bid_em_up

Mike & Phil, Do you agree or disagree that 2S is still a reverse?

4C is clear, imo, and its fairly close to 5C. As far as I am concerned, 2S is a full reverse. Partner appears to have some 4-1-3-5 or 4-1-2-6 hand, in either case 4C is a must. We have the spade Q, Jxx of clubs (good support), and what appears to be a well placed diamond K. To blindly pass and show a broke hand is a severe disservice to partner. I consider pass over 3♦ a mistake as well and would have bid 4C at that opportunity, so I wouldn't be facing this problem.

Your partner opened 1N. Unless he is prone to opening hands that are 5-4 in the majors (and 2-2 in the minors) with a weak NT, it is impossible your side does not have a fit in one or both minor suits. Now, I suppose its possible, and it certainly sounds as if partner might be 5422 on the auction, and also from the looks of my hand, I still prefer to go ahead and bid out the cards I am actually looking at, instead of guessing what partner (or RHO) happen to have.

3♦. This is a joke, right? Did they move April Fool's day or something?

Without putting a lot of thought into it..... X = takeout of spades (equivalent to neg. X of a "normal" 2S spade call, implies hearts) 2S = takeout of hearts (equivalent to neg X of a "normal" 2H call) 2N = natural is one possibility, or both minors, or incorporate some leb type structure instead. I think I would prefer the latter. 3 of partners minor = competitive 3om = natural and forcing 3H = I would not treat this as natural and forcing, as this hand could double 2H initally. Fit with openers minor, g/f, no clear direction is a likely usage. Stop inquiry for 3N is another. 3S = natural and forcing. Pass = anything else, partner is expected to reopen with double (or rebid a long minor) most of the time. Crude, but I think it should work.

Try, C ) only play with someone from local club who knows how to play bridge. Because this one may be old....but it's not very wise.

Thats because those in the "know" keep everybody else in the dark as to the true meaning of 3N. It's a new convention called "The 3N Secret". :)

HB, JB!!

Bid 3S (the suit is self sufficient). Hard to say what to do next, since you didn't give any of partners later calls. If partner happens to rebid 4D (showing 5+/5+), consider playing 6D instead of 6S. 6S is certainly reasonable, though. Why? This hand opposite an opening bid is close to driving to slam on its own. Add to it the fact that RHO overcalled (marking himself with some values) make any missing cards favored to be onside. Partners opening bid can hardly be less than xx Ax KJ10xx Kxxx or xx xx AKJ10x KJxx, can it? In the first example, 6N will depend, at worst, on the spade finesse which rates to be working (and its working 100% of the time on a spade lead into your hand). 4D (likely), 3H, 2S, and 3C will suffice for 12 tricks. In the second example, you really only need the heart Ace onside for 12 sure tricks (5D, 4C, 2H, 1S) or alternatively, 5D, 4C, 2S, and 1H. In any case, both honors rate to be onside after the 1S overcall.

Pass, 4S, 5C and 4N could all work at the table. It appears that we likely beat 4H, but maybe not by enough to offset our game. So pass is an option, but not a good one. I would expect 4N to be treated as "club tolerance, diamonds preferred" in this sequence. Better than pass, but risks bad splits in the minors requiring one more trick to make game. The same applies to simply bidding 5C. If we play 4S, we have to take 1 less trick than we do in 5m. Partner may well have 4S, on an example like the one given by Halo (AQxx x Ax AQxxxx). He could also be 3-1-3-6. Assuming he is 3-1-6-3, 4S should be reasonable contract (barring bad trump breaks) as the heart ruff will be taken in the short trump hand. I'm not "happy" with 4S, but in the end, it's what I would choose.

Personally, I think partner should splinter 4C over 2D. Now 6D is fairly easy to find.

Ken, the point is you state partner can have a side card. I dont think this is very likely, and neither of your examples prove me wrong. Neither of them contain a side card. Would you really open 4S on AQxxxx x xx Axxx? Or AQxxxx x Kxxx xx? KQxxxx x xx Axxx? If you would, more power to you, but I do not think the majority of players would. Not when they have other perfectly "normal" bids available to them that describe these hands.

Given that USA2 has won or placed second in the Bermuda Bowl in 1995, 1997, 2000, 2003, and 2005 (and for the most part, the Bermuda Bowl is an every other year event), combined with their Spingold wins in 1998, 1999, 2004, and 2006 and the wins in 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996 with Bobby Wolff on the team instead of Soloway (I think), USA2 is always my favorite until another team proves they can beat them consistently. Right now, I just don't forsee that happening. Edit: USA2 is the favored US team. I think its a tossup between USA2 and Italy as to the eventual winners.

4N blackwood, 5 red, 5 clubs, 6C, 6 red, all will work. The opponents cannot profitably double you without allowing you to run to 5S (or 6). I'm not sure if 4N blackwood is allowable or not. Some folks seem to believe that it is a psychic of a conventional bid. Others think its just a tactical bid to confuse the opponents. Any opinions?

Why can't I defend at the five-level? If the club Ace is to my right, and partner has some extra defense, I'm OK with defending at the five-level. Give partner something juicy, and he might just double them at the five-level. Hmmm. What kind of hand do you think a 1st seat 4S not vul vs. vul opening bid should be? We already know he has AKQxxxx of spades. Any side card (A/K) should be a clear 1S opener, not 4S. So I think you are expecting too much.

If you are prepared to defend at the 6-level, you can bid clubs now if you like. If you are planning to save over 6 red suit, I see no point in bidding clubs. And what would you prefer if you end up defending 7 of a red suit? (Or do you intend to save?)

I would open this 3♠ after, say, 4 cups of Irish coffee. <_<

Q: Don't most houses already have roofs? Suggestion 1: Buy/Rent house that has roof already installed. Suggestion 2: As part of accepting job offer, request employer to provide roof for house, assuming house didnt already have one. :)

I agree with the 50% part of partner having it, however, I pointed out that the club K is more likely to be offside and not onside, when partner does not have it. I think it is less likely that the club King is in the 2S bidders hand (making it onside). If anything, RHO is likely short in clubs. Therefore, I only want to bid the grand when partner holds the club K. Assuming partner does hold the club K, it is the diamond king that rates to be onside if needed.

I don't get this. If partner does not have the club K, isn't it more likely it is behind you instead of in the 2S bidders hand? Likewise, if partner has the club K but holds only the AQ diamonds, isn't it more likely the diamond finesse is working? (Btw, what software are you using to make your evaluations of percentages in some of your later posts.) Personally, I think that we know partner holds no values in hearts, and he rates to hold little to nothing in spades (I realize that this did not hold true). But it is more likely that one or both spade honors in his hand will be in the opponents hand, making it more likely he has both the AK (or at least the AQ) of diamonds, and the club K as part of his opening hand, and so, I will bid 5S to check on the club K, and bid the grand. (Its' also possible he holds the spade A and the diamond A along with the club K which is just as good as holding the AK of diamonds).

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Ok, now for the "amazing" part. At least, it amazes (or baffles) me. Make sure you have a barf bag handy. At the table, this hand rebid 3N (which I think is a terrible call). It goes pass pass, and RHO hold AKQJ10x of clubs did not double. If he did, do you think X here should call for a club lead? or a spade? At many tables in this tournament, this hand did bid 1S, and the auction proceeded. 1♣-1♦-1♥-1♠ 1NT-3N!!!!-p-p-? Not 2S, not 3S, but 3N!!! Amazing!!! And RHO Doubled!! (amazing, since he is now on lead with 6 cashing tricks, and should not want opponents to run.) In 3 of these cases, one of the two hands actually XX'd!! And then, the other hand sat for it!!! Partners hand: [hv=s=sak10hakxxdxxc98xx]133|100|[/hv] The spade Qxx is in the slot if needed. All in all, some pretty amazing stuff.

I'll bid 2H GF. Even though I don't like it, I think it is the lesser evil amongst all the other choices. The keys to this hand are likely to be: 1) how many diamonds does partner have 2) what kind of heart wastage, or stops does he have 3) did he start with 5+ clubs or 5+ spades (he could be 6-5 in the blacks at this point in the auction or he could just have 5+ clubs) and the only call flexible enough to allow us to find this information out is 2H.

[hv=s=sj9732h5dakqj104c4]133|100|All White East (partner) deals and opens 1♣. Opps silent. 1♣-1♦-1♥-? [/hv] I'll assume you agree with the bidding so far, but if you don't, deal with it. :angry: I kibbed this hand the other night. I'll reveal the results later. (And why don't the suit symbols work in a poll?)

Now I remember why I usually don't attempt to calculate percentages. :(