wank

obviously if east is a professional he should know to keep his gob shut during the auction, even if he thinks he's trying to help. stick him with a fine.

[hv=pc=n&n=sk43haq654dqj96ca&d=n&v=b&b=13&a=1hdp1s2dp2sd]133|200[/hv] matchpoints. i was south. my partner (better player than me) surprised me here. your bid/plan? edit: you play xfers from 1nt upwards, so partner didn't have a natural 1NT available.

double and 4h. 3h will end the auction too often when we're gin for something far more exciting.

what you did was fine and showed good judgment. reverses opposite 2 level responses are often shaded a trifle anyway - knowing partner has significant values obviously changes things.

well, i agree with the mods. i don't consider that offensive enough to warrant interference. obviously you set the bar at a different level. there is no objective standard, so you're bound to see some posts you don't approve of.

overly pessimistic. you'll miss millions of slams. i'd blast 6♣ via 4nt or 4H

i downgrade the occasional 12 count, but 13 is going too far (note you also have a decent number of intermediates here). you're right about the rebid problem if you open 1♦ - so all good players would treat this hand as balanced. you play a weak nt, right? just open 1NT then and all your rebid problems are solved. playing in NTs gives full value to your soft honours too - doubleton queen in NTs isn't such a bad holding at all, especially when you're declarer, because it's protected on the opening lead. this theory applies in varying degrees to all 5422 5C4H, 5D4M and 5C4D combinations as you get similar rebid problems.

online TDs often ignore the real bridge laws and invent their own. don't worry about them

no, you don't need to alert.

sacrificing on this auction is fine in general, but not once you've looked at your hand

my partner's coming from america so it would be a little pathetic if i couldn't find any teamies. anyone on here interested?

yes, representatives of the European Central Bank and the England and Wales Cricket Board are just the sort of people you play against in your club in RSA and destroy with your advanced bidding theory.

passing 3d was bizarre. you need virtually nothing to make 5d - partner's hearts are over the opening bidder, the opps' values seem to be in spades where partner is expected to be short, blah, blah. i realise you've acted twice already, but you can still dig up an invitation. if partner has some festering crap like xx qtxxx xxxx xx, the opps are making whatever they bid.

i heard you got a bonus for making games these days

1nt - easy

oops x2

you can prevent south unblocking his stiff heart by retaining the club king. he wins t1, then if he clears the hearts, you stick him in later with a loser on loser play.

yes sometimes they'll only make +1

yes opposite 8-10 15 is an invitation. with a known minor fit, you could just punt game in fact. the people who are not inviting just aren't used to playing that range. if 1nt had been 6-10, then inviting would be rather poor as you would end up going down in 2 or 3 more often than you would make 3nt. this is just a reflection of the fact that wide ranges damage your constructive bidding.

anyone who's not feeling lucky here needs to grow a pair

i agree with a diamond - give partner enough space to show a fat hand so we can bail at a low level. bidding a major risks partner punting 4M.

i would double and correct hearts to spades. partner's silence is actually a good thing imo - it reduces the chances of his having 5 hearts thereby improving the chances of his having 4 of a black suit.

FYP. i realise listening isn't your forte, but with regard to AWM, you really should try it. his forum contributions are always excellent, especially with regard to system.

a bit tame to require 55 imo. 45 minors is especially unproblematical because with equal length p chooses clubs.

to set up a forcing pass you need to have exhibited strength, e.g. by cueing the opps' suit. pushing onto game in a competitive auction doesn't show much in the way of high cards so for me it doesn't meet the criteria, irrespective of the vul.