Little Kid

I always pass over these auctions and it is always wrong :unsure:

[hv=d=n&v=n&n=sqt87hq83dqj6c653&s=sakj96hkj764dcakj]133|200|Scoring: IMP[/hv] I opened 1♠ as South, should we have found this slam? You play two-way drury and LSGT+SSGT over the 2♠ response. So you can jump to 4♦ to show a void or bid 3♥ to show the suit.

♥K to block the suit on trick 2?

a ) Yes, but not with this hand b ) No

Great show! Well done!

Surely, if anything, this is an advertisement for more accurate methods over 2NT?

[hv=d=n&v=n&n=sak42hak76da83c96&s=sqt5hq84dkqjt52c3]133|200|Scoring: MP 1♣-1♦ 2NT-?[/hv] You're playing short club and do not have any fancy methods to make a mild slam try in ♦s below 3NT. Should we have found this great slam instead of going down 3 in 3NT?

Okay, so I guess pretty much nobody here plays it as 22-24 balanced then.

1♥, wouldn't really want to bid anything else.

What do you think is expert standard for Double in the following auction? If it is different, what do you play it as? 2♣-(Pass)-2♦-(2♠) X

When picking a random I usually ignore their skill level and look at their profile instead as it seems to be a better indicator. Some things I would avoid are: - 16-18/ strong 2s indicates weaker and maybe rusty players (in my experience on BBO anyway). - People who feel the need to list basic things like stayman, transfer, weak 3, natural... - Stolen bids - No transfer/stayman - Gerber - 01234 blackwood or something similar - Open 12+/13+ - Opening one major with 4+ and other major with 5+ of the bid suit. Other than that list and perhaps a few others I'll be willing to play with most people as long as I can play most of the conventions on their profile.

We had no agreements about 3♠ but my assumption was that 3♠ shows some values there (not promising a 5-card suit) and opener is worried about ♣s before committing to 3NT.

[hv=d=w&v=n&s=s942hakt84dqjt7ca]133|100|Scoring: XIMP 1NT-2♦ 2♥-3♦ 4♦-?[/hv]

I would bid slam with South. It may not be prime with a 4333 shape but at the end of the day it still is a respectable 17 count with two Aces. You will usually have 32+ hcps, making slam look pretty decent imo. If partner only accepts with reasonable 16s or 17s you will rarely get to a bad slam but you will probably miss quite a few decent ones too. Then it seems like a winner to man up go for slam by yourself now. On the flip side I see people saying North should accept with his (albeit good) 15-count. This is not my style, but if your partner is one of those players then 4N seems totally fine. Maybe this is a matter of knowing your partner's style and what he rates to be worthy of accepting a quantitative invite. Either way, these two hands should be bidding this slam easily imo.

Edit: Silly mistake. 1♦-1♥ 2♣-2♠* 3♦-3♥ 3♠-4NT 5♥-5NT 6♦-7NT * FSF

So wait, this is simply a matter of counting vacant spaces (including cards played in the critical suit)? If so I have been making life so much harder than it needed to be!

Thanks for posting this! These kind of tips are useful for people like me who take forever doing the math at the table! :)

I wouldn't open this hand, with only 8 cards I probably won't be getting a lot of tricks!

If the ♥9 is taken by the Ace or King, how are you getting back to dummy for another ♥ lead? At MPs I would probably just try for AK♥ tight onside after cashing the ♣s and not do something crazy for a zero, especially if these are the best opps in the field. At IMPs I would win in dummy on the first trick and play a ♥ to the 9, hoping for a defensive error.

Some good suggestions here, which I will also bear in mind when I'll try to resurrect our university bridge club in October ;)

2♠, what else?

Playing 2/1 you have the auction 1♦-2♣, which is GF natural. Is it standard to play 2M rebid by opener showing extras or not? 2♣ doesn't deny a major.

If I understood the site correctly he is saying leading the Queen gets on average 2.3355 tricks from QJ82 and leading the 4th best 2.3264. For this combination in particular though I think the double dummy analysis is biased in favour of leading the Queen. In practise leading low from QJ82 will make declarer guess wrong often more than leading your Queen.

3♥ NF and 3♠ F seems clear to me.

It was the first time we played and we didn't agree specific methods. Overall it is a pretty safe bet though that I don't get much more than 9 hcps :P Normally I play mini-splinters so wasn't sure how to handle these hands otherwise.