kayin801

3NT and pass. I don't think X is bad, if partner bids 4♠ I'll bid 5♦. But I'll risk missing a 4-4 heart fit for putting us in the most likely best contract. Plus, matchpoints, come on :P I think moving over 4NT is very close. I agree with Fluffy that 4NT is 18-19 bal since 4♦ and 4♥/4♠ are certainly forcing and slammish here. I'm a little worried about the position of the cards in 6♦ despite the extra info from the preempt. Besides, with a passed partner RHO could have all the missing high cards or could be honor-7th of clubs and a stiff and out. If forced to bid slam I would rather bid 6NT to protect my holdings and since there's a chance LHO is void in clubs. If partner's spade holding is bad enough that we would need spade ruffs, hopefully we'll have enough tricks in the other 3 suits (maybe aim for 2 spades, 3 hearts, 5 diamonds, 2 clubs)

Since I posted no alert and since I posted this in the expert forum I assumed you would assume it was a strong NT overcall.

[hv=d=e&v=0&b=14&a=1dp1s1n2dp2spp]133|100[/hv] Your double of 2♦ would have been takeout. What is the worst hand you need to double here, presumably for penalties? Please comment on format or vulnerabilities if possible.

If partner is crazy they have 7 hearts for their weak 2 and are doing something crazy. If partner is normal 20-21 balanced w/ 5-6 hearts.

My reflex was definitely Hamman but X could be very right especially if partner can pass, we could be grabbing 300 against no game our way. I think pass is bad, +50 or +100 will not be a good score.

I like this. Also might be worth ruffing a spade before exiting a club, aiming to score some more low trumps in hand by ruffing clubs later. if LHO is forced to win the club A we're pretty well placed on any return.

This, and obviously never ever cover from Qxx, but my point earlier was that covering with Qx seems normal since it can't cost and wins when partner has 9xxx and declarer stiff J, so you can probably strike some relevant hands from bluecalm's script earlier.

Maybe this is just because I remember when it's sucked, but I feel like every once in a while I've gotten a really bad MP score opening (14-16 or 10-12) 1NT with a 5 card major when the field was in 2M/3M and we had an unstopped suit or two and our 5-3 or 5-4 only took 5 tricks. I'm sure I've also gotten good MP scores when I've played in 1NT in my 5-3 fit. Not to mention the times we have no fit and 1NT is a great spot. That said, I echo what a few others have said in that I love opening 1NT. Especially in the auction 1H-1S-1NT now partner knows our range and I don't have to rebid 2m on a non-suit when I'm out of range for my rebid.

Since the spade J could be stiff I bet they'd cover from Qx (partner could have 9xxx) but not with any Qxx. With Q8xx they will probably cover too hoping partner has the 9 singleton or doubleton. (Post edited to make more sense)

I would double and bid 3NT if partner bids anything besides 2♥. Partner should realize that we have 5 spades on this auction and can correct 3NT to 4♠, otherwise we would have just bid 3NT directly or would have started with 1♥ with 4-4 in the majors. I'm not going to assume that partner can't make rational bidding decisions and operate with 3NT directly or 3♦/3♥.

I don't understand this bidding at all, what does E have for a free 3♦ call such that W has a 4♣ call? Are the hands AKx, Q, KQ, KJxxxx and Jxxx, xx, JTxxxxx, x? Anyway, I don't think the X says anything about hearts, so I'd play for them to be 2-1 I'd do what Phil said, try and make sure we have 3 dummy entries in trumps so we can lead up to spades twice playing RHO for the J or establish the 13th spade for a club pitch. FWIW leading a heart to the 8 at trick 2 seems awfully risky though it might be right, especially if LHO has Qx of hearts.

[hv=pc=n&s=skq3hk7da754ckj43&w=sj9864h962dqt86c2&n=st52hat85dj3ca975&e=sa7hqj43dk92cqt86&d=e&v=0&b=14&a=1c1np2cp2dp3nppp]399|300|IMPs[/hv] Decide on which leads you would prefer to declare and on which leads you'd prefer to defend (double dummy either way). Yes I know technically if you're playing double dummy you get to choose your lead but that ruins half the variations. Edit: I think the club lead variations are in general the most interesting, but probably the most fun line is on a low diamond lead to the K, ducked (best), and the Q of hearts back (best IMO)

I think 4♣ is bad, South doesn't have a slam try opposite a hand that can only invite (or possibly just compete!). I'd guess the lead is a stiff, I'll pop A and try a spade finesse. If righty splits I'll ruff a club before playing my second round of spades. Sucks if this lead is a doubleton. I don't want to ruff a round of clubs first cause if LHO has Hx in spades he returns his other spade and now we're down on whatever heart holding he had. I'm not worried about an overruff cause on most lines where RHO can overruff a club we're down no matter what we do. I guess we can cater to a layout where 4♠ goes down where we can hold our unders to 1 but I don't see why that layout is more likely than one where 5♠ is making.

Strong club auction: 1♣-(2♦)-2♥-(4♦) 4♠-5♦ 6♥-??? Not sure whether 6♠ or pass is right here, but 6♥ is definitely natural, maybe with 2 small and better spades south would try 5NT instead, but it's also not clear that 6♥ shows Hx rather than xx. Honestly after 5♦ with the S hand I'm thinking grand if partner has spade support but I feel like 6♣ is way too ambiguous. Edit: In an undisturbed relay auction I guess we might find the decent 7♣ but you might have to be peeking to get there after diamond interference unless N can show 5-5 early on (and with that suit disparity they might not even want to)

If partner preempts on 6 cards in this seat RHO could have a penalty pass and just be waiting for his partner to reopen, and then dollar signs appear in his eyes when we raise the bidding a level.

4♠

I'd play the club 4, partner either asked for a switch or for suit preference to clubs, presumably if they're okay with a switch they're prepared for a club switch.

So okay, I'm completely sure now that I've messed up the hands, though I think the auction and the points from the auction remain. I'm pretty sure I actually had 2 KCs and partner's 5♥ showed 3 key cards, plus a 2nd round control in hearts... which would give partner AK singleton in the suit. ANYWAY. Sorry. Zel, thank you for you criticism of our methods. Given that you've never had an auction go off the rails in your entire life, I look forward to your guidance every time I err in bidding in the future, which I'm almost certainly sure will happen. I will admit that playing artificial methods gives you extra problems when UI arises since meanings can be radically different depending on interpretation. I guess the issue then was, lets suppose hypothetically my partner thought the auction went off the rails (with whatever justification he had for that, even though if it hadn't we might be cold for a grand) and thought to sign off in diamonds if given a chance. If he figured this out a) before or b) after the UI, does it make a difference? Now that he has UI, even if he was planning on potentially signing off before, can he not do so? Hypothetical tangent: you're playing a pair who you sense has let an auction go off the rails. Can you ask about the bidding so as to generate UI? I know the answer to this is no, and our opponents were just inexperienced, but it leads to a point-counterpoint thing? IF they hadn't asked, THEN there wouldn't be UI, AND they had no intention of bidding, therefore their asking is unethical and we might have signed off in 5♦? Yes I know this is a stretch and obviously the bidding side is responsible for their own bidding.

I pass, give the opponents a chance to bid. As weird as this is, if I were to bid I'd bid 1♦ to give partner a chance to rebid 1 of a major, which I'd pass.

I can't think of a hand where continuing clubs is a huge improvement over switching to spades, so I guess I'll switch to spades. Not sure why partner would choose to lead from KJ10x instead of Hxxx on this auction though. Edit: if declarer has the spade 9 aren't we taking a max of 9 tricks almost all the time anyway?

(Warning, this post is sorta long, and you kinda need to read most of it to really get it, but I've inserted a tl;dr at the bottom if you just want to read the questions) Art's UI thread got me thinking about this hand we played in Philly in a bottom bracket KO. It's mostly funny. Spots are random and please ignore that N has a submin opening, I really don't remember the whole hand at all because I played like I was drunk that entire day. Partner and teammates will confirm this fact. [hv=pc=n&s=sahq63daq42caj532&n=skj32hk852dk853c7&d=n&v=0&b=1&a=1dp2cp2dp2hp2np4dp4sp5dp5hp6dppp]400|300[/hv] I was S, partner was N. Here's the auction as I heard it (Assume explanations are for bids as they are made) 2+ ♦ limited ........................ natural forcing 1 round w ♣ unbal w 5+ ♦ or 4=4=4=1 ............. GF w ♦ support, asks shortness ♥ shortness ......................... RKC for ♦ 0 or 3 KC .............................. Signoff 3 KC plus stiff K in ♥ .............. SIGNOFF Unfortunately this is not what partner heard: 2+ ♦ limited ........................ natural forcing 1 round w ♣ unbal w 5+ ♦ or 4=4=4=1 ............. GF w ♦ support, asks hand type ♣ shortness, suitable for NT ........ RKC in clubs (Partner's logic: with ♦ I can safely bid 3♦ first) 0 or 3 KC .............................. Asks for ♦K, grand try Denies ♦K, shows ♥K (???) ........ Impossible call, auction is off the rails* * 6♦ is impossible because partner already "knows" we don't have the ♦K, so for him to ask in ♦ again implies he must have it, in which case why didn't he just bid 5♥ in the first place, asking for the ♥K, unless I'm masterminding? At the 4♠ call, E (for no apparent reason, once again, bottom bracket KO) stopped to ask what our bidding meant throughout the auction, and all the miscommunication came to light. We finish the auction, go down 1 in 6♦ (I really don't remember the actual hands but partner played it well to only go down 1) and we lose imps vs 3NT making. Discussing this afterwards partner and I agreed that the auction went hella off the rails and that partner's interpretation of the auction up through 4♠ is right and I was wrong. We both thought we did our best to ignore UI from each other during the discussion of the auction. This did bring up other questions. Partner thought it was possible that he had AI at 5♦ that the auction had gone off the rails and/or that 5♦ might be the last making contract, and therefore he might be able to pass 5♦. I'm not sure of his logic for this. He maybe thought his hand was so bad that I've just clearly taken him for the wrong number of KCs, or something, or he's just decided his hand is so misfitting that he wanted to slow down. Or maybe he just wanted to convince himself that we could salvage a result from this, I dunno, but I'm glad he decided to bid on from an ethical standpoint, I guess. That said, I don't understand his 5♥ bid if the hands are how I remember them, if we are actually on the same wavelength, since to him my bidding up through 5♦ is also consistent with something like Ax, -, AQxx, AKQJxxx (making 7 opposite a min like Kxx, KQxx, Kxxxx, x or xxx, AKxx, KJxxx, x but only 50% opposite KQx, KQxx, J10xxx, x). I really don't remember the exact hands so I don't know if partner SHOULD have bid 7 or not, but maybe he also thought that with a hand like that, why would I bother showing a diamond fit? So maybe he woke up later trying to recall why I showed a diamond fit, and therefore ♦ was a viable playing point? I dunno. I also don't want to make it seem like I'm targeting my partner because it's possible that his hand was different and 5♥ was somehow a reasonable call. tl;dr? Start here. Anyhow, I guess my question is this: if partner has AI that the auction is off the rails and 5♦ might be a good stopping point even though 5♦ is technically a forcing bid on his interpretation of the auction, can he pass a) if there's no UI and b) if there is UI from the opponents asking questions. I know the answer to a, I suppose, but b is more complicated? AND, if our opponent (who had no intention of ever bidding) had never asked any questions, partner might have passed 5♦, so hilariously our opponent generated UI which constrained us to bid on.

2♠ if it's a natural game try, let partner give us more info too!

What ranges do people play for (1NT)-3m and (1NT)-P-(P)-3m? How do you change it with vul? If you don't have 2C available for a club suit, (or 2D available for a diamond suit), how does that affect your ranges? Thanks in advance for your input/data.

[hv=pc=n&s=sjt9ha987632d8c93&d=w&v=n&b=12&a=1np2h(xfer)]200|300[/hv]

Me and my partner (East4Evil-sohcahtoa) will be players/alts, obv give broze priority since he posted first, but if he can't make it we'll step in for sure. Time is 2 PM east coast USA?