Blofeld

? Have you never sat down with a decent partner without having discussed this auction? Not a regular partner, sure, but it's fine to bid things without having agreements as to their meaning.

I was certainly assuming that this double would have been takeout.

I bid 5♥, fully understanding that some of the time it will get us too high.

I forgot to vote in the poll, but had mentally bid 4♥ here. Slam seems too far off. It didn't occur to me to try for 3NT, but I will believe Richard's simulations, and I think that 3NT ought to be an offer to play on this auction.

4♥ suggests going past 4♠, while 4NT or 5♣ unilaterally decide to do so. Hence, the latter two bids are stronger slam tries.

I too want to bid 4♥ over 1NT to play. If this bid is unavailable, I'll transfer at the 4-level. Transferring at 2-level seems insane.

If the opponents are really playing penalty doubles I bid 3♠ without even the few qualms about the bid I otherwise have.

I certainly don't think West should bid. I'm not sure whether or not East should balance. At IMPs I think a pass is clear as the hand is 5332 and the suit texture non-ideal. But I think at MP there is a case for balancing. Not certain, though - my judgement tends to be fairly poor at MP.

Well, obviously it depends on what partner expects. If the system bid is 1♠ with 5-5 in blacks then I'll bid 1♠ on all of them. Considered the question more a case of what should be allowed. I'm opening 1♣ on the stronger hands iff this isn't a distortion of distribution.

3♠. I want to preempt on this hand. With the black suits the other way around I'd bid 2♥, but spades are spades are spades. I'm 6-5. I have no defence. I have a ridiculously high ODR. The vulnerability is nasty, but I'm pushing this one for all it's worth anyway.

I first learned a coherent system out of an ancient book on Acol where the system bid on 5-5 in blacks was always 1♣, and this may have influenced me since. In non-competitive auctions the weaker hands (e.g. #1) gain most from being opened 1♣. But I think that in competitive auctions it is the stronger hands that gain as they can introduce both of their suits more easily. I have a possibly slightly irrational fear that any auction is about to turn competitive, and so would avoid opening 1♣ on #1, but consider it on hand #2 and lean towards it on hands #3 amd #4.

4♥ is pushy but doesn't seem unreasonable ... after all, East does hold 2 aces. I don't think that west is worth anything other than 4♠ over 4♥, though. Too few aces, minimum point count, KQ tight. I suppose it's a case of partnership style. They can't both have bid correctly, but if 4♥ shows a stronger slam try then East is in the wrong and West is clear.

Pass, and I too would have opened 1NT. I think bidding 1NT now should usually be 18-19 balanced.

My first instinct is to double: partner may take it out with some suitable hands. That said, I can also see him leaving it in with some hands that make slam icy. Perhaps 5♣ is better, but I think I still double.

I don't think that that's a good argument for making the bid (possibly carries more weight at matchpoints, but who plays matchpoints?). That said, I'm favourable and in first seat. I don't much like it, but I'm going to bid. Edit: oh, none vulnerable. Will depend on what partner expects, then. Think I'll probably still bid most of the time.

1. 4♣ 2. Think it should probably be natural but I'd be worried about a misunderstanding without discussion. 3. 5♣ and sigh.

East's fault. He should decide how far to preempt over 4♣ and stick with that. Nothing in the following auction is cause for him to seriously reevaluate his hand.

A limit on number of psyches per time period seems faintly ridiculous. Psyches per hand played much more reasonable. I take strong issue with your distinction between psyches and tactical bids, though. The opponents need to be protected against any implicit agreement that bids can mean something other than their stated meaning, whatever the size of the deviation.

Right, but how is he going to let West know about this? It seems (to my naive viewpoint) that there's a significant danger into being endplayed into a spade contract if you bid 2♠ at your second chance.

Doesn't this make Drury a HUM ?

You know, I'm rather tempted to rebid my 8-card suit.

[for quibblers out there Mike has missed a pass off the beginning of the auction; South opened]

Small tripleton ♥ persuades me to pass.

I would have thought that with such a great dummy for ♦s and poor spades that this would be a poor hand for MisIry, and you'd prefer to open it at the 1-level. Do you use MisIry for all 5530 hands with the right number of losers, Ben?

I've done that before (opened 1NT (weak) in 3rd/4th and passed 2♣ with a 6 card suit), and had good results from it.