joshs

2C-2S-3C-3H-3S-3N has to be natural, and is probably the correct bid... Partner will almost always pass, but not always.

Yeah but if you instead form the partition function and compute EXP[-rank] and use that as a players score. Then 1'st place is only 1/e and last is still a little bit better than 0 (the guy who didn't even come out to play). Now that doesn't feel as bad! Physics geeks rule!

I normally use cohen-berk also (I like having a forcing 2M bid) but wasn't certain at the table with a non-regular partner if 2S was forcing (its pretty non-standard in precision). We didn't have much time to discuss all the details of our fancy club system and I was not sure how much of my notes we were actually playing... Its also not clear what to do next after 2C-2S-3C-3H-3S (not what would happen here).

I was 99.5% sure that partner had a void (how could he possibly have anything resembling a 2C opener otherwise? Is J AKQ KQ KQTxxxx a 2C opener???) and 98.5% sure that he had a spade void, but as a torturer of small children and bridge partner's alike, I tried the torture bid of 6D. I felt in this auction, that 6D was a 6N bid with interest in 7C. Partner, not liking his void for playing 6N was forced to bid 7C! Ha. Well, as it turns out, I was 98.5% wrong. He had a void, but it was in hearts! I am glad no one bid 6N.... He had A - KQx KQT9xxxxx Not my idea of a 2C opening, but it did get us to the grand.... Actually, 1C-1S-5C-5D-5N-7C works fine. As does, 1C-1S-2D-3C-5C-5D-5N-7C.

How can someone named fluffy underlead an ace? You might have to change your name to tiger.

Well it all depends on what you care about. Personally, my biggest thrills in bridge didn't involve winning many masterpoints, and actually didn't involve a high national finish (although if/when I actually win a national event I will be excited). My biggest thrills were back when I was first starting to play competative bridge in DC. DC had a team league which consisted of a 4-5 league round robin, followed by 2 teams from each league advancing to the KO stage. I was trying to form a team with my two regular partners (Bob Kerchner and Ken Katzner) and asked Hugh Grosvenor, who had just moved to DC from australia, to play on our team (I knew who he was since I used to read Ron Klinger's bridge columns). Hugh agreed, and then Steve Robinson tried to talk him out of playing with us, being a bunch of palukas! Anyway, Hugh played anyway, we had a mediocre regular season but did well enough to advance to the KO's. We beat an excellent team (Earl Glickstein, Jeff Roman, etc.) in the quarterfinals. And then beat Stevie's team of national and world champions in the semis. Now that was a great moment. But don't ask me about our melt down in the finals... :lol: My other great thrill was day 2 of the reisinger in boston. We did very badly that day, but it was my first time playing in such a great event. We did have our moments that day. I will never forget bidding to a 7H contract on a 4-4 fit and only 29 high where the main issue was diagnosising the spade position of Jxxxx opposite a stiff A after Bob had opened 1S. We bid up to 7H against Hammon and Soloway and scored it up in front of 20 kibbutzers. That meckwell pair only got to 7C. (7C was close to 90% and 7H was only about 65% so its hard to say where you wanted to be at BAM considering you only had 29 high). Now that was fun! It was those two events where I discovered that I really could play with the big boys. That meant so much more to me than masterpoints.

Well its also that clients are typically on a 6-person team. So they can "win" while playing only half the time, and while playing being only 1/4 of the team. Hence, they have a 1/8 effect on the result. In pairs, a client is half the result. Hence, if you have money to hire good pros, you are: 7/8 pro at teams 1/2 pro at pairs Of course, its also much more expensive to hire a team of pros than just 1 pro...

You play 14-16 NT in 1/2 but don't open balanced 11's?

CA, and hope partner has a trump trick or I can give him a club ruff. I have too many clubs for a low club to be right.

There are many silly things about how masterpoints are awarded. For instance, in the albuquerque sectional we allways have a 3 session KO. Typical MPS awarded for each win: Round 1: 1 Round 2: 8 Round 3: 3 This is also typical for regional KO's where you often see the following pattern: Round 1: 1 Round 2: 17 Round 3: 9 Round 4: 9 Somehow, points do not correlate with the "increasing difficulty". At least statistically, the team you face in the final is stronger than the team you face in round 2... Whatever...

"There is really nothing more to say -- except why. But since why is difficult to handle, one must take refuge in how. " - Toni Morisson

2N is INV opposite partner's 7-10 point hand (about what 1N shows, modify range if necessary). It doesn't strictly speaking have to be balanced since partner has already shown a stopper.

Tiddlywinks.

I usually play: 1N-2H(x-fer): 3C,3D,3H = Doubleton without the Q (or the AK, KJ, AJ). Max hand. 4 trumps 2N = 4 trumps, max, no offensive doubleton 3S= Good Min, 4 trumps, offensive doubleton. 2S=Everything Else So this hand is a classic example of a 3S bid for me.

Wasn't the father also in The Wedding Banquet? But I agree, that movie was superb. Ang Lee has done everything from Jane Austen (Sense and Sensibility) to action (The Hulk and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Tiger). In between he's thrown in westerns (Ride with the Devil, which I actually haven't seen) and gay dramas and comedies (Brokeback Mountain and The Wedding Banquet, respectively). Is there anything the man can't do? And I hear he makes a good Kung Pow!

2N. NOT x with a 5 card minor and a singleton heart. You do not want partner to pass. 3D would be my second choice but its an over bid. I don't think I am nearly good enough for 3N, but I lack aces (e.g. my side tricks other than diamonds are too slow). Give partner Qx Axxx Qxx Jxx (sort of a max, well kind of) and you were not even making 1N. Actually, I think the overbid of 3D is more likely to get you to the correct strain. Actually, I just changed my mind. I prefer the overbid that will get you to the correct strain. I vote for 3D. I will pass if partner raises to 4D and I will rebid 3N if he Qbids.

You could also watch Dangerous Liaisons. :) But I agree, this movie was great. Ryan Philippe is GORGEOUS (just to point out that there's eye candy for those interested in men, too). Of course, you could say the same (modern remake) about Clueless and Emma. And one you must be very patient to see. When I saw this, it just felt LONG! But after, I thought it was great! Another really good movie revolving around a special family meal is Eat, Drink, Man, Woman which was directed by Ang Lee, who just won an oscar as best director. I can list a bunch more movies about food. One you shouldn't see unless you feel particularly in the mood for grossness is The Cook, The Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover It was not rated X for sex. I think the father (and master chef) in Eat Drink Man Women is a major stud. :) Actually I consistantly like Ang Lee's Movies. An earlier film of his, The Wedding Banquet, was hysterical.

My All Time Favorite Movies: Casablanca - Truely romantic in every sense of the word Babette's Feast - A must for any foodie. Explains why food is a spiritual endevour. Dr. Strangelove - A truely funny and terrifying movie. And if you don't agree, you will have to answer to the coca cola company Raiders of the Lost Ark - best action film ever made La Strada - Beautifully filmed and acted. Absolutely heartbreaking The Princess Bride - That movie? Inconcievable. This has it all. Its very funny, and has an awesome sword fight! The Sweet Hereafter - A subtle but amazing movie. Great ensemble cast. One of the few movies I watched a second time immediately after my first viewing. Persona- I think this is Bergman's best. A meditation on ART as well as on EGO. The Godfather - Just brilliantly filmed and a great ensemble cast. The montage during the baptism is one of the great all time film scenes. Kind Heart and Coronets - One of the funniest movies of all time. After finding out that his mother, who had married a commoner, would not be allowed to be buried in the family cemetary, the main character, who was 13'th (?) in line for a dukedum, sets out to kill the 12 ahead of him, man and women alike, and all played by Alec Guiness.

Well, I have the first 5 seasons of Dawson's Creek on DVD,g etting hooked on it late (last year!).... Now thats a great show! Is my age showing?

I work in the research division at countrywide mortgage doing statstical research and helping to improve their default model (We try to predict the probability that a given loan with certain characteristics defaults. ) I visit BBO online while I wait for my SAS code to finish running.... Before this I worked on probabilistic risk analysis on engineering (usually NASA or DoD) projects and on terrorism/security risk analysis (I designed software that finds any security vulnerabilities a site has and to quantify how likely it is to get passed the security and get to a particular target). In that job I did a combination of Operations Research type modeling and statistical modeling.

Numbers (Its suprisingly good for a show about Math!) Love Monkey

I hadn't had any discussion with this partner other than 1-way drury (actually I can't remember now if we were playing 1 way or 2 way). I would assume that we were playing reverse, fit drury, like everyone does these days: E.G.: P-1M-2C-2M No game interest P-1M-2C-2D Legit Opener. Waiting. P-1S-2C-2H natural. Legit Opener. Only forcing to 2S.

I normally play P-1M-2C-2N as a slam try, and asking for shortage. But again I am not sure that everyone plays that way...

Isn't, P-1S-2C(drury)-3C a slam try? How would you take it playing with with a random partner? My Choice of game auctions (as well as my game invites) start with 2D. But I have no idea how universal these ideas are.

[hv=d=n&v=b&s=sjxxxxhatdakcqj9x]133|100|Scoring: IMP[/hv] In 3'rd chair you open 1S (Any votes for 1N out there? I am just curious.) Partner bids 2C (drury). What's your plan? What do you bid next?