pbleighton

You'd still need security measures even if the protesters were all non-violent. You have a LARGE number of people who wish to protest against globalization. I don't wish to join them, since I see globalization as both inevitable and as generally beneficial (though I have been laid off because of it :P ). However, I have no problem with non-violent protests. Ithink think political protests are a good thing. As to the very small number of violent protesters, too bad, but go to a soccer game and you see the same thing. Peter

Who knows? Who cares? Peter

I find the auction confusing. Opener probably shows 3514 with his first 3 bids. OK, then I guess with 4D it's now 2524 with two good doubletons. Is this a minimum hand, pushing pd to bid 3NT by showing a spade stopper? In which case why bid 4D. Are clubs a fragment? I'm going to make the assumption that partner has not made a mistake. He kept the auction going for a long time, some sort of twisted slow arrival. 4D sets trump, and shows slam interest. Therefore 4N must be key card, notrump being ruled out as the strain. 4D instead of 3S is a strong bid. Many will play it as RKC, but maybe this pair hadn't agreed on it, and the 4D bidder was unwilling to risk it. I would read 4S over 4D as a cue. I'm really guessing here. Peter

Nothing vague about me.... :) Peter

Agree. I hate constructive 2M raises. Peter

Mike, no one claimed that it hasn't happened. It does happen, but it's a very small number of boards compared to the mini openers, an *acceptable cost*. As to the 13-16, that would be more problematic, which is why I play a 10-13. I thought about 11-13, but greed won out B) The 10 counts are a big enough winner on partscores and when the opps have the cards that I can stand the occasional overbids/underbids, though the number is larger than it would be in 13-16. You may well be right that 11-13 is theoretically better (or better against good opps). I won't give up the joy of opening flat 10 counts, at least for now. Curious, why? Yeah, bummer, dude :P Peter

And if your opponents never bid, this would be determinate. However... Peter

Ahem. It's a simple fact of bridge that if you pass (as most do with balanced 10-11 counts), the opps frequently get in and make life difficult for you in the partscore battle. Do you really not understand this? It's another simple fact of bridge that the partscore battle is frequently a race to 1NT. I'm not disputing your math. I'm standing by my assertion (based on playing the mini a LOT) that it is rarely an issue. That's actually not what you said, however, in any case, your restatement is false. Most of the good results of the mini are NOT due to the opponents do not know how to do the right thing. As to a runout structure, we use Meckwell. It works for us, as well as... :rolleyes: Again, quite an assertion. I noticed that you didn't respond to my question about your experience with the mini. This confirms my suspicions... BTW, how do you explain the fact that some of the best pairs in the world play the mini. Meckwell and Cohen-Berkowitz both played it for years. I believe Auken is currently playing it. If it's as ineffective as you (with no proof) claim, why would they do it? This reminds me of your rant against light openers. Lots of smoke :P Peter

Close. 4s, because it's vulnerable at imps. Otherwise I would pass, reluctantly. Peter

Your remarkably one sided and ill-informed post. It's true the mini can hide a fit, but it has less of a problem with this than 12-14, since the majority of hands opened in the mini are passed in standard bidding, and frequently you can't find your fit because the opps are in there. I play 10-13, with a rebid showing 14-16, and a jump rebid showing 17-19. The problems caused by 17-19 are very rare. That's a hell of an assumption, that pairs who play the mini don't care about better skills. I agree that X should be penalty. However, playing a runout system, we rarely get penalized. We also find the mini to be a significant net winner. Equity is not restored. How much have you actually played the mini? I've played it regularly for the last 3.5 years, and your post, while it makes some technically accurate points, seems to be of the *I don't worry about that crap, real bridge players don't play (fill in the blanks)* variety. In particular, your comment: "The easiest NT range to X "into oblivion and beyond"." strikes me as coming from someone who really doesn't know what he's talking about. Runouts work (usually). Peter

ROFL. Peter

To avoid pissing off your partner. As I said, this isn't importnant to everyone. Peter

There is another factor to consider, though some may think it irrelevant. Many people don't like their partners to upgrade or downgrade. If you are playing with a pickup partner, you are better off sticking to the agreed range. With a regular partner, discuss upgrading and downgrading in general, not just NT openers. Peter

OK, then I blame no one. Peter

No. In general, what your questions are lacking is the importance of a source of tricks in the responder's hand, as well as intermediate cards. As an example, let's say your partner opens a 15-17 NT. Here are some hands to evaluate. For convenience, none of them have a 4 card major or a huge minor suit, so you are talking about a raise to 2NT or 3NT: 1. K32-K42-Q753-Q62 2. K102-K92-Q1093-Q102 3. K2-64-KQJ103-J102 4. K10-109-KQJ107-1092 5. J10-109-KQJ1072-109 The fist three hands are all balanced aceless 10 counts, but have big difference in playing strength. 1 has no shape, no intermediates, and no honors working together. I would downgrade it to 9 and bid 2NT. 2 has a bunch of intermediates, and will probably take a trick (or even two tricks) more than 1. I would feel happy to raise this to 3NT. 3 has a source of tricks in the diamond suit. I like this even better than 3, in spite of the missing heart stopper. 4 has only 9 points, but is a clear raise to 3NT because of the intermediates and suit. 5 has only 7 points, but I would raise to 3NT (some wouldn't) because of the intermediates and good 6 card suit. It may not be *worth* 3NT, but with hands with long suits, experience shows that most of the time you will either score big with the suit and make 3 (or more), or the opps will run a suit and you will make 1 (or less). Peter

What are the minimum and maximum hands for 2S? Peter

This depends on your agreements. For me, 2S denies 3 hearts. Support with support. Peter

2H. If you play 2H as constructive, this is a hand that may help you see the error of your ways ;) Peter

Board 1 seems to me to be dead normal bidding. Sout would push, if either would, but it's matchpoints. Maybe I would vul at imps, but probably not even then. Board 2 is not quite as simple, but I think the bidding is reasonable. South could have bid 3C, but I probably would have passed. Peter

Ohhh....so.....close.... :angry: Peter

While there may be some truth to these opinions, I don't find them useful (even though there is a part of me that agrees with them). They do boil down to prejudice. Being human, we all have prejudices. There are basically two responses you can have to your own prejudices: 1. *I'm not a bigot, I'm a realist* 2. *I will try to do better* I wish I could say I always took the second approach. Peter

It shows 5 cards. Pd will generally not raise with 3. Peter

Ditto. Peter

edit, misread post. I would play 14-16 instead of 13-15 as the vul opener. You can also play 10-12 at all vuls in 1-3, if you have the b***s. Not for everyone :) Play the one heart relay (1C-1D-1H forces 1S, then opener shows hearts or balanced). Then not vul 1C-1D-1NT = 16-18, 1C-1D-1H-1S-1NT = 19-21, 1C-1D-2NT = 22-24, and 1C-1D-1H-1S-1NT = 25+. The 2NT opener = some preempt, as in both minors. Peter

No it's not. But it's close. Peter