rogerclee

Wow, in one little pass you get to say all this: 1) Partner, you are an idiot - I know you really didn't want to force because 2) I am clairvoyant, and besides 3) No bid is really forcing - they are only suggestions of force - if you bid them 4) I am clearly superior so dummy up and deal, 90 leg on, 30 above the line. 5) And never forget that if this ever happens again and you simply jump to game instead of making the non-forcing-on-me-but-forcing-on-you bid and we miss slam because you are afraid I might once again pass, I grant myself the right as your superior to slay you and scatter your ashes over my tomato plants. These words are stupid.

Not true.

You're bidding 4N for the wrong reason then, 6N will usually not be a very good contract. The reason to bid 4N is that it is very easy for 6m to be a good contract. If you told me that partner would accept my 4N invite but that we have no minor fit, I would be very unhappy with my decision.

See Han's post, which I agree with. While this may be true, partner will be expecting four hearts for a Smolen call, and will bid 3N with AK, xxx, Jxxx, AQxx and similar hands. Using Smolen with a weak 5 card major without the other major is a creative idea, but I'm not sure I like the idea when we have reasonable alternatives. There are problems with the plan, but there are also problems with transferring and bidding 3♦. I was merely addressing the point that you would not find a 5-3 spade fit unless you started with a transfer.

See Han's post, which I agree with.

I would double first, which I play is mostly card-showing, though all of our subsequent doubles are penalty oriented. Given that partner doesn't want to play 2♠x, it seems clear to bid 3♣, having already shown values.

It's forcing, so I bid 3♣ unhappily.

Reverse and then bid spades. I'll overbid my hand by about a jack in order to show its exact shape.

3♣ seems like a better call to me!

2H

I've had a lot of bad experiences upgrading hands like this.

I bid 3♥ planning on later bidding diamonds. I would never play 3N after this start.

1) I would like to make a forcing pass. I like that inv+ raises set up a forcing pass when we are r/w. 2) I would just bid 6♠, since there are plenty of hands where 6♠ will make only from our side and partner will bid 4♠ over 4♣. I think there are more of these than hands where we can bid 7♠ or stay out of slam with confidence.

LOL In all seriousness my opinion is that someone who can believe what you quoted is not qualified to be a district director and is probably doing a lot of damage to American bridge without even knowing it.

Probably not a good idea after a 3rd seat opener though. Yes, agree.

I play a style that always responds at this scoring/vul, no matter what my hand is.

LOL

It was my understanding that both the original and Phil's sequences are forcing in standard North American bridge. Anyway I prefer the original auction to be NF and to play that Phil's auction is forcing, with 3♣ artificial and usually weak.

I would bid only 4♣. I'm scared of going for a number, and this is enough to give my opponents a problem anyway. 5♣ is certainly reasonable to me.

I'd pass the second time, since I don't want to defend 3♦x.

[hv=d=n&v=n&n=s87hk87dtcakq7643&w=saqt542ha64dak5c5]266|200|Scoring: IMP[/hv] (1♣) - P - (1♥) - Dbl (Rdbl) - P - (2♥) - 2♠ (3♣) - P - (3♦) - P (4♥) - AP LHO's redouble showed 3 card heart support. You lead the ♦A (A from AK) and partner plays the ♦7, upside down attitude, while declarer plays the ♦2. Your play.

Say LHO reopens with a double, Pass, Pass back to you... would 3NT be for the minors now? What if LHO reopens with a double, Pass, 4♥ to you... Now what? 1) run with 3N 2) double 4♥ Part 3? ;)

North should've bid 4♠ and then 5♠ and then 6♦, south can go after that, but as it is he wasn't given that option since north could very easily be off a spade trick. So 100% north.

I agree with everyone that this is a clear pass, part 2 please.

"Not even close" is definitely an overstatement, I would open 2♣ for sure if you gave me the ♦K instead of the ♦Q.