gszeszycki

there is a call we have xx that creates a force. Therefore 3s here is a desparation run out. Opposite a p who makes sounds preemtps I would pass since there is no guarantee my spades will work any better than diamonds.

way too much pessimism in this group with spades as trumps this hand evaluates to around 20 and I see little reason to not bid game. Slam opposite a passed partner is a fanciful idea at best (not impossible just really really unlikely and exploration is not safe) Those who play 4h as spade support and a longggggg heart suit are well placed here. Those that do not are better off just bidding 4s.

pass at imps at MP you can probably talk me into a weak 2 heart bid.

Once I decide to not pass I have to realize this might not be my last decision. assuming we are using the superior podi/pori (vs dopi ropi) I would now bid 4N. There is no guarantee that pushing to 5h is correct but getting an aces response from partner will leave me much better placed concerning what to do over 5s. Bidding 5h now is just plain not as effective as 4n. I would rate 4n=10 5h=6 pass=5 x=3

this hand has become so powerful any number of clubs will fail to do it justice. I would like my chances on 6c if p had as little as xxx Ax xxxx xxxx and p is better than that we just dont know where their power is. Another problem with bidding clubs is we are looking at AKQ which means p is not so getting them to cooperate with slam tries will be difficult at best. I suggest we take the slow route and begin by bidding a mere 2s and see where that leads us. The key here is do not waste precious bidding space. Who knows p might even have a heart fit they want to show us:))

win first tick in hand with J and lead low toward the heart K then back toward the heart Q. this lop succeeds whenever hearts break 33 18 out of 30 cases when hearts break 42 winning trick 1 in dummy and trying to run 7 wins 16 of 30 when hearts break 42 Leading toward K and back to Q has around 64% chance of success vs 61% winning trick one in dummy and leading the 7 for finesse. Winning trick 1 in dummy and leading toward dia Q is an illusion. This lop gives up 1 dia 1 hea and 2 spa but works only when dia are 33. Even if you score 4 dia tricks if only goes with 3 clubs and 2 spades for 9 so at imps leading toward dia Q is no better than A5432 oppsite 67. 36% LOP

100% blame goes to 3s bid. Assuming this partnership plays 3c as a heart raise. At imps the 3c bid is sort of necessary but the 2h bidder has to realize they are dead minimum (or a tad below) for their 2h bid and try to slow p down. Can't imagine what they are thinking by bidding 3s.

lets try and put this in perspective lets pretend W holds Qx Q Qxxxx xxxxx and the bidding proceeds 1s (by east) 1n 2h 2s 3d that hugely anemic W hand suddenly takes on new life and it would be reasonable to bid 4d (especially at imps) E would then bid 4S and that would end the bidding. If responder had say Q Q Qxxxxx xxxxx they could pull 4s to 5d (then there would be no doubt p was void in C) I hereby assign 100% of the blame to E for failing to pattern bid 3d. The 3s bid tells a partial story but a 3d bid tells a much greater part of the story.

your hand has gotten worse as bidding has progressed single !C opposite p long suit xxx in opps overcall a great source of losers. 3N (if p is minimum) is probably not making best shot appears to be 4s and since we are red at the best shot is probably 3s (over 2h). There is a serious possibility P is short in spades and even 3s may be in peril but you have to try. At MP you can at least consider 2s (which cant be dead minimum becasue it is a free bid) but at imps that is too big a position where even the spade T from P might make 4s viable.

this hand can be potentially huge (especially if p promises 4+ dia). The problem with bidding 2c is it risks losing the dia suit and (if opps have the temerity to bid) 2c grossly overstates our power. The 2d (inverted minor) bid allows us to much more closely show our power and we will still be able to show our club suit at extremely high levels that will help p determine just how well our hands mesh. I would be a ton happier defending if P x opps bid after i make limit + raise and show fit than i would be if i had not shown dia fit with 2c bid.

3N Very important bid at this point for the following reasons 1. we limit our hand. The upper limit for 2c is a lot higher than for 3n 2. It might be our last playable spot. 3. there is no strong reason to assume p isnt just making a forcing bid with 5 spades raising dia here might lead to disaster. 4. we might avoid disaster and p can still bid 4d 4s etc with a really distributional hand

this is not hard hand you have all the information you need to pass 4s as the % way to go. You have 18 true but fair amount of quacks and spade J is almost surely useless so your partnership has a combined total of around 31 max and no shortness and a fair amount of quacks (and thats just your hand). These are all warning signs that slam is unlikely and depending on how light you p might open 31 might be optimistic. Pass 4s should be easy to do. Do not blame a system when it works properly.

too much potential reward in 3n to quietly pass 1s. P needs only a hand similar to KQTxx Jxx AJ KQx for us to make 3n. There is also a pretty good chance 1n is superior to 1s if 1s bidder is near bottom of overcall range.

p could have easily bid their own suit if they had one and a strong balanced hand could easily bid 4n (quatitative) 5n (forcing to 6 looking for 7) 6n or 7n themselves. Since a direct 4d shows spade support the only reason to go through all of this is to show not only spade support but also a splinter in diamonds. I would use this sequence with shortness in any of the side suits.

p is a passed hand making it impossible for the x to be penalty. I might assume p has a hand similar to QJTx QJTx QJTxx void and is begging for a sacrifice. If p was NOT a passed hand I would assume it was for penalty.

bid 2s IMPS is a risk vs reward game and the reward of a spade game is far too great a prize to arbitrarily pass due solely to pessimism. Our hand is good enough to give the 2h bidder a fair chance of making 3h if they have a great suit. That fact alone mitigates a lot of the risk associated with a 2s bid. That means 2s is almost all potential reward with a fairly small amount of risk. Ideal circumstances for a game try.

im voting for 3c for the following reasons 1. 3d risks losing the club suit a ton more than 3c risks losing the dia suit. 2. there isnt a huge difference btn my !C and !D suit and if 3c is X its a ton easier to go to 3d. 3. suits not good enough for forcing to 5 level AND leaping michaels eliminates the possibility of playing a vastly superior 3n. 4. while i do not recommend bidding NT with Ax (Axx ok) there is no reason we cannot still back into 3n via say 3c 3h 3s 3n (yes it works with !D as well that way but see 1/2 above).

help suit game tries are a superb game reaching mechanism if properly used. hand 1 while admittedly i would prefer to have Kxx hearts vs spades what looks like a minimum raise is surely worth significantly more since the club K is now undervalued at 3 and odds are high I have a club ruff making this hand worth a ton more than just a mere 6 therefore i bid 4s. Hand 2 it seems right way to go about this is to try a help suit game try and bid 3h How happy would you be to be in 4s oppsite say Kxxx AQx xxx xxx??? or AKxx Qx xxxx xxx? even hands like Axxx QJx xxx xxx leave you with at worst a finesse. dont just give up when there is a NO RISK bid you can make that might get you to a game.

i voted quantitative but i don't think this is a typical ask if p is merely at the top of their hand. I believe partner is trying to reach 6c and is asking us if our hand fits clubs and spades well A good example hand might be AKxx Ax x AKxxxx slam is pretty awful opposite xxx QJx KQxx QJx while a grand is great opposite Qx Kxx AJxx Jxxx

lack of system makes this response a bit speculative--- if playing 2/1 p 3n shows 15 17 and the 4n rebid is minimum in context (say no better than a poor 16) even if you are sure it shows 18-19 because of your system your p 4n should still be trying to convey a message that they are at the bottom for their previous bidding. It is important to note that not only is partner trying to convey minimum but most likely a hand that has far less in the way of controls than might be expected. It is up to you to decide how to proceed. Use the information wisely.

xxx Kxxx Axx xxx is a fair and reasonable 2h bid AQxxx (with spades on right) xxxx xxx x is way so much better that not bidding 4h should be considered almost a criminal offense. Most partners will not open light in 3rd chair completely lacking spades (which is obviously the case here) so opener will generally have a decent hand for 3rd chair 1h bid. This hand has not just 2 spade tricks but easily 4 tricks (2 club ruffs) and maybe even 5 tricks. It is also somewhat weak on overall power making the more nebulous cue bid a poor choice as it gives opener the wrong impression of our defensive abilities should the opponents drift to a minor suit.

if you have not agreed to play support x xx the xx here will generally show an unbalanced hand with extra values (say 16+) with almost assuredly spades as a short suit or a more balanced hand with 18+. All of the other hand combinations are relatively easy to show via 1n 2c 2s 2n 3n or even 2d/2h.

Slam zone possibility but no slam w/o spade control from P i would try 3s if p bids 3n bid 4n quantitative (p might offer to play 6c or 6d (I would pass) or 6h (with a 4 bagger------ i would pass) If p cannot bid over 4n we probably dont belong in slam anyway. if p bids 4c or 4d bid 4h and hope it is right and forget slam.

just bid 4s in either circumstance and especially at imps. It is not that you have only 4 points. Your spade length has hurt partners hand defensively and you have 2 or even 3 club ruffs making your hand way too strong offensively to make lesser bids. You also have little defense so preemption is the way to go. If you want to make a case for 3s at MP to try and steal a board I can understand but 4s is still probably your best bet.

opps have at least 8 if not 9 hearts making nt from OUR side iffy at best since lho has the opp sheart length. My hand seems so well placed I am willing to gamble to the 4c level and the best way to do that is to start with a simple 2s if p is totally minimum they will bid 3c and i will trot out my 3d bid telling them I am really looking for game and need some heart help. If P can bid 3n we should be fine if not we may have to gamble out 5c since its imps no guesswork get partner involved in the decision making process.