PhantomSac

1 I felt pretty strongly that the DA was right. As jdonn implies, they seem to have a lot of values, they don't seem to have unexpected trump losers (like if we had JTxx), they don't seem to really have bad splits. The one thing going for us is that we have aces and the initiative. I think trying to get 4 tricks via: DA, DK, diamond ruff, CA or DA, CK, CA, club ruff or DA, 3 club tricks as our immediate threats is definitely the most likely way to beat this. We might have some outside chances if partner has stiff ace of hearts, or the stiff K of hearts. Getting a tap going seems really ambitious, it's just not gonna happen. Beating them with passive defense seems really unlikely. On this hand RHO had Qxx of clubs, partner's card was the CK, so the DA worked well (though you have to guess what to do at trick 2). 2 I didn't feel very strongly about, but I thought the CA to cash out and hold the overtricks given the likelihood that they can run both spades and diamonds was pretty reasonable. We may have blown the tempo if partner has something like the HK, or the HA and the CQ with K on the right, but we might be ok if he has like AQ of hearts and we can still shift to it. On this hand they make 7 if you don't cash the CA, 5 otherwise. Still don't know how I feel about it other than the argument that it is extremely anti-field to lead this way, so I may create a top/bottom swing for no reason which is a good argument against it.

Just comes down to style imo. I would open 2S in my standard partnerships, if I played a system with light openers (as I do when I play strong club), I would open 1S. I think it is too much of a stretch to open 1S in a standard system without any agreements about opening light. I would never pass, and I would never open 3S.

Jdonn passing inquiry, BBF passing RGB, momentous occasions on the horizons :)

I don't play good/bad but this seems like a very good auction for it since you want a NF 3D bid as well and you want ways to raise clubs etc. Normally I would just play 2N natural and double takeout, 3D forcing.

Wow those 2 are truly amazing QBs, but Brees had the game of a lifetime. Great game.

Shame on people who don't get the 655321 reference! (A Clockwork Orange!!!!). Obv a lot of people use it.

When 5C makes opposite the strong NT, partner will likely be primed out. It seems likely he can bid 5C when it's right. Also, the type of hands where 5C makes opp a 15-17 NT are the type where our hands fit well and they are probably going to bid 4M anyways, so if our plan is to bid 5C over 4M p p, I think we are doing a good job of getting to 5C opposite the right strong NTs, and playing 4C opposite the wrong ones. If the opps are cold for 5M obviously it may help them that we bid 4C rather than 5C, but they may bid it either way. Obviously the biggest loss of bidding 4C is that we may let them bid 5M when it's right, or help them stay out of 5M when it's wrong, but I think people are overestimating how often everyone makes a lot of tricks, and how often it will gain to bid 5C rather than 4C immediately.

They have not bid 4S yet (or 4H). If they do, maybe partner will double, but I don't see why we would just assume they would automatically be bidding 4S if they have no HCP and only a 9 or 8 card fit. Bidding 4C then 5C is considered evil but it is not necessarily so, especially when partner has an extremely wide range of shapes/values/ODR etc. If they bid game and it goes pass pass we have a lot of new information, specifically that: 1) They have a good spade fit/think they can make game 2) Partner does not think he can beat game Given that info, saving seems right. If we bid 4C and it is RHO who reopens with 4S or something then we have to pass obviously. It just seems really presumptuous to be bidding 5C when partners most likely hand is a strong NT hand type and quite possibly lots of major suit cards/strength, and possibly just 2 clubs and often just 3 clubs. Of course the downside of this plan is that we don't make them guess at the 5 level, but I think it is worth it to avoid taking a phantom sac/having the option of them stretching to bid 4M and partner having a double.

1) xxx 98xx Ax AJxx Imps, opponents bid starting on right: 1H 2C 2N 4H 1H is precision, opening all 11s. 2C is GF either balanced or clubs 2N is any 5(332) regardless of stoppers, 11-13 4H is to play 2) xx Txx xxx AJ9xx MP, starting on your left, bad opps 1D 1S 2D 4S

What? 10 Points including a Jx and a 6 card suit is a misexplanation for weak jump overcall? AFAIK the most common "point count" definition for a weak opening or jump overcall is 5 to 11 and a 6 card suit.

Don't like 5C playing weak NT, there's just too much chance partner has a strong NT hand type and they can't make any game. I would just bid 4C.

Conventional wisdom is low to the king vs bad opps, low to the queen vs good opps.

Your hand has no special feature at all, and your trumps are terrible. This is a really clear pass.

I didn't know you were allowed to disagree with Justin!! :blink: It's ok as sarcasm

Happy Bday

WHAT IS GOING ON IN HERE?!?!?!!!?!?!?!?! I LOVE STRIPPERS

I insta 3Ned when i saw this but th ecogood players are 4Cing so it mus tb eright i dunnoo wtfffffffffffffffff

Strongly agree with this.

I'm with awm, double on the 2nd one assuming we play support doubles. It seems likely partner is going to pass and lead a stiff spade, and thats the nuts since I have an ace and a king and a trump. If partner doesn't pass, and he has a stiff spade, we can play 3D in our 5-3/6-3 fit which should play much better, especially if partner has a minor 2 suiter etc. If partner has a random balanced hand he will bid 2S since he has denied 3S (again I am assuming support doubles, in before ZOMG THE ENTIRE WORLD INCLUDING TRIBAL PAKISTAN DOES NOT PLAY SUPPORT DOUBLES, HOW CAN YOU ASSUME SUCH A THING, if you do not play them then this doesn't apply). Basically I want to be able to defend 2H X if partner is sitting, I want to play 3D if partner has a stiff spade and either 6 diamonds or 5-4 majors (1444 with bad hearts would suck I guess), and if he has a doubleton spade and nothing special he will routinely bid 2S.

Huh? When did BWS define a negative X of 1S as showing diamonds?!?! Maybe I missed the memo? If you are talking about the 2D bid being defined as "not a reverse" I don't know how many times I have said in this thread that 2D "not a reverse" is STANDARD. If you think that 2D being "not a reverse" means that your style of negative Xs is standard, that is a random assumption to make. I stand by 1) It is completely standard, forum standard, expert standard, whatever to make a negative X when you have enough points and 4 hearts. You can have any number of diamonds, it doesn't matter. I posted the first FIVE google links as evidence of this, and my experience playing bridge indicates that this is how people play. 2) It is not standard to play 2D as a reverse over a negative double. Pretty sure I have said this at least five times now. 3) It is dumb to play 2D as not a reverse playing the STANDARD way of playing negative doubles (as in the way the vast majority of people play negative doubles, and the way they are written in every single one of the links I posted). Obviously this is my OPINION, and I have given my reasons for it. I think a lot of standard things are dumb. You may disagree, obviously many do since 2D as a reverse is NOT standard. However posting your opinions on stuff like this is one of the points of this forum. I don't know if you actually believe what you said about negative doubles is expert standard, but please don't act like BWS has implicitly agreed with you by not playing 2D as a reverse. The huge majority of the bridge population does not play negative Xs like you, and does not play 2D as a reverse. If you want to make some argument that your way of negative doubles are normal, try to find a link that agrees with you that is not 11+ years old, because I picked the first FIVE hits off of google (not a cherry picked sample), and they all agreed with me. Additionally, I know that I am right, so that helps! Oh and I just re-read and saw that jdonn claimed 2D being a reverse is standard. If you were talking to him, fair enough, he was definitely wrong. Sorry I have been accused a few times already of saying 2D reverse = standard when I have said things like I doubt 1 out of every 10 people play it as a reverse etc, and even in my first post I said "But people still play 2D doesn't show extras" so I was getting a little pissed about it.

oh you flipped a coin and it came up tails! (heads=5♠, tails=X) :) I think 5S is pretty poor but since everyone is bidding it I guess it's not. It wouldn't occur to me to bid my 3 loser suit with no aces on the side at the 5 level rather than just take a plus score. What I said to clee is that if RHO's side suit is hearts or diamonds, we will likely get 500 from a double anyways (unless LHO has like 3 trumps + shortness, in which case Xing could be a disaster). If RHOs side suit is spades we don't want to bid 5S obv. If RHO has 9 clubs then X will probably only net 200, but again I don't see why it's so sure we would make 5S. At the end of the day things are gonna break terribly and our hand just isn't very good. Admittedly I am always in the "take the plus" camp and can't remember ever bidding 5M in this situation. Sometimes you lose a double game swing by doubling, if partner is also short in clubs and they can score like 8 trumps + 2 ruffs + a trick and you were cold though. But sometimes you go for a number in 5S when partner is short and LHO insta cracks you, and I think that is a more likely disaster. Most of the time I just see us having +500 or +200 and going minus a lot of the time by bidding.

Heh, I mean sorry but... eventually you have to not remember just the shape but the exact spot cards they have played, especially with all the signalling/suit preferences/inferences/whatever out there. Just remembering every card that is played is the easiest way imo. Another way you can do it is possibly "I played 3 rounds of hearts, and RHO showed out pitching a discouraging diamond. Then I played spade-spade, they both showed even count. Then I took a club hook, RHO dropping a highish spot." Or whatever. This is fine, the problem with this is that you miss some cards (for instance, LHO followed to 3 rounds of hearts, he might have given a suit preference). You could have decided to take note that he gave some suit preference also if you wanted. For me, I find it easier to just remember what cards they played and then at some point when I need to make my decision (I've seen this called the kill point in the hand), I go back over all the information I have and make my decision. Early in the play I'm thinking more about what are the likely shapes/what shapes can I cater to or whatever, since there's less information to go off of from the cardplay, and more from the lead and the bidding inferences. But basically if you remember what happened early in the play, you can call upon that info when you need it. It is not efficient to just be keeping track of the information as it's going on in a lot of cases, sometimes you don't need it, so I prefer to only try to think about the clues at the points I need them. This can happen at different points in the play. Before trying to remember which spots were played and in what order though, just focus on trying to remember how many cards in each suit are left, and which high ones are gone (so that you know what is the highest card left in each suit at least). Those are obviously the 2 most important things. If I'm just trying to count someones shape at the end of the hand, I of course don't care about the spots, just which cards they played, and I will always know how many rounds of a suit have been played etc, so I can just say they have shown up with 4 spades, 3 clubs, and 2 hearts, so they have 4 diamonds or w/e. But if I somehow lost count, I could just go over the tricks in the order they were played and recall it pretty easily. Basically if you have all the information about what cards were played on the tricks already played, you can recall any info that you want. I would say I always have some kind of running count on the shapes going at least, if only subconsciously. It's hard to answer this because I don't really think about it while doing it, but there's my best answer. Just want to add that most hands early in the play you are figuring out what are some possible shapes, and trying to cater to the most possible ones based on math or winners/losers, or whatever, and then after a few tricks you have the shapes much more narrowed down. Most of the time by like trick 5 you can have the shape narrowed to 2 or 3 possible patterns, so you have a lot more to work with. So 95 % of the time I spend thinking not "what is the count" but "how do I play this to cater to those possible shapes."

Ulrich has such a weird posting history. Came here in 2004, posted sporadically through 2004, made 4 posts in 05-beginning of 07, disappears for 2.5 years, comes back in 09 and suddenly can't speak english very well (despite being fluent before!), and makes a couple of posts in 010, all the while having 25 total posts.

http://forums.bridgebase.com/index.php?sho...30&hl=CayugaGuy OP and the OP of this thread are the same person. I wouldn't bother replying to his thread as he may later edit his post to prove himself correct.

2s mss heres to another 10,000 posts like this!