jmc

I like to keep interesting hands and organize them into categories, but I am tired of having stacks of hand records around with circled hands and cramped notes. Is there a good database for storing hands? I'd like something with an easy entry method and way to save in categories. I've looked at some software thats available but haven't found anything that I love. Any suggestions from forum users? If you wanted to save a thousand hands in 3 categories and wanted be able to input them simply and efficiently, what software would you use? jmc

awm, I was wondering where you found this structure or if you or partner created / adapted it. How valuable is it to show the GF minor suit hands? Could these be better used for invitational minor hands? Currently we use double barrel Stayman and can invite with a minor via 1NT-2C-2DHS-3m. What do you think? You define the auction 1NT-2D-3M as showing a 5 card major. We only open a weak NT with a 5 card major with 10 points. Our range is 10-13. Have a better idea of what we might use these for? In the auction 1NT-2D-2NT might it make sense to play 4c/4d as still South African? Responder could have a 6-4 game forcing major hand. This post is old. Anything anyone would like to comment on about the structure?

I'll be there for most of the time. I am playing the 0-1500 mini-Spingold with a team. I am looking for someone to play the LM-1500 Life Master pairs if anyone is interested. It is July 18 and 19, Friday and Saturday. Jonathan

What did declarer play under the J and 8 of hearts?

Why? If people feel that they should remain always in limited events, they never progress into "adult" bridge players. They get used to the sandbox and never want to play in the open games. This hinders the growth and continuation of real bridge. I just noticed the San Diego sectional has a 0-499'r pairs. 499'r?!? These are people point shy of life master and they can't play in an open game? stunning.

When I first started playing I played in the 0-20 beginer duplicate and the 0-200 limited games. After a year I rarely ever or never played in those games, but I noticed a funny thing: I never saw the players I met in the limited games anymore. I figured they'd quit or didn't play much. I was playing tons. Then I went back and played in those games when my dad started playing. It was all the same people. They just didn't play the open games. I then noticed that the floor for the limited games started going up. 0-200 became 0-500, which soon became 0-1000. The directors didn't want to lose their players or the income, or both. They have no worry about people moving from the open games down now that the ceiling has increased because most open players dont care and they don't publicise the increase. This trend does not seem good for bridge in the local area. I mean seriously 0-1000? I try and play in one of these games a few times a year as a protest to the increasing floor. I figure if they get tired of playing against weak nt, precision, etc. that some of the players will demand protection again and the floor might drop back to 0-500 or something reasonable. Jonathan

I have always looked at obtaining the rank of Life Master as being similiar to getting a black belt in Karate. It says nothing about how one will do in a real fight, but it indicates basic skills and methods have been learned. I think most life masters have more skill then they get credit. If I had to choose between playing with my social playing bridge relatives and some random life master, the life master would likely have a much better idea of how to bid, play, defend, etc. Exceptions abound, but I still think Life Master has some value. I know that rank advancement says little about one's bridge playing level, but I still enjoy it when I advance. All that being said, I think the ACBL should keep the current system while adopting a new performance rating system. The key is to ensure that the new system does not dissuade people from playing. Chess ratings and even OKbridge lehmans sometimes discourage people from playing. This would be bad for the ACBL imho. jmc

Partner and I play precision with a 10-13 NT and open all 11's plus Rule of 20 hands. I have been happily passing out 4th seat 12 counts under these conditions for the last 3 years. We are way ahead in the mp area.

Upgrading 9s. I have twice in the last 7 years bid 1NT 10-13 w/vs red in 3rd seat with a 9 count. The director was not called in either case. Was this really illegal? What are the penalties. jmc

I had a great time in Detroit, but I agree somewhat with Ken. I don't smoke, but I drink lots of water, soda, and other beverages. It was almost impossible to go to the restroom between rounds because they were located so far from some of the playing areas. The day we were assigned clear across the renaissance ballroom was the worst. I saw one lady sprint to and back from the bathroom at a dead run. I also thought that slow play seemed to be a bigger problem in Detroit than any other tourney in which I've been involved. Maybe because of all the delays in finding a restroom and / or smoking a cigarette? jmc

I really wish that BBO would consider some 24 board tournaments. These may not be ideal for people who pick up partners, but would be great for more established partnerships. The 12 board format really requires "extreme" bridge for victory. Maybe 1 24 board acbl a day? If you build it, they will come. jmc

My concern was what partner was showing after 1c-1s-2d-3c-3h-5c. I wasn't sure if this a minimum, nothing to cuebid, or something else. My hand was: Ax, A, K10xx, AQxxxx. I was concerned about whether partner had either black king. I thought he could have something like: QJxx, xxx, Qxx, Jxx where slam was not so good. Admitedly this hand probably doesn't bid 3C. Even if p has the diamond A and neither black king its not a terrible slam. I cue bid 3H because I thought 3D would look like more shape. I was hoping to hear partner cue bid the King of spades. Does everyone agree with Jdonn's description of the 5C (1c-1s-2d-3c-3h-5C) jump? jmc

If you bid 4C partner bids 4D. What do you bid now? jmc

[hv=d=n&v=b&s=sk1096h4dq6ckj8653]133|100|Scoring: IMP Partner opens 1C and opponents are silent throughout.[/hv] Auction is as follows: 1c-1S-2D-3C-3H what is your next bid? Consider your partner is a decent player and you might have once discussed lebensol in this sequence. jmc

A special thanks to awm, Hannie, and Jan for suggesting specific defenses. These seem much better than what we hacked up ourselves. I really appreciate it. jmc

Do you and partner have good agreements after interference over your Jacoby 2NT auction? We have tried to come up with our own but didn't think of anything too great. Please post some suggestions to handle intereference. Ty! jmc

Before the speedballs, I was very disapointed in the state of the slowballs. The rounds took significantly longer than boards in real life, despite their being no need to remove cards from the board, sort one's hand, or pass boards. I found the slowballs to be sooo slow as to feel almost unplayable. Maybe a time bank could solve this problem and maybe not. I will gladly continue to avoid playing the slowball and I think most others agree. It is nice to see people vote with their feet. jmc

Mike, if you just run a search of someone's first and last name on the ACBL website it will find you results form regionals, sectionals, and other games they have played in. This will easily let you determine if they are A,B, or C. Finding their exact masterpoint holding would be more difficult, but if you have access to any acbl club databases it could be found probably. i do this sometimes to see if someone is a regular tournament player or not. You can also see their holdings for this year if they are in the top 100 or so for their district or unit's minimckinney or ace of clubs. Happy sleuthing. jmc

The N810 has a 4 inch screen but runs at 800x600 resolution. This is plenty big for BBO. I know nothing about the palm. I have asked current owners of the N810 if the BBO Flash site works for them. They have said it hangs on loading. The N810 processor is only a 400mhz arm chip and may just not have the stuff to run bbo. I am still looking into this option. N810 will run vnc and remote desktop viewing software. One option might be to access a desktop that where I can run the software but display it on the N810. If I only had this set up for Christmas, it would make some of my slower holiday parties bearable. Even my grandparents have an accessible wireless network. jmc p.s. for more info on the nokia n800 and n810 check out www.internettablettalk.com

If this guy is a routine cofee house master than I think a penalty should be assessed. jmc

Hrothgar, I believe the important word there is "primarily" as this does not rule out punishment as being a secondary function of the rules. For example, there are two women at my club who table talk incessantly. I informed them some time ago that I didn't think this was right. I do not think they are cheating and so far non of the table talk has really created significant UI or other problems. However, I still call the director every time. It took 6 calls by me over 4 sessions before the director decided to give them a procedural penalty. i think this was way to long BUT, I do think in this situation the penalty is an important and required way to enforce the laws. jmc

I did not double at the table and my counterpart didn't double either. My RHO commented after the match that he thinks I should have seriously considered doubling and, upon some reflection, I thought he was right. I found it interesting that when it came my turn to bid over 4h, I didn't really even think about it. Clearly it is important to take advantage of the 10 second hesitation. Next time I hope to find the red card. jmc

[hv=d=e&v=b&s=saj62hq1095d872c72]133|100|Scoring: IMP[/hv] The auction is as follows by east west with NS silent throughout. 1C 16+ artificial 1D 0-7 artificial or impossible negative showing any 4441 8+ 1H either hearts and a second suit or 20+ balanced, asks partner to bid 1s as relay 1S forced as a relay unless a very weak distriutional hand 4h described as a good hand with lots of hearts that may have gone through the relay in case the 1d bidder had the impossible negative or one of the weak distributional hands. Do you double 4H? I'll admit that at the table I didn't give it serious thought. This is the third round in a 7 round swiss team. You are doing well and playing against a quality team. jmc

I would recomend checking at the following thread about playing mp's at the national red ribbons. http://forums.bridgebase.com/index.php?showtopic=17067&hl= I also think bothe Kit Woolsey and Hugh Kelsey's books on mp's are great. The Woolsey book I found particularly fun to read. jmc

The newly released Nokia N810 will do Adobe Flash 9. You can check it out at: http://www.webware.com/8301-1_109-9798987-2.html If this will let me use BBO via a small device that can use wifi or my mobile phones bluetooth, then I will be very excited. What say those in the know? Will this do BBO TV? jmc