RD350LC

I will give you three choices as to what I would call. They are pass, pass and pass. With no fit for partner, and less than an opening bid, there is not even the slightest inkling of a bid here.

I agree with this statement. The only real artificial bids with standard Precision are the 1 ♣ opening bid, the 1 ♦ response, and (if played, but recommended) the 2♦ opening bid. The 2 ♣ opening bid is not what non-Precision players are used to, but it is still a natural bid, showing clubs. Some Precision players will open 1 ♦ with only a doubleton, but I don't like that. If it is not strong enough to open a Precision 1 NT bid, and with 3244 distribution (you open 2 ♦ with 4144, and others can be opened 1 of a suit), I would pass with 12- hcp. BTW, this is the system recommended by Charles Goren in his book on Precision.

If you have no special agreement, then I would not consider a splinter bid-not that this hand qualifies. You do have a good 18 hcp, and would add 1 (at least) for having all 4 aces. The simplest bid would be 4♠, as you do have 4 of them, and a potentially useful ruffing value. Some people would consider a 2NT (or 3NT) bid, as the hand is somewhat balanced. My preference is for 4♠, though.

I agree-to a point. With an extreme distributional hand (say 7-6, 7-5 or 6-6), I may make a second bit, but my first bid would usually not be a pre-emptive bid. Unless I have a very weak (hcp) hand, I tend to open hands like that at the 1 level. In this case, I would not make another bid. You still have a partner-let him make the decision. So I agree-do not repeat the pre-empt.

PASS!!! There are two things I never do (and never is a strong word in bridge) and that is 1) Pass a forcing bid, and 2) repeat a pre-empt. I have absolutely no reason to bid here. Partner is still there.

I agree with this-though a lot of people do not. Over 1 ♥ I would make the simple bid of 4 ♥. Playing partner for a perfect minimum is one thing. Playing partner for a perfect maximum is not good bridge-it is greed. As he puts it, you run into a rebid problem if partner makes a fourth suit forcing bid.

Playing with partners who (generally) have no idea what fourth suit forcing is, I tend to agree.

True enough-but by my counting, 17 + 14 = 31, and usually 33+ hcp are required for slam.

Some here may use an artificial 1 ♠ or 2♠ bid, but I tend to be more straight forward in my bidding. I would simply bid 4♥. I do not see a slam, and I have enough to bid game-so will bid it.

I tend to agree completely. It is unlikely that I would go 6 ♦, but I have seen worse.

I agree completely. Once north has redoubled, a bid by east does not promise any points, but is simply an escape.

I really do not like the idea of continuing a 2/1 agreement when there is a takeout double. To show a strong hand (10+ hcp), you can either redouble, or bid 2NT (artificial). With that in mind, I would pull the double to 2 ♠.

I really do not like the idea of continuing a 2/1 agreement when there is a takeout double. To show a strong hand (10+ hcp), you can either redouble, or bid 2NT (artificial). With that in mind, I would pull the double to 2 ♠.

I agree completely. When on BBO, sometimes I watch the play, especially when partner plays it badly. But in live bridge, I like to take advantage of the break when dummy, and simply do what partner asks. I do watch for the (admittedly rare) infractions that the opponents make, but not much else.

I agree with this. With (relative) shortness in spades, support for all other suits, and at least an opening bid, this is a good takeout double. There are times when an overcall would be better, but not this time.

As a lot of other people have indicated, south had a reasonable negative double, and north should have bid 4 ♠. I tend to be rather aggressive in making pre-empts, and usually they work out. There is no perfect solution, and that is why I am aggressive in pre-empting.

Call me conservative, but I would likely bid 2♦. With 15 hcp, I do not consider it strong enough to bid 3♦, and certainly I do not have enough to reverse into 2♥. I don't like the idea of raising to 2♠ with only three card support, when I do have a viable alternative. So I would bid 2♦.

I agree completely with the above statements. Years ago, when psyching was a lot more common than it is now, there would have to be some way to play in a suit that the opponents opened. However, the disadvantages of psyching far out weighed the times that the opponents would be discomfited by a psychic bid. Thankfully, psychic bids have largely been drummed out of the game. This is no loss.

I can see this in a couple of ways. One would be responding 1NT to a 1♠ opener with just an ace-and then be raised to 3NT. Another way is responding 1NT to a takeout double with a balanced 4 hcp (though I would not do it, some people would), and then be raised to 3 NT.

I agree with what he is saying. I would bid with the south hand-but only after both opponents have limited their hands. In this case, south was playing with fire, and deserved to get burnt. He was very lucky on this hand. So, I would not have bid at the time south did.

I agree 100%. 11 hcp and no aces, so I would deduct one for that. I do not count distribution points until we have a fit-and in this case, it is a misfit. Pass quickly, before the doubling starts.

Not sure I would open this 1st or 2nd hand. 12 hcp, and I would deduct a point for 4333 distribution. I would open this 3rd or 4th hand, though.

I agree completely. There is no place here for such comments. In my profile, at the very top, is the statement "Zero Tolerance for Behavior". That is my number 1 priority, and I will remove players who violate it. When my partner makes a bonehead play, I will either state "Nice Compression Play" (Compressing 9 tricks into 7 for example), or the question "When did you learn to play? I know it was today, but what time today?" (Unless my partner has proven that he knows what he is doing, and then I usually say nothing.) If it gets serious, I will report it, but that person will already have been removed from my table.

I agree. In this case, with a 5=3=3=2 hand, I would bid 2 ♥.

I consider this quite different than the previous question that was raised. In this case, your partner is unlimited, and the 4♠ bidder is limited. I would expect an 8 card spade suit, and less than opening points, otherwise he would make a take out double or other bid (Though I have been known to make bids like that with a surprisingly strong hand). I would bid 5 ♣ with this hand-but not liking it. Pre-empts work, that is why I do them.