thepossum

I will add a bit of additional specification Suppose you think you have 5 or 5 and half tricks, maybe 7-8 losers is that a minimum, average or maximum weak two :) I appreciate pre-empting considers vulnerability and other things Also, I was hoping for a non-GiB restricted discussion :) If 8 hcps in a nice major suit, a singleton in a 6331 shape is regarded as minimum, what is a 4 HCP hand :) Say, for example I play a 234 type style with 3 and up pre-empts, based on tricks + 2,3, or 4 or consider losers etc. is a minimum weak two up to 9 losers and only 4 likely tricks? My general style (ideally with a human) is light-sound. Rarely very light. Let's say light I would regard a singleton as some kind of feature much of the time :) - maybe not as good as a void

Hi all Apologies for posting a topic that is partly GiB related. However it is a general question In the 2/1 system we play a weak two can be 4-10 HCPs, 6 cards in the bid suit and ideally no 4 card side suit. This is different from other ranges (too strong IMO) which go from 5-11 - thats getting to 1 bid territory If you have a strong response. Say 15+ points with only 2 trumps opposite opener and bid 2NT - not playing Ogust - I occasionally am disappointed by the "minimum" response when opener is sitting with a nice 6 card suit, 8 points and maybe a singleton :) So game can be missed P

... to get a credit for a contribution to the ACBL after being kicked out on hand three of a tourney for not realising what time zone I was in :(

Thx for posting this. Couldn't be a more appropriate song (or singer/writer/band) for how I feel at home in Brisbane or overseas away from Brisbane Sad I missed the news

Something else I find interesting is the latest trend or insatiable demand for any information from anywhere to mine Digging through old rubbish However I now am transferring blame for my psychotic (psychic) episodes from the medication to our cats EDIT And thanks for the out on my unusual bidding too :)

How about offshape 2NT or even very offshape Michaels

Is/are(?) the people not made up of Persons? Or would that be "People"? If anyone thinks (and many seem to) that the CEO (or the boards even) of any major corporation care about anything other than their corporation then their shareholders may get upset :) There is a lot of ****washing in business For a bit of a laugh I bought carbon offsets for a few years - Gold Medal/Standard - high quality and remarkably cheap, which would have entitled me to put their logo on my Web site and stationery

Nice attempt at diverting from the topic

Interesting topic. Where to start. Just to pick up this Matt Yglesias person on one thing. Twitter is not at present a private company. One of the things Mr Musk is considering is taking a listed company private, and all that entails That's for starters. There are so many issues in this discussion and so many misleading comments already in the thread it would take me a long time to address them (I may try) I am a long time Twitter user, enjoy the platform, enjoy Mr Dorsey's vision of a platform built around conversation I have many concerns about many of the trends I have observed on all platforms and all political forums over recent years in silencing alternative points of view and claiming there is something called the truth that should be given precedence - that is frightening Its also amusing who is regarded as left/right, progressive/reactionary, authoritarian/libertarian etc I have become increasing frightened by the apparent algorithmic/impersonal nature of a platform that is so ignorant it censors rhetorical comments, takes them out of context of conversations and ignores intelligent and reasonable appeals. It doesn't understand or respect different cultures. So many platforms are becoming impersonal. Not the people on it, not the users, not the CEOs, but the tech obsession with algorithms and some of the ignoramuses seemingly working for the platforms. Like having some nobody edit the Lancet sometimes - apologies for making that analogy but I hope it works. Where to start. I also have concerns about the power of big-techs, the obsession with crypto, the way they seem to like playing games with our lives, and thinking they run the world. Why trust people wanting to setup some so called alternative decentralized currency under their control. Against the people of the world Another thing - anonymity. Mr Musk (in that link above) is simply discussing Twitter Blue and Verified accounts and their special responsibilities/restrictions. I hope he is not going after anonymity. Many people are fighting serious struggles against huge power and anonymity and the relative/apparent/possibly illusory safety of using an alias to fight big power is kind of important for some I have concerns about Mr Musk on various other things but as far as I can see he has just been a CEO who has successfully got many ignorant so-called progressives and Greenies pushing Tesla products Also, as with most things in this world if you don't understand something you have to be more careful about expressing points of view :) etc. etc.

Fair point that arguing about anything is never really immaterial. Whether its useful or productive or not is another matter :) What amused me about the Soloway debate/discussion is that you could imagine a human North, after the ambitious/pre-emptive 7D bid, blaming it all on South I could be being very hard on GiB. Maybe the odds weren't bad but I like a bit more certainty on Trick 1 of a grand Don't tell me the additional point in Hearts was material to the simulation EDIT Just for fun I ran a meaningless sim and perhaps unsurprisingly the point in hearts was material simply to the chance of making a small slam in diamonds - and before anyone picks me up of course I realise that a Grand is part of the chance of making a Small

No idea what happened that missing word. It a lot on social media

By the way I think quibbling over AKQxxx or AKJxxx of hearts when the problem is a missing Ace is immaterial

Do you know what possessive means? (EDIT added question mark and fixed spelling since we arguing about punctuation! :) )

Thanks for the support regarding the Grand. I did realise that the hearts are not really Soloway worthy but went for it anyway. I keep having misadventures with Soloway's but figured I had the right hand shape for it this time. Sadly it went wrong again. I should have used a different approach. Its remarkably disheartening putting your hand down when opps have already led an Ace EDIT should that be Soloway's, Soloways or Soloways' I'm sure the last is wrong

Does a splinter mean I have the Ace [HV=https://www.bridgebase.com/tools/handviewer.html?lin=st||pn|thepossum,~Mwest,~Mnorth,~Meast|md|3SAQHAKJ975DQ742C8,S982H8432D3CT7543,SK765HDAKJ985CKQ2,SJT43HQT6DT6CAJ96|sv|o|rh||ah|Board%201|mb|1D|an|Minor%20suit%20opening%20--%203+%20!D;%2011-21%20HCP;%2012-22%20total%20points|mb|P|mb|2H!|an|Soloway%20jump%20shift%20--%20rebiddable%20!H;%2017+%20total%20points|mb|P|mb|3D|an|6+%20!D;%2011-21%20HCP;%2012-22%20total%20points|mb|P|mb|4C!|an|Support%20for%20D;%20splinter%20in%20C%20--%201-%20!C;%204+%20!D;%20rebiddable%20!H;%2017+%20total%20points|mb|P|mb|7D|an|6+%20!D;%2021-%20HCP;%2019-22%20total%20points|mb|P|mb|P|mb|P|pc|CA|pc|C8|pc|C3|pc|C2|pc|S3|pc|SA|pc|S2|pc|S5|mc|12|]400|300[/HV] Rather sad that the Bot on lead had it I had considered checking controls myself but decided on the splinter first

I like and respect many of the aspects of compulsory showing up (or at least posting) whatever you put on your ballot - as half the informals demonstrate, they enjoy telling politicians what they think. Sadly the other informals demonstrate how complex the process still can be for some. Also, out of all the formal votes who seem to follow the instructions accurately I suspect many/most still couldn't explain the voting system to you I prefer optional preferences to compulsory though. Why should you be forced to transfer your vote to someone you despise or risk your vote not counting? Another area, which I at least find interesting, is that of the donkey vote - where people protest formally. There have been studies (by Sydney researchers I believe) where they estimate up to 2% of any vote is one or other of the many forms of formal donkey/protest vote. Its interesting for analysing very marginal seats :) One thing that upset me was when the big parties removed a wonderful aspect of chance whereby some random nobody could win a senate seat by default. I actually approved of random nobodies getting in from time to time I think I can agree on the lycra issue too

I think whether or not the broader war is a conflagration is moot. History appears to be being repeated with large powers agreeing to and almost conspiring to let smaller ones suffer

The big news is that people have been made to look like fools by Boris Johnson The same people who fell for Boris Johnson's assurances over Brexit

Maybe I'm in the wrong place again but I would probably save time and bid 4 spades :)

Is there anything new I downloaded it all but read the drafts last year which didn't hold any new insights at all Or maybe that was a different working group.

Hi all Please bear with me Imagine you and a couple of other Bridge enthusiasts are sitting around a table with a couple of packs of cards desperate for a game of Bridge missing a 4th player who understood at least the basics of a number of systems and was a competent player Two players looking looking very forlorn until the third rummages around in a case and produces a robot player, capable of shuffling, l, card playing and decent bidding, and sits it at the the table in the fourth seat. Starts shuffling cards, asking who wants to be partners etc. Even the occasional witty remark and decent knowledge of current affairs to engage in conversation. Does such a useful robotic player exist P

It's wonderful analytics. Asks your views on all these issues then asks who you vote for and gives you a prediction :) - impressively accurate I do have concerns trying to align anything in Australia with USA though

Maybe rather too many and for too many years Has the IPCC and broader Climate Change industry compared their footprint to Bitcoin Does it name all the robots and algorithms that did the ghostwriting

the 2H is simply the GiB 2/1 system bid. Described as a free limit, as opposed to a regular limit - after interference?? Sorry free major raise - not limit?

Sorry, this was the full hand. Those who competed to 6 scored well - but don't try high level takeouts. Dangerous If you bid 5D partner ended up in 6H [hv=https://www.bridgebase.com/tools/handviewer.html?lin=st||pn|thepossum,~~M5642,~~M5640,~~M5641|md|3SKTHJT762DAKQ52C8,SJ86432HDT87CAKQ4,S5HAK853DJ9643C96,SAQ97HQ94DCJT7532|sv|e|rh||ah|Board%209|mb|P|mb|P|mb|1H|an|Major%20suit%20opening%20--%205+%20!H;%2011-21%20HCP;%2012-22%20total%20points|mb|1S|an|One-level%20overcall%20--%205+%20!S;%208-17%20HCP;%209-19%20total%20points%20|mb|2H|an|Free%20major%20raise%20--%203+%20!H;%206-10%20total%20points%20|mb|4S|an|4+%20!S;%2011-%20HCP;%209-12%20total%20points%20|mb|P|mb|P|mb|P|pc|HK|pc|H4|pc|H2|pc|S6|pc|S2|pc|S5|pc|SA|pc|ST|pc|C3|pc|C8|pc|CA|pc|C9|pc|D7|pc|D3|pc|S7|pc|D2|pc|C2|pc|SK|pc|C4|pc|C6|pc|HJ|pc|S8|pc|H8|pc|H9|pc|D8|pc|D9|pc|S9|pc|D5|pc|CJ|pc|H6|pc|CK|pc|D6|pc|DT|pc|D4|pc|SQ|pc|DQ|pc|HQ|pc|H7|pc|SJ|pc|H5|pc|CQ|pc|H3|pc|CT|pc|HT|pc|S3|pc|DJ|pc|C7|pc|DK|pc|S4|pc|HA|pc|C5|pc|DA|]400|300[/hv]