I "know" this and don't harrass him on BBO. The only risk is if people bother the stars. Just don't bother them. The only contact I have had with a star on BBO was I left a message for Tim Bourke "I very much enjoyed your book Countdown to Wining Bridge, it was first rate" His reply was something to the effect of he was happy to hear that, and authors don't get much recognition. For the world class players with no stars, I wont bug them. I would like to maybe look at their hand records. Maybe.

IMPS all RED, you deal and pass. LHO opens 1♣, pard overcalls 1♦, RHO bids 1♠ P 1♣ 1♦ 1♠ Whats your bid with: ♠ K J x ♥K x x ♦ x x x x x ♣x x Pass? 1NT? 2♦? 3♦? Other?

Hannie is the alias of Martin Hoffman. :lol: mikesl is Mike Lawrence firechief is Joel Wooldridge >Sixela is Sam Cohen not Sami Kehela According to the book "Canadas Brideg Warriors" Sami Kehela doesn't play much any more. Does anyone know his and Eric Murrays alias?

The field was down 1 in 6 or 7 clubs. At this table 4♠ went for -1100. (responder jumped to 4 with 4 spades and a weak hand) went for -1100 There were some bad breaks and useless honors in responderss hand. It might have gone for just 500 or 800. The opponents have a vulnerable game.

White vs Red, IMPS p - p - ? whats your bid holding: ♠ Q T 9 6 3 ♥T x x ♦Q J x ♣x x pass? 1♠? 2♠? Other?

Plaing the Mike Lawrence 2/1 style 3♠ shows a strong hand 16-18, 6+ cards, good suit So I bid that. The 3♣ bid can work too, because it focuses pard on ♣.

Phil, I don't think the Level 3 hands are "heavy lifting" for BI though I don't always solve them on the first try. I do think the level 4 are. I think Beginner -Intermediate is way too broad a range. A beginner will be challenged by Bridge Master Level 2 hands, and Intermediate has a fair shot at the Level 3 hands. Nobels hand is a good one for BI, though the Beginners might not get it. I think its important to try problems that are a little "too tough" for you, so that you learn. I am about 2/3 finished wih all of the Kelsey "Test Your XXX" books. I get many wrong, and hopefully learn from my mistakes.

I would bid 2♥ in competion with a another useless club, 9 or less. A competitive action is somewhat different from an uncontested aution. I think its important to show a major suit fit in competition. The 4333 fit is a minus. Any ace is a very nice plus. The Ace of trumps more so. Nothing wasted in ♦, and the opps ♦ suit is probably decent. Maybe pard overbids and goes down. Maybe it was their hand.

Over Hoffmans Shoulder by Martin Hoffman Typical over the shoulder book. The reader is shown the bidding, the dummy and declarers hand, the lead, (any hesitations/delays the opps make) , and the first few tricks and then asked what to do. The author will explain why he rejects a certain type of play. The hands are not super hard, and they are so clear after the author explains them. The bidding might not be quite what we are used to! :rolleyes: Hoffman has a reputation as a very stong card player, and he certainly backs his (in my opinion aggressive bidding - including redoubling Alfredo Versaci's penalty double "there must be play for game...") with fine card reading and drawing inferences from the opponents behaviour. A good book for Intermediates and probably also for advanced players.The book is also entertaining to read. ==================================================== Best of Bridge on the Air by Terence Reese An old book, you are shown all 4 hands and have to cover up the defenders hands. Still, it has some good problems and themes. I did all the declarere and defense problems. The bididng is >40 years old and rather out of date. Not bad to read if you can get it used fro a low price. Intermediate level. ==================================================== Software Play 3NT / Play 4M Each disk has 60 hands, they start very simple and get harder. The emphasis is on the counting!!!!! After half the hand is over you will be asked very detaile questions about opponents shpe, HCP shown, discards, what the opening lead was, who held certain cards. The program forces you to pay attention. Its relatively inexpensive ($18 for both) Recommended http://www.brickbarn.com/recreation.html

I will pass. I think game on a misfit is difficult. A club part score nets us 130. Double them and set them 1+ vulnerable. Where is their source of tricks? Its not like they are 5-5 and can cross ruff. We have all the side suits bottled up. Pard should probably lead trumps.

>>The point is that who gains from this financial carnage? The rich and the banks. They know in advance where the ship is headed. They can get out of the way and secure their resources in time to avoid losing everything. Merrill Lynch Bear Stearns Citicorp Morgan Stanley UBS the various monoline insurers (FGIC, ACA, etc) various large banks in Germany and the UK CIBC (Canada) Countrywide They all made out like bandits :-) Not!

Sorry about the missing card in #1, it was a ♦ and I fixed the problem. (cutting and pasting lost a card, next time I'll use the forum hand software to prevent that) For #3 opener jumped to 3NT (wheras many here bid 3♣). Is there not a real danger that 3♣ will be passed out? It takes little from pard to make 9 tricks?

IMPS all hands ====================== 0. Favorable - opps silent What do you open? ♠ K ♥ K Q T 9 ♦ A K Q x ♣ K Q x x ====================== 1. all Red Please bid this: p -p -p -? ♠ A K x x ♥ A K ♦ K J T x x x ♣ x (opps silent) pard holds ♠ Q J x ♥ T 8 x x x ♦ A x ♣ A x x Plese bid this =============================== 2. Favorable - opss silent Please bid this: ♠ A J 8 x ♥ A 9 x ♦ A K J x x ♣ Q responder holds: ♠ x x x x ♥ Q 9 x x ♦ 9 8 ♣ A K x =============================== 3 Unfavorable - opps silent Please bid this: ♠ A x ♥ T x ♦ x x ♣ A K Q T 9 x x responder bids 1♥, your 2nd bid? Responders hand below

Imps, All Red LHO deals and opens 1♦ - pass - pass You hold: S: A J 9 8 x H: A Q T 8 x D: A C: x x 1♦ - p - p - 2D p - 2♠ - p -? What do you do?? 1♦ - p - p - 2D p - 2♠ - p - p 3♣ - p - p -?? Now what? Responders hand below: How should the bidding go?

This will explain the Sub Prime situation http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJ_qK4g6ntM This will help explain teh US invasion of Iraq http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ptzml1qQvZE People can't afford to pay the new (higher) interest. They can not sell their house without taking a large loss. Can't stay, must go. Someone takes a loss. >>Suppose a guy buys a house for $500,000 and there is a 10% drop in value These figures are pretty realistic these days. In a sense, he can save $50,000 by telling the bank to take this house and shove it. But he has to live somewhere. Even at the height (or depth maybe) of mortgage nonsense I don't think people with foreclosures on their records were finding it easy to get a new mortgage. 1. the lender can come after you, depending on the loan and jurisdiction. 2. Even if you are able to get away the IRS will count that as $50,000 of income and charge you taxes. Yes, thats right, you may owe taxes on a loss. 3. the banks originated the loans and then sold them. Most banks don't retain 100% of all loans they originate. The investors who bought these loans will get killed, depending on the seniority of the bond. >>To throw another thought into the mix: In some ways, the collapse of the housing market is (or at least in some ways could be) a good thing. With houses getting back to realistic prices it might mean that people can afford to get in. They will no longer be able to do it with the so-called creative financing but if they have a sound financial setting then they can get a sensible mortgage on a sensible house that is going for a sensible price. Of course if everyone is out of work from the depression then this optimistic scenario falls flat. While I have little sympathy for teh investors, and for most of the borrowers, some were mislead (and cheated). The problem with a mass melt down is it harm many others, and other industries. It better to have a gradual decline rather than 2 million foreclosures. I am really annoyed at the idea of a government bailout in the form of guaranteed loans for thes epeople. Why should my (tax payer) money be used to bail out a speculator. Maybe suspend teh taxes on the losses, or provide some liquidity, but no way should the goverment bailout a home owner. The borrowers were hoping they could refinance before their rate adjusted. Too bad. You took a gamble and lost. If you go bankrupt for a stupid decision thats your problem. >Many people feel that they are safe because they've used derivatives to hedge various positions, but if the people on the other side of the positions can't pay then even the hedges fall apart and chaos ensues. As some large banks are just realizing with the down grading of large insurance companies. CIBC will have to take an additional 2 Bil in losses becaus ethe insurance company that guaranteed them ahs been downgraded to CCC.

>(step by responder asks for SPL: none, low, high) What is SPL? Splinter? >Next two suit bids = some extras, low other SPL, high other SPL Does this mean that over 3♣: 3♥ = splinter in Diamonds 3♠ = splinter in other major

IMPS. all white. pard opens 1♦, rho passes, what do you bid with: ♠K 9 x x ♥ T x x x ♦J 9 8 7 ♣ J Do you pass? Bid 1H? Bid 1S? Other? ===================== My response (hidden) ============== The bidding goes (opps silent) 1♦ - 1♥ 2♠ - ?? What does 2♠ mean [Jumpshift or Reverse] How strong a hand, what does pard hold? What do you bid? 4♣ splinter? 4♠ signoff? 3♠ - stronger than a sign off, has something on the side? Other? ==================== How do you rate my bid (hidden) =================================== Pard is a en experienced player, and an expert card player. (Flight A regional winner) He said the 2♠ was a Reverse and that a Jump Shift would be a 3♠ bid. I am certain he is incorrect, but I'd like your opinion. Pards hand: ♠ A Q x ♥ A Q 9 ♦A T x x x ♣ A 9 Whats wrong with opening 2NT instead of 1♦ followed by 2♠? We ended up in this unfortunate aution: 1D - 1H 2S* - 4C* (2S = jump shift?!?! 4C = splinter) 4D - 4S 4NT - 5C (one key card) 5NT* 6S (%NT - a grand slam try? In what strain, spades?!?! 6NT maybe ... Results 6S -2, should have been down 3