bill1157

i don't think it promises the other major, because you might have a 6 card suit in the unbid minor and not enough to go 2/1. Bill

that doesn't make any sense

its a matter of style, some would open 2 R_DI] just because the weak 2 is so effective, why limit its use so much? Bill

bid 4♣, forget about the hearts unless pd bids them Bill

so if you bid 3♠and it goes 4♥-p-p now what? Bill

The experts do make plenty of mistakes, but they make fewer mistakes than the rest of us. For a hand like this, though, they should get it right, because in team trials there isn't much in the way of time pressure: certainly they could take 1 minute at trick 1 and come up with the right play, as Ken's wife did. Bill

I played in a robot race (25cent) and had my pd go down in a grand slam that i thought he(it) was going to make. I wanted to look at the hand again, but i cant find it. is there a way to get that hand? It just says "no data" when i try to look up the tourney hands or my played hands. thanks, Bill

of course, i can get this as a problem, but at the table...? Also, experts do make mistakes, maybe it was the hand before a smoke break.. Bill

pitch a club... Bill

win spade ace, pull trump and lead a diamond. Now west must lead a spade or adiamond back, giving you an entry to the diamonds.

thought somebody might pass #4, after all, pd is unlikely to have many points. Bill

Maybe the answer is to have partner announce the meaning of your bid every time it is alertable, as they now do with the 1NT range and transfers. Bill

The point here is that whether you overcall 1♥ or 1NT is not because 1 is right and the other is wrong. It is a matter of style. Bill

I guess I might ask the question: would you consider opening 1NT with this hand? If so, then yes the 1NT overcall is definitely worth considering... Bill

I like 1NT, it is an imaginitive call and is certainly worth considering. Bill

I would go for 3NT as long as pd understands that this is not 19 pts balanced... Bill

3♦ is right, because if partner now bids spades, you have an easy raise to game. If you X first and he bids spades (even 4♠) you really arent well placed. There is a chance of 3♦ passing out, but i would consider it remote. Bill

last thursday I played with a new player (with 0 master points) and when the subject of transfers came up, i said "lets not": game went great, we won. Thanks for the good advice. Now he has 1.2 mps for finishing 1st in A at the club! Bill

the modern trend seems to be to overcall with very strong hands: i.e. if you have a suit to overcall you might have as much as 21-22 pts. I think the fear that you might miss game by overcalling with 18 hcp and so must double first has been seen as unnecessary in recent times. Bill

3♠ is clear here.

If North had overcalled 6♦, everyone would agree that south should bid 7. This is essentially what happened so south should still bid 7♦. Easy Bill

If pd has the other spade, what could the problem be? So he must be 2=3=3=5 and will have to lead a club back, so you need to save all your clubs and pitch spades (and hopefully dummy's spade is higher than the one in declarers hand...)

i guess pd has no more spades and is hopefully going to exit with a heart. So i have to keep Qx of clubs and a good spade. Bill

exact valuation aside, would you really want to open 1 and rebid 2NT over a 1 level response with this hand? Bill

Both players were pushing it, this is a case of bidding slam just in case it might make, it could have as easily gone: 1♥-6♥. Bill