jmc

I am sure some elements of this story are true, but I find it highly unlikely it actually went down this way with almost every element working against the man. My BS meter is going off like crazy. Funny? Not really. Paper worthy? Doubtful. The funny part to me is that Ken, a lawyer with an extremely good BS meter I assume, believes it is true. This means either the story is true, very sad, or that Ken might have a horse in the race. Lawyers never lie, we just reframe the issues. jmc

ditto MattMatt's question.

I have posted previously about how the ACBL could use the game of Spades to promote bridge. I even had some correspondence with the ACBL CEO Jay Baum about it at one point. The ACBL needs players. Spades needs a rating and organizational body. Spades needs clubs and places to play. Spades is a simple introduction to bridge ideas like, trump, tricks, etc. Doesn't this seem like a natural fit? Add a spades game once a week at clubs and advertise it. Add a game or two to regionals and nationals. The promotion of spades would lead to thousands of bridge converts. jmc Below is the text of my main email to Jay Baum ACBL CEO: Let me begin by talking about a card game called spades. Spades is a trump based card game similar to bridge. The game is played by 4 players who are seated and partnered as in bridge but spades is always trump. There is no dummy and players can also bid "nils" for taking no tricks. This game is thriving both on the internet and perhaps more importantly among high school and college students around the country. Spades has only two major tournaments a year and has thus far failed at creating a national sanctioning body. In many ways spades players are in a similar position to whist / bridge players pre ACBL. They have no clubs. They play in coffee shops and student unions. Why am I prattering on about spades players you might be wondering. I think that the acbl should consider stepping in and becoming involved in spades. Many bridge players play in spades tournaments and the game would be simple to learn. More importantly, the opportunity to get spades players (did I mention many of them are young?) into our clubs, perhaps even playing games for spade "points", would be a chance to recruit them into OUR great game, Bridge. I am convinced the acbl would benefit mightily. My father and sister have both recently become interested in playing bridge because of how much they have enjoyed playing spades. Imagine if acbl clubs had a spades game on Saturday afternoon, immediately followed by a bridge intro and minibridge game. Some players would surely stay. They could then watch as the Saturday Bridge game players trickled into the club. Maybe they would see the intensity of play. Some might stay and kibitz. Imagine how easy our members could invite family members who didn't know bridge to play spades. The game is much easier to learn, but provides great training for bridge in terms of play of the hand. It has to be easier to recruit players for bridge among those who play cards than those who don't. The ACBL could test my ideas by running a pilot program. Persuade a bridge club owner or two to publicize and run a spades game and offer some bridge indoctrination immediately before and after. When the players arrive explain the clubs main purpose is for bridge and introduce the role of the acbl. ACBL score could easily prepare swiss pairings or some other type of playing bracket. Post sheets just like in real bridge. Following the game invite whoever is interested to play a few hands of minibridge. Announce any upcoming bridge lessons and emphasize how many bridge games the club has every week. If this is at all interesting to you, I have spoken to club owners willing to give it a try. Even if none of these ideas about acbl and bridge are interesting to you, at a minimum I think you should consider having the acbl sponsor a booth or some kind of presence at the three large spades conferences every year. It makes sense to market to our fellow card players. Two conferences are held by The Spades Connection and information can be found at http://www.thespadesconnection.com/news.php. The largest tournament is the World Series of Spades and information can be found at http://www.grandprixtournaments.com/ Currently there are 4000 spades players online at the Microsoft Gaming Zone. There are only 1000 bridge players.

When one body makes rules that are ambiguous and another body interprets them, these kinds of problems will occur. It reminds me of Ken's signature. If lawyers, judges, and appellate judges can't interpret the law, how can ordinary folk? The ACBL should just admit that they don't want the situation clarified. They want the majority of the players to feel secure and happy to pay the table fees. Opening 1D to show 4S might scare someone into giving up on sectionals. The current situation is very frustrating to people interested in systems and pushing the envelope who play in non-national events. It matters hardly at all to systems people who always play in mid-chart or better events. This means it doesn't create a problem for the group most able to get the rules changed. I think it stinks that the ACBL doesn't fix the problem. jmc

I think bidding a suit over the weak NT should generally show a normal overcall range. This means, unless the hand is shapely, I would start with a double on most 17+ hands 5431 or worse. After a simple suit bid or convention showing a 2 suiter, I wont expect my partner to act with 9 or less, as raises should be invitational. Things get muddier in competition. jmc

I always try and make a few bridge related goals for the new year. I think its important to always be improving and a few goals can help track one's personal performance. jmc

The real problem to me is not whether many people would bid with 10 points and 6 clubs in 3rd chair after a 10-13 NT. The question is after her partner hesitated and she is red vs white is pass a reasonable alternative. I think it clearly was for this level of player. Her partners break in tempo made the 2c call much more attractive and safe. Maybe Jan M or an expert could argue pass was unreasonable for them. I don't think this player could. Nor, do I believe could most players. The normality of the 3rd seat bid isn't relevent.

It was a 2 session swiss, but not a national (NABC+) event. The director was certainly tournament rated but this was no big special event or anything. I was just shocked at how wrong I thought his comment and attitude was.

Not even directors at the nationals make the right calls in simple auctions. I was in Chicago and opened a weak 1NT 10-13. My vul vs not LHO tanked for awhile and passed. It passed to his partner who bid a natural 2C which was passed out. I called the director to protect my side. He looked at her hand and said, "I think she has her bid. Its fine." Is that really the standard? She had a 10 count with 6 clubs. Did her partner's hesitation suggest bidding would be more successful red vs white then otherwise? Of course it did. Was pass a logical alternative? Of course it was. This director didn't explain the standard or get it right IMO. If a director at an NABC can't get these things close to right, I have little hope for club directors. Of course I was under 30, so the presumption against my side was high. jmc

I am going to be in the Orlando, Florida area with not much to do from the 11-17th of October. Does anyone have any experience with good clubs or specific games in the area? The ACBL website will list clubs but its hard to figure out much about them. Anyone interested in playing? jmc

Is't it slightly better for partner to try 6c Gerber over 5NT so as to assure you are not off one Ace? jmc

I like the suggestion set out by Marilyn Hemenway here on page 6. http://www.omahabridge.org/MHemPubs2/Gimmicks1.pdf 2♠ (if 1♥ was the opening bid) is to play and is not at all invitational 3♥ (if 1♠ was the opening bid) is to play and is not at all invitational 3♣ asks the Michaels bidder to pass if their minor is clubs or to correct to ` diamonds if it’s diamonds 3♦, 4♦, 5♦ show diamonds and are not correctable 4♣, 5♣ show clubs and are not correctable 3NT - to play 2NT asks whether the Michaels bidder is min or max: Structured Responses over 1♠-2♠-P 2NT P would be: 3♣ shows clubs (and hearts) and a minimum 3♦ shows diamonds (and hearts) and a minimum 3♥ shows clubs (and hearts) and a maximum 3♠ shows diamonds (and hearts) and a maximum. Structured Responses over 1♥ 2♥ P 2NT P would be: 3♣ shows clubs (and spades) and a minimum 3♦ shows diamonds (and spades) and a minimum 3♥ shows clubs (and spades) and a maximum 3♠ shows diamonds (and spades) and a maximum It seems to cover things fairly well. Jmc

I edited the above. I meant stop playing lebensol over reverses. ty, jmc

We have always played lebensol over reverses after 1H-1NT-2S and 1D-1S-2H. Some in our group would now like to stop playing lebensol over reverses here. How do other precision or big club people proceed over the above auctions and why? We are playing precision and our 1D is few as 2. We also play a variable NT either 10-13 or 14-16. jmc

I believe that was the bridge pad in the Young LM pairs. The bridge pad is silver and about the size of an hp scientific calculator. It can be seen here: http://www.bridgepadrf.com/ The bridgemate is white and bigger. It can be seen here: https://www4.mailordercentral.com/baronbarc...ts.asp?dept=110 Bridgepad is an american based company and I believe the bridgemates started in England. jmc

As an update, I wanted to let people know that the bridgepad was used in several sections of the limited Life Master Pairs in Las Vegas. I also had an opportunity to demo these in my local club. I thought they worked very well and integrated into ACBL score fine, but they would take some training for directors. I'd love to have these at every game but, many of the older people didn't like them. Some people hate change. The bridgepad was silver and seemed smaller than the bridgemate. jmc

I was recently reading a book on squeezes and the author suggested that squeeze plays come up on x% of all hands as declarer. I am sure he is including all kinds of squeezes including pseudo. What percentage of the time would you expect squeeze play to be an important factor for declarer? jmc

I thought it was standard for North to bid 7c accepting the grand try and indicating a choice of slams. Here I would assume that choice would show good spades. South can then choose 7H or 7NT. Maybe I am wrong about this treatment. jmc

I also chose to start with a cue bid of 3d. Partner then bid 3H and I had the problem that Jdonn mentioned above: namely, I wasnt sure what stuff meant. Partner bid 3H, which I assumed showed 5. I then bid 4c. Partner bid 4d. What should I do now? BTW, why 3d jlall and not the support double many favor. jmc

For whatever reason there was no spade raise at the table by partner of the preemptor. jmc

[hv=d=e&v=n&n=s96hj9dak74caq864&s=sa4hkq6dq1065ck1092]133|200|Scoring: IMP[/hv] RHO opens 2S. The opponents will presumably lead a spade against your final contract. How should the auction go to find 6D? Is it impractical to find a 4-4 slam when you have a 5-4 fit? Would you have avoided clubs for diamonds in real life? jmc

[hv=d=s&v=w&s=sa62hak7dcaqj9875]133|100|Scoring: Imp Pairs[/hv] White vs red you open 1c and partner bids 1h. Rho now bids 2d. What do you bid and what is your plan for the hand. You are playing with a true expert partner who has won a handful of national championships. jmc

I'm really curious how the yahoo expressed their displeasure of your ipod? Was it during a pairs game? Was it before the round began? Was your ipod on? Were you listening to it? I might have called the director if I thought said yahoo was just being a jerk for no reason. I certainly would have filled out a recorder slip if I thought said yahoo was an intimidate or irritate for a top board kind of yahoo. I am still amazed these people exist at bridge. jmc

Well done Elianna and way to support her H2osmom! I hope we don't play your team too early in the minispingold in Las Vegas! jmc

Thanks for the suggestion Inquiry. That looks perfect. Have you used the input method for hands? Jonathan