BunnyGo

Because working and making a salary are not useful to the economy...

4NT *has* to be to play on this auction. I don't know whether kickback is ever an answer in the B/I forums, but 4NT not being blackwood certainly is (and is what I would bid on that hand).

The other table was in 6S-1.

This is perhaps a little lighter than normal, but we're fairly aggressive.

Hi all. Comments welcome all around. Thanks! http://tinyurl.com/6vuk8un

Not necessarily, but what happens if LHO has either stiff T or stiff Q or QT tight. Say I play low towards the K: 1) He plays the Q. Is this a devious falsecard from QT tight or Q stiff? I'll (almost) always play him for Q stiff, but it's at least a worry. 2) He plays the T. Is this QT tight or T stiff. Dunno. If I play the J and it's covered, I'll pay off to QT tight. I dunno what's most likely, but the fact that he didn't lead hearts says to me that he probably has Q(x)(x). I think it's more likely that he has either Qx or Qxx than it is Q.

I'd bid 3♥ showing 3+ fit and a good hand. I don't like my shaped, but everything else about it is good.

Interesting thoughts Fluffy. I had thought this was a good problem for B/I players where they had to use the auction and lead to place the high cards. I'll put my solution in a spoiler below:

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I'd consider bidding 3♥ as well as 3♦

It turned out that 5D scored AVG+ as most people were in 5D+1 and some were in part scores or 3NT on a spade lead. In addition to the questions hrothgar has raised I too am interested in how I should have been bidding my hand: A, A2, KQT84, AT952 I was slightly unsure of the 3♣ bid opposite a passed hand and very unsure of the 3♥ bid.

1) In any of my partnerships (including all my pickup partnerships) you have enough to open. 2) 2♥ is forcing in all of these partnerships as well. There are different agreements that people have where your hand would not be enough, or 2♥ would not be forcing, but in general a new suit by an unpassed responder is always forcing--he doesn't have an obvious other way to describe shape and strength while preserving bidding room. Some people play that 2♥ here is even game forcing, but for that you need other specific agreements. These 5♠ 4♥ hands are tricky to respond to 1 minor. Some people play that: 1m-2♥ = 5+S 4+H and constructive values 1m-2♠ = 5+S 4+H and invitational values 1m-1♠; Blah-2♥ = 5+S 4+H and GF values.

Hi all, This was one of just two hands I got to declare on my night out in Boston with hrothgar. How would you plan the play from here? Do you agree with ducking the first spade? [hv=pc=n&s=sqthaj9642dq6ckj5&w=s9&n=sa87hk8dkjt72cqt6&e=s4&d=s&v=e&b=3&a=1h1s2dp2h2s4hppp&p=s9s8s4]399|300[/hv]

FYP

Welcome back, Ben! We've missed you! I agree that this is a play I would certainly miss if I were playing mechanically instead of thinking hard about the hand. I dunno what that says about 95% or more, but I was impressed to see GIB get such a hand correct. Actually, that's not quite right--I expect a lot of GIB, I'm more disappointed when it goes wrong, but it's good to see it go right even if it's expected.

I had thought for a very long time before bidding 4♥, and commented to the opp who called the director that I thought he was calling on me for coffee housing. He said, "what's that, I don't even know what coffee housing is" and after I explained he said, "oh, I'd never call a director for that!" LMAO.

Opener's partner was the doubler. I don't have the hand records in front of me, but it was your LHO who doubled.

We're discussing the same problem, just not so clearly...but I don't think they'd say "10% increase in take-home pay" any more than they'd say "1% less take-home pay" in the example you gave.

That said, the "perfect minimum" is usually looking for a shapeless (beyond what has been promised) minimum where slam is nearly cold. The idea being that if he has extras and accepts your invitation, then slam should at least be good a lot of the time. Agumperz has a couple interesting articles on BBO about this.

I don't really like the 2NT bid from your partner: 1) It bury's the good 6 card suit. 2) The hand is not a minimum. 3) The stopper isn't great, and he is easily wrong-siding the spade suit. Why not just bid 3C?

I don't see a reason to bid anything but 3NT. In particular, I'm having trouble putting together minimum hands where slam is good. I'm also finding it hard to find a reason to bid anything that is inviting in a suit, as the only game I want to be in is 3NT. If I bid 3S I may see partner bid 4S with 4414 shape, which wouldn't be so bad if he's got the right honors, but it wouldn't be great if he didn't.

I hate when people talk about modifying percentages by a percent in an ambiguous way. An example from today's headlines "Gov. Christie proposes 10% cut to NJ income tax." Is that saying we'll save 10% more of our income, or we'll pay 10% less than what we're paying now? This also comes up a lot in political polls.

When used correctly, for example by Joseph Conrad, semicolons are awesome; they add a certain flavor to sentences. The semicolon gives the ability to convey thoughts in a free-flow without using run-on sentences; the semicolons connect them so that the grammar is correct, but the thoughts are not cut short.

I nominate Inquiry.

I wanted to nominate the B/I Defensive problem "series" as "thread of the year" too.