ABadPlayer

Thank you all for your replies, it has been very helpful.

I'm looking for some recommendations on a good book(s) on leads as well as defensive play for an intermediate level player. Any input would be appecaited, thanks. Hunter

I'm curious as to what difference if any it makes when using a smaller NT range (as I prefer to). I'd assume that the difference between 3NT & 4M with no ruffing values remains conistent, but what about everything else? Is it still an overall positive or do you end in enough inferior partials to negate that? How big of a difference in terms of pre-emptive value does 1N really have over 1H/1S and does that play a significant factor?

Wow....great work Ben. :lol: Very intersting thread indeed.

Neg dbl then 2H to show a hand that was to weak to bid 2H directly.

Ooh, this yeiled some great results in google. Thanks to both of you for the help - much appreciated.

Just need a quick answer to a basic card combination problem. I need to make sure I'm still sane. What is the correct play with Axxx opposite J9xx when you can only lose 1 trump? KQT are all out, but you hold all the other important spot cards.

I believe she was playing 2/1 with a regular partner, but they evidently didn't have a specific agreement about this sort of thing. Personally I'd take the jump to 3S as weak with 4 trumps and cue-bid as Limit+. As it turned out my friend had 14 points with 4S and she wasn't sure how to show this hand. I would just bid 4S directly and not screw around giving away info about my hand or letting ops get any more bids in. But she wanted to know how to show a strong hand with 4 trump without doing this. Like if you begin with a cue-bid and partner responds 2S then I assume 3S would be a STRONG invite saying "Bid game with ANYTHING more than minimum" which I guess you could do if you're P likes to overcall with trashy hands.

A friend of mine was relaying to me a problem she had earlier and after some discussion on the topic I decided to ask the experts here. An auction began... 1♣-1♠-P-??? Now the question is what would would various responses show? Is a cue-bid GF while 3S shows 10-12 and 4 card support? Or does cue-bid show limit+ and 3S in the 6-10 range with 4 crd support? Or is it something completely different? And if you begin with a cue-bid and partner responds 2S what would a bid of 3S, 4S or some other call then show? Sorry if this is sorta a loaded question covering a lot of possibilities, but any help would be appreciated. Edit: btw, the question is more directed towards what you would expect playing with a pickup pard that plays something like SAYC or 2/1. Not looking for somebodies homegrown overcall structure here.

If my partner were a passed hand then I'd think real hard about bidding 4♥, but in the sequence given I'd settle on 3♥.

I love to cue-bid - particularly as limit-raise+. Multi just because it frees up 2♥/2♠ But my favorite overall bid has to be Wk 1NT.

I like GIB better than Jack, but it's not free.

4♠ for me too for all the reasons listed above.

I've played 12-15 (w/ 2S = size ask & Baron 2NT) with one of my partners for quite some time and I tend to like it. I've also played some 11-14 and 10-13 as well and those worked OK. I think it works OK with weak and mini NT when you have a good structure in place to support it, I just don't like having that broad a range with Str NT. I really don't like the idea of 15-18 at all. ~Hunter

I'll open 1♣ with 5/5 black when either light or strong, but with solid opening values (such as hand 2) I'll still opt to open the hand 1♠.

Well it's become abundantly clear that I suck at making leads lol. Is it to late to change my answer to "duh, K-D"?

Honestly, it would probably depend on my mood. I'd be tempted to lead S just because I know my p has at least 4 of them behind the S bidder. But I'd be ok with 5H too.

Well I'm a big advocate of opening NT as frequently as possible so I would certainly be in favor of 14-16 if the alternative was 15-17. We might get a little to high on the occasional 17-18 point hand, but that's a tradeoff I can live with.

I'm not fond of 1♦-2♣ with only 4 hcp in the minors. If I'm going to distort my shape in that manner then I would at least like to have a fairly decent 4 card ♦ suit if not the majority of my points in the minors. I'm also certainly not going to rebid that moth eaten 5 card ♣ suit. I wouldn't object to strongly to a NT opening, but since it is a bare minimum I'd feel a little better about simply opening 1♣ and then rebidding 1NT.

I agree with Justin and Hannie that a 4H bid is practical and unrevealing. I wouldn't object to strongly to a 3C bid, but I don't see a lot of benefit to it either.

Rock on wit yo bad self! W00t! :D

My fault, I just looked at the hand quickly and thought it was still 5♣ & 4♦.

^So what happens when your partner passes 2C? I'd probably just plan on making a reverse with a hand that good.

I am much more inclined to supporting a major with three cards if I have weaker holdings than the ones you mention, particularly if I have a singleton. Ruffing losers with high trumps is usually not desirable. 2 J76 AK104 AJ863 1♣ - 1♥ 2♥ This is a hand perfectly suited for a heart raise in my opinion. Roland That's a hand that I would probably open 1D and rebid 2C. And then if my partner corrects to 2D I might venture a 2H bid.

I never rebid a 5 card ♦ suit, but I will on occasion rebid a 5 card ♣ suit when it seems the lesser of evils. I have NO problems opening NT with a stiff honor when the hand is otherwise well suited to playing in NT. I actually have a larger aversion to rebidding NT with a singleton in my partners suit. On occasion I have done so and it's rarely lead to good results for me. I really don't have any hard rules about what to open or rebid. I tend to just look at my hand and make a judgement call. If my ♣ are strong I'll open 1♣, planning to rebid 2♣. I generally don't like supporting a Major with only 3, but if the suit is AKx or KQT etc, then I'll go ahead and show support. If my ♣ are of relatively poor quality then I'm more inclined to open 1♦ and take my chances with a 2♣ rebid.