pbleighton

I would have bid 1NT, not 2D, though 2D isn't terrible. Assuming 2D is weak, I don't see the point of 3C, with a 16 count, a pretty bad 6 card suit. a partner who has denied 10 hcp, and 2 opps who have bid contructively. You'll miss a few games by passing, but not many. Peter

Tourneys are much better than the MBC. Peter

What hand does pd have for 4S? I assume something like KQJ8xx and out. With a decent 6 card suit and slam interest he would bid 3S. With a minimum hand and a 6 card suit he would rebid 2S. I therefore pass. If you interpret 4S differently you might push on. Peter

North needs to accept. His hand isn't quite good enough for a Drury 2C. Peter

Mike, every once in a while I completely agree with one of your posts. I'm not sure how this happens :) Peter

Yes, that is what you do. Can play 14+-17 also, and just pass flat 13 counts after 1NT. Peter

5C. You have to bid these games, though they frequently go down :P Peter

This can be true, however, if you are willing to open 1NT with 5 card majors consistently, and play Flannery, 2m will always be 4+ cards. With balanced hands opener passes the minimums and rebids 2NT with the maximums. This creates very clean auctions. Peter

Because the hand isn't strong enough. Peter

Aelred, you had BETTER not play money bridge against competent opponents. The Anonymous Bridge God has spoken! Peter

Why you should, in theory, open 1M more soundly in 2/1 vs SAYC (a little): 1NT forcing handles invitational hands poorly, as the opener's 2m rebid is artificial, and in the absence of 3 card support, usually the only invitation available on the respnder's rebid is 2NT. 2/1 aouctions, OTOH, are very nice. In 2/1, also, you have to make an immediate decision, whereas in SAYC, you can wait a round and see partner's rebid before you decide whther to press to game. This encourages responder to make a 2/1 responses with marginal hands. It's therefore helpful for the opener to have a better hand. One possibility to mitigate this is to play 1NT as semi-forcing, so that a 2m rebid shows 4+ cards (you have to play Flannery to guarantee this over 1H-1NT). Peter (who opens nice 11 counts and great 10 counts playing 2/1 with 1 NT forcing)

3S. Peter

If you open this hand (which is an average balanced 11 count) playing standard methods, you should play a 14-16 or 14-17 NT range, to narrow the 1NT rebid range to 11-13. You should also figure out what your weak, invitational, and GF ranges are. 13 counts are an issue opening light. If you don't go to game, you will miss a bunch of games, if you do, you will get too high sometimes. I recommend 6-10, 11-12, and 13+. You should also: 1. Bid consistently. If you open average balanced 11 counts in the first two seats, you should always do so. 2. Your partner should play the same way. Don't inflict a light opening style on an unsuspecting pickup partner. Some thoughts: Consider opening lighter in the majors than the minors. There's a lt more upside as far as preemption and immdiate fit. Consider a strong club, it's made for light openings. Consider an 11-14 NT range. Your system will change a bit, and the wide range can be a bit sloppy, but you can open a lot of hands without impairing your 1 of a minor bids. If you do this, it's a good idea to keep your 1m bids up to snuff (12 unbalanced, 15 balanced). You can open light in the majors, as long as you avoid 2/1 GF. Playing that 1M-2x-2M is a minimum bid that would accept an invitation to 3NT, and which is frequently 5 cards, is an Acol treatment which is useful with light major suit openers. Peter

I would have opened. This is, of course, about style. I virtually never rebid 1NT with stiff, which means that I have rebid FAR worse 5 card suits than KQJ106. The hand also looks like a decent 11 to me. So in my partnerships, the bidding goes 1C-1H-2C-3H. In the given auction, I rebid 3H as responder. No other call occurs to me. You have an invitational hand with a 6 card major with a couple of honors and likely 2+ hearts from partner. Yeah, you'd like a better suit, but... Peter

If your agreements allow 1S (it's a little unclear), I would bid it. Otherwise, I would bid 1NT. I would never pass with this hand. In the given auction, 4S makes no sense. Your delayed 1S shows (to my mind) less than 7 hcp and 4 spades. Blame attaches to both partners here. Peter

That's what I would do with this hand. As to the auction, 4NT is overboard. Pd can have a bare minimum, and 5 spades (as here). Id bid 3NT. Peter

You wouldn't have the nerve.... Peter

Probably 1D-1S-2C-3C-5C (though 3NT is a possibility at matchpoints), leaving the 24 point slam on the table. I'm sure there will be posters who find it :P Peter

5S. As others have said, 4S shows a great hand for declaring spades. Peter

LOL. Mike, you're having one of those *other* days, aren't you? Peter

Agree. Peter

And "weird m*****ing s**t" violates zero tolerance :P Peter

Quite a few players have stopped playing 2/1 promising a rebid. A new suit or a jump by opener is forcing, but the sequences 1M-2x-3x, 1M-2x-2NT, and 1M-2x-2M can all be played as not forcing. I play 1M-2x-3x and 1M-2x-2M as NF (1M-2x-2NT is GF, 1M-2x-2M is a min with 5+ cards, Acol style), and a teaching pro I know (a good player) teaches his students that all 3 are NF. 2/1 promising a rebid made sense when opening bids had 13 (excellent 12), and the 2/1 response had 11, but with lighter opening bids and responses, it's nice to have a bid or three to show a minimum hand. Peter

I play a version of it, but I'm not capable of having great success with any system :blink: Pick your poison. I prefer to play a modification of EHAA, as follows: 1NT = 10-13, with 14-16 in the 4th seat. 1 bids are 13+ unbalanced (occasionnally a really good 12, but not often) 2 bids are 9-12 (the 9 counts aren't bad, the 12 counts aren't great. The reduced range of the 2 bids lets you bid games a LOT better. I use 2x-2NT as a game forcing relay, where opener just rebids his shape naturally. Hands with 4 card major side suits are handled much better this way, including those with 5-4 in the majors. I will open 5-4 in the majors with 12 hcp and the points in the right place at the one level, other than that I open at the 2 level or 1NT if 5422. A new suit at the 2 level is a bailout, as in traditional EHAA, but a new suit at the 3 level is game forcing. Peter

Ditto. Peter