TimG

Forcing Pass systems are illegal at all levels in the ACBL. Of course, they neglected to define "Forcing Pass system" so.... OTOH, methods not explicitly allowed on the charts are disallowed, and no value-showing pass is allowed, so if pass shows values, it's not allowed. I was careful not to call it a forcing pass because it wouldn't be forcing. Pass would not be value showing, it would have a split range of something like 0-7 or 13-14 in this case, so it would not promise values. No pass is explicitly allowed on the charts, is it?

Perhaps that is true. Today (#635, bd 8) GIB held ♠ QJxxx ♥ x ♦ Kx ♣ ATxxx and after (2♥)-2N-(P) bid 3N.

What do you do when you have a takeout hand? Trap pass? I thought this was obvious, sorry. There is NO trap pass, you double with that type of hand. It was a possible answer to the question I asked -- you had not defined a 1NT overcall. I strikes me as a bad idea to use a direct double to, in effect, warn the opponents. They can probably slow down more easily after your double. Just because you have QTxx or better in the suit they open does not mean that responder would not raise, maybe even jump raise. I think you should prefer to give them some room to really hang themselves. But, maybe I misunderstand and the objective really isn't to make them pay.

What do you do when you have a takeout hand? Trap pass?

I wonder how strong a 1st or 2nd seat pass can be before it requires an alert (ACBL) and/or become GCC illegal.

I'm curious, what do they open with 13-14 and a five-card suit (unbalanced)? Or, 13-14 balanced in 1st and 2nd?

I haven't read everything in this thread, but it seems to me that system notes can be copyrighted while the methods themselves cannot be owned. Sort of in the same way that an article about a baseball game can be copyrighted, but there is nothing to prevent an individual from watching the game and writing his own account. Or, from watching a hitter's technique and then using it himself or selling it to others through paid instruction. I don't see anything wrong with people observing Meckstroth-Rodwell in action and then using the methods they've learned through observation or even writing articles on the methods they've observed and selling those articles. Tim

1♠-1N-2N-3♦ is described as a transfer with 5+♥. GIB made the transfer and then bid 3N. I corrected to 4♥ only to find GIB with four hearts. #5345 deal 5. 1♣-1♥-2♥ is described as showing 4 hearts, but I have seen GIB do it more than once with 3-card support. The most recent was #5345 deal 9. Tim

Another. GIB held ♠ T ♥ Q52 ♦ KJT43 ♣ K842 This time after 2♠-DBL, GIB bid 3♦ and then pulled 3N to 4♥. To be fair to GIB, I was a passed hand so GIB may well have been confused by the DBL followed by 3N (a direct 2N would have been unusual, so the mouseover told me). Tim

Yes, GIB plays lebensohl here.

I would definitely have raised NT and let Zia play the hand.

The C&C Committee makes many of the rules that make the bad situation. SOs the world over must deal with system regulation. Some probably do worse, but I don't think many would agree with you that ACBL's C&C Committee makes the best of it.

GIB, holding ♠ AT76 ♥ 95 ♦ QT9 ♣ AJ98 passed in first seat (I approve) and then bid 3♦ over my takeout double of 2♥. This was alerted as 4+♦ and 10-12 points. It was a happy ending: LHO GIB balanced with 3♥ and now partner GIB bid 4♠ (making), alerted as 4+♦, 5+♠, 11- HCP and 12 total points. #2047, board 5

Final guess: ♠ Q32 ♥ Q65 ♦ K9654 ♣ Q4

Or ♠ A85 ♥ J854 ♦ K83 ♣ 853?

Maybe: ♠ A74 ♥ J965 ♦ 863 ♣ K43?

When I use "my BBO" -> "Hands and results" -> "Recent tournaments" and then select "my hands" for a Robot Rewards tournament I am spit back to the "Hands and results" menu. That is: I cannot view hands played in Robot Rewards games through "My BBO". Am I doing something wrong, or is it just not possible?

Perhaps saying the same thing you are, but when opener's club length is minimum (3) he must have 2-4 spades. When opener's heart length is minimum (5) he can still have 0-4 spades. So, minimum club length forces some spades into opener's hand; minimum heart length only increases the probability of increased spade length.

I got results similar to yours for hearts. I did not include any HCP requirements in my opening bid shape models. I know including HCP requirements would remove some of the minimum length hands from the opening bid pool and thus increase the average length of the opened suit no matter what NT ranges you use. But, I needed to first satisfy myself from a strictly shape standpoint (which I did).

I got 1) 3.0554 2) 3.1009 so, we're in agreement here. The tinkering hasn't revealed any problems with my simulation involving RHO's heart opening.

My simulation does not produce the same result. I have given East a shape that would open 1♥ in a standard 5-card majors system (5+ hearts, hearts longer than spades, hearts at least as long as diamonds, hearts at least as long as clubs). I have given south 4 spades, either 2 or 4 hearts, at most 4 diamonds and at most 4 clubs. When south has 4 spades and 2 hearts, north's expected spade length is 3.312 (about 618,000 matches); when south has 4 spades and 4 hearts, north's expected spade length is 3.357 (about 382,000 matches). I'm going to tinker a little to make sure I haven't made any errors. But, if anyone else would like to do their own simulation, that would be appreciated. Tim

This isn't quite true, is it? Aren't there fewer than 39 cards available to partner since RHO has announced possession of a certain minimum number of cards in the suit he opened?

Free membership would not be affected in any way. Premier Membership could be offered to those free members who wish to "upgrade" You will be removing a segment of the BBO population from the free sections. That does affect free membership. Private Clubs and Restricted Tournaments are already doing that, many players believe that this is a good thing, very few players believe that private clubs and restricted tournaments are evil Are BBO ACBL Tournaments evil? I did not offer any judgment as to whether private clubs or premier membership is good or evil. I merely said that they do (or would in the case of premier) affect free membership.

Free membership would not be affected in any way. Premier Membership could be offered to those free members who wish to "upgrade" You will be removing a segment of the BBO population from the free sections. That does affect free membership.

Double Dummy Solver will read .lin files (even those with multiple deals). Looking through the hands is not automated, but it pretty easy.