thepossum

I haven't been playing Bridge quite as long as you (only 40+ years) but have struggled playing a game on this site without getting abused. Most recently I was called an idiot part way through a hand (by dummy - a more advanced player) while on target to make 5 diamonds doubled - I hadnt yet messed up the contract - who knows why I was abused. I suggest you just tell the people how you feel about that abuse. Thats what I did and will always do. Nobody is entitled to engage in personal abuse of a partner or opponent. I don't know if there is a disciplinary procedure. But its not very pleasant being on the receiving end If we do not stand up for decency and respect and actually call out abusive behaviour when it occurs, it will just keep going. PS 5 dimonds made doubled. I was playing it well considering I was up against experts and advanced players. So who was the idiot? Hopefully they were happy with their IMP score on that hand, albeit ungrateful and undeserving :)

It's funny, the usual message that goes out in the lobby is along the lines of "looking for two experts please". I am not ctiquing the above advice at all but its a shame that to get a relaxed friendly game on this site you either have to play robots or pay extra for a club with hardly any tables open

In case anyone is interested here is the full hand In theory I could have defeated the contract with one of my usual leads from an AK but on this day I went for the singleton which proved costly However clearly in this case clubs would not have worked well. Hearts was the go-to contract :) [hv=https://www.bridgebase.com/tools/handviewer.html?lin=st||pn|thepossum,~~M17339g7,~~M3056pk1,~~M41958qv|md|3SQ43HAJT4D5CAK643,S86H953DAJ73CQJT2,SJ7HKQ762DQT862C9,SAKT952H8DK94C875|sv|o|rh||ah|Board%201|mb|P|mb|2S|an|Weak%20two%20bid%20--%201-4%20!C;%201-3%20!D;%201-3%20!H;%206+%20!S;%2010-%20HCP;%207+%20total%20points%20|mb|P|mb|P|mb|P|pc|D5|pc|D7|pc|DT|pc|DK|pc|SA|pc|S3|pc|S8|pc|S7|pc|SK|pc|S4|pc|S6|pc|SJ|pc|D4|pc|SQ|pc|D3|pc|D8|pc|CK|pc|C2|pc|C9|pc|C7|pc|CA|pc|CT|pc|H2|pc|C8|pc|HA|pc|H5|pc|H6|pc|H8|pc|H4|pc|H9|pc|HQ|pc|ST|pc|S9|pc|C3|pc|H3|pc|D6|pc|S5|pc|C4|pc|DJ|pc|H7|pc|C5|pc|C6|pc|CQ|pc|D2|pc|CJ|pc|DQ|pc|D9|pc|HT|pc|DA|pc|HK|pc|S2|pc|HJ|]400|300[/hv]

Thx everyone I usually rule out no trumps over a pre-empt unless I have solid stoppers Looking back at the discussion and the auction I'm wondering if the rule I read about deciding on overcalls related to cases when partner had not already passed although if its only an average 7-point type hand, maybe it works for passed/unpassed hands

Hi there Don't know if this has happened to anyone else but suddenly Gib stopped playing and I was logged out after a few seconds of inactivity. Attempts to logon all gave a "too many people" message but this is without even requesting to the server as far as I can see. On further investigation my whole internet routing via chrome and Windows 10 had been blocked or died somehow. Took a restart of my HP Spectre to get it back - that was after checking that my trusty router hadn't died and experimenting through Edge. Maybe Edge fixed it But given the times we live and the amount of weird (and at times outright creepy) stuff thats going on everywhere some of us get a bit concerned - especially in my line of work I'm starting to doubt a large number of highly trusted brands for starters

Thx Helene. Looking back at the hand and my strange play I think I had even switched off and forgotten that clubs were trumps and almost accidentally made my Jack and Ten

However I was too sleepy to notice my JTxx of trumps and naturally assumed that when EW bid to 6C they had all the keycards and my Jack was the losing trick. Not sure what the North bot was thinking either. I'm not sure who is most responsible for not doubling [hv=https://www.bridgebase.com/tools/handviewer.html?lin=st||pn|thepossum,~~M3570o57,~~M4113g53,~~M5684gdi|md|3SQ943HT962D2CJT54,S865H53DT875CKQ76,SAJT2HA87DJ943CA2,SK7HKQJ4DAKQ6C983|sv|o|rh||ah|Board%201|mb|1D|an|Minor%20suit%20opening%20--%203+%20!D;%2011-21%20HCP;%2012-22%20total%20points%20|mb|D|an|Takeout%20double%20--%203-5%20!C;%202-%20!D;%203-4%20!H;%203-4%20!S;%2012+%20total%20points%20|mb|P|mb|2C|an|4+%20!C;%209-%20total%20points%20|mb|P|mb|2D|an|2-4%20!C;%202-4%20!D;%202-4%20!H;%202-4%20!S;%2018+%20total%20points;%20at%20best%20stop%20in%20!D;%20forcing%20to%203S%20|mb|P|mb|3C|an|4+%20!C;%208-%20total%20points;%20forcing%20to%203S%20|mb|P|mb|4C|an|4%20!C;%202-4%20!D;%202-4%20!H;%202-4%20!S;%2026-28%20total%20points;%20at%20best%20stop%20in%20!D%20|mb|P|mb|4N|an|Blackwood%20©%20--%204+%20!C;%206-8%20total%20points%20|mb|P|mb|5D|an|One%20or%20four%20key%20cards%20--%204%20!C;%202-4%20!D;%202-4%20!H;%202-4%20!S;%2026-28%20total%20points;%20at%20best%20stop%20in%20!D%20|mb|P|mb|5N|an|Query%20kings.%20Have%20all%20keycards.%20Does%20not%20promise%20extras%20--%204+%20!C;%20!CQ;%206-8%20total%20points%20|mb|P|mb|6C|an|No%20king%20(below%20C)%20--%204%20!C;%202-4%20!D;%202-4%20!H;%202-4%20!S;%2026-28%20total%20points;%20at%20best%20stop%20in%20!D%20|mb|P|mb|P|mb|P|pc|HA|pc|H4|pc|H2|pc|H5|pc|SA|pc|S7|pc|S3|pc|S8|pc|D4|pc|DA|pc|D2|pc|D5|pc|C9|pc|C4|pc|CK|pc|CA|pc|D3|pc|DK|pc|H6|pc|D8|pc|C8|pc|C5|pc|CQ|pc|C2|pc|C7|pc|S2|pc|C3|pc|CT|pc|HT|pc|H3|pc|H7|pc|HK|pc|DQ|pc|S4|pc|D7|pc|D9|pc|HQ|pc|H9|pc|S6|pc|H8|pc|HJ|pc|CJ|pc|S5|pc|DJ|pc|S9|pc|C6|pc|SJ|pc|SK|pc|DT|pc|ST|pc|D6|pc|SQ|]400|300[/hv]

Its frustrating at any level I think - its all very different to a nice casual relaxed social game around a table

I do like a piece of father-to-son advice Eddie regaled in an interview. Paraphrasing - if you make a mistake do it again but smile so people think you did it intentionally. Definitely an important sound of my youth without really knowing much or folloiwng him or the band as a fan so to speak ... and actually such a huge part of the sound of my youth I'm ashamed I only found some of it out today

Very much a sound of my childhood :)

Hi all I think I may have asked about bidding over a weak 2M before but this hand recently appeared and I carelessly passed thinking I was off shape for a double and wasnt sure about the 3C overcall - desite it being a nice hand. My pass scored very badly at IMPs since there is a heart game etc I did a bit of Googling to find pages on overcalls and one I use occasionally is Karen's page kwbridge.com According to the options there I had a choice of an overcall or an offshape double given my hearts The page also discusses the rule of 7 points to decide whether the overcall is appropriate I wasnt familiar with this rule and would possibly struggle assessing if my hand was capable of 3C opposite 7 points anyway. However I ran a sim and sure enough both the double and the overcall are good options. Both 3H and 3C show as good options. Also 2S doubled is not a bad option provided you can defeat the contract :) How could I make the decision on this hand that 3C or double was an option Excuse me if asking whether to overcall with this seems strange but I genuinely was unsure and even sitting opposite an average 7 points I would not be confident of making 3C - or should I be. If I'm using loser counts and assume I may be lucky enough to have 3 or 4 trumps opposite how do I assess. I have 6 losers. That means I hope for 9 or fewer losers opposite (my preferred method) or maybe 4 trumps (9 tricks) [hv=pc=n&s=sq43hajt4d5cak643&d=n&v=0&b=1&a=p2s(Weak%202)]133|200[/hv]

You know what is insanity. The international media storm over someone going to hospital for a few days EDIT What is also highly amusing is that the conspiracy theory boot now seems to be on the other foot :)

When I say restrictive what I mean is that the complexity, the number of sequences and bids are much more constrained than simpler more flexible system - such as the one I originally learned with :) So yes, there is an aspect of never being able to learn so many rules, despite playing it for a few years now. But of course I know playiing with a human, with few specific or over-rigidly defined sequences, a bit more nautral variance can often iron over the flaws in having to get the perfect sequence ever time Its interesting (to me anway). I was brought up on basic Acol many years ago. I was reading one of the many current variants of Acol (Modern English Standard Acol) and it has developed mroe similarities with a 2/1 approach than basic that I used to play with conventions I could count on one hand Oh, and while I think of it having to have a 5-card major to open the bidding in that suit is what I call restrictive :)

I appreciate that Tyler, but since its a new system to me (even after a few years) its one way of learning how the system works. However the lack of fliexibility and constant "misunderstandings" between possum and bot are frustrating. As a side question, is it possible for something that clearly understands nothing (ie a machine) to misunderstand something. I, on the other hand, hopefully have capacity for understanding but seem perpetually confused when playing GiB I would prefer to play at table if I can find 3 people of similar relaxed freindly temperament who enjoy bridge the way I do and aren't likely to get upset, leave, ignore you, get rude etc EDIT As aother aside, I just played a hand in Vugraph which coincidentally bore an uncanny resemblance to the above hand. I was the one with the long minor (clubs), North was doing the forcing (FSF was used) but sadly after I raised GiB's 5C game to 6C I was devastated to find it had forced with a rather weak hand, missing any controls. EDIT Oh the best bit was raising me to 5clubs and forcing with a void in clubs. I mean, its an easy mistake to make, a shapely hand, a void a couple of kings and 9 points - has game force and/or slam in your void suit written all over it :)

Thx, I've just put the hand through a bidding table and tried as many combinations of bids as I could and without me either bidding Blackwood or going to 6D myself I could not get past 5D. Must be a different bot. With a minor slam bidding Blackwood is essentially commiting to slam anyway. Oh and it forgot about its void. There also seemed no cue bids available etc, because we hadn't yet agreed trumps at any stage

Thx all. It's obvious after some expert advice, looking at the hand again etc. I clearly wasn't paying enough attention to the description on the srtength of the 3D bid. However I still just don't have all those forcing bids NMF, FSF, etc in my head enough Is FSF in that case agreeing on diamonds. Does 4C become FSF because of the double? Or is it NMF? Or just F :)

Thanks. For some reason I still sometimes miss the options. I didn't even consider the 2c (GF) planning to go via the major. But I had alredy cosnidered 3NT which would have ended us in 6D. I try to avoid 3NT jumps (or to delay it as much as I can most of the time) since so often it becomes a road block

Thanks Helene

Hi I'm not sure if this is a good example (given the extreme shape of North) but in general and more so recently I have been struggling with some sequences in 2/1, esepcially how best to force. In this case we missed a possible diamond slam, ending in 3NT. 3NT+2 was the most common score for those of us who bid spades up the line. Others did a game force followed by 3NT and a jump to slam, or jumped to 3NT followed by the slam bid. I appreciate many would put the bidding problem down to North not forcing (EDIT, apologies, 3D is forcing) but there are clearly some specific sequences in the system - is it that the robot system is much more rigid in sequences or is it something I should know about the system and how to force. I'm trying not to get upset with the bot here. I had a few other disastrous sequences in the same IMP tourney today Out of the options here - there is 1 spade, 2 clubs (GF), 3NT etc. Other options? Is one preferred to the others. If you do an up the line bid with your major how do you then force Personally I don't really like how restrictive 2/1 GF is in terms of forcing. Up the line can be any strength, you cant often do a Soloway etc Did the double throw a spanner in the works. Surely if you have options and miss the GF the first round there should be a way to keep forcing after that In another hand in the same tourney I made the mistake of mentioning a second major with disastrous and comical results :) [hv=https://www.bridgebase.com/tools/handviewer.html?lin=st||pn|thepossum,~~M35240,~~M35238,~~M35239|md|3SKJT7HA3DQTCKT652,SA643H98652DCAQ94,SQ8HK7DAKJ865432C,S952HQJT4D97CJ873|sv|n|rh||ah|Board%205|mb|1D|an|Minor%20suit%20opening%20--%203+%20!D;%2011-21%20HCP;%2012-22%20total%20points%20|mb|P|mb|1S|an|One%20over%20one%20--%204+%20!S;%206+%20total%20points|mb|D|an|Two%20suit%20takeout%20--%204+%20!C;%205-%20!D;%204+%20!H;%205-%20!S;%2012+%20total%20points%20|mb|3D|an|Opener%20rebid%20--%206+%20!D;%203-%20!S;%2017-20%20total%20points%20|mb|P|mb|3N|an|3-%20!D;%204+%20!S;%209-16%20HCP;%20stop%20in%20!C;%20stop%20in%20!H|mb|P|mb|P|mb|P|pc|H5|pc|H7|pc|HT|pc|HA|pc|DQ|pc|S6|pc|D2|pc|D9|pc|DT|pc|C9|pc|D3|pc|D7|pc|H3|pc|H2|pc|HK|pc|H4|mc|11|]400|300[/hv]

Does your partner have a flaky internet connection sometimes

Regarding "randomness" of hands, I have a good understanding of psychological and perceptual biases and seeing evidence that maybe is not there, but depending on tournament type, or casual IMP play in the clubs sometimes the hands feel excessively engineeered and even engineered to fit the GiB 2/1 bidding system to an almost extreme extent. Maybe there are good reasons for over-engineering hands to a bidding system. Maybe GiB or some players find it too difficult to think outside narrow constraints Some also seem to have the play engineered at different levels of competence (from not much to a little) However as I said I am not arguing that they are not "random" (at least I have no evidence or the data to test if I cared that much) and my view could easily be a bias But one simple solution is to sit EW (has that been mentioned) - or perhaps use dealer to ensure the hands are random enough for your specific requirements :)

Apologies if I contributed to a thread hijack Pilowsky. That was not my intent at all. I was trying to relate to and even add to your wonderful classsification system, with another practical example

What I am attempting to question is how far many of these things (eg true disadvantages) can be addressed through teaching and/or study etc

I have another failure type or two for Pilowsky's list Someone nagging you and causing a distraction The phone ringing Or just being so bored you don't feel like expending any mental energy at all Etc

Sometimes that's all I have to feel good about but its a start :) In fact when playing a tourney if I bid approximately 11/12 correct contracts irrespective of score/result and exactly how many tricks :) I do like your categosition of failures - I am going to go through my recent hands and classify them now :) - although my priority these days is to play IMPs and target the few big negatives that make the difference between being mediocre and approaching reasonable For me there is a missing classification - when looking at the hand afterwards "How did I miss that" - I don't know if its stupidity or something else - I almost feel like its some kind of cognitive problem that can never be addressed no matter how much I try. Some days you do it some days not. Forgetting a plan, Realising you made an error. Maybe it all fits into Rank stupidity but its a brutal classification :( I don't know how you feel, esepcially regarding views on learning and teaching, but I feel personally that we all have strengths and weaknesses and maybe some things that will never gel. That is waht separates us in all our different fields and specialities from nt being world champion at tennis, football, bridge or maybe a Nobel prize winner as another "equivalent" I have come to terms that you cannot learn everything, its an illusion, we can keep cramming and trying and despair. That sounds negative but its a case of learning strengths and weaknesses and playing accordingly. As I said, much of my "failure" could be regaded as "stupidity" in my mind, or losing my way, not planning, forgetting what I was doing. But what I feel is lacking from so muc teaching (or maybe it is learning) is that next level up - the meta level - the plan - whateevr level that assists you do what you need to. But that in turn requires a particular stuctured mindset and not everyone has the same mindset. I constantly despair but realise I am too old to learn many new tricks and console myself with what I can delude myself as flashes of what I call inspiration or briliiance amongst the disasters :) EDIT Although, before anyone gets the wrong idea I have often found that bidding a totally different contract to everyone else can also be a very successful strategy EDIT 2 As an example and as a question relating to your classification. Here is a hand that made a huge difference in a 12-hand IMPs tourney - essentially a vulnerable game missed by 1 trick (as often occurs) - 12.3 point swing and the difference between being in the middle versus the top of the whole tourney. I hope you dont mind me asking and you dont have to answer of course. It looks obvious but how would you classify my failure to plan, or making a plan and forgetting, leading the wrong spade when things were on track. Lets put it in the ask Pilowsky category :) - or the so near but so far category or ..... the "I had it all worked out but something went wrong" category, the "how did you mess that up" category, the "its easy in hindsight" category, the "you had a few plans of attack and messed both up" category etc Sometimes I feel there is too much of an emphasis in teaching/learning environments on learning the wrong things or the wrong approaches and too much of the "make people feel syupid" kind of approach - not suggesting that of you Pilowsky, at all, but of learning environments in general. Thats why I am asking your valued opinion - and that is not sarcasm either Its the fact we place things into the "stupidity" category when that is word often used to demean, it becomes instilled in us, some of us didn't all come from the same backgrounds with genrations of skills passed down, they often were not taught, they still often are not taught. Despite my relative success ful life and achievments I ahve still faced that type of prejudice from educators and others - purely based on relative levels of privilege in our backgrounds and professional expectations, intergenerational advantages etc In my view some particular skills are excessively valued in terms of the amount of power, authority and esteem placed upon them - taking no account of all the other differences we may have - including possible disability or should I say differential ability Where do people learn that stuff - at school, at home, at university (if they get there), by doing, by being taught. And if it requires these higher evel conceptual skills and ways of looking at problems (maybe from being very young) how many are actually competent to teach them. Most of those who would understand it are out there at the highest level actually doing - its a bit of a problem [hv=https://www.bridgebase.com/tools/handviewer.html?lin=st||pn|thepossum,~~M25746,~~M25744,~~M25745|md|1SQ4HAKQ75DA862CKQ,SJH93DKT53CA98742,SAT865HJT86D94C65,SK9732H42DQJ7CJT3|sv|b|rh||ah|Board%207|mb|2N|an|Two%20NT%20opener.%20Could%20have%205M.%20--%202-5%20!C;%202-5%20!D;%202-5%20!H;%202-5%20!S;%2020-2|mb|P|mb|3C|an|Stayman%20--%205+%20total%20points%20|mb|P|mb|3H|an|2-5%20!C;%202-5%20!D;%204-5%20!H;%202-4%20!S;%2020-21%20HCP|mb|P|mb|4H|an|4+%20!H;%205-9%20total%20points%20|mb|P|mb|P|mb|P|pc|SJ|pc|SA|pc|S3|pc|S4|pc|H6|pc|H2|pc|HA|pc|H3|pc|HK|pc|H9|pc|H8|pc|H4|pc|CQ|pc|CA|pc|C5|pc|C3|pc|C4|pc|C6|pc|CT|pc|CK|pc|DA|pc|D5|pc|D4|pc|D7|pc|H5|pc|C9|pc|HJ|pc|S7|pc|ST|pc|SK|pc|SQ|pc|C8|pc|CJ|pc|H7|pc|C7|pc|D9|pc|D2|pc|D3|pc|HT|pc|DJ|pc|S8|pc|S9|pc|D6|pc|C2|pc|DQ|pc|D8|pc|DT|pc|S5|pc|S2|pc|HQ|pc|DK|pc|S6|]600|400[/hv]