vuroth

To paraphrase the late great Mr Adams, dog people think dogs are smarter than cats because they will do complex tricks like shaking a paw, rolling over, or fetching, in return for morsels of food, while cats refuse to. Cat people think cats are smarter than dogs for exactly the same reason. V

http://forums.bridgebase.com/index.php?showforum=48 I would include the hands and the auction, too. cheers!

Hey, I like duplicate as much as the next poster here, but competition is NOT why bridge is so popular. It's still one of the most common ways for certain parts of my family and circle of friends to socialize. Also, why can't a sombrero be a party hat? It's certainly festive.

The only earthquake I've ever felt in my life was the Kipawa Earthquake, in 2000. I was about 50 miles from the epicentre. It was strong enough to wake me up. (5.2 magnitude) The funny part of this story is the date and time of the quake - 6am, Jan 1, 2000. I got up, and looked out the living room window, overlooking the city, trying to figure out what kind of practical joke was being played for Y2K. I was blessed to grow up on and near some of the most stable rock on the planet.

I think 3NT is right. This should let partner know that our heart bid wasn't a 4 card suit, wouldn't it?

3NT

Thanks guys. I was north, and was really second-guessing my 3♥ bid.

I've been awful at these lately, but I'll take a stab. A♦, ruff a ♦. AK♠. Q♣, ruff a ♦ with the J. A♣ throwing a ♥ If ♠s were 2/2 and ♦s 3/3 I'm home If ♠s were 2/2 and ♦s 4/2, ruff a ♥, ruff a ♦, ruff a ♥ and I'm home. If ♠s were 3/1 and ♦s 3/3, concede a ♠ and you're home.

Not that I want to blame anyone, really, well except myself if it's my fault. I just want to learn from these disasters. [hv=d=s&v=e&n=sa7hat2dt8643c532&s=sthk53dakqjcqj964]133|200|Scoring: IMP 1♣ 1♠ 1NT 3♠ X P P P 3♠ went +1 for +930 for E/W[/hv]

Not that I want to blame anyone, really, well except myself if it's my fault. I just want to learn from these disasters. [hv=d=w&v=n&n=skj3hkqt8764d84ct&s=saqt4ha95daj65cj7]133|200|Scoring: IMP P 3♥ P 4♥ P P P[/hv]

I despise bidding notrump if I'm not 4333, 4432 or 5332. I understand a lot of experts do it, and maybe some day I'll work my way around to that point of view, but right now if my hand is best for a suit, that's where I want to start my bidding. "Natural", I think the grandparents all called it....

Rounding third and headed for home? Anyone can understand the way jdonn feels.

Wait, democratic-style governments everywhere in the world were fiscally responsible UNTIL Reagan? And this is a BIPARTISAN point of view? God, I'd hate to see a partisan point of view....

The molecular structure of a tylenol might be more complex than that of a steel suspension bridge, but I'm not convinced that complex-in-the-small wins for complex-overall.

No idea how to work this one out. I probably take the line you do at the table. Ace at trick 1 gives you options on where to lose - if you duck and lose you're very constrained. I think at the table I play A♥, AK♠, then try my luck with ruffing a spade. This has a decent chance of working, and if it doesn't I'm still not quite dead. No idea what's best.

Slam is around 50%. I wish I could establish the 5th ♠, but I lack entries to dummy. So I'll draw trump and try the ♣ finesse. (EDIT: they have 6♠s, not 7. Never try to solve problems while eating lunch I guess....) If it fails, and they don't return a ♠, I can try to drop the king. The other option is to start with a low ♠ towards the Q, but this never works in slam, does it?

Ok, so what I was after was 2 things: - show spades or show clubs? - do I need to jump or otherwise alter my bid based on my extra strength? Seems like there are 4 key points being made, if I understand correctly: - the jury is a bit split between showing my spade length vs showing support for clubs - the jury prefers showing club support via a splinter, rather than a direct raise - the decision between showing clubs and showing spades may depend on the partnership agreement of 2♣ - if it shows a real suit, more preference to support - there's no reason to jump bid or otherwise worry about "showing my strength"...yet. Sound right? Thanks, all.

One suggestion for 3♠, one for 3♣

[hv=d=s&v=e&s=sakt876ha6dqca932]133|100|Scoring: IMP 1♠ 2♣ ?[/hv] If it matters, we're following Thurston, but the book doesn't seem to help....

If they double before I get a chance to speak, I'll pass in a heartbeat. I think I'll pass anyways. Partner should be worth about down 2 on his own, opposite a typical hand from us. I'm not convinced that we're 3 tricks better, especially on a heart lead. 6♦ relies on partner having 1 or fewer losers in ♥/♣, which seems a stretch. I think if the AK were in hearts instead of spades it would be a more interesting question.

I'm still uncomfortable with how wide 8-16 is for an overcall. 8-21 is just undescriptive.

If you evaluate north's hand at 5 after the 1♦ open, do you really still evaluate it has 5 after the 1♠ rebid?

Then I'm hoping they run. I can't tell the difference between trying to cash diamonds and hoping I can afford to duck a heart or two from LHO.

Is this as simple as ?

I'm impressed. I think I've done a 200m butterfly a few times over the last few years, but probably couldn't do it at the moment. I have a really hard time balancing my love of bridge and my love of endurance sports. Both seem to demand so much time.... Then again, there's my love of video games.... :)