peachy

Edit: I should add that I think you're off in your facts. Yes, 25. Typo What do you mean "off in your facts", other than the typo. Edit: I removed the incorrect statement. You are right. My apologies.

I admire your standing by your bridge partner but the two District 24 disciplinary cases are public knowledge. Edit: I deleted incorrect information. My apologies.

That was a bad idea. Posting a third-party report about the alleged call here is an even worse idea.

Our auction was 1S-2C 2S-3D 3H-4D 5D - and after a long tank I passed. Mighty tempted to raise but since 3H was not a cue, it was a move toward 3NT, I did not want to risk it since over 4D there was room for cue but none was made.

Yes, I understand that this sort of thing is even harder to accept in a jurisdiction where the authorities are unwilling to act. I don't think that the ACBL falls into that category, though - they have video cameras at every NABC, and some kind of stratgey for monitoring particular suspects. Who knows, maybe the camera was on, I hope so. Behavioral psychologists know full well (not that I know whether there are any at ACBL) that past behavior id a good predictor of future behavior; someone who has a been ***Edit: disciplined and put on probation*** twice in the past should be seen as the obvious choice of subject for future monitoring.

Depends how good of an opening you want it to be. "3NT showing... a solid suit" has always been GCC legal. It goes by the name of Kantar 3NT in the conventions books - AKQ-7 or better in either major, no outside ace, responder can ask for outside kings. I've been playing it quite happily since about 1995, though to be honest I can't remember many spectacular gains from it. Still, it removes the top end of 4H hands and some of the difficult "1 or 4?" problem hands, and lets you keep a little bit more slam accuracy. I daresay you can bend the definition of "solid suit" a lot farther than you can bend the minds of conventions committee. You don't need a solid suit to bid Namyats, but you need a solid suit to bid 3NT with a onesuited MAJOR suit. Bending the definition of solid to include suits that generally are not considered solid, in order to be able to play that convention - it just is not right IMO.

My partner and I bid 4S on this one. Han was kibitzing at the time and we talked about this hand at length afterward. What happened????

How is it possible (without operator error of forgetting to bid 2S) to stop at 2H?

Apparently you missed the sign that it was a joke.

I hope you filled out a recorder form. This is two continents beyond strange.

Wrong reason for N to move. He should not be moving out of 3NT because of fear.

Direct 2S and Dbl followed by spade bid are about same stength, but a direct 2S has excellent suit quality and 6+ long. HCP upper limit for Dbl followed by spades is a little higher.

I think weather has something to do with it. Heat, humidity, and chance of tropical storms tend to put a damper to an average player's plans. I am merely guessing. If New Orleans had nationals in the fall or spring, I am venturing a guess their table count would be relatively bigger. The only hot-weather tournament that always draws big crowds is Las Vegas, perhaps because everything is so cheap there and even if hot, it is not humid.

I think you are obligated _by system_ to pass. So bidding on would be antisystemic, for starters. The 4D bid told everything and put partner in charge of decision making.

Completely normal bridge, not nonsense.

Unless you have special agreements about negative double, ie. 1C (1D) Dbl denies 4-card majors, it is foolish to neg dbl. No matter what you do later, you have misled partner about your hand at the first round of bidding and partner cannot be stopped from going after a major suit fit is he has a major suit. North is the one who should move if anyone. His partner is willing to play 3NT opposite a weak NT hand. North has shape, an abundance of top tricks, and a self supporting suit.

Eric Rodwell invented them. I don't know if you were joking about the 3-3 fits, but I suppose you were.

1. If I were TD, I would not have anything to rule. No infraction and no evidence of any wrongdoing. 2. 3. I would file a recorder form, definitely! Strange bids are allowed, but this is beyond strange. The only way to catch up with "strange bids" or "strange bidders" is to file a recorder form. PS. Congrats on doing well!

I think no because good opponents will have more space available. Agreement I like against all transfer like preempts is that double is t/o to real suit (or in that case to one of the minors) and pass and then dbl is heavy NT like double. This really makes it simpler for opponents. For this reason I refuse to play the following: -namyats -convention you described -transfer preempts Gambling 3NT has some merirts because at least you will often get to play there. The more bids you have for transfer preempts the worse it is so if you insist on namyats I still wouldn't play 3NT as broken minor. We don't have transfer preempts. Thought I'd mention this in case I get somebody else's opinion on the followups to 3NT. Most folks are busy in New Orleans playing brige these days so the traffic on forums is a little slower. Hope y'all do great there!

With one partner, I play 2/1 with 12-14 NT and Namyats, among other usual stuff. For a hand that would like to open 4m, we open 3NT which is a 4m preempt but with a broken suit. Do you think the 3NT is worthwhile having as such? If yes, what would be the best continuations? We currently have only 4M is to play, 4C is p/c to play on four-level, 5C is p/c to opener's minor. This structure is inadequate when responder wants to investigate for slam, or even for game. I am beginning to think the whole 3NT opening is no good. Would like to hear any suggestions.

No, I pass 5H. Pass by partner would be forcing, because we were constructively bidding game. Dbl would have suggested defending, so he does not have a good hand to defend or to suggest slam. He took charge by bidding 5H and I need to respect that.

The choice is between 4C splinter and 4H balanced powerhouse. If your agreement is you cannot splinter with a singleton ace, then no matter what you bid, it will be a lie. Pick the lie you like better, for me, 4C.

Yes, you should tell them all of your agreements regarding 1D opening. Even if the question had been "how many diamonds in 1D?", the proper thing is to explain the bid in full, something like *4+ diamonds and then give the HCP range*. In your case the HCP range appears to be 12-14. Or more if unblanced

Maybe a Forum Guideline of "Do not start a new thread on BBO Ratings" would be good :) The bottom line is, as has been repeatedly communicated by BBO, Fred, and his staff: there will most likely never be any rating system implemented.

That opinion is probably in clear minority here, but of course that is just my gut feeling. I find support doubles very good, and as far as I can see, they fit fine in a natural system. Why not?