jonottawa

2/10

I would Texas but I'm curious to see (haven't read past opening post yet) whether Jacoby followed by 3N gets much support from the aristocracy. I don't think it will but I've been wrong before.

At the risk of posting in a necro thread: I enjoyed BBO forums (ESPECIALLY the water cooler) when rules were enforced impartially and when opinions could be expressed freely (the 'we didn't vote for bush' thread was one of my favorite online discussions anywhere.) I'm a big believer that the reason our society is falling apart is that those with unpopular opinions have been marginalized (Ron Paul, for instance.) If people can't take a little 'rough and tumble' in their online disagreements, they shouldn't participate. Instead, they go crying to the mods, who in many cases are incapable of acting (or unwilling to act) objectively. I'm a big believer in being polite (particularly to opponents, I don't always manage (in spite of best intentions) exemplary behavior towards partner) at the table and being able to disagree violently away from the table and curiously, BBO seems to adopt precisely the opposite approach. Are forums calmer and more sedate this way? Sure. But so is a nursing home. But I assume Fred likes it that way and there's no particular reason that BBOF must be about anything other than bridge.

Wait, that's not Fred; it's that g*d damn again.

+400 I will legislate from the bench, if necessary.

U mad, bro? Anyway, this is off-topic so I'll just summarize with this and give you the last word if you want it. "Iraq, despite the brutality of Saddam Hussein, was a prosperous country with a highly educated middle class before the war. Its infrastructure was modern and efficient. Iraqis enjoyed a high standard of living. The country did not lack modern conveniences. Things worked. And being in Iraq, as I often was when I covered the Middle East for The New York Times, while unnerving because of state repression, was never a hardship. Since our occupation the country has tumbled into dysfunction. Factories, hospitals, power plants, phone service, sewage systems and electrical grids do not work. Iraqis, if they are lucky, get three hours of electricity a day. Try this in 110-degree heat. Poverty is endemic. More than a million Iraqi civilians have been killed. Nearly 5 million have been displaced from their homes or are refugees. The Mercer Quality of Living survey last year ranked Baghdad last among cities-the least livable on the planet. Iraq, which once controlled its own oil, has been forced to turn its oil concessions over to foreign corporations. That is what we have bequeathed to Iraq-violence, misery and theft."

As for the thread topic, while Perry is the current frontrunner, he is not an odds-on favorite at this point. It's really a 2-man (Perry-Romney) race, but if one insists upon calling it a 3-man race, then the 3 are: Perry-Romney-rest of the field, with each having about a 1/3 chance.

Source? If harshly 'expunging' rebellious elements within your country makes one insane, then surely Abraham Lincoln is at the top of the list. As dictators go, Saddam Hussein was better than most. Iraq was the most prosperous and secular country in the region before the war criminal Dubya invaded.

December, 1998? When the greatest president of all time was impeached because of a couple of blowjobs? (I'd say 1998 was the year America peaked and it's been in decline ever since. (Come to think of it, me too.)) November, 2000? When a near-plurality of us cast votes for an alcoholic cheerleader, religious zealot, and failed businessman, because his father was a dishonest 1-term president once. December, 2000? When the supreme court decided that to count all the votes in Florida would deprive Dubya of his civil rights? September 11, 2001? When we decided that in order to beat the terrorists we had to become just like them? And I agree about the media coverage of Ron Paul. Absolutely disgraceful. The media is the message problem.

♥ up for me. If it's meant to be a condition of the puzzle that W does not have a 2nd ace (based on vulnerability/style) then I guess I'd play a ♦ for the style points (and to simplify matters.)

3♠ for me. 2nd choice pass. (In fact, I'd turn Phil's scoring upside down.)

I don't care for north's bid or reasoning at all. Of course the N hand is worth a game force. I might consider rebidding 2N with the S hand (to protect Qx and Kx mainly) but I do so far more frequently than most and if I did so I would surely be in a small minority. I think 3♥ would be the majority choice (it's almost textbook.) At any rate, it's hardly clear that rebidding 2N would have been a huge success as now the N hand is much more attractive for slam purposes (or alternatively might risk shooting 3N due to 'extras'.)

I blamed W until the double of 5♠. I'm not sure if forcing passes exist once we've explored and voluntarily signed off at the 5 level, though. Maybe that's what E was thinking.

I can't believe I'm bidding 3♠. Does 4♠ really show this hand? Sounds splintery to me.

I didn't bid the slam either.

I bid joe3NT. I've got nothing extra and no points in ♣ and only 4 of them I'm not bidding 2♦.

I feel less dumb about not finding some brilliant coup as declarer now.

We're going plus here. (I like plus scores at matchpoints.) Partner will (almost always) pull if we double. Partner will often pull to 5♣ in which case we'll usually go minus. We will often go minus even if partner doesn't pull to 5♣. I pass.

If playing whist, pass, else 4♠. And no, I try not to torture partners or draw committees or delay proceedings so I'd have taken a shot at 4♠ over 2♠.

Preempts work? Not on MY BBOF! I don't have the foggiest clue. Anything could be right and getting it wrong rates to be quite costly. I will place my random bet on 4♠

I'd pass, double, and abstain. If you plopped me down in someone's seat who had passed twice, I'd pass again to honor his fighting spirit.

I will not leave Han solo. But I'm mainly doing it to prevent the killing ♣ lead. Also tempted to splinter in ♣ or ♠ but only if it's midnights.

+1 I'd have followed with 3♥ over 2N fwiw.

If the hands at the table don't match the auction at all I lead a spade.

2♥ was 'easy' (whether right or not) for me as well. I do have a problem now. Not pass (I have to protect my highly likely +110.) I'd bid 3♥ but I can be convinced otherwise.