Myrmidon73

Is this hand really that close to a double? You have 16 HCP, but 3 of those aren't really working for you anyways. You're hand can take 7 tricks on a good day, but needs a bit of help from partner. Seems to me like 1♥, followed up by maybe 2♥ describes your hand better.

Hey guys, I'm new to the forum so please critique my reasoning: 1)For the trump suit it seems like playing the ace of clubs only wins when the clubs are 2-2 or there is a stiff honor. The probability of that is something like 40% + 0.5*50% = 65%. So, this line loses something like 20% of the time right off the bat (lose a club, and at least one of the finesses, assuming you can't pitch a diamond on the 13th spade). Even if you can only have one club loser, you still need to take a finesse, so it seems like ruffing first round is something like a 40% make. Trying to hook a double finesse in clubs seems better. 2) As for guessing the Kd or Ks, is it normal for good players to not lead away from Kxxx against slams? The lead is definitely aggressive, and obviously there are a lot of other variables that are part of the opening lead as well. 3) For the line I think pitching the spades on the hearts and taking the club hook is probably best. We still have an entry to the board via diamond to take another club finesse, and are still free to take the diamond finesse. The only reason I chose spades is that I think its less likely that an opponent leads away from a king here, so because LHO didn't lead a pointed suit, I think his chances of holding each king goes up. So, the diamond finesse seems slightly +EV.

I was actually playing against the following hand, but I was interested to see how to bid it. We are at MP, neither side is vulnerable. South deals, and has this monster: [hv=d=s&v=n&s=shakjt853dakt982c]133|100|Scoring: MP[/hv] My opps went astray and ended up in 5S, (with North having AK in both black suits, as well as a solid 6 card spade suit). I think the best method would be to bid 1H, and with any response, go to 7D. I think this hand can make slam opposite a few little hearts or diamonds. But how would you bid it?

Is slam the right spot for this contract? What if As is offside? Is it still better to try for slam?

D: N Vul: NS I was sitting as north today, and I was wondering if there is a good way to get to 6H with SAYC. My partner was a standby guy, and we decided to play SAYC straight-up. We ended up in 5H, making 6 pretty easily. Thanks for the help: N: S: A K H: K Q T 9 6 5 4 D: J 6 5 3 C: S: S: Q J 6 3 H: A J 3 D: 5 C: K T 8 4 2 Thanks.

Is there some formulaic way to know when to execute a squeeze? I mean you have kind of put a formula for other declarer play (ruffing from the small hand before pulling trumps, knowing when to cross-ruff, stuff liek that), but is there an easy way to know when and how to execute a squeeze? Do squeezes have a high success rate? I was just squeezed for the first time this afternoon, and I thought it was pretty nifty, so now I'm trying tot add that to my game. Thanks for helping out a noob.

I am prety new to bridge, but I was wondering what I would do with this hand using SAYC after the bidding has gone 1H - p - 1S - p S: A 7 6 H: A J T 8 7 D: A J 5 C: 7 2 Is the correct bid 1NT? or 2S? or even 2H?

Sorry i messed the original hands up guys. It was early morning, and I was still tired. I was dealing two hands from a deck, and I guess I counted a black 5 twice. My mistake.

Well, I started reading about precision with the CC Wei book, and although I think he overemphasizes the benefits of his system, I thought the system was really interesting. So, I was trying to practice some big club openings, and I came across this. How does this hand get to slam in precision? Hand 1: S: A 10 H: K 9 8 6 5 D: v C: Q J 10 9 8 6 Hand 2: S: 9 7 H: A Q J 10 7 D: 10 9 6 5 C: A 7 I think this slam makes as long as they don't lead a spade, but even if they do, if the Kc is onside, you should still make it, as long as its not 4-0. But is going to slam the right call, or is stopping at 4H the better long-run play?

I was playing in a Wednesday night beginner's game, and I had to lead on teh following auction. What should I have lead, sitting north? W N E S 1D p 2C p 2D p 2N p 3D all pass S: K 9 8 7 5 H: A 8 6 4 D: J 5 C: 9 4 Thanks for your help

OK, thanks for all the responses. I dont have a deal of the entire hand. I know the dummy was 2-4-3-4 distributionally, with only the minor aces as honors. My RHO had a 6-5-2 split, with a void in hearts, 6 spades, 5 clubs and 2 diamonds, with AKQ in spades, Q of clubs, and J in diamonds. I think he ended up losing 1 trick in diamonds and 1 in clubs, but the exact details of the hand are a little sketchy.

Hi everyone. This is my first post on the forums. Firstoff, let me talk about myself. I'm 17, and just started playing in mid-April. I play the SAYC, and once I get a good feel for the game, I want to learn some other systems. Tonight, my dad and I played a duplicate beginners' (<500 ACBL points, non-life master) game, and this hand came up. S: T 6 4 H: A K Q 8 D: K Q 6 2 C: K 5 I was in the 4th seat, and after 2 passes, my RHO opened 2C. I asked his partner if that was a strong bid. She said it was. I passed, she bid 2D, he bid 2S, she bid 3C, and he jumped to 4S. With a 17 point hand of my own, I thought my partner and LHO combined for maybe 1-2 points, so all my kings were onside, and there was probably a long club suit from LHO (which would fit both the bidding and my hand). So, I doubled. I lead the Kh, and to my surprise/dismay, LHO had both the minor aces, and RHO was void in hearts. The opposition ended up making 5S, and after all the cards were played, my RHO said that he only had 12 points. Granted, the distribution was very favorable for the opponents, but should my RHO have said anything after I specifically asked his partner what his 2C bid meant (even though his hand was not very strong)? I think it confused me as to how to play the hand. Something just doesn't seem right. To me, it looks like you can deceive your opponents by giving them false information on any particular bid you make. Any thoughts on this? And thank you for the replies.