beatrix45

:unsure: One thing is sure, partner is NOT 1444. With four diamonds she would hardly double. Indeed, this sounds like a card showing double with one, two, maybe three diamonds and at least one spade trick. It's likely a heart hand too good to overcall or a NT hand too good to overcall one NT. Partner likely has 12 to 15 HCP outside of spades. A makable game at the five level will require her to have the right 14. Too iffy for me. I have to pass and hope partner does not have five clubs to the AKQ. Alternate bid is 4NT to cater to the big heart hand.

:lol: For whatever it is worth, the way I normally play is for the gambling 3NT opener to show a solid suit plus one outside stopper. One ♦ or ♣ followed by one ♥ or ♠ by partner (no interference) with a 3NT rebid shows a solid suit plus two outside stoppers. With this hand (and keeping Burgess' rule well in mind - tho I did encounter an exception the other day, the first one in quite a while) I say that I have 10 HCP, plus 3 distribution points for the heart void and one for the spade doubleton for a total of 14 points. I have two quick tricks and a good rebid. Here in the great white North we call this an opening bid of one in a suit (in this case clubs). I have no arguement with people who play differently, but I do believe one should have clear partnership agreements as to what these various bids show.

;) Yes.

:D Don't worry about Justin. He has plenty of counsel of the very best sort, some of the most admirable people in the bridge world including his dad. If he does a mess of things (which I doubt), it won't be because he didn't know better. Indeed, bridge politics are bullsh*t. The highly competitive nature of the game brings out the worst in some people.

:( It can be beat, but the key play only works if you practically know declarer's distribution at trick one. I can't imagine an auction that suggests that. Other lines of play will surely look like the percentage way to go. By the way, how do I do hidden text?

:huh: Most of the time partner will have less than 11 HCP. I have 13 HCP. At IMPs I want a plus score. I am going to trash an off percentage but potential heart game by bidding 2♠. No apologies. Bridge is a game of percentages. I have been wrong before once or twice.

:huh: Howie bout: 1♥-Pass-2♦-Pass-3♦-Pass-3♠(this not a heart/diamond hand, but a real good one)-4♠(happy to cooperate, lookin' good)-Pass-5♣(Igot it)-Pass-6♦(no prob with trumps or hearts)- Pass- 7♦ or 7NT (I gotta ton you haven't heard about yet).

B) Well there we are. You gotta ask yourself, "is 2NT or 3♥ the better bid??" I don't see an extra trick by ruffing a diamond. Partner is advertising nine (or more) cards in the red suits and my black suit tricks are slow.

;) (1) It's a 50% slam. Who cares? (2) With a pick-up partner, KISS (keep it simple stupid). (3) Your auction was perfect.

;) You have a classic 'bad ten'. To me, 2♥ is an underbid, and 1NT followed by 3♥ is a slight overbid. If I bid 1NT and partner bids 2♣, I will feel OK bidding 3♥ with two eight card fits. If I bid 1NT and partner bids 2♦, then 2NT feels OK, better than 3♥ and my awkward diamond honours will be pulling some weight. If I bid 1NT and partner bids 2♥, then 3♥ feels OK with a nine card trump suit. So, 1NT (forcing) it is.

;) Good practical bidding problem from the BBO jungle. Don't mistake a random BBO 'expert' for your regular partner. The case for three diamonds is two fold. (1) partner may be an idiot (as was the case), and 3 diamonds is idiot proof. (2) partner needs both diamond honours and a heart stop or two heart stops (opposite my little bit of help) and one diamond honour to make 3NT. Partner should have less than a opening strong NT hand, else 2NT was a silly underbid. I would expect about 13-14 HCP and a good (possibly double, given my help) heart stop. With HCP rather thin for a 3NT contract, the aforementioned heart/diamond holdings must be crucial and may not be there. That said, 3NT is the right call, IMO. Passing 2NT is hopeless.

RHO opens the bidding for 1♠. Both sides are vulnerable and the scoring is IMPs. What do you bid with this hand? [hv=d=e&v=b&s=sk8hq7652dk8caq84]133|100|Scoring: IMP[/hv] How about? [hv=d=e&v=b&s=sk8hq7652dk8caq84]133|100|Scoring: IMP[/hv] Corrected hand.

:P Looks like RHO started with the ace of diamonds and probably the jack. Might have the jack of spades, too. If RHO has the club king, then LHO must have the heart king. A simple discovery play to locate the club king seems in order. Club ten, ducking in dummy. If RHO has the king, then I have to try to drop the trump king offside. If RHO ducks the club king, bye bye.

:P I bid 4♠. I don't know why.

:rolleyes: Pass. I only have 10 HCP and 11/2 quick tricks. Not enough to open.

:lol: Bidding 3♣ with 5-4 distribution and 12 working HCP is an overbid. Jumping to game by the opposite hand is a worse overbid. One should learn not to be aggresive opposite someone who would bid 3♣ with that hand!!! A good auction would be 1♦ - pass - 3♦ (limit raise) - pass - pass- pass.

:lol: Take out with a heart tolerance. I'm being dragged, kicking and screaming into the 21st century. God, how I hate it.

At least 3. (the other players at the table) :P :lol: Welcome to BBO. Play here for practice. Do not worry too much about results like many of the poor saps who play and place their egos on the line at OK Bridge. You may be amazed at how good your results will be when you get back to regular ACBL tournament bridge even with your frequent revokes and leads out of turn.

:rolleyes: No truth at all. The secret to winning at rubber bridge, and I should know, is to find a game you can beat and keeping it together. It is purely a people phenomenon. Meyer was a good player, but not clearly better than many others of his day. Thirty years ago there still a few good rubber bridge players in the wings, and I used to end up on teams with some of them once in a while. Guys called Booger Red or "the best 42 player in the world". Or two guys in NYC where we got to the semis of a local team event. They were good players, but nothing exceptional. Probably David Carter in St. Louis was the best of that breed, and he was VERY good.

;) Busted again. A lifetime as a courtier in the houses of the rich and powerful sometimes makes me talk like a *****. Still there is a mild distiction. Opposite an unlimited hand, in an auction like 1♠ - pass - 3♠ (forcing to game - not that anybody plays it this way - but is used to be the norm) - pass - 4♣ shows the ace of clubs and says that opener's hand is not bad if slam is in the wind. Mildly invitational.

;) Double seems automatic to me.

B) You should also consider that a cue bid is available to you in this auction. Most people do not play that it is forcing to game, but it is highly invitational. It could be used to handle the hand you had, although, personally, I think you have enough to insist on game. Three ♠ should probably be reserved for hands with a long, self-sustaining spade suit (eg. KQ10954) because partner may have a powerful hand without spades, and you do not want to cut across her intentions.

:lol: You can get very close to the precise answer just by enumerating the possible combinations. For example, a specific card is twice as likely to be in the four card hand as in the two card hand. (Four chances versus two chances). There is a further consideration that comes about because it is easier (more likely) to fit two cards of a specific suit into 13 unknown cards than to fit four cards. In most cases this is not important enough to worry about. It seldom changes the odds enough to matter. A big exception is if there has been a preempt. As mentioned in earlier posts, Richard Pavlicek has a web site that can give you the tools to deal with this.

:ph34r: Any clue from the spot cards as to the diamond situation?

<_< I'm getting back into serious bridge just a little bit so far, so I'm thinking of things in general terms. It seems obvious to me that: 1) Cue bidding is the key to dealing with the majority of slammish hands. 2) In some auctions a cue bid could promise the ace and deny a lower ranking ace. For example, 1♠ - pass - 3♠ (limit raise) - pass - 4♦. 3) In other situations, cue bidding is conversational, a la Dorothy Hayden Truscott, so relaxing the ace only restriction pays big dividends - it just feels so good and it saves bidding space. 4) But, bidding is a language that both players need to understand, so are there any easily understood guidelines to help put one of these two animals back into their cage? A hand known to be weak, but strong given its bidding needs latitude to express its opinion by bidding second round controls if necessary. 5) From my own limited experience, it looks like it's better to define a cue bid as showing a first round control only makes sense for certain auctions. Let everything else show first or second round control plus something else to say. 6) What are the best players doing along this line? 7) Is it possible to codify the difference so that real life partnerships (other than two pros dedicated to the game) can tell one (first round control) from the other (first or second round control) based on the auction up to that point?