vuroth

Fascinating if true. That said, alarm bells are ringing. Unpublished??? Unpublished scientific studies should NEVER be referenced, imo.

Part 2 I guess. How would you bid it, south dealer, opps silent?

I certainly couldn't make heads nor tails of the auction.

No :) You lose to the QJ dub offside, so one of the 2-2's gets tossed out. Right. /facepalm. I figured it would be something like that. Thanks

Shouldn't is be 90%, not 95%? Both 4-0s do you in. Also, 47% is 41% for 2-2, plus 6% for singleton queen? Doesn't singleton jack work out the same? So 41% + 12 = 53% for clubs with no losers? (That said, my original math didn't take into account that all 3-1s can be played for 1 loser.) So 53% + (47% x 33% * 90%) = 67%?

I agree with helene. I disapprove of your partner storming off, but I also kind of disapprove of your reaction. How are we ever going to establish partnership understandings if we're afraid to make what we think is the best bid, and if one disagreement leaves both parties too angry to talk? A pickup partnership with a threshold of less than 1 disagreement has a real problem. Partner may have stormed off, but if one bid you don't like is going to make you this upset, maybe your partnership skills need work? I'm not trying to be critical - I wasn't there, and maybe I'm misinterpreting events. I mostly wanted to make the point that there has to be a progression of understanding, and that this usually is spurred on by misunderstandings. 0.02 V

Do you want to be in 6♣ here or not? (Opponents silent.) [hv=d=s&v=e&n=s97hat2dj76ckt943&s=sak4h3dak432ca652]133|200|Scoring: MP[/hv] In the hidden part, I try to figure the odds: I want to be in this slam, don't I?

Bear in mind that partner can see the heart danger as well as you can. I pretty much agree with dicklont's post. If you're going to play the 3 from x, xx or xxx, it's going to be very difficult for partner with 5 or 6 diamonds to get it right. The best answer isn't which play is correct in isolation, but rather how to get it right as a partnership.

Hmm, not sure I'm the best to offer advice, but here goes. If you're playing at a club, see if they offer courses. If you'd like to play more on BBO, try joining the BIL (Beginner/Intermediate Lounge), and attend some of the courses/teaching sessions they offer. Maybe a decent book or two to get you started? For general advice, play slowly, count everything you can (trumps, high card points around the table, all 4 suits if you can). When bidding, play a simple system until you're comfortable with it (and know where the system seems to have problems). Really focus on the concept that every bid REFINES the previous bid, making your hand (or your partner's) more clear. Try to focus on what's going on around the table - try to guess people's hands - you'll find you'll get better in time at using the clues from bididng and play. If I could narrow it down to just one thing, it would be this - count.

Ok, I think I get it now. If the 9 or J falls first round, we're catering to a 4-1 split, by conceding a trick while keeping an entry. As for the club ace, cashing it might be bad if LHO has KJTx, as we would lose control of the suit - never good in notrump. Of course, this is unlikely to happen from the opening lead. Plus, if it does happen, we'll know before we play the queen, and we can duck, barring LHO from running the suit.

re: 2NT Is there an expert feel here that the spade slam is always going to be better than the diamond slam? Granted, we're likely to end up in spades, and I certainly get Justin's point about using 2NT to take control of the auction, but this IS IMPs. Once in a while, diamonds is going to be the best place to be, right? V

Why? Isn't

At first glance,

Not sure, but I do know that this problem with the clients has been around for quite a while.

Agree. 4♠, glp.

I pretty much never downgrade. That said, I held something close to: KJx KJx KJx Kxxx the other day, and refused to open 1NT.

I might do it with 44 in the majors. I might do it with 14-16 hcp, and no wasted values in clubs. I would certainly do it with short clubs (i.e. some distribution). The green card is underutilized.

I could like my hand a lot more than I do, but that 4♥ was third seat. I'll try a double.

Pass. What would you like to do after: 1♦ 1♠ P P X P ? :)

Eloquently put.

I'd love to play, although my skill is far below the average BBF denizen.

Any honours in clubs or spades, outside of the ace of spades, in partner's hands are likely of no help to me. The K or Q of diamonds seems to be a small target to shoot at. Especially when the queen might not be enough.

I try 3♥.

[hv=d=w&v=n&s=sk6532h4dk8542ck8]133|100|Scoring: MP 1♦ 1♥ X ?[/hv] Is this one of those cases where I need to learn to use the green card more?