beatrix45

Three spades seems best. Double followed by three spades shows more. Passing partner's three heart or three diamond response risks playing in a weak 4-3 fit rather than a 5-3 spade fit.

My heavens, yes.

What is the world coming to? Some 80 postings over what may rank as, possibly, the most ordinary and pedestrian bridge hand in the long and storied history of the game. Theories abound! Computer simulations run rampant! Well, maybe not actually "rampant", but verging on it. Seriously, get in touch with your feelings. Play a little money bridge.

It is very important that when you open the bidding, you MUST also consider your rebid. Usually, this is not very hard. In this case, it is an issue. If you open one ♣, and partner responds one ♥ or one ♠, your only rebid is 2♣ - not so hot. If you open one ♦, then after a one ♥ or one ♠ response, your rebid is 2♣ - again, not so hot. If you open 1NT, then you have described your hand with one bid (albeit with one minor flaw). The lesser of three evils in my opinion is 1NT, by far.

Dear, I think you have to say 'Pass'. Trying to possibly 'improve' the contract into clubs is just not possible with this bidding sequence. It is also not at all clear that 3♣ would do so, IF it were that kind of bid. It is not. You must learn when to just stop bidding because the more you try, the higher you get. This is one of those cases.

You take the percentage play in trumps - ♥ ace followed by the ♠ jack. Floated if small and no obvious hitch by RHO. If that fails, the ♦ double hook is a fall back. All of the girls in my Thursday afternoon rubber bridge game (10 cents Canadian per point) would play it the same way.

3♥, it seems to me, has to be competitive usually holding a five card (or rarely longer) suit and some playing values. You just don't get to invite in a crowded auction. 3♦, unfortunately, is 4-x-6-x. Double is 4-x-x-4 and some cards.

♠9. Partner is marked with at most two hearts - possibly one. I have the ace of hearts, so getting a diamond ruff opposite a singleton is only lost if partner has a stiff heart. That would leave her with eleven black cards and having never bid. The double sounds more like a few black high cards and an optimistic nature. The alternative is my lowest diamond. If it takes that to beat the hand, then partner is doubling too much.

My goodness! Most of the players in my little BC circle of rubber bridge players would have bid 4♠ the first time. A second chance? Do it now!! Better late than never!

In my Thursday afternoon rubber bridge game (10 cents a point Canadian) all of us play the Blackwood convention. It works well on this hand. I bid 4NT. Partner answers three aces (5♠). I bid 5NT. Partner shows at least one king. I bid 7♥ or 7NT. If we have agreed on a trump suit, then we play RKC 1430. Seems to work well. Can't remember the last time anyone failed to bid a grand with 15 top tricks. Except, of course, for Louise. Then again, Louise is a terrible player.

Classic hard to bid hand opposite partner's 2NT opener. At matchpoints you might also give some consideration to a quiet 3NT - shooting by underbidding.

At what point in this thread did the partner of the 3♦ bidder suddenly turn out to have hesitated? It certainly wasn't in the original post. Wank never said so. If no hesitation, then the concept of a logical alternative is not relevant.

I think you can, theoretically, have it both ways by bidding six clubs. Maybe on BBO with an unfamiliar partner six diamonds is the best practical bid.

Good heavens! North seems to be somewhat unhinged. The wretched opening bid is bad enough, but the freely bid 1NT is beneath contempt. Find a new partner who has a clue.

Seems like a normal auction given the players you describe. One NT gets the play in the right hand. Three diamonds gets the play in the right hand, plus it calls for the right lead against three hearts. Hard to believe you called the director. Playing with a weak partner who is paying you plenty for the experience is a somewhat different game.

:D Papa Malvinas - the last pope according to Nostradamas. Remember Goose Green. Sink the Belgrano.

:D Watch every episode of 'Weeds', and you will be wiser about this issue.

;) Here in Canada GMO grain can only be fed to animals. I think the same thing is true the states. If you look at the actual stuff on the market, the gene splicing is very primitive. They just want to poison the pests. It isn't exactly amazing that some of these early efforts might harm humans. As the technology progresses, I think these problems will be worked out.

:D Rick is a real man. All the rest are faggots.

Thank you for your kind and excellent response. Our big weekly event up here in the mountains is my Wednesday night 10 cent rubber bridge game. I dont think giving up the penalty double is even close to being worth it at least for us. Best regards, Beatrix

Thank you so very much for your kind reply. I guess our bidding style is much different here in the wilds of western Canada. We play that a 1NT response to 1 diamond denies a four card major or a legitimate diamond raise. On this hand the other side should have at least nine hearts. The take out double would not work for us because much of the time partner would bid 3 clubs, sometimes with only a four card suit. Thanks again, Beatrix

I am trying to upgrade my bidding by learning 2/1 GF and other advance methods. You puzzle me when you say your hand is an obvious double. It makes no sense to me as a takeout double since you cant have an 8 cd spade fit and you only have three clubs the other unbid suit. What kind of hand does a double show? Best regards, Beatrix

As a trained economist, I am an expert in these matters. Joining the Euro bloc is no different than pegging one's currency to another. Argentina has done this in the past with respect to the US dollar. The most recent effort eventually failed when when it became necessary to have a cheaper Argie currency. When the Euro was formed in 2000 the head of Deutchebank is reputed to have said of the new currency (in German, of course): "I don't care what they call it, as long at it is the Dmark." And so, apparently, that's how it has been and still is.

:P In 2000 an old friend asked me to play in a live event - a two session regional open pairs of about 75 tables in Austin, Texas. It was my first live event in three years, and probably my second or third in ten years - I was not rusty at card play because of BBO and old pard and I had been bidding the same way since 1965. It was giggles for sure with four revokes, one lead out of turn and one other incident involving a director call, the details of which escape me, all this just on the last 26 board session. Afterwards, I decided to check the scores to provide some humor for the two hour drive back to Dallas. EGAD, second overall after blowing major bundles of matchpoints on six out of 26 hands. Maybe it was the peals of maniacal laughter accompanying the remaining 20 that did it. Bridge can be tons of fun when its your day.

:) North is an idiot. From her perspective, the hand almost plays itself. Once she knows South has ten+ round suit cards, the J109 of ♣ becomes golden on a dummy reversal. SO, she should bid either ten or eleven tricks in clubs (usually 11) depending on the state of the match. All others are cordially invited to play in my regular Wednesday afternoon 10 cent (Canadian) a point rubber bridge game in Kalamute, B.C. - unless, of course, you learn how to bid in the meanwhile. The only outside money welcomed in Kalamute is dead money, and there certainly looks to be some of that on this thread.