debstander

So here's another disastrous bidding fiasco that resulted in something horrible like 3♥ down 4. Here was my line of reasoning. Open with clubs, perfectly standard. Partner comes back with 2♣, all right -- it is what it is. East intervenes with a 2♠ bid. At that point I had to ask myself whether I could push a little higher. We were not vulnerable and the ops were and I was hoping that if I pushed them to 3♠ we could defeat their contract. I had a hand full of spades. So I bid 3♣. Opposition passes and what does my Crazy Robot partner do? Suddenly out of the clear blue sky, with only three miserable hearts in its hand, it bids 3♥. Why? I mean, the logical thing would be to either bid the nice diamonds partner is holding or otherwise pass. Why the hearts? I had no idea what was meant and obviously had one foot off the precipice with no turning back. So I passed. Why the hearts? [hv=pc=n&s=sat32hkq4d653ckq5&w=skj75ha953djt7ca8&n=sqhj87dkq942ct942&e=s9864ht62da8cj763&d=s&v=e&b=3&a=1cd2c2s3cp3hppp]399|300[/hv]

Absolutely, Theo. Complete craziness. No human partner would have ignored those hearts to support a contract in Diamonds.

Many thanks. It was an ACBL Daylong Tournament. And yes, the auction was slightly different. There was a jump bid in ♥ made in the auction that got a better result on the hand. I don't think it was a standard bid because I remember wondering why they'd jumped to the 2 level instead of bidding 1♥ up the ladder, as I'd done in my auction. That was the only difference -- everything else in the auction on the way to arriving at the game of 4♠ was the same. Very much appreciate the patience and kind response.

Next question: Opening leads. Yesterday I did not do well in a game where my robot partner and I bid 4♠. The opening lead from West was a heart. Today, when I looked at the "movie" for someone else who also bid four ♠ but achieved a better result than I did, I found that the opening lead by West for that person was a spade. I thought we were all playing on a level playing field here. Needless to say, a difference in an opening lead can make a big difference between a good and bad result. Hoping someone can explain.

Huh. No penalty doubles after doubling earlier in the auction. Got it. Whole new world out there for me. Thank you so much for the quick response. Will never do THAT again!

OK, so here's the latest bidding fiasco to leave me gasping and ready to personally strangle my Robot partner. ACBL Daylong MP tournament yesterday. East-West vulnerable. N-S Not vulnerable. Here are N-S hands and how the bidding went. I cannot conceivably imagine a human partner (or even a Robot worth its salt) with a hand like North's, to understand my Double of opponents' four spades as anything but a Penalty Double. I practically had a heart attack when my Robot partner popped up with 5♥! The thought of playing this hand plunged me into deep despair and the result -- down five, doubled -- I could barely focus though I know the strong never give up the fight -- was another horrible blow to my confidence. What did I do wrong? I cannot believe how counter-intuitive some of these GIB bids are. Definitely not your mother's Bridge. Am willing to learn but would welcome some help! [hv=pc=n&s=sa852hak76dq86ct8&n=s4hj984da952cj643&d=e&v=e&b=6&a=1cd1s2h2s3h3s4h4sdp5hppdppp]266|200[/hv]

Thank you, Stephen, much appreciated. You hit the nail on the head -- I obviously have never gotten past the beginner level in bidding. And yes, I passed at the 2NT bid. Result was 2NT down 2 and one very humiliated Bridge player with a zero result. The little blurb you can read when you put your cursor over the bid said it was an Artificial 2NT showing a weak hand. I was afraid that if I bid higher, the Crazy Robot would take me into even MORE troublesome territory -- with a weak hand -- so I stopped at the two level. I was sure the 2NT denied the presence of a heart fit, it never occurred to me that it was anything else. Thank you for your suggestion of reading the primer on reverse bidding -- will definitely take a look at it. So appreciate getting an explanation! Again, many thanks.

So here is another example of my robot partner's bidding in a tournament today that I find incomprehensible. The bidding went as follows (opponents passed on all bids): South - 1♦ North - 1♠ South - 2♥ North - 2NT When dummy went down, here's what my partner had. [hv=pc=n&s=s62hakqjdaq963ca5&w=s83h865dkt4ckq976&n=sqj975h9743djcjt8&e=sakt4ht2d8752c432]399|300[/hv] In real life, if you and your partner were looking for a trump fit, and you had four hearts in your hand when your partner bid 2 hearts, would you REALLY bid 2 NT? Honestly, I am struggling to understand and would be grateful if anyone could explain.

Using this site again after a couple of years' absence and everytime I log on and play a few ACBL Robot tournaments something happens that makes me want to ask for my money back. Yesterday the issue was when my Robot partner bid Stayman in a response to my 1NT opener and when dummy went down, my Robot partner didn't have four of either of the majors. So how can THAT happen? And today, in a Robot tournament, I had 15 points and opened 1NT and my Robot partner eventually bid 4NT, which was described as invitational to 6NT, with my partner having "17-18 HCP." Since the description said "High Card Points," not Total Points, and I had 15 HCP, I went to 6NT. Well, guess what? My Robot partner did NOT have 17-18 HCP. It had about 14, and we were down two. So again, the description accompanying the bid was misleading and erroneous. What is this? Surely this system needs some cleaning up? I also see people winning tournaments by using non-standard bids, for example, opening with a four-card major and similar practices which really discourage me from shelling out good money just to pit myself against a system that can be gamed and cannot be relied up. Anyone else feel this way?

Many thanks to you both, Smerriman and johnu, for confirming that GIB plays RKC Blackwood 0134. Will have to brush up on it again. Awful how much you can forget when you leave off playing for a few years -- especially when you have only played for a few years to begin with. I have in fact been hovering over the bids with my cursor to interpret them but even then, the explanations are not always totally clear. Smerriman thanks for the link, I'll check it out now. So appreciate your help, thanks again to both of you.

Returning to BBO after a few years' absence and I'm having a lot of trouble with the robots during tournaments. There have been numerous times when I've made a bid that I thought was clearly a sign-off bid and the robot has taken it higher with the result that I can't possibly make the contract. Today in a tournament I thought I had a possible small slam. The trump suit had been identified so I bid 4NT to ask for Aces. The robot responded 5 Diamonds, which I always thought meant 1 Ace. I had the other three so I bid the small slam. But when the Robot's hand went down, it didn't have a single Ace. So I went down one. What does a 4NT ask mean for these BBO Robots? If it is not standard Blackwood, what is it? RKC Blackwood? Is there any place on the site where I can see what the conventions are?

I empathize completely, bixby. I've just started playing online again after an absence of several years and I'm going nuts with the robot bids. I just bid a small slam based on a 4NT Ace-ask and my robot told me it had 5 Diamonds. Where I come from, that used to mean they had one Ace. So since I had the other 3, I went to six. Well, my robot partner didn't have any aces at all! I was down 1. This is just not right....particularly since we are paying to enter these tournaments. If the robot partners aren't reliable or have crazy rules that only they seem to know...how can this be fair to us users? I'm afraid I have no idea what the GIB system is -- and am wondering how I can even find out.