samene

This has to be an old topic but I have not seen it discussed before so I will raise it. Before I do let me say thanks to Fred and the BBO crew for keepin' it free. Virtually everyone crams CC info into their profile, completely disregarding the apparent schema. Why fight the vast majority of members here? Why not expand the profile to include fields and space for CC data (even if real estate issues require an additional click to expand the 'window' to disply the extra info)? While you're at it, why not give the clubs a break and add a place for club logos to appear instead of making people who support their clubs claim their e-mail address is "BIL-Member?" If the problem is the cost of centralized storage for the info (and remember you're storing most of it already in repurposed fields), perhaps the ability for members to make words like "2/1" and "SAYC" hot links that point to their own servers could provide added clarity for the more motivated members. This assumes, of course, that p2p-style demand-upload of locally stored CCs isn't appropriate.

I appreciate the responses, folks. I've been playing bridge a little over a month and soaking up information is critical right now. So far, responses eschew a hcp guideline when overcalling 1NT. I can see the logic in this for two reasons: 1) we have a reasonable idea of the opener's shape and loser count. 2) without weakness on opps part, fit is mandatory As Larry Hammick says on his web site: I: Length fits with strength. II: Shortness fits with losers. In a case where you hold a distributional hand and RHO has opened 1NT, it follows that LHO is likely to have a somewhat distributional hand (i.e. 3 out of 4 players cannot hold 4-3-3-3 if the other is 5-6-0-2). LHO's strength will fit with RHO's strength and you are toast if they choose the trump or end up in notrump. But if LHO has length he must also possess shortness in other suits and, if the trump suit goes against them, their shortness will conflict with their strength and their 'fit' will turn against them. (Bidding theory is, necessarily, very new to me so I hope I am making sense here). Strength vs. strength usually results in neither side being able to make a contract so disregard strength and look for fit. That is what I am taking away from the posts so far and my own inferences vis-a-vis Hammick's assertions. On the other hand, I sense a general bias against HCP in general. I realize that HCP count is a crutch. Assessing winners and losers is the objective and HCP count is, in a sense, a dumbing down of that process. Nevertheless, odds are that your RHO is thinking point range when he's bidding 1NT and the chances that he's out-of-shape for the bid are greater than the chances that he's out-of-range for it. Is there a point count devotee with an opinion? Another (very credible) source has suggested that a solid suit (lots of touching cards) would be a hindrance when trying to make a contract stemming from an overcall of 1NT. Something about entries... I don't understand this. Do you? Criticism of my conclusions is welcomed...

Let's say you are playing in a pickup game. You and P decide to play SAYC. Opps open 1NT. You and Partner have no agreement regarding NT interference so you are going to operate without a conventional option. My SAYC booklet says nothing specific about 1NT overcalls so... What do you do? Obviously a ton of points would convince you to go with an overcall. So would superb distribution. The question is - how much of each is the minimum to overcall that 1NT opener? 8-16 with 5+ cards? 13+ with 6 cards? 15+ with 4+ cards? 11+ with a weak two-suiter? 10+ with a 5-5? The standard rules of bidding must apply but they don't seem to specify. :) Where is this line drawn?