bid_em_up

Herein lies the crux of what isnt being addressed. It is one point. A Jack for cryin out loud. Combine that with what you gain by not inviting on bad 8 counts (the field is in 2N going down) along with what you gain by bidding 3N directly on good 8 counts without giving away any information whatsoever, and you are waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyy ahead. Additionally, given that according to foo's own figures: 15+8=44% 16+8=33% 17+8=23% you will hold the values for game 56% of the time at a minimum and what you lack the other 44% will more than be made up from the lack of information passed in an invitational auction. It isnt a matter of blasting, contempt bridge, desperation, wanting defensive errors, or whatever else you choose to call it. It is a matter of experience. It works, and it works well. It works at any level including the highest caliber. Try it and see. Since the opponents do not know if they need to be passive or aggressive on 1N-3N auction, they will get it wrong more often than they get it right, which is more than can be said for any invitational sequence you care to construct. The invitational sequence is also at a big DISADVANTAGE when opener accepts the invitation, as now defenders know that dummy isnt that strong. It is also at the same disadvantage (or worse) when the invitation isnt accepted and 2N is passed out. This is simply a fact of bridge, that even you appear to recognize. Contrary to what is being argued, most expert theory that I am aware of these days is that it only requires 24 hcp for 3N to make. And that does not have to be 12 opposite 12, 16 opposite a good 8 works just fine. Any 25 pt NT game should be bid. As I pointed out earlier, you should be able to tell from your hand when it is correct to bid 3N and when it isnt when holding an 8 count. K10x 107x KQ1072 94, all day. (I would expect this to make > 85% of the time) xx xx KQ97 QJ1042, all day (I would expect this to make > 65% of the time). Q32 Q652 J32 QJ3, never (I would expect this to make 3N about < 15% of the time). Kxx Qxxx Kxx xxx, no again (see above). Once you learn to evaluate these hands properly, the odds of 3N actually going down DECREASE dramatically (I dont even remember the last time one actually went down, but I'm sure its happened in the last, umm, 6 months, year maybe??), while the odds of actually making it INCREASE as well (happens every day). Even when on 23 count. Inviting with 9-10 is absolute and utter nonsense. The odds only improve. Bid the damn darn game already. You will be glad you did.

gotta use [/hidden] to close the tag mike. :D

Bottom line is, there is no good solution. The only way to be removed from list, is to be removed from club. That is not an option. I would like to be able to disable chat from clubs, but I can also see (and understand) why the clubs would not want their members to be able to do this. Never mind, forget I said anything.....one can always dream though..... :D

That may be true....but I am referring specifically to clubs that I am a member of. And it is not "mail" I am receiving, I only get these notifications if I am online, as a private chat message....ie, chat to club. Yes, I could mark these people as enemies....but they really arent, and I may (even do) wish to talk to them at other times.

But I dont necessarily want to be removed from the club. I just dont want 30 gazillion messages filling up my screen everytime they make a "tourny in x minute announcement." Trust me Ben, the Homebase messages are tame (and much appreciated for their brevity) compared to some other clubs that use up the entire chat area and then some of the next page as well.......and are rebroadcast every 10-15 minutes. It just gets annoying.

Which isnt a bad idea, given the non-spade lead....and the fact that you also can score two spade tricks whenever KQx(xx) is in your LHO's hand, or when Hx is in LHO's hand and Hxxxx on the right. Looks like we win the diamond, and play small to the 9 and see what happens. Like phil, I expect RHO to come under pressure on the play of the diamonds.

Now if I could only turn off chat from clubs......

YW. I use this for sending system/carding information at the beginning of each round in tournies. I type it once, send it, and then copy it. It remains in your clipboard to be pasted at the beginning of each new round (as long as you dont copy anything else). All you have to do is chat to room (click chat), and then paste.

You can win IMP's at MP play now? My oh my oh my!! The best of both worlds!! :) I have found it is equally effective at both forms of scoring. The real keys are how good are you at evaluating your 8 counts, and how good your/partner's declarer play is. This, unfortunately, takes some serious evaluation of player skills, which as we know....aren't always the most accurate evaluations in the world.

Invites are for people who are afraid to take control of their own destiny. :) Or paraphrased, Invites are for wimps. (Of course....this only applies if both your partner and yourself are competent declarers). In a 15-17 NT structure, I have long found that it is much more successful to bid 3N direct with any reasonable 8+ count, regardless of method of scoring, but it is much more effective at IMP's (instead of matchpoints) and especially against weaker opponents. The 24-25 hcp game rates to make more than 50% of the time, either outright or thru defensive error. These games should always be bid, imo. Spot cards are also a factor. If the hand contains lots of 10,9,8,7's, the bid is clear cut. OTOH, 2,3,4's are a detriment. As a general rule, if the hand contains more than 1/2 of its cards higher than a 6 along with 8+ pts, 3N should be bid. Or if it contains a 5 card suit with working "spots", ie KQ108x, 3N should be bid.

I am running 4.7.5, but had the box for "Display for bids you might make" unchecked. Thanks.

Ok, now I am home and can actually attempt this. Lets say I wanted to find out how the bot would interpret 4N....I click on 4, then hover the mouse over NT? Nothing. Cant click on NT, then the bid is made and its too late. So what are you saying? Telling me how the bot interpreted the bid after the fact is kinda pointless, except I will have an idea of what the bot may do the next time I make that bid.

This thread still here? Amazin

Maybe they do for you, but I have yet to see it......

Yea, I opened 1C, 2D by my bot pard, explained as Soloway Jump Shift 17+ hcp rebiddable diamonds, 3C by me, 4H by bot explained as splinter accepting clubs, 4N by me expecting it to be RKC for clubs (I guess 4S would have been?), and what does the bot do? Passes. Making 7. Oh well, at least 4N was makeable.

They already can be. Put your cursor on the line you want to copy and right click, check copy chat. Then select the person you want to send it to in a chat window, and right click again to paste. (I think thats how its done, dont actually have BBO access right now to verifiy). But it can be done.

Duh!! :P Problem is, that covers a lot of area......and I asked, because I currently live in Raleigh NC, and used to live in Atlanta. I wouldnt want to go to Knoxville TN necessarily for a regional, but might go to Charlotte, Greenville or Atlanta (or the one here in Raleigh over Memorial Day weekend).

In an amusing side note: In a tourny the other nite, my LHO was declarer in a 3 card ending with dummy holding: ♦A10 ♣A and played a club to dummy. At this time, I'm holding: ♦Kx ♣x and claimed one of the last 3 tricks. Declarer rejected this claim, told me I am not allowed to claim in mid-trick, and that I needed to read/learn the rules, that I could ask any director or yellow who would verify that he was correct. Oh boy.

Where are you located?

Simply change it to time per round, not time per board..... Ie, 2 board rounds are 15 minute rounds, 3 board rounds are 21 minutes, etc. After all, this is much closer to f2f settings anyway.

Yes. Thats exactly what I mean. For a few reasons: I like to know what kind of field I am dealing with. Why was -50 against what should be their 140 only 34%? It is a pain to have to go "off-site" to have to review results at end of tourny. Even if the traveller wasnt available until tourny end, it would be a big improvement over the current method, imo. It gives the players who finish early, something to occupy their time with.

No offense guys, but really....chat?? Lets try and worry about actual bridge improvements first.....(yea yea, i know, design ahead......) :( #1 on my list would be: The ability to prevent a seat from automatically becoming "available" when a player leaves. There is nothing more frustrating than trying to reserve that seat for the next player while 100 people try to sit in that seat. Close/reject all, click on table, start typing reserve name, nope....name erased, accept player? close/reject all, click on table, start typing name, nope....name erased, accept player? close/reject all, click on table, repeat ad. infinitum. It becomes a battle of who is the fastest. The host typing names, or the players trying to sit. Aggravating. Both to the table host, and the users who are being rejected. If nothing else, make it so where close/reject all automatically reserves the seat for "X" or prevents anyone else from attempting to sit for a minimum of X seconds (maybe 10-15?) to allow host time to type a name. The ability to bar enemies (of mine and/or anyone at a table/or by direction) from attempting to sit at a main bridge club table. They got on the list for a reason, I really dont want to let them sit again, and having to reject them, just further aggravates the situation. (Maybe enemies dont see empty seats?) I still dont understand why you cannot get a traveller in tournaments. On another internet bridge site, all you had to do was click the board #, and it would bring up all the results for that board (similar to what you currently see in the main bridge room). Why is this not available in tournament play? You have the results, it doesnt matter if you were N/S, E/W? Whats the problem? A full disclosure interface that is actually usable (I tried for several hours before finally giving up in frustratation with the current one). These are just a few that pop into my mind.

How would everyone treat this auction? (2♠) 4♠? I ask this because everyone appears to think that X, 3♦, or 4N are the only "acceptable" calls, but 4♠ appears to be the best descriptive bid. Spade void, slam interest opposite any values, minor suits strongly preferred, hearts tolerated. Isnt that what 4♠ should be?

Just my own opinion. Interesting question from someone who typed TANSTAAFL on another thread :P If "JMOO" is a Longism (actually Heinleinism B) ), it's not one I remember. OTOH, TANSTAAFL is the quintessential Lazarus Long. I've read Time Enough For Love probably 30 times, but I dont remember it. :) Now i gotta go read it again lol!! Hmm, on second thought.....thats what Google is for. :) I wouldnt consider this to be a Longism, since he did not appear in "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress"

Just My Own Opinion.