aawk

Hand 1 : 100% pass in seat 1, 2 and 4. In seat 3 3♥ is ok (I would pass because of the 8 LTC). A good agreement is that after first passing a jump overcall (or response on partners 1♣/♦ openings bid) shows at least 6-4 in the majors. Hand 2 : If you agree that no aces are allowed outside the 7 card than pass or 1♥ (not a fan) is your only option. I would open 3♥ in seat 1-3 (0-10 HCP 6-7 LTC) and on agreement 2♥ in seat 4. Hand 3 : I would open 3♥ in seat 1-3 (0-10 HCP 6-7 LTC) and on agreement 2♥ in seat 4.

All depends on what 2♣ is bid. If 2♣ is forcing with 5+ card and 10+ HCP you want to look for slam and 4♣ is the best agreement to show such a hand. Playing 2♣ as non forcing with 5+ card and 0-9 HCP (better option) 3♣ is a underbid. Looking for 3nt (by bidding 2h) your partner needs to hold 2 aces if so it is also 5♣ and what to bid depends on IMP or MP play. Playing MP you could look for 3nt but is a risky contract on a ♥ lead and I would bid 4♣ being a invite and be ready to double opponents. Playing for IMP I would bid a practical 5c.

If opponents make game or slam the robber (best of 3) is over so decision time what to do with robber tactics in mind. According to the LAW and your holdings it at least game and most likely slam for opponents. To keep the robber going your bid is 6♠ being a take out for a slam opponents haven't bid yet and are forced to find a fit at 7 level and hope it is the right contract and or made. It is most likely you will get doubled in 6♠ and whatever the result still in the robber to fight another day. Playing for MP I would bid 5s because opponents are more likely to double than bid slam. Playing a teams (IMP) being behind bid 3nt to confuse opponents and hope the miss slam and if they get to 6x take out with 6♠ is still a option. Playing a teams (IMP) being ahead bid 6♠ and see what happens and 7♠ is still a option as take out.

The question should be is a 5251 pattern with 11 HCP and a singleton Q good enough to open 1♠. If yes then bite the bullet that 3nt was set it happens. If no but you still want to open start using MULTI (2♦) and MUIDERBERG (2♥ 2♠) for your weak openings bid.

Sorry you are right it was a 5206 pattern. So if 3s shows a strong 5xx6 pattern to your partner and he bid 3nt I would pass.

Holding a 6206 pattern my first action would be calling the director. Guess you where holding a 6205 pattern. If I play a system where you only can show a 6 card from a 6-5 pattern I would play a different system. If your are stuck with your system accept you will/can miss the best contract.

If 1nt is limited with 5-11 HCP pass is my bid. If 1nt is unlimited a 4522 pattern is a problem hand which has to bid trough 2♣ or 2♥ if agreed on. A possible solution for this rebid problem with a 100 % forcing 1nt is : 1♥ - 1♠ A : 0-3 card ♠ 6-11 HCP B : 4+ card ♠ 11+ HCP game forcing 1♥ - 1nt 4-5 card ♠ 6-11 HCP 1♥ - 2♠ 6+ card s 6-10 HCP

After 3nt and partner has less than 6(7) HCP and nothing in ♥ 3nt is risky and a possible 4-4 fit in spades] is lost. After double and 4♦ from partner you have no rebid and have to pass or gamble with 5♦. After double and 3♠ from partner you have to pass or gamble with 4♠. After pass you could miss game. Holding 18 HCP from 3 Aces and 2 Kings and only one Ten your hand is better suited for trump than 3nt. So my options would be pass or double depending on the situation. So what to decide to bid depends on opponents history of the strength for a vun. pre-empt and or your own weak 2 openers. If opponent regular bid on crap I would double. If opponent vun. pre-empt are decent or you don't know opponents I would pass. If you play in a teams and are behind I would double. If you can open Multi/Muiderberg in your system I would pass. If I play with my regular partner I would pass trusting he would give a take out double if possible.

Because 2♥ was to play, partner didn't gave a take out double and you have a bad 12 HCP with 8 LTC I would pass in IMPs play and double in MP play.

3♠ to show a cue (or splinter if agreed on) in ♠. After 4♣ from partner you bid 4♥ and partner will pass without A and or K in ♦. After 4♦ from partner you can ask aces (or key cards if agreed on).

The first rule of giving signals is that it cannot cost a trick. With high cards you can make tricks so why waste them. If you play high being encore or even it's more likely you have to give up a trick if you want your signals be honest.

The choice is between 4s or a slam try. Because you got a 5 loser hand based on shape with not a lot of points 4s is best if your p has 7 losers or better your p will do a slam try.

A hand with 10 LTC is better for 3nt then a possible 4♠ but I am a loosing trick count fan.

The first round (2♥-2♠-p-p) is ok. 3♥ is wrong because you never should bid your weak hand twice. Pass was east bid. The double is penalty can't be take out because you started with a overcall. Double was ok. The redouble was (or should be) SOS for both minors. Pass was west bid. North rather trust the opponents than his partner or thought his partners double was take out. Pass was his bid. The meaning of the redouble on 4♦ was SOS but should be business. Pass was your action. So the conclusion is all players made mistakes and the question remains in what north, east and west are experts.

No hand for a info double. No hand for a overcall of 1nt (need 16-18 HCP imho) even if it is allowed in your system with 15 HCP you got 66 % of your points in ♥. No hand to give a overcall in a suit. So the only thing left is pass and see what happens.

I would not be bother if 6s was made or not. If partner thinks his hand is worth a 6s openings bid i find a new partner.

Like any convention you use you should keep track if it is getting better results than the field you are playing against. If your step convention is getting good results my guess is you play against a weak field and the boards are shuffled by hand. So remains the question should you stop playing your step convention. No go right ahead have fun and learn bridge by trial and error. A tip : systems based only on the HCP count and not taking the distribution into account are not winning in the long run.

If you assumed 2h was the 4th suit your bid is 3♦ to show 5-5 and denie a stopper in ♥, bidding 3♥ is showing a 5440 pattern.

1♠ is pretty normal even with a 6 card h. To open 1♥ and then bid ♠ reverse twice to show a 56xx patern you need a stronger hand. After your partner showed a fit in s all depends on your agreements. Assuming 2♠ shows a fit in ♠ with extra values and 3♠ (or 4♠) shows a minimum bidding slamforcing is ok. Using 5c as exclusion blackwood is only helpfull if the K♠ also count as a keycard and if you can ask for kings after partners response, because you are only holding 1 keycard (A♠) it won't get you to a possible grandslam. If 3♥ shows a 55xx pattern it is the best way to sell your hand and let partner take the lead. If 3♥ is not possible the bidding could go as followed using cue bids. 1♠-2♦.....5+ card ♠/GF 2♥-2♠.....4+ card ♥/3+ card ♠ 4♣-4♦.....cue/cue 4♥-4nt....cue/RKC 6♣- ??.....uneven number of keycards + void in ♣ After 6♣ partner could bid 6♦ or 6♥ asking for the K♦ or K♥. After 6♦ you could bid 6♥ to denie K♦ and show K♥.

If east bid 4♥ instead of 5♦ it shows a strong (started with a double then introduce a new suit shows 16+ HCP) x64x pattern and let partner decide to pass or bid 5♦.

To worry about wrong-sided and call it a major drawback is highly overated like i said before if you hold 10+ HCP opposite a 15-17 nt it is not a big problem and i gave the 2 situations where it could be a drawback. And yes if you play garbage stayman it is not possible to play 2c as constructive needed in IMP play. And if you hold 5-4 in the majors with nothing just give a transfer to your 5 card. Even if partner holds 4-2 in the majors it is recommended to give a transfer. Why you must ask ? The 1nt opener plays the contract and your hand has more value if you play in a 5-2 fit opposite a possible 4-4 fit if you are weak and only want to play at 2 level. The comment that you reveale to much information about your distrubution is not a argument imo because in nearly all cases the bidding is a slam invite or better. And in IMP play you are looking for the best (safe) contract and not the best paying contract certainly for slam. But don't worry if you don't like the structure a gave don't play it. But imo you will mis a lot of slams based on a double fit with a range of 27-31 HCP from both hands combined (if you play the loosing trick count you can).

You say that most contract are wrong-siding. If you got a game forcing hand or better it is not a big problem if you got 10+ HCP so the following hands remain which could be in the wrong hand. 1nt - 2♣ - 2♦ - 2♥ - (1nt opener holds a 4 card ♥ and you got 8-9 HCP) 1nt - 2♣ - 2♦ - 2♠ - (1nt opener holds a 4 card ♠ and you got 8-9 HCP) In all other cases the 1nt opener will play in the majors or you got at least 10+ HCP. The biggest gain is the 5 card ♦ with 0-7 HCP. If you hold a xx5x pattern you rather play 2♦ (or 2♥/♠) then 1nt. After a 1♣/♦/1♥, 2♦/♥/♠ (weak) openings bid you also play wrong-siding with 6+ HCP if you don't play conventions to counter this problem. Trying to counter the wrong-siding problem you have to give up a lot aswell and you need a lot of extra conventions. Not a problem if you are a expert but a lot of ballast for 90 % of players.

I never get why you would play 2♣ as stayman in combination with 3♣ as puppet. If you make 2♣ puppet with a few adjustments all your problems are solved. 1nt - 2♣ - ?? 2♦ = no 5 card major 2♥/♠ = 5 card ♥/♠ no other response possible 1nt - 2♣ - 2♦ - ?? pass = 5 card ♦ 0-7 HCP (with at least 2-2 in majors so you can pass if partner showed a 5 card major) 2♥ = 4 card ♥ and 4 card ♠ still possible, invit or better 2♠ = 4 card ♠ no 4 card ♥ , invit or better 2nt = invite was looking for 5 card ♥/♠ 3♣/♦ = slam invit with 5+ card ♣/♦ + 4 card ♥/♠ 3♥/♠ = smolen or revers smolen with 5-4 in the majors 3nt = to play was looking for 5 card ♥/♠ 1nt - 2♣ - 2♦ - 3♣/♦ - ?? 3♥ = 4 card ♥ 2-3 card in partners minor 3♠ = 4 card ♠ 2-3 card in partners minor 3nt = minimum denies 4 card ♥/♠ or a maximum with fit in partners minor rest = maximum and slamforcing forcing for partners minor (could hold 4 card ♥/♠ if you got a 4-5 card fit) 1nt - 2♣ - 2♥ - ?? 2nt = invite 3♣/♦ = slam invit with 5+ card ♣/♦ (4 card ♠ possible) 3♥ = invite 3+ card ♥ 3♠ = slam invite for ♥ 3nt = to play 4♥ = to play 4♣/♦/♠ = cue slamforcing for ♥ 4nt = quanti 1nt - 2♣ - 2♠ - ?? 2nt = invite 3♣/♦ = slam invit with 5+ card ♣/♦ (4 card ♥ possible) 3♥ = slam invite for ♠ 3♠ = invite 3+ card ♠ 3nt = to play 4♠ = to play 4♣/♦/♥ = cue slamforcing for ♠ 4nt = quanti What do you give up playing this way ? If you hold a 4-4 fit in a major it is not always possible to let the 1nt opener play the contract. What do you gain ? You can introduce a 5 card ♦ with 0-7 HCP (with tolerance for a 5 card major) and land in 2♦/♥/♠ instead of playing 1nt. You can ask for a 5 card major if you hold a invite or better (invite not possible with 3c as puppet). You can make a differance between a slam invite or slam forcing hand if partner shows a 5 card ♥/♠. If you play the loosing trick count there is even more possible with 2c as puppet.

You said a lot is riding on this board. When did you got this information and does partner knows this aswell ? Was it before you played the board or after the fact ? Do you need a game to win, do the opponents need game to win or is a + score in a part score enough. What to do if you knew this before you played the board ? If we need game dbl is your best option forces partner to show his best suit and you jump to game hoping to score 600+. Which could fail if partner has a lot of ♠ and a 3 card ♥ missing 4♥ opposite a bad 3nt. If opponents need game best is to give a overcall of 2♥ so they cannot give a redouble or bid 1nt/2♣/2♦ and partner can support you with a 3+ card ♥ and if he needs to lead against game you want it to be ♥. If we need + in a part score it is best to dbl to give partner 3 suits to pick. What if you find out this board was deciding for the match after the fact ? I you dbl you sold your hand and partner must decide what to do if north bids 3s or 4s. Most likely he will pass because you are R/W and a take out bid could be costly in both cases and you will loose a 5-3 fit in ♥. For first to dbl then introduce your 5 card h or give a second dbl the hand is way to weak. Remains a overcall of 2h or pass. If you pass you only got a balancing dbl left if opponents bid not higher then 2♠ or set their contract which only will be a small + score. So passing is no option to get a good result. Remains a overcall of 2h the better option in my opinion considering being R/W. So the choice is between 2h or dbl both can be right or wrong and whatever you did your team mates will say you did it wrong when you lost or praise if you win. If they agree with your action and loosing the match on (only) this board there should be no problem and the style of bridge you choose was not working this time aslong it does in the longrun.