Robert

HI everyong I am going to take the dog for a walk. Open 1D Regards, Robert

HI Mike777 "Picture Bidding" by Alvin Roth. Multi hue bright colored 'rainbow on the cover' book jacket. Some very good ideas, I adopted a number of them. Roth explains how to open 6-5 weak two bids and his reasoning. This is from Alvin Roth, who only opens 14+HCP one bids. Granovetter uses Trent Two bids showing about 8-12HCP as I recall. Fantoni-Nunes plays @ 9+-13 range as I recall. Hi Kalvan14 Why is it shooting with both barrels when I 'quote your post' to reply? Why is it shooting with both barrels when I 'quote' your source(Max Hardy) to reply? Facts are facts. You are entitled to hold any opinion. If your facts are in error, citing a bridge book (I have 400+ bridge books) will often just lead to me posting a 'correction' of the facts. My comments are constructive. I do cite facts and sources when others sometimes do not. Your 'misquoting' Max Hardy triggered one correction. I do not preempt in 4th seat. I do open decent hands higher than the one level as most experts do in 4th seat. Weak two bids are minimum opening bids in 4th seat. My normal 4th seat opening range is @ 11-13HCP for my Multi 2D opening. "If" you carefully read the beginning of this thread, it asks, "do you open first seat BAM?" I answered what I would do in 1,2,3rd seats. I did not use his methods of opening single suited weak two bids, since I do play Alvin Roth's 'shape' style for weak two bids and I also open using a Multi 2D bid. I read your posts carefully, I would appreciate the same treatment in return before you attempt using your straw man tactics. It would save me from having to correct your posts quite so often. B) You might also want to read Max Hardy's 2/1 book. It has some very good ideas and is also a very well written book. You could learn the correct way to play fast arrrival using the Max Hardy style. B) Regards, Robert

Hi everyone You are rolling dice here. You are supposed to play partner for about 6-9HCP so with the given hand and to protect the club AQ, reopen with 3NT. Regards, Robert

Hi everyone 1NT-2C-2H-3C*-3D*-3H*-4H-p 2C=stayman but might not have 4m(can show assorted shapes later) 2H=4Hs 3C*=shortness in 'a' major 3D*=asks 3H*=short spades 4H=to play Regards, Robert

Hi everyone Multi 2D. Not even close to a one bid and I play a Big Club system. One Ace and three Queens is closer to 9.4HCP in my 'tie breaker' HCP method. A=4.3, K=3.1, Q=1.7 and J=.9 Replace the spade Qxx with the KJx of spades and I open 1H. It also depends on the system, I would open 1H playing Acol. Regards, Robert

Hi Kalvan14 I do not plan on learning your system. B) If you reread your post 109527 "2NT=5-5 minors or 6C and 4D" There is no mention of 4th seat or any other seat opening requirement. I do not try and remember the details of your methods. Why would anyone want to do that? I do comment on your methods when you cite Max Hardy as a source of FA and his 1998 book page 97 examples directly refutes your claim. B) Perhaps if you read 'in detail' the source that you cite, you would draw fewer comments from me. Why would citing facts annoy anyone? Best regards, Robert

Hi Kalvan14 I found my 'yellow cover' copy of Max Hardy's, Two Over One Game Force(revised-expanded)updated for the 1990's. Page 97, example B) KJxxx AJx xx K10x "Opener with Example 48 B) has bid one spade and heard a response of two hearts. Invoking the principle of fast arrival opener next jumps to four hearts to show three card support and minimum values for his opening bid." It certainly 'looks' like three card support and there is 'also' is a minor suit "King." My two bidding examples with the Heart King changed into a minor king do appear to be reasonable example hands contary to your claim. Are you confusing 'picture jumps' and the principle of fast arrival? Same page, "When responder bids two hearts after an opening bid of one spade he promises a five card suit." You did cite Max Hardy for your FA description. In your Post #109668. Regards, Robert

Hi Kalvan14 I sincerely hope that I misunderstood your post. Predictable, like I bid most slams 'virtually every time' by jumping to 4NT? My favorite slam bidding methods use cuebids or Last Train. Obvious to you, but not to someone who 'read your question'. Even 'if' you meant someone else's double 'that they had meant as penalty', you addressed your question to me(by name) and I answered 'that' question. If you do not want me to answer a question, do not direct it to me by using my 'name.' I rarely have any idea of what your bidding means. That is why I tend to post example hands with the same values and 'no chance' for your suggested auction leading to a decent contract. Fast arrival by a good bidder shows minimum values for his previous bidding. It does not deny a side control. If you used 'picture jumps' those bids do 'deny a side control.' You and I both could agree 99.44% that the 2H bid was not the best. :) You might have some different understanding about what 'fast arrival' and 'picture jumps' are, but I know the difference. Difficult for you to 'find' ten spades? 'Obvious' to some players, I was careful to suggest an auction where 2NT 'showed' a 4 card raise. Just that bid alone allows North to 'know' about the combined ten card spade holding. :) If you like to find out about secondary fits, I suggest Romex. They bid 1S-2NT-3H to show a 4 card heart suit and can ask for the remaining shape. It is no sin to bid 2Hs. It is a matter of opinion. What religion gave you the power to absolve sins? :) Some bidders can find out about extra cards in the spade suit. My Grand Slam force bidding can 'show' both +1 and +2 cards longer than promised. :) You are 'almost sure' that I would not find the secondary heart fit. :) I do play 5NT 'pick a slam' and I also play many Romex bidding methods. :) Do not be 'almost sure' about other bidding methods results, just because your methods cannot find a side 4-4 fit using a Jacoby 'type' raise. Many(most) people raise a 2H response with 3(three) card support. Your idea that a 4-4 fit has been found after 1S-2H-3H is not something that most bidders would believe. Please feel free to use any possible methods that you like. I also play a highly modified Jacoby 'type' raise by an 'unpassed' hand. I do not force to game with 12HCP in my methods, but 2/1 was one of the choices and those methods do force to game with 12HCP. Bidding 1S-2H does not solve your problem, it may add to the problem. How you will ever convince your partner that you hold AJ10x of spades and bid 2Hs with a four card suit are only part of your added problems. 'Hinting at four card spade support headed by the AJ10x' and also 'only' holding AKxx in hearts after 1S-2H-3H-4S might not be a bad idea after prior agreement. I would not bid that way. It contradicts your choice of 'not using Jacoby' because you wanted to find a side 4-4 heart fit(which your bidding did not find, you found either a 4-3 or 4-4 heart fit) You also forced to game by jumping to 4Ss on the 'same exact hand' that you 'felt' was not worth a GF Jacoby bid. :) Best regards, Robert

Hi Kalvan14 Have you checked your 'system' bid with your system bid on post 109200 where your system bid shows Axx Jx KQ109xx KJ when you opened 2NT? Now your system bid of 2NT shows 5-5 minors or 6C and 4D. It is all four shapes now? The bidding example hand now is x x Axxx KQJxxxx a 1=1=4=7 hands You are offering partner a choice of minors when you would rather play clubs oppsite 'x' than Diamonds opposite Kxx ? So your system bid shows either Axx Jx KQ109xx KJ or x x Axxx KQJxxxx or assorted 5-5 or 6-4 minors? Precision bidding in action. :P Best regards, Robert

Hi Kalvan14 It is part on many bidding methods. Called a 'responsive double.' I have played it for several decades now. :) Instead of guessing which 4 card major to bid and 'missing' one half of the time, you make a responsive double and let partner pick a 4-4 fit rather than your making a blind guess and often 'picking' a 4-3 or 4-2 or 4-1 fit. :P You actually do 'not' want to make a clear cut penalty double holding this example hand with a decent partner. He would 'trust' you and pass holding a hand that should bid higher with a 4-4(5-4?) heart fit. "If" I do not know the answer, I always try to 'consult' partner rather than a leaping jump tp use RKC. I rarely use RKC and when I do partner 'trusts' me to 'know' that the RKC is the correct systemic bid. So partner knows to pull your 'clear'(?) penalty double with 5-5 majors. What about 5-4 or 4-4 holdings in the major? What about 4M and diamond support? Great 'trust' your partner auction. You double for penalty 'in front of parnter' and he pulls your penalty double. That is 'known' as a cooperative double, 'not' a penalty double. :) Seek and ye shall find, ask and it shall be given unto thee. Happy holidays and best wishes, :) Robert

Hi Kalvan14 Somehow I 'knew' that you would bid 4NT. :) Do you really expect south to bid differently holding AJ10x Axxx Kxx xx or AJ10x Axxx xxx Kx the exact same HCP and controls! If they are playing 'fast arrival', a 3S bid would suggest 'extra' values which are certainly 'not' present. You might also notice that holding @ 8 losers in the 2H hand 'might' strongly suggest a fast arrrival 'jump' to 4S was clear cut. Or do minimum responding hands 'always' cuebid a 2nd round control holding a weakish 4 card suit that partner just raised and @ 'eight' losers? Does either example suggest that your RKC bid was somewhat premature? :P The rest of your post is quite good, except for the comment about reaching slam is harder 'without' the spade Queen. Decent(normal? good?) RKC replies show the Queen 'if' ten cards or more are held in the combined hands. 1S-2NT Jacoby promising 4 card support would be one auction that allowed the spade Queen to be 'shown.' Very good analysis of why 'not' to bid 7M. I agree with those comments 100%. Well done. :) Best regards, Robert

Hi kenberg Wouldn't 3Ss over 3H show 4Ss and diamond tolerance? Partner shouldn't pass a possible 3NT game holding 4 spades and some diamonds. Without some diamond support and without 4Hs, partner has spades and clubs. He couldn't control the auction after 1D-2C-X so shouldn't he pass unless he has 'extra' values? A 4-1 or even a 5-1 spade fit may not play all that well. Hi Kalvan14 Either you play responsive doubles and partner will show his major.(His three spade bid gives you a new additional problem) Or if you do not play responsive doubles, partner will pull your double because he holds short clubs. dcvetkov apparently does play penalty doubles so his double makes some sense. Regards, Robert

Hi Gerardo It was quite evident that a European player was involved or a 'very rich' person that traveled internationally to play in club games. I mentioned 'indirectly' that I was an American and suggested 'what' the situation was here in America. The behavior is universal is my guess, however, the solution is the same 'if' there are a number of clubs to choose from. One of my infrequent partners lives in Maine(U.S.A.) and has to drive two hours to play in a club game in Canada. Best Regards, Robert

Hi everyone A number of people play 1H-3S as a splinter bid. I am one of them. It is not universal, however, is it also not that uncommon with an expert partner. I would not have used it with a pick up partner. His 6S bid must be an 'expert' bid. He doesn't 'know' that 5NT is a GS try here? 1H-3S*-4C-4D-4NT*-5S*-5NT-6C-7H 3S*=splinter 4m=cuebids 4NT*=RKC 5S*=2 Aces plus the trump Queen(five card support=Q) 5NT=Shows all the Aces and is a GS try 6C=specific King(would have bid 7H with KQxxx 'a' source of tricks) 7H Regards, Robert

Hi everyone This behavior happens sometimes. You should mainly ignore their poor behavior. If any comments are made that are untrue, call the TD. Be polite and civil. Any of their bad behavior is not your fault. Some people are just jealous of better players, they cannot accept that another pair does better because of their advanced bridge skills. You might want to check out other clubs, there are no shortage of them in America. Take your money elsewhere and support a club where you are treated better. Regards, Robert

Hi helene t You have been doing the bulk of the work. You deserve the vast bulk of any thanks. Well done. ;) I was just trying to help out a 'little.' Assuming that a player 'knows' that he is playing a 1C* forcing system, s/he should be able to count the number of suits bid 'without' counting the 1C* bid as a natural suit for 4th suit forcing bidding. I learned Blue Team Club system several decades ago and many of their bidding ideas still remain in my current methods.(A Big Club system with 2/1 GF) 1M-2D- played as 'forcing' to 2NT allows opener to bid 1M-2D-2M 'waiting' and 1M-2D-3D as GF. If you do not play something like this method, the Precision system cannot bid some(many?) normal hand types. 1S-2H-3H is still passable. You could switch to a 2/1 GF style, but I am not sure that the system would still be Precision, since 'Precision' opens 11HCP hands and responds with the same 11HCP at the two level. I no longer refer to my Big Club system as Precision 'like' because the only thing left from playing 'book' Precision is the 5 card major opening. :) Regards, Robert

Hi everyone Alvin Roth says to open weak two bids with 6-5 shape and rebid the second suit when the auction comes back to you(if a reasonable chance is available) I do not believe that either hand will be passed out in 2Ss. Partner should be informed of your bidding methods, before you try this one. ;) Regards, Robert

Hi MickeyB I tend to disagree with your idea that 1NT responses lose IMPs. If you have good judgment and assorted playable methods, the 1NT 'fills' a hole in the system methods. I might have agreed with you 'before' I added my version of the Anti Bart convention to my bidding arsenal, but the results have been very good. I use many Roth like bids after the 1NT response, I can make slam trys 'at or below 3NT' and my system can also stop in 2M after making a 3 card major raise with a 10-11 dummy points. Results, Robert

Hi everyone Some experts have some very strange bidding ideas. Just look at bidding contests with a top level expert pair. One says, "sign off', the other says, "invites slam." In a long match of 64 boards, his advice would determine the play in very few boards(looks like slightly more than 3% chance for the 5-0 break and this would only apply to game contracts with 5 outstanding trumps, since hands with 9+ trumps would not count in our survey) Winning one imp 1-2 times vs losing 11 tricks "once" is a gamble that I would not take. Empty a revolver, replace one bullet and spin the chamber. The odds are six one that you can place the pistol against your temple and 'win.' A single loss will "not" make up for the 'one' losing option. Assuming the experts at the other table are following 'book' play, you will always tie by taking the safety play. By gambling you might win one IMP, but the penalty for being wrong is a game swing. "Death Wish" type tactics at IMPs. Regards, Robert

Hi Fluffy I happen to also disagree with you on several points. :) 4C is indeed an slight overbid, we agree on that. I think that it is also a serious overbid holding "eight losers." The Queen of diamonds is normally waste paper so you are left with 9HCP, no spot cards and two doubletons. A 3S raise on 6HCP is not standard bidding. 8-9 points maybe, they still have Red cards in some bidding boxes. You saw a possible problem at the five level and so you decided that "overbidding" was the answer. How often do you hold 11HCP, you hear partner open and you now envision a five level problem that the answer will not normally be to double. You are still looking at an "eight loser" hand. :) Hi Kalvan14 Why I would not expect you to bid a forcing 4C bid with an eight loser hand? The Diamond Queen is often waste paper so you are looking at 9HCP and two doubletons with "eight losers." Was it the wealth of spot cards in the two black suits that suggested forcing to game? A pair of sevens is not very good hand even in a poker game. Looking at 11HCP opposite an opening bid suggested to you that the other pair would bid to the five level and that a double would not normally suggest defensive values? If you play 3H here as a limit raise, why not show trump support and a 'almost' a limit raise? Or perhaps bid 3Ss to suggest a solid single raise? You forced to game to show AJxxx of clubs and an "eight loser" hand? The losing trick count suggests inviting game with seven losers opposite an opening bid. You have "eight losers" and no spot cards. None. Zero. Nada! Your highest spot cards is that lovely pair of sevens. :( Passed hands do not have to make ten tricks when they force partner to the four level in what version of bridge? Regards, Robert

Hi everyone I would not have bid 4S the first time. A broken suit even with eight trumps is not a textbook example of a 4S overcall. At my second turn after partner showed some decent values, 4S seems a fair gamble. What is the range for the 1NT reply? I play 9-11 by a passed hand. My overcall range starts at 8+ opposite an unpassed partner and falls considerably opposite a passed partner. If dummy hits with void spades and diamond cards, I will offer my apology to partner. Wasn't it Goren who said, "If you are not going for a large penalty every once in a while, you are not bidding enough." Regards, Robert

Hi everyone I pass. Some will bid here and get a good result. That should not happen too often. Meckwell plays 1M-4M might be normal 5+ trumps 'or' a weak NT type of hand. They recently 'plucked' a +800 penalty out of thin air when one pair bid anyway. I think that this method was listed with the FD methods for 'simple' Precision. Shortly after reading it about this method, I switched to this dual meaning tactic. My current method is a Big Club system. If the 'dual meaning' method gains more widespread use, bidding with the example hand should be greatly reduced. Regards, Robert

Hi everyone It is much easier to count 'if' we are told which player played 'what diamond' to win the first two diamond tricks. Sometimes you can make an informed guess in another suit 'if' you can count up the HCP in one or both of the other pairs hands. Regards, Robert

Hi everyone What was 4Cs? If it was fit showing, it lacks a great deal of texture and at least one more black card. A 3S bid would have 'shown' this hand and partner could make an 'informed decision' about the 5 level 'knowing about trump support for his suit.' Partner did make a forcing pass to suggest bidding higher, however, the problem remains that you do not have the values for your first bid(4Cs) You fixed yourself with that 4C bid, so double now and you will often be correct. Next time support partner with the values to bid to that level(a 3S raise) The five level 'belongs' to the other pair. If your pair should have bid to the 5 level on this hand, your earlier 3S bid would have allowed partner to bid it. Regards, Robert

Hi kgr Over 3Cs some pairs play Leaping Michaels showing 5-5+ diamonds plus a major suit. 3C-4D* and responder bids 4H for pass or correct 'if' suitable. Over a weak two type bid many pairs play Leaping Michaels showing 5-5+ in the bid minor plus a major suit. If a major is shown by the opening bid, both suits are known after the 4m bid. Over a weak two bid or Muiderberg, double is takeout and many pairs use a 2NT bid by responder as a puppet to 3C to sign off here in any lower suit. This makes any 3 level non jump bid show @8-11HCP 4th suit openings at the two level are subject to partnership agreements. My agreement is that a 'weak' two bid in 4th are @ 10+-13HCP. I play a Big Club system so my 1M-any-2M in 4th seat would now show 14-15HCP. Muiderberg in 4th seat should show about the same range 10+-13HCP. If you are weaker than 10*HCP just pass. Doubles in 4th and rebidding NT should show whatever range is 'missing' from your reopening 1NT. Jumps to 2NT in 4th seat 'do not' show the lower two unbid suits. That is a natural NT bid by most partnerships. If you play double and rebid 1NT with 15-17, a 2NT bid in 4th seat would show 18-20(-)HCP. I would prefer to play both of these ranges as slightly stronger @ 16-18 and 19-20 to avoid some bidding problems. You can widen your balancing 1NT to 12-15 or widen your double followed by 1NT to 15-18 to cover all of the HCP ranges. Regards, Robert