jdeegan

:) Too bad. Double dummy you can beat 1NT by two tricks for +200.

:) 4♥. Wtp? Hate my 4-3-3-3 shape, but no sign of a second club stop.

:) 5♦. Chances are my pretty club holding will be little better than six small in a diamond contract, so I don't have that great of a hand. Partner does show a great playing hand, and we might actually make six, but I think the odds are severely against that. Partner holds only 2 or 3 cards outside his suits, and the odds favor a doubleton heart, and the other live possibility is a 1-1 'mirror' holding - not good for our offense. A 'free' 5♦ call strikes me as 'just right' - thank you for bidding 4♥ RHO.

:P In my humble opinion, responder is totally to blame given that opener bid 4♥ over 3♥. I may be old fashioned, but on hands with no running suit as a source of tricks, I like to apply point count analysis during the auction just to see what ball park we are in. On this basis, responder hjas 16 HCP plus a stiff spade worth maybe three dummy points for a total of 19. The club suit is nice, but not a sure source of lots of tricks. Opener's 4♥ call advertises a min. More important, after RKC you know he has the diamond ace, but didn't like his hand well enough to cue bid it over your 3♥. This bespeaks a hand worth 12-15 dummy points. 15 plus 19 = 34, not grand slam territory. It indicates that 13 tricks will be a stretch. On a finesse or worse - the actual hand

:unsure: Red vs White, MP scoring. The auction goes: P on your left, 1♣ by partner, dbl by RHO, 2♣ by you, 2♦ on your left, dbl by pard. What is going on? What kind of hand does partner have? What do I bid now?[hv=d=e&v=n&s=sq9h7632dj74ckq98]133|100|Scoring: MP P-1♣-dbl-2♣- 2♦-dbl-P-??[/hv]

:D The responsive doubler with 3-3-3-4 shape and the king of spades knows that unless pard has a big hand (in such case he will reopen in the pass out seat) the only possible 8+ card fit is in clubs or just maybe a diamond 5-3 or a heart 5-3 where pard's hearts are too weak to overcall. So, what are the odds that partner holds four or five clubs or five diamonds or five bad hearts? Pretty good, but not 15-1. 0-4-5-4 0-4-4-5 1-4-4-4 1-4-5-3 1-4-3-5 2-4-3-4 2-4-5-2 2-4-5-2 Leaving out a few less probable shapes it looks like around 3 of 4 on a frequency-adjusted basis. Three additional points, * the spade king is liable to reduce total tricks so that we go down when 2 spades won't make either even though we have an eight card fit * prospects that 2 spades doubled is best for us is not good * pard may reopen if I pass Should the reponsive double option be viewed with extra caution by a four triple three hand?

:o "Beauty is in the eye.....". "Perfect" bidding has me competing to the three level in a weak 4-3 fit with the tap in the long hand. This would never have happened w/o the responsive double, so I am led to believe that either that convention is bad or that (most likely) it was misused. Isn't it supposed to show length in the unbid suits? But on this hand the responsive doubler had only one moderate 4 bagger. Indeed, when looking at the north hand, disaster looks to be a favorite after the responsive double. The only POSSIBLE decent landing spot is 3♣ (assuming pard has four), and it may not be there. 3-4 in the minors is a wholly different proposition than 4-4 which would almost guarantee an eight card fit. To me, it is clear that a responsive (card showing?) double with that hand is a terrible bid. It courts disaster unless partner has four clubs or five diamonds or five hearts. Why on earth would you want your side to declare when you are 3-3-3-4 and 30% or your strength is in the opponents' suit? Card showing doubles seem to work OK in the hands of really good players, but here anyone can see that a double, call it card showing or responsive as you like, is a likely ticket to average minus or worse. P.S. I was only kidding about bidding 2 NT to play with the south hand. It should be pick a minor as several commentators have pointed out.

[hv=d=w&v=n&n=sk76hat3dj93cq972&s=sathj974dk765caj3]133|200|Scoring: MP P-P-1♠-Dbl-2♠-Dbl-P-???[/hv] :) Pard did make a responsive double, and unless I guess to bid 2NT, disaster follows. I actually bid 3♦ and ended up in a ridiculous contract. How do you think the auction should have gone? Is 2NT the correct bid? If so, why? What exactly does pard's double advertise in this auction?

#1 [hv=d=s&v=n&s=saq953h6dk6cq7643]133|100|Scoring: MP ???[/hv] Minimum with broken suits #2 [hv=d=s&v=n&s=saq953h6dk6cq7643]133|100|Scoring: MP ???[/hv] Minimum with good playing strength #3 [hv=d=s&v=n&s=saq953h6dk6cq7643]133|100|Scoring: MP ???[/hv] Strong #4 [hv=d=s&v=n&s=saq953h6dk6cq7643]133|100|Scoring: MP ???[/hv] Strongest Playing SAYC, which, if any, of these hands would you open with 1♣

;) 5♣. Understanding that if pard's values are in clubs, even 5♥ may be too high. Pard, if he is looking at the club ace, should realize that my 5♣ is a void and bid 5♥ which I will pass. If he does have one or more of the red kings and the spade ace, he will bid 5♠, and we will, perforce, be in six which ought to have a good play unless too much is wasted in clubs (e.g. the KQ). A close second choice after 4♥ is a pass. Not going down in 5♥ has a reasonable chance to be a winner on this hand, IMO. e.g. x Kxxx xxx AKxxx

B) I think one needs the Gerber convention in the same way one needs the 5NT grand slam force. It comes up rarely, but when it does, nothing else is likely to do and lots of points are at stake. You need it only when partner opens some number of NT and you have a long running suit as a source of tricks. In the example given above, declarer should be off two aces. Responder might hold: xx xx AKQJxxxx x I suspect your somewhat confused diamond life master also holds some form of longevity award.

[hv=d=e&v=n&s=sk76hat4dj95cq973]133|100|Scoring: MP P-P-1♠-Dbl-2♠-???[/hv] ;) Your bid

:lol: Even if I take the reasonable position that partner does not have a spade card, the opps still have one or two picture cards between them, so bidding seven is out even if it makes on a hook. Pard already knows about my four hearts. The choice, to me, is between a timid 5♣ or a bolder 6♣. Bidding 5♠ could land us in a 4-3 ♦ fit and it is only necessary to play this hand in diamonds in order to find a fit if pard is specifically 3-3-5-2. It sounds like the opps are favored to have 10 spades, so this hand is very unlikely. Put me down for a cheerful 6♣.

[hv=d=s&v=n&n=sjt8ha2dakq7632c9&s=sa4hkq64d98cak765]133|200|Scoring: IMP 1♣-P-1♦-1♥-P-P-3NT-P-P-P[/hv] :( :D :P I hereby promise that in any future indy event I will ALWAYS open the south hand for 1NT :P :P :P Just for fun, how would you suggest that a competent pair playing plain vanilla SAYC bid the hands after a 1♣ opener by south? P.S. I enjoyed FrancesHinden and pclayton's comments, and I tend to agree with that analysis. One thing I do know for certain: never open 5-4-2-2 shape for 1NT when playing the 10-12 HCP Kamakazi NT opening. The results are too often brutal. The Law of Total Tricks does not protect you to the normal extent as there is a significantly higher probability of deals with a low number of total tricks.

[hv=d=s&v=n&s=sa4hkq63d98cak765]133|100|Scoring: IMP 1♣-pass-1♦-1♥ - ???[/hv] :angry: Playing with an unknown supposed BBO expert in an individual tourney

:angry: 7-5 hands play dreadfully in the five bagger unless pard has four card support because you get tapped out and trumps figure to be 4-1. I agree with the expert opinion. Pick the number of clubs you think we can make and bid it.

:P Seems pretty clear to me. 4♣ isn't really a very good bid with only seven pieces and a possible outside defensive trick, but is OK esp. against moderate opposition. 5♣ is fine, although any bid from pass to 6♣ could be justified based on table feel. If LHO's body language is aggressive, then 6♣ or even an off the wall 4♠ might work. :angry: The real no, no, no is the 7♣ repreempt. For that to be right you need a really exotic hand and this ain't even close to that.

:huh: Being a simple country lad, all I really know is that partner is still interested in seven because of his 6♣ bid. He must really have spades because of his original negative double. Since I don't see the diamond ace in my hand and my heart void has been shown, so I am going to bid 6♠.

:huh: Geez Louise. Bidding 4♣ on this apparent misfit hand is bad. Bidding it after pard's hesitation is worse. Your 3♥ bid showed your hand, and partner's final (but slow) pass declined a game try. How bad are the opponents' doubles? IMO not so egregious as to constitute a 'failure to play bridge'. I hate adjusting boards because of hesitations, but this one is a clear cut 'job' and needs a remedy.

:huh: I am still a little confused as to what south's double showed. What would a pass have meant? More high cards than the actual south hand or less? Regardless, north has a dilemma - a preemptive hand but with a likely trump trick. At MP the premium is for guessing exactly right; there is no 'insurance' to take out against the opponents possible -620. The fact that a 5♥ 'save' should be cheap means little if 4♠ does not make. 4♠ down one doubled for +200 should be a near top, while 5♥ down one for -50 or -100 rates to be well below average. On that basis, a pass has a lot to gain (or lose). 5♥ figures to be below average except in the rather rare instances where it makes. I like a pass with the north hand for three reasons - the probable trump trick, the heart ace, the 4-5-2-2 shape (as opposed to 4-5-3-1, etc.). In a weird sort of way I see north as 'fixed' by the opponents' enterprising 4♠ bid. A pass has, I think at best, a 50-50 chance for an expectancy of a 50% board (or less). 5♥ has an even lower expectancy. Applying Mike and Anders' evaluation method (from I Fought the Law) clarifies why the 4-5-2-2 shape is so bad. From north's point of view, we appear to have 13-3-1 = 9 tricks. They likely have 13-3-0 = 10 minus the spade trick (maybe) - a 50-50 shot at best. I don't see much blame to apportion here - whether 4♠ goes down or makes is pretty much a pure guess from north's perspective.

<_< 4♠. An easy problem. I have a near max for my bidding but a terrible hand for slam. So, bid the game straightaway so as to do nothing to encourage slam.

<_< Dynamite problem. A 'bread and butter' bidding situation with excellent players replying with answers all over the map. As a notorious result player, I have to agree with Winstonm. Two NT or 3♣ are the best spots, and his auction gives us the best chance to settle there. His analysis is pretty good too.

as usual if 2h says...14-15 hcp, 3QT and 6 card suit you are fine. 2D can say more. What does 1h say? <_< A typical weak hand for the 2♥ bid would range from (10 HCP): xx KQ10xxx AJ9 xx up to (13 HCP): Jx AJ98xx AQJx x a three heart bid ought to look like (16 HCP): Kx AKJ10xx AJ8x x the 'in between' 2♦ call is designed to let me bid 4♥ over a 2NT call, 3♥ over a 2♥ preference or a 3♦ raise. Granted, I would like to have stronger diamonds. If partner has a scattered 9-11 HCP, I want to be in game with the given hand (14 HCP) opposite: Kxx Qx KJx J10xxx which is 10 HCP w/o much of a fit. If pard gives me a 2♥ preference, I will raise to 3♥ and play there making three opposite Jxx xx KJ10 Qxxxx or be in 4♥ making opposite Axx xx KJ10 Qxxxx If you like Mike and Anders' I Fought the Law evaluation, you will correctly deduce that because of its splendid distribution, this hand will make 4♥ opposite 6 HCP IF they are all working (e.g. KJ of diamonds and the heart queen). Given only a choice, I think I would sooner bid 3♥ than 2♥

:rolleyes: You should have opened with 2♣. Failing that, reopen with 2♦. You want to be in ♣ unless partner is specifically 3-3-4-3 with no high cards. If pard has 4 clubs, you want to be in five if he has as much as a spare working queen, and you have some play for five opposite no high cards at all. Even so, you are still at the party with this wretched bidding sequence. All you need do is bid 3♦ now and guess whether to pass or raise to five when pard bids 4♣. That will strictly be a guess and would depend on the state of the match, table feel, etc.

:rolleyes: I was taught by some of Louisiana's best players a few years ago that at IMPs 2♦ is the proper bid with a 6-4 hand that is much better than a min, but not good enough for 3♥. The idea is that you do get to game opposite pard's 9 to 11 count and doubleton heart after he raises diamonds or bids 2 NT. My unenterprising 2♥ rebid cost me a vul game swing in the finals of a state championship team event.