keylime

You're playing Gambling 3NT. My view is that tell pard what they need to know. If you start with 1D, by the time it gets back to you, you maybe having to bid 5♦, which if I couldn't open G3NT, I would have started with 5 just to get the hand off my chest. Additionally, let's say pard rebids 2C. What's your rebid? 3♦ is a slight overstatement, and 2♦ is a slight understatement... If you start with 5♦, how would Jeff discern a hand with a couple of aces and supporting king in terms of slam prospects (assuming he has not passed originally)? That's why I chose 3NT. If I got a multiple world champion across the table, I certainly am going to default to whatever decision he or she makes, after I show my hand in the full.

I'm really surprised that many are advocating 5♦. You're playing with one of the true bridge greats of all time. Why wouldn't you want to tell him the exact nature of your hand?

Many of the pundits have failed to realize that the Steelers don't win pretty, they don't win with elegance, they simply grind it out. It really does make for good television - call it, the masculine soap opera that is actually real, unlike wrestling. :)

3NT. Time to attack.

Let me tell ya, coming into Petersburg, VA, the speed limits slowly come down from 70 to 65 to 60 before heading north on 95 (was on 85). The train of cars I was with, one of them actually joined the interstate where I did outside of Durham so we literally teamed up all the way up to the Mixing Bowl, were going at least 80 (I had the cruise set for 82 mph - 130kph for the metric fans) and was getting passed a lot! I did not see any cops except one guy, who had his lights off and was eating dinner in his car. That was it. I was hustling and then some to get back. Sleeping in my own bed - priceless!

3NT here. For me, absolutely clearcut to get on with it and thank pard for tabling 13 cards of pasteboard.

I'm the 1♦, rebid 3♣ camp if you hear a 1NT response. Over a major tho, 2♣. The "this hand doesn't fit well" motif would immediately crop up.

Sensitive to quality of the opps. If good opps, I fire 3NT at the pot. With bad opps, one club.

Well realize I was a greenhorn that thought I knew more than I really did, at a STaC game in Oklahoma, hence the context.

We ended tied for 4th for total masterpoints earned, which was the highest I've ever been on a list. Admittedly, I was quite nervous pre-tourney and it showed Thursday night in the warmup game. I was so undisciplined and not playing within myself. Friday afternoon it was light years better, and we were rewarded for it - imagine the many times we've all played a good session and didn't get anything for the effort. The KO competition really was smooth sailing. Once we all realized we just had to keep it down the middle, we were in good shape. The second match tho, piling 61 on the board to a goose egg, is firmly planted in my mind - lots of lessons in that set of hands about bidding games, about defending passionately, about protecting your teammates at the other table. The Swiss, started very well - 3 and 1 after 4, and then winners in the 5th match. I literally hit the wall at match 6. I was wiped out; hadn't slept well at all, and it showed. Overall, I am pleased that things turned out nicely, and I really did have the easiest task of all - following suit, knowing the team was going to play as an unit.

Ditto jdonn. As long as it's disclosed to me, I don't have a problem - quite often they miss the right contract anyway when this happens. I had someone open a 15 point 2 suiter 2C, one of those AKxxxx AKJxx x x. We appealed it, stating it was a psychic. TD did not overturn the decision. Funny tho, because they missed their grand due to the inability to untangle the strain of the hand.

5NT, pick a slam. That QH is a massive card. 6NT maybe in the offering as well. Disclaimer: Larry and I had a GAGGLE of 920's over the weekend, so I'm biased towards six of a minor.

Leb is one of the hardest conventions (along with RKC) that players struggle with, just due to the implications of certain bids. How I learned was to literally draw a flowchart to understand it all.

I listened to the game on radio (was driving back from the Raleigh tourney). Marv Albert doing play-by-play was a rather surreal experience. However, it reconnected me with my roots so to speak, having to visualize the entire game. That, and the 80+ mph speeds everyone was carrying through Richmond helped (made the 280 mile drive in 4 hours and 3 minutes with a stop).

Larry and I are going to try to get either late February or March to form a team for one of the tourneys in Charlottesville or Richmond - it was a lot of fun, and admittedly my brain is so spent right now....

How's this for a perfect weekend... Larry and I win an overall pairs, and a Bracket I KO as well. The weather was excellent, and I didn't get one single rain drop. My sweetheart is very happy that I am home. And finally, my Pittsburgh Steelers found a way to win against a determined and guiled opponent in the Arizona Cardinals. I am so finding a way to get to the 'Burgh for the victory parade. Needless to say, I am on cloud nine and then some. :)

As the captain of this team, I will say that I had the easiest job of all. With great teammates and an incredible partner, all I had to do was follow suit, stay within the system, and we'd have it in the bag. It has been truly a joy winning twice so far, and with the Swiss coming, my mind is thinking about the three-fer. There's work to be done admittedly, but I know I got a good team. And for the record, we don't know who chunked the imp to miss out on triple digits. :huh:

I wish I had this hand in passout just to see what happens. Alas I don't. I probably defend quietly here with no agreements. I think overcalling runs into some risks. And over the weak NT Larry and I do have a way to show majors.

I've played bridge in some interesting locales: Started in Tampa - definitely agree with the poster. I do remember the Jacobs playing Precision tho. Huntsville - Flannery, Mini-Roman, Capp. Very standard fare. Oklahoma City - At the time, we were the oddballs. You know, that precision thing. Nanaimo - interestingly enough, a bit of diversity if you traveled to Victoria and Vancouver as well. A couple of Precisioneers, Polish Clubbers. D.C. - Agree with the poster, lotta Washington-ites and their pet treatments. And today until Sunday, Raleigh. It sounds as if we will definitely be the "odd couple".

Frankly, your RHO is ticked they misdefended aren't they?

5♠ with me, in passing to 6♦.

6♦, by a country mile.

I think your opp is a legal eagle, and not a bridge player. I would never apologize for something like (and for most disputed BITs in general).

Mike, I was trying to bid this, while in the middle of my MCSE class, so I was in a bit of a hurry! Admittedly, now that I think about it since I have a few moments, I would have a way to pin down the QH and the stiff diamond for the pattern. Now 6NT becomes feasible once I count tricks, which I feel is the key to the hand - counting tricks to see if 7 is possible. What I wanted to illustrate was that getting to 6NT is a challenge, and that reasonably, getting 6S would have quite a bit of company.

Beaner, The 2x rebid, really determines the strain of contract. I think the first question you have to ask is, does 2x show purely pattern, or does it infer strength as well? With the 2/1 I have played, I have always insisted, that in the sequence 1S-2C-2D for example, that it shows EXTRAS, which means that 1S-2C-2S are all catchalls and doesn't deny 4 card side suits. Admittedly, this is a bit off the mainstream in some parts, but I am a proponent of strength first, then shape. The second question I ask is what 1M-2C-2NT means. I think that helps your structure in terms of context. The third question is, let's say, what does 1S-2D-3C mean. I think the hardest auction in 2/1, is this one, and the 1S-2H follow-ons. It's due to the fact that in the pursuit of bidding one's hand, you have ate some room in passing.