Hanoi5

I usually play that doubles are for penalty when one player (of the pair) has limited his/her hand. If 1NT is 'natural' then the double is for penalties (but partner may bid if she/he has a strange hand), if 1NT is forcing then the double is for take-out; in both cases extras are needed for the double, and in the first a stack of trumps.

2.1 ♠J, small spade to the 9, small heart ruffed, ♦ to the K, ♠A and all is good...

Your partner doesn't seem so expert on the first hand she passed because she had 10 HCP (and opened the bidding) even though you made a FG bid. On the second one she should probably pass 4♠ but her suit was so poor that she preferred to see you go down instead of her.

Just choose another negative. I prefer to rebid my first suit as a negative, instead of NT or the 4th suit.

The main difference from this hand and the other is that even though I'm missing only 20 HCP (instead of 25) I'm not as afraid of the bid being passed around because I have only one spade. People love bidding spades.

Isn't losing a trick in such suit a compelling reason? I usually lead a suit where I think I can get declarer to trump when I have a trump stack (Jxxx is probably not a stack and neither is Kxxx as I found out yesterday, but still).

I'd take it as asking for trump quality.

The problem with opening 1♥ is that it can be passed out. You have both Majors, outside points are mostly in the minors and so I think I'll probably open 2♣, too. What did your partner have? The problem with opening 2♣ is that you don't have defensive values (i.e. would you accept your partner's double of 5♣ after 2♣-5♣-X=P=??) and if you catch your partner with many points (the ones you're missing in the minors) and an apparently unfitting hand he might try to play NT, as he did. Also, bid 4♠ instead of 4♥.

Another problem is that the attention span of a child today is not the same as it used to be.

Use one of your charity events to pay for this 'adventure'. You lose a charity this year but you'll surely gain more adepts in the coming year or 2.

The ACBL (or some other powerful and millionaire guy/girl) should finance one of these endeavours. The Desperate Housewives played poker, what if they changed that to bridge? They just need to grease the hands of the writers/producers/directors and voilá!

I'm not really sure, I think I'll pass to see what they get into and double or try to play 4♥ myself. If Flannery is in their card I have no resource against a 'psych'.

So, as I imagined the reason why there's no squeeze is lack of E (from B.L.U.E), right?

I'd give E/W whatever 3♦ would receive but I'm not sure what I'd give N/S, probably an average as they let E/W make 4♥, I don't want to reward them for bad play.

Then I'd bid 2♥ and rebid 4♥ over 2♠.

How about using Texas Transfers, in which 4♣ shows this hand.

[hv=d=w&v=b&n=sakxxhxxdq8xxct9x&s=sqj9xhakqxdakxcak]133|200|Scoring: IMP[/hv] I got to 7NT instead of 7♠ (my partner told me he had 5 spades, so I kinda counted 13 tricks). Both opponents guarded clubs, West had ♦JT9xx and East ♥JTxx, West had a singleton spade. Do you see a way? I didn't.

I think dummy is the one who opened 1NT. And If I'm right I'd call the Director upon seeing dummy. There is something funny going on. And I don't mean funny ha ha.

5♠ over 2NT.

1♠ and 6♦ for me.

3NT, we're Vulnerable, it's money bridge.

2♦ or 1NT. Sometimes I like to play the hand, GIB kinda sucks at it.

1NT.

I'd 4NT after 3♠ and the sequence you offered.

You were just lucky your opponents didn't want to compete. Also, I understand you can double off-shape if you play a convention where the bid of a certain suit at a certain level is not forcing.