andy_h

3H. 150 for honours.

Pass, not close. Our pointed suits are quite questionable (crap) and our hand is pretty balanced. A change in vulnerability would not change my mind.

Happy birthday mate!

2S, with confidence. Then 2NT scrambling if 2S is doubled.

Yeah I've been dogged by this. I once put my hand out to the table so the opponents can see my hand for about 2 seconds without saying any words and then straight away pulled my hand back. It was considered a claim, which I thought was annoying.

X for values. I play that the 2nd X is takeout so I would do that if they bid 3D.

East wants a partnership breakup without wanting to be the first to bring it up.

Nothing seems more natural than 3S. We don't have a great hand and plus 3S takes the least amount of space. Let partner clarify what type of hand he's got.

Older than you by 4 days xD Enjoy your day mate!

Definitely natural with Hx looking for the best strain. Game before slam.

I lead a top diamond.

I'm curious, does anyone have an agreement that it's a takeout of clubs?

shippin?

8 card suits are meant to be for trumps. Ok more to the point, I really dislike 3NT, as it can be so scary with our spade void. I might even exaggerate and say I'd bid 4S before I bid 3NT. Anyway, I have a long suit and will now bid 4D.

3D was worst I reckon. If North knows South can bid 3D with that, then surely bidding 3H would endplay partner a fair amount of time.

bad luck. East did "well" to get the opponents to go for more of a phantom sac. I would've passed the X

I pass with E's hand and open 4S with South's hand which should end the auction.

I would pass at 2nd seat red, and all r/w. Otherwise 2S.

4C. Don't understand pass.

Even so with a partner you don't play with much, 2S should always be natural given we have shown spades with our X. So partner should not give us a headache and should use 2H as a cuebid if he needed one. So I would just bid 4S over 2S.

3C mixed raise. Failing that 3D "preemptive" but still should be OK given we're red.

Probably agreement I guess, but I play it as a takeout as well. Typically 4414 or 4423 or 4324. By bidding 2M probably shows 4M5m unsuitable for a t/o dbl and can't have 5M since I would have transferred.

Yep support double. If it isn't available, then I like 2H. Purity values and a doubleton.

Even if we play invitational jump shifts, I still think 3S now being NF is too unplayable. What if you have enough values for game and not great of a trump suit or as well as no club stopper? Sure if we have a weak hand only opposite 15-16, it's not a "big" deal, but if we have game values it's just too risky to get to the wrong strain.

Dankje! Didn't have an exam on the day, nor did I have to cram for one the day after (finalllyy). Probably the bestest present ever.