bestguru

It would be nice if there was more space on all the fields in the convention card. I can't even abbreviate my 2c opener. $C WD WHm SHm 18-20B G4441 doesn't fit where $=Strong W=Weak H=hearts m=minor B=Balanced G=Game Force

DrTodd: To be honest, you should be more worried about the fact that it was me that extended them than the alchohol content. :) Seriously though, I liked the purple twos when I saw them sober and decided to muck them up once the vodka hit. I wonder if interference will be such a bad thing after the strong 5/4 varieties. One of the reasons I wanted to put them in there was to give them a little more excitement when they do want to interfere. Could be I just understimate peoples ability to deal with multi methods. If I ever decide to go to the club I think I'd like to try something like that. Just don't know if I could get into that scene. Thanks

Double: Thanks for the encouragement. Thankfully everything is legal on BBO :). I'll keep truckin' on. Of course it helps that I like it when I have absolutely no clue what I'm doing :) Hannie: Thanks for the respose. All one suit openings are on at least 4 cards unless it is the delayed NT via minor. Yes, the opps do get more of a chance to get in. I don't think stealing their suit is very much of an strength. However, you have conveyed more information to your partner. There are also those pesky 3rd and 4th step responses. Indeed I should use something else for 3s. I will be reworking my nt point ranges a bit. Don't really know what to do with 3s yet. Ben: Thanks a bunch for your help. Missing 1♦-2NT must have been the vodka's contribution. That will allow me to tighten up my nt ranges. I can see the merit of upping the range for the 1nt opening in the third seat. It might be interesting to bump up all the nt ranges by 2 and 4 in the 3rd and 4th seat . Must think about it. I agree 100% about limitting the jump shifts. I think I'll rob Chris Rydal as well. I have a hard time conceptualizing the 4441s so I said "heck with it, if I'm not super strong I'll let them have a play at it" I'll start distilling this system soon. Unfortunately work is cutting in to my bridge time :) Hopefully I'll get this pot of mash up to at least 40 proof within the weak Thanks all

I'd like to see what you all think about this system I'm working on. I am plannig on calling it "Drunken Ramblings". It was strongly influence by Dr. Todd's "Purple twos", Misho and Ben's transfer preempts, and a bottle of vodka. NT bids (includes all 5332) 1nt = 9-11 1c 1nt = 12-14 1d 1nt = 15-17 1c 2nt = 18-20 2c 2nt = 21-22 3S? = 23-24 3NT? = 25+ 1 level suit openings are canape showing 4 cards and a longer suit above the one bid rebidding the suit shows a 6+ single suiter unless jump shift rebid which is 6/4 with longer in the first suit NT GF 1st step constructive no fit 2nd step constructive fit 3rd step preemptive no fit 4th step premptif fit over interference double: no fit suit opened: fit other suit: single suited 2 level bids are multi meaning. the two suit varieties may be 4/4 2c: strong 2C or weak D or H+m or GF 4441 2D: < invitational opposite a weak 2D P: weak D 2H: weaker H+m 2S: stronger H+M 2NT: 18-20 bal 3C: GF 4441 3D: asks for singleton 3H: 3S: the singleton 3NT: Club singleton 3C: Diamond Singleton 2H: invitational opposite a weak 2D 2s: top of weak 2D or weak H+m 2nt: weak H+C 3C: weak H+D 3D: bottom of weak 2D 3H: Strong H+C 3S: Strong H+D 3N: GF 4441 4c: singleton ask 4C: strong club hand 2d: strong D or weak H or S+another 2H: < invitational opposite a weak 2H P: weak H 2S: weak S+another 3c: pass/correct 2N: ??? 3C: strong S+C 3D: strong D 3H: strong S+D 3S: stribg S+C 2S: invitational opposite a weak 2D 2NT: weak S+C 3C: weak S+D 3D: weak S+H 3H: bottom of weak H 3S: top of weak H or weak S+another 3NT: relay 4C: S+C 4D: S+D 4H: weak H 3NT: strong S+C 4C: strong S+D 4D: strong D 4H: strong S+H 2h: strong H or weak S or C+D 2S: < invitational opposite a weak 2S P: weak S 2NT: weak C+D, C longer or equal length 3c: mid C+D, D longer 3d: strong H 3H: strong C+D 3NT: invitational opposite a weak 2D 3C: weak C+D 3D: top of weak S or weak C+D 3H: relay 3S: C+D 3NT: AKQxxx spades 4c: weak S 3H: bottom of weak S 3S: strong C+D, C longer or equal length 3N: strong C+D, D longer 2s: strong S or weak 5/5 2NT: relay 3C: C+another 3D: D + (H or S) 3H: H + S 3S: strong S 2NT and beyond are the transfer preempts Misho was teaching Ben. They are either a weak 3 bid or a strong 5/5 with 4 losers or less 2NT: weak C or strong 5/5 with H 3C: relay P: weak C 3D: H + D 3H: H + S, much better hearts 3S: H + S 3NT: H + D, better D, GF 4D: big H + D 4H: big H + S, better hearts 4S: big H + S, probably 2 losers 3C: weak D or 5/5 with C 3D: relay P: weak D 3H: C + H 3S: C + S 3NT: C + S ??? losers? 4H: C + H 2/3 loosers 4S: C + S, great spades ??? losers? 3D: weak H or 5/5 with D 3H: relay P: weak H 3S: D + S 3nt: D + C 4?: stonger two suiters 4D: S + D 3 losers 4S: 3H: weak S or solid preempt 3S: relay P: weak S 3NT: solid C or Diamond P: gamble on 3NT 4C: Pass/Correct 4C: solid H, 2-3 spades 4D: Solid S, 2-3 hearts 4H: solid H 4S: solid S

I keep seeing your avatar, and I still can't figure it out. It looks like it could be a guy ralphing or trying to inhale a small chicken head first. Not sure which would be more disturbing

Yes, the food descriptions are a little odd. Creme brulee is a custard with the top carmelized with a torch. I made my own version for my girlfriend on valentines day. Picture this: a layer of chocolate gran marne ganoush, a layer of chocolate custard, and a layer of carmelized vanilla custard. Should this be ranked lower than some flat noodles? As to my rating: What am I, chopped liver?

I would also end up in 3nt and not worry about it. I haven't put any time into flushing it out, but I would like to try a canape opening system with a weak 1nt. I may be resulting, but wouldn't that go something like: 1♥ - 2♦ - 2♠ - P 3♣ - P - 3♥* - P ? * I like the moysian fit with my AQ better than the Qxx stopper. Is this bad? ? probably pass. Some may go on to 4♥ I guess another possibility is to bid 3♦ instead of 3♥ to ask for a stopper and then west has make the pass raise decision over the 3♥ response

I'm no expert either. For what it's worth, here's what I would do: Calculate the average and standard deviation for HCP and length of each suit per each seat and user. Averages for HCP and length should, of course, be close to 10 and 4. I would probably whip up a script to get the data like the chart below and possibly throw it into excel for filtering or additional calculations, maybe the average and standard deviation of the deviations would be interesting. --------------------------------------------------------------- | user | HCP | Spade Len | ... | | avg | std | avg | std | ... --------------------------------------------------------------- | North | 10 | .5 | 4 | .5 | | BestG | 10 | .5 | 4 | .5 | --------------------------------------------------------------- Out of curiosity, how is the myhands db stored? Flat file or some relational db? Edit: I agree, this is probably pointless. I'd only do it for a visual aid to those who are complaining

I thought ekren was 2!d. I've played it that way with dutch 2M and 2nt for both minors. In retrospect, I should have suggested 2!c as strong or a weak 1 suiter.

Gerben42 Plays a version of 2 way pass. I gave it a try, but I was too lost to say wether it was playable or not. It was fun though btw, Thanks again Gerben

When playing 2nt here as unusal good/bad, are there different point ranges for 3nt or 4nt? is 3nt used for something else?

Maybe I'm feeling timid today or just resulting, but I might have opened this 1♣ depending on the opps. Regardless, I would have passed 3♠. Those red suits are just telling me no.

I disagree slightly in the fact that, you can't control ur pards options and they are the ones that can usually play the hand faultlessly when they can see all 4 hands Exactly. I finally learned that I am better off not seeing all four and have it set that way. I think that if we have the ability to see all four hands it should not be the default.

Good point Luis. I also think that "claim p" is insulting to your partner. I have to concede that I used to do this. I think that players like myself that learn to play bridge online tend to spend more time researching and practicing technique than laws and etiquette. My impression is that there is not much emphasis on law and ettiquette in online bridge material, but it is possible that I overlooked a lot in my excitement about playing. A somewhat related question: In a competitive auction you make a bid that you think is merely competitive and partner jumps to game, interpreting it as stronger. Is it improper to say "sry p" when the dummy comes down? I simply meant this as sorry I mislead you in the bidding and did not think it was unethical. I can see the case that when you have the option to see all four hands opps might think you mean "This is going down bad, sorry p" I will second sceptic's motion. Seeing all four hands departs from the normal rules of bridge and opens up lots of room for unethical behaviour. It is also a disservice to those who are trying to learn the game.

I like the idea. What are the other responses to 1m - 1♥. Specifically what do 1nt and 2♥ mean?

My main objection to independent servers is finding friends and new people to play with. For example, I have a partner that I play with on occasion only because she is pleasant to play with. She has no interest in improving her game and is not a BIL member. If I were kibbing a game in the BIL and private clubs were completely seperate from the main bridge room then we wouldn't know we were both on. Another objection is that it is difficult enough to find a weak nt player in a pool of 5000+ players. It would be much harder with, say, 10 indepent servers averaging 500+. I would have much less objection if we had the ability to see across servers. This would pretty much be the same as today's clubs. I'm not sure how much this would help load balancing. Almost everybody just plays in the main bridge club. Maybe some advertising or incentives would help, but as ochinko said, "The end user is lazy"

I agree that splitting BBO is a bad idea except for Luis's idea of splitting of VuGraph. I love BBO and truly appreciate the free service, so if i can help with vetting designs or even code let me know. hollywood77s <at> aol <dot> com.

Probably not the best option, but you could just treat 1nt over 1m just as you would a 11-14 nt opening. For this hand it works: 1♦ 1nt p 2♥ p 2♠ p 2nt p 3nt

Not bad. A few small gripes. 1. There is no point in doing partial results monthly when the max is one month, so you might as well get rid of that option. 2. The "if going backwards start at previous midnight" checkbox is likely to confuse people. 3. I think you should either do away with the time. Just run from last midnight on or previous midnight forward depending on the direction interval. This saves some user input and eliminates the confusion in item 2. As a side note, I used to build interfaces to have the maximum flexibility and detail because that is how I would have liked to be able to access the data in question. I learned over time that users rarely use these features and are more productive with simpler interfaces even if they are somewhat less powerful. An added upshot was being able to remove corporal punishment from my training sessions :)

The only way I can see scientifically bidding to slam with opps having two quick tricks in clubs on this hand is if you have a partner like me who sometimes just loses it. I can see where 4!c would work. It would make me go crosseyed though.

What do you do after blackwood shows your partner to have two aces? Bow out and lose the slam when he has a clubs? Press on and go down when he has diamonds? I was just rereading the chapter on slam bidding in "Goren's Bridge Complete" (found it for $.50 at a garage sail) and he covers using blackwood in this situation with the advice, "Beware the useless doubleton". Knowing how many aces is not enough, you have to know where your partners strenght is.

You risk losing to a singleton Q or even worse losing to the Q and then losing to Tx.

Relay is not available; what is? Do you have an ace asking bid? what does 4♥ mean for you here?

Can someone give us a yea or nea? I have this annoying feeling that I've missed something.

here goes nothing : (hidden text) Please feel free to tear this reply up.