TimG

It might work well, but it certainly isn't simplest. Simplest would be for there to be no skip bid warning of any sort (other than the jump bid itself) and for the next player to pause appropriately.

Is there a basis for this claim in the Laws or the regulations of the SO? Suppose I ponder for a moment, realize I might take some extra time, then ask for an explanation. Have I reset the clock? I don't think so. I think the actions have to be taken as a whole; it shouldn't matter whether it is pause-question-pause or question-pause-pause. In fact, pause-question-pause might be more of a break in tempo than question-pause-pause even if the two require an identical time period. As others have said, it is not simply a matter of clocking 10 seconds.

1) For an overcall I think most people would overcall almost all 18s and would not overcall with a lot of 15s, but I understand that 15 is far more likely to come up than 18 so maybe 15 is still more likely. Anyways, I think that 15-17 is not a good range for an overcall. I used 15-17 because I meant to address jdonn's opinion regarding 1N-P to him. I agree that it is not a good range for an overcall. I included the 16-18 range because that is more likely for an overcall, but was careful to add that I did not take into account the opening bid, and made no claims as to how the opening bid would affect things. That's left for better players...like Justin.

Nope. It is what it is, but it ain't proof. Hope I didn't imply it was.

A simple double dummy simulation: predeal north SJT954, HKJ842, CT64 south_shape_ok=shape(south, any 4432 + any 4333 + any 5332 - 5xxx -x5xx) south_HCP_ok=hcp(south)<18 && hcp(south)>14 south_ok=south_shape_ok && south_HCP_ok condition south_ok suggests that 4M makes over 50% of the time (and that it doesn't matter whether opener or responder declares the hand). Bump the NT bid to 16-18 and it goes to over 60%. But, I did not take into account the opening bid so cannot make any statement about how that affects things.

1. No. If south raises over my pass, partner will be short in spades and can make a takeout double if we should be competing. 2. Pass. I'd be tempted to bid some number of diamonds, but the modern tendency is that negative doubles of 1♠ only promise hearts, so even if we have a profitable sacrifice in diamonds we aren't likely to find it. 3. Doesn't really matter, does it? 4♥ should be down a few and the opponents seem to be cold for 11 tricks in spades. I think you should just get out of the way.

Does the pool house count as a home?

Players (at least in the ACBL) have voted with their entries: they don't like the Yellow Card events (and whatever was tried before that). There may be a market for such games, but I expect it is small and local. Well supposedly there are many millions of Americans who play bridge but are not ACBL members. I suspect most of these people, assuming they really exist, use bidding systems along the lines of what Goren and Culbertson taught. If these rumors are true then the market for such games is large and global (on an American scale at least). Perhaps I misused the word "market". There may be millions of kitchen bridge players out they, but I think the number of them that would be willing to pay for the pleasure of playing the game is very small, even if the tournament game offered is similar (or even identical) to their kitchen game. If they're not potential customers, they're not part of the market. If I develop a shampoo for cats, my market is not all the millions of cat owners out there, but rather a small subset of cat owners who would consider giving their cat a bath. That probably reduces the market to those who show their cat and those whose cat has encountered a skunk. This example is meant to describe my understanding of "market"; I would not be surprised to find students of economics to have a different understanding of the word. I don't think making the bidding simpler will get the kitchen bridge players to attend bridge tournaments any more than establishing a six-letter maximum length for words will increase attendance at Scrabble tournaments. Of course, if the ACBL could get just 1% of these "many millions" of bridge players to join the ACBL, that would be a significant addition to the membership.

Players (at least in the ACBL) have voted with their entries: they don't like the Yellow Card events (and whatever was tried before that). There may be a market for such games, but I expect it is small and local.

I agree that college can be great for vocational training. But, that isn't what you were talking about, you were talking about world cultures and responsible living.

How does college help with our understanding of world cultures, past and present? If a 20 year-old spent a year's worth of room/board/tuition traveling the world, I suspect they could learn more about world culture, communication, and living responsibly than four years of undergraduate work at a major US college or university would teach them.

No, it shows minors. Well then, 4C must be Gerber, right?

Is 4NT Blackwood?

The real answer to how many McCain owns might be zero. I can easily imagine the home(s) being in his wife's name. The interviewer correctly asked about how many houses he and his wife own together. That may be a bit different. A couple of years ago, my family owned three cars. I could not have told you which were in my name, which were in my wife's name and which were in both of our names. But, I did know that we had three cars. On the other hand, I can also understand that a vacation home or two were actually owned by family members, not by McCain or his wife. And, can understand if McCain didn't bother himself with the details.

The real answer to how many McCain owns might be zero. I can easily imagine the home(s) being in his wife's name.

Such a comment would find the perpetrator on my enemy list (and enemy chat is ignored). Though I understand it is frustrating to receive the message in the first place. I don't think it is rude not to reply. I sometimes send a comment that I expect a commentator to consider, but do not expect a reply. And, if the commentator is overwhelmed with private messages, I understand that he might not have time to even consider my comment, let alone reply.

Do you mean that? I honestly can't remember the last time I was furious at a bridge partner. And, I find it hard to imagine that a successful partnership could work this way.

I'm surprised to hear than anyone plays 1H-X-XX-2C; DBL or 1H-X-XX-2C; P-P-DBL as takeout. Even at the one level, I would expect these to show length in the opponents' suit.

Or why not stupid posting as a sport? I think this one would win the gold medal. I think matmat was spot on.

You must be some player to recognize every little flaw in a player's game, even that of a mere junior or sponsor. I like to think that those commentators who use phrases like "something else would have worked better" or "I might have preferred..." aren't being euphemistic but rather recognize that not every decision is black and white. Also, commentators are very often offering their opinions on the bids, plays, and judgments of superior players. Sometimes there isn't a right or wrong and it makes no sense for a commentator to act like there is.

Is this a weekend event, or would it require time away from a non-bridge job? Or, are you suggesting that any "serious" junior player must be making a living from bridge?

Why must this love of learning be demonstrated in today's institutional settings? You'd be able to figure this out in a certification world, wouldn't you? Nothing preventing you from interviewing job candidates and looking at their records beyond the certification.

I seem to recall a recent story of four foreign players entering a bracketed KO. When the director asked them how many masterpoints, they professed not to know, but offered that they had recently won the Vanderbilt. The director assigned the team 100,000 points. I know it is not the same as a flighted event where one player alone can automatically put a team (or pair) into the top flight, but it is not so dissimilar so as not to be relevant.

Reread my citing. It says "only in flight a" Does that mean they can play 0-5000 because that is flight A, and not the open event? Of course not. What it means is they can only play unlimited events. Is there a place where 0-5000 is considered Flight A in the CoC? Perhaps the regulation was written before the advent of "Flight A" and "Open" events as in the GNT and 0-5000 Spingold. Probably before rampant bracketing. Although it would seem reasonable to expect that the original intent was for internationals to play only in the top flight of an event, that is certainly not ACBL practice. The last time there was an NABC in Boston, Garozzo played in a bracketed KO event and was not in the top bracket. Now, you might imagine that a member of the Polish national team in the early 70s might have slipped through the cracks, perhaps the directors in the event simply didn't recognize his name, but you'd be hard pressed to argue that they didn't recognize Garozzo.

Used to be that there were just a few events at a tournament. About 15 years ago, I counted the winners at a five day New England regional and found that there were over 100 individuals that went home with a legitimate claim to having won a regional (gold point) event. District 25 (New England) used to give event winners a free play good for an identical event, but that became impractical with the huge number of winners.