LBengtsson

passing with south hand is not 'strange' (as paulg says) but crazy. east bids 3♣ red/white with a passed partner on what? hand with opening values, not light preemptive bid.

agree. extra trump. two honours in trump suit. extra values. cue bid ♦A

You can always bid 5♠ later in the auction - if the next round of bidding makes you believe that sacrifice is best. 4♠ is what many players will do at white/red. the only time I might bid 5♠ is if partner bid 2♠ as a weak call instead of 1♠ though I still think 4♠ is the better bid even after 2♠ overcall. going to five level on first round of bidding is very not usual.

I prefer 5♦ to 4NT as solid top four honour suit and 6-4m shape. 4♠ bid sound either weak or the law as responder has not gone thru 2NT Ogust...

I have seen a player - I will not say man or woman as will be bias - throw a glass of wine over another player in a club and a big argument and swearing language after. they were seniors!!! the bridge club manager had to take them from the club as other players became involved, some in argument, some making calm. I was only visitor but never went back. that was a bad day as I have never seen such awful behavior from older people...

crazy!

that is interesting, AL78. can the players locate or play in another part of England using a different name (using a different BBO name) and still play? who checks the credentials? I understand that English members get points to build bridge status similar to USA. so they can not get these during the ban? but could they still play without anyone knowing at a club or online? does anyone ask for passports or driving license to check names/addresses of club members. I was surprised so many in England have cheated! wow! if this many players cheat in England, then how many around the world??? the problem of cheating is more worldwide than I thought. was cheating less of problem before online bridge? it would be interesting to see comparison before the world virus...

that is a good reply, mycroft. perhaps my question was very general without going into specific areas where cheating occur at the bridge table. I think we can all forgive a personal error now and again. I have been guilty of thinking far longer than normal over a bid or a play, but that does happen not often: bridge is a game where sometimes you need to think and work out what is going on. what I was interpreting here was cheating over a long time, systematic cheating, using a code on a regular basis. The sort of cheating that Boye Brogeland and other honest players found with a small number of players on the bridge circuit. there is a big difference between cheating in a club to cheating at national and international level, though cheating at any level is cheating. period. as for lawyers and attorneys, lol! they might be intelligent, but if they have no idea of bridge then they have little knowledge of what is happening. it is for fellow players of many countries, so no bias, to watch players 'habits' and what they are doing at the bridge table and determine whether unlawful.

north hand is ideal for 2♦/2♥ flannery open. playing weak NT guess 5M acol, I like Douglas43 auction

I have made this post a 'public poll' as I hope it will make discussion. since bridge, and any other card game, was invented there have been cheating players. I do not like players who cheat. period. they win, I lose. that is not fair. it happen in many sports also. the honest player is at a dis-advantage. methods to find cheating players, in bridge, soccer, athletics, any sport have improved over time. now methods to find cheating players are better than in the past. what do you think? I have made first answers on the poll. that is my view. yes, no appeal can be wrong but it is not in court. if many bridge experts have noticed cheating then it is not one view, but view of many.

The word I cannot see in this thread = maybe I missed it? - is MIS-CLICK. If I had a dollar - I will settle for a krona also :) _ for every mis-click in online bridge I would be millionaire :) :) :)

what happened on other hands that they played? bidding 1NT weak at red/white opposite a passed partner in 3rd seat with 9 high points does look suspicious to me, and probably >99% of most other players. period.

smerrimans play line is logical and looks best % but there are other ways to play. take ♦ finesse - it lose, hope to pin stiff ♠J. as for bidding, you may miss grand if partner has ♠K + ♣K but not so easy to find these cards in bidding. with 4 aces and other tricks available, I jump to 6♠ disappointing that my partner is playing hand not me but hope we do not have 2 losers.

with lighter openings I would say, I guess, <1%

it is a border line 2♣ opener. with 5422 I would preference 2NT open or 2♣ with 2NT rebid. that is only imo.

some bidding methods lose boards, some bidding methods win boards. as cyberyeti says 'it is a poor game for n/s' but every so often the bridge gods allow a poor game to make. and it is not your fault...

the word missing from splinter is 'SPECIFIC'. to waste so much bidding space by 'splinter-ing' you should have a very specific range and type of hand with preferable a stiff ♠. 1. does 3♠ here show a stiff ♠ or a void? (I do not like splinters with voids but some players do). 2. does it show 4 or 5 card ♥ support? 3. does it show a specific honour card point range? 4. does it show a specific total points range? it is obvious that on some hands not all the criteria above can be met, but if partnerships take in mind that they need to satisfy 3 out of the 4 above according to their agreements then that will be more specific than using a splinter bid whenever they have trump support and a stiff in any suit.

good problem, Nige1.all depend if you can trust card led ♠Q. at green/red with partner passed, I take lead as genuine, especially as west has shown up with ♣K also

I am opening 1♠ here 100% of the time. I can not see how you do not end up in 4♥ or 4♠ in a 2/1 auction. If you go above 4M then your bidding judgement is off. The trouble with many players using 2/1 is that they should always go for the best game, and only go for slam with extras or a super fit. Both hands are minimum so I will be surprised if any progress beyond a game auction does happens. 3NT by east seems a crazy contract to end in once the ♥ fit is found. pre-empting with 6-4 in the majors and two good suits headed by the A is crazy...

if 1♦ is 4+ and if 1♥ is forcing here then I am inclined to 'Pass' the hand looks a complete misfit. your long suit will take too long to establish. I would rather have penalty here at imps and mps. if would be interesting to see how the bidding goes from there. if I need to make a decision later then later it will have to be. (that does not make it any easier imo.) bidding 3NT, 3♦ (shows this sort of hand I guess) or 2NT now on first round I can not see as profit.

I am bidding, bidding, bidding 5♣ even at red/white at imps. west had far more options available than a direct 4♠ bid with a good hand. partner needs just ♦Q for it to, I hope, just -1. only a queen. I can not see us taking 4 tricks against a 4♠ contract with a poor hand, and if he has a better hand 5♣ might just make.

yes too clever! great play but is it percentage? no way! the play still leaves the chance of ♠3-3 so Geir Helgemo was testing the bath water with it. it gave him a extra chance. ♠ suit is more like to be 4-2 than 3-3 but his play established position of ♠8. what ♠ card did east win the trick with at trick 3? that might have given further clue.

me also 4♥. it could go down but partner has bid 2♥ after you have passed as east. must have some good beans to do this vulnerable

are you playing 2/1 here or another system? if 2/1 then 3♦

a partner who criticizes when it is his fault is a partner I would not play with any more!!! period. as many have said before me, west is completely at fault. how west is not bidding 4♥ after a 2♥ opening is beyond my brain. even 3♥ after 2♥ is better, but not very good. pass is CRAZY!!!