rogerclee

2S, would rather pass than open 1S.

pass

Old rogerclee was so mean :blink:. Sry!

This is the kind of hand you give to a talented beginner to see if they can figure out "the trick" by themselves without ever having seen it before. I would expect most intermediate players to be able to solve this as a problem, so I voted 1.5

I agree that this is better, but certainly without any discussion, standard is to play splinters are still on in other suits.

3N

Why wait? 2N-3C 3H-3S 3C puppet stayman, 3H shows 5, 3S asks: 3N = diamond or other major shortness (4C asks) 4C = club shortness 4D = no shortness, 6 cards 4H = no shortness, 5 cards 4S thereafter asks for shape; after 4D, opener bids their doubleton (so exact 5332 is known) and over 4H they bid their 3 card suit (so exact 6322 is known).

Qx xx AKxx KQJxx, anyone?

Fred, I was wondering if you could comment on how strongly you prefer 4C to 4S (or anything else), since I would have bid 4S with a partner who would understand that as a slam try with spade shortness.

Josh, the opponents bid and raised spades.

4C

IMPs, r/w x Ax KQJxxx AKxx 1D (2D) 3D (P) ? Partner is aware that 2D showed the majors but they had to ask. Partner is a complete beginner (does not play stayman/transfers) and will take anything you bid as natural/to play.

do not accept

5S, x is not as bad as it seems but I still wouldn't do it.

Pretty clear pass IMO, it is a huge long term loser to pretend these things are just weak 2's.

Uhh, we have a 9 count with 3 card support and no jacks!

With one guy I actually play 3C and 3D both show a GF with the minors, but 3C is stronger. Not sure about that, but it works well on this hand.

I just want to add that, IMO, the It's Your Call column is kind of flawed in that (as you might guess from my above post) I think it is incorrect to weight all the panelists' opinions equally. Personally every month I read the entire column, but in terms of scoring whether I'm right, I just look at what Meckstroth did.

People who bid 4S: Jeff Meckstroth, Larry Cohen, Grant Baze, The Colchamiros, Mike Lawrence, Kerri Sanborn, Karen Walker People who passed: The Stansbys, August Boehm, The Coopers, Allan Falk, Dick Freeman, Betty Ann Kennedy, Jill Meyers, Steve Robinson, the Sutherlins I rest my case.

After east opens 1C: 1D-1S 3D-3H 3N-4D 5C-6D I think everything is clear except bidding 5C, since not having the diamond A is such a huge, huge negative for slam. If he bid 5D instead, I would pass with the other hand. After south bids 3N you can't rightside anyway. I want to add that if west has a balanced yarb I think it's pretty obvious to lead a heart on this auction, so this is definitely a bad slam played by south.

If partner's range is 20+, then on average he has about..22 points? Which means on average, everyone else has around 18 points. Which means on average, when we have limited our hand to 0-7, we have around..5 points? (depending on how many opponents have passed) So why is a bid to show 0-4 that weird after 1H art and very strong? Seems like we should be in that range pretty often.

What percent of hands are 1C openers? (among other restrictions)

I also play that over 1C (1H) 1S (P), that 2D shows a minimum hand. Oh wait!

If east has the heart guard and west has the spade guard you have a double squeeze. If west has the heart guard, and you pitch your heart, you're playing him to be 5422 with Kx of diamonds.

From what I know you gave this hand to 1 national champion (not saying there weren't more of course, just talking about what I'm aware of) and he gave it to another national champion, and both laughed at 3NT. But one thought 4♠ was reasonable. Yes I forgot about him, and the only people who came to mind were the 3 people I was talking to at the regional where this occurred. To be complete I should have included our mutual national champion friend, who thought 3N was absurd.