jonottawa

Saw Brothers last night. This film had a lot of potential and I'd still like to see the Danish original but it was kinda meh. Natalie Portman is still smoking hot, otherwise the movie is lacking (plot, character development, bad ending, etc.)

The older I get the less I'm interested in spectator sports. As a youngster, I was a huge Montreal Canadiens fan, but now it's all kinda meh. I root for the Horns, the Vols and the Ducks, but if they lose, oh well. I'll watch the Final 4, the World Series, the Stanley Cup (if it's on), the Superbowl, the majors (golf and tennis,) etc., but I root mainly for no injuries and good officiating (where applicable.) I guess the one team I 'hate' would be the Yankees. I associate them with Giuliani. I don't like the idea of buying championships. But baseball's kind of a ridiculous sport anyway so whatever.

You might have added 'intermediate opps'. Worst: 2♣ bid (2♣ bidder was rvw) 2nd Worst: ♠K play I'm not sure AJx specifically is more likely on this auction than stiff A. It certainly wouldn't occur to me that LHO, who has already made an egregious overbid even if he has a 6-bagger, would have less than that.

4♥ is a transfer to 4♠, or something. Both sides appear to have monster 2-suit fits. Am I really going to pass and sit for pard's double or pass and pull, presumably showing extras? 4♠

Wow, I thought this would be a lot more divided (I actually thought it was a problem under the conditions presented, go figure.) I forever tanked and then bid 6♠. I got a low ♣ lead. Partner tracked the usual dummy: ♠Axxx ♥Qx ♦J98 ♣KQ9x ♠QJT9xx ♥AT98 ♦ ATx ♣- Sigh. Played low from dummy and the beautiful ♣Ace appeared. The ♠ were 3-0 offside, however. -50 Felt like so much bad luck at the time. Guess I need to go back to trying to never look foolish. (At least my calculation that we needed a slam to win/tie the match turned out to be correct. We lost a dozen or so on the missed game hand and were a combined +1 IMP on the other boards.)

This was my one 'flyer' of the event. It's always frustrating when you make an aggressive bid that seems destined to work only to be derailed by partner. I held: ♠x ♥QTx ♦AQJTxx ♣KJT IMO I'm about a ♦Q->♦K upgrade away from having made a normal aggressive bid and a ♦J->♦K upgrade away from having made a normal bid. This looks like a hand that wants to play in 3N on a ♣ lead opposite a random hand and if you don't bid it now, you often won't get there. Pard's 4♠ bid with minimal thought was a disappointment. He should know a ♣ ruff is coming on opening lead. I apologized at the table (and still deserve a good portion of the blame for taking a flyer.) (RHO had Kx of ♦ and ya they can still hold me to 8 tricks but they weren't going to.) 4♠ drifted off 3 (we were never winning the board as our teammates brought back -500.)

You get a low (4th best from 4, if honest card) ♦ lead if you bid 3N and sit for the double. ♠KT ♥QTxxxx ♦Qxx ♣Ax ♠QJ8xx ♥KJx ♦Ax ♣JTx You happy with your choice?

Hmmm, looks to be unanimous. What does 2♥ show here in your 2/1 methods? Can it be 5=4=2=2 min? Can it be 5=4=1=3 min? Does it promise/deny extras? I thought 2♥ strongly suggested a 5-bagger with a minimum hand. I thought 3♦ strongly suggested a suit that could play opposite a singleton. I felt reluctant to overrule partner who had already shown a 5th ♥, who had heard my complete lack of interest in playing in a major, and who had declined to play in my 'play opposite singleton' suit. Guess I over/under-thought the hand.

All Red, IMPs, 4th Seat ♠QJ8xx ♥KJx ♦Ax ♣JTx 1♠ - 2♥ - P - 2♠ P - 3♥ - P - ? If it matters, partner has a greater tendency than most to have a 6th ♥ here, otherwise assume normal bidding. Edit: Part 2 for the 3N bidders:

IMPs, 1st seat, favorable You and your partner ended up in the wrong spot in the 'Pass or Correct' problem and you went down 3 in game instead of making game. Now you're on to the last board of the match (6-round 8-board sectional a/x swiss). Edit: I didn't think I had to add that other boards weren't great or bad for us, guess I did. ♠QJT9xx ♥AT98 ♦ATx ♣- Uncontested auction: 1S - 2N (Jacoby) 3C - 4S (nothing extra/no slam interest) ?

IMPs, favorable, 4th seat ♠AKT8xx ♥xx ♦xx ♣xxx 3♣ - 3N - P - ? By agreement you play systems off here.

Here's a simple one that may not be all that interesting: Favorable, IMPs, 4th seat ♠T9 ♥52 ♦AQ87652 ♣J7 P - 1♠ - 2♣ - P P - 2♥ - 3♣ - 3♦ P - 3♥ - P - ?

Ya, this isn't thin, this is good. Auction is fine. 2-2 ♠ or 3-3♦ or ♥ hook. (With no 4-0 ♠) This is like over 80% or something, at least after the lead. Edit: Ya, on second thought the auction isn't so hot. 3♥ is an overbid. Once you bid 3♥, 4♦ is probably an overbid too. Once you've made those 2 overbids, S should at least Q ask, to try for 7 (since surely your 1 Ace isn't the club Ace here.) 'I regularly see (and sadly, perpetrate) worse auctions' would have been a better assessment.

This ain't dirty, I had a much tougher problem in the final event in Reno: AKx KJxx Q KT85x What do you open? Edit: Then what do you bid over a 1♠ response?

I was South fwiw. I loathe pard's auction (though not as much as his worst sequence of the round) but wonder if I still should have gotten it right. They found it at the other table. Opponent on lead asked what 5♠ shows and I ended up calling the director because he didn't want to take 'no agreement' for an answer. Was glad the lead didn't matter but would have been nice to find the grand (finished tied for 23rd instead of 18th, not a huge difference but something.)

North ♠AJx ♥98xx ♦AKJ9xx ♣- South ♠KQ97xxx ♥AKJ ♦- ♣QTx Uncontested auction (starting with N.) 1♦ - 1♠ 2♦ - 3♣ 3♥ - 3♠ 5♠ - 6♠

My analysis (fwiw):

If partner has 4 ♠, wouldn't he have bid 2♠ over 2♥ (since you're a heavy favorite to have ♠ on this auction, with his RHO sounding like he's 6-4 in the rounds and his LHO ostensibly denying 4♠ when he bid 1N.) Granted, he could have 4 bad ♠ perhaps and a bare minimum.

I'm confused, am I 2-3-4-4 or 3-3-4-3? If the former, I'm a bidder, if the latter, I pass. I'll bid with this field and try to outplay them. I'd need a larger expected value than this to deviate this early in the hand.

You're on the right track. Who at the table is most likely to have 4 ♠?

More food for thought: Have you figured out LHO's exact shape? I think that lets you figure out RHO's exact shape, no?

Food for thought: What do you think LHO's shape is? (I think there are very strong clues as to his exact shape.) Does this influence your decision?

Here's another hand from the final Swiss in Reno. IMPs, favorable ♠J7x ♥8xxx ♦Q9 ♣A6xx 1♣ - 1♦ - 1NT - P 2♣ - 2♦ - P - P 2♥ - P - 3♣ - ? Please explain your reasoning.

She was a fast machine, she kept her motor clean, etc. or maybe I'm just a regular joe, with a regular job, I'm your average white, suburbanite slob, etc.

Paraphrasing ~ It is foolish to correct others. I have enough trouble overcoming my own limitations without fretting over the fact that FSM has not seen fit to distribute evenly the gift of intelligence.