nekthen

In standard Puppet 3♦ shows at least 1 4 card major. Otherwise bid 3N. This allows the 3♣ bidder to show both majors by bidding 4♣ with slam interest or 4♦ game only. If 3♦ does not show a 4 card major you cannot use this extension, and it is possible to miss a 4-4 ♥ fit. e.g. 2N 3♣ 3♦ 3♥ (spade suit) 3N 3N bidder may or may not have a 4 card heart suit

I have that issue with my iPad when it is plugged in. Sometimes it seems to affect the accuracy of the touchscreen. Unplug it and it works fine

So we know Spades 3W 2E, Diamonds 3-3, Hearts are either 5-5 or 4W 6E and clubs are 3 2 or 2 3 East has 2 aces and west has KD. East chose not to open a weak 2. So I place him with 5 hearts and 3 diamonds and therefore play him for the Q. Right result, wrong reason! In fact, as 3rd hand, you are more likely to open a weak 2 with 8 hcp than with 10. With a 10 count and short spades you may well hope for the hand to be passed out. So if East has 6 hearts he is likely to have qx in diamonds, if he has only 5 hearts then he has 3 diamonds so we play him for the Q Of course, I confess that this is all after I know the result, but I think the logic is sound

Not so much rare, but when I have 5 hearts and 1 spade, it seems unusual

I am dubious about LHO bidding 2S. This is a rare reply which indicates a hand willing to play in 3+H opposite a weak 2 in H but only willing to play in 2S opposite a weak 2 in spades. I think it much more likely that LHO bids 2H and RHO bids 2S and now it is your bid. In this case, we are probably outgunned in spades and I now use Leaping Michaels, which must be weak as I did not use it on the first round If 2S was indeed the bid, I would pass feeling fairly confident that either partner has a spade stack or they have messed up and missed a laydown 4S

Count me in. Sounds like fun

I think that making yourself an expert would be a mistake. There are two types of expert on BBO those that are a pleasure to play with and those that are completely useless bridge players. I may be biased as I rank myself as advanced :rolleyes: I suggest enrolling in free tourneys and join some of the clubs like IAC and BBO fans If you find a player you do well with, "follow" them and then ask them if they would like to partner you in casual games

I use the banzai count. This means A=5 to T=1. Add 1 for a 5 card suit Total available is 60 so divide by 1.5 to get back to Milton Count Equivalent. 12 -14 is 18-21 etc I do not open three ace only hands. Others may be 17 counts in banzai, but I open them to stay in line with the field. Once we have established the hand belongs in NT then I use banzai to determine whether to go an extra level or not. So up to 19 points I decline invite, 20 - 21 I accept. Also a raise to 2N is generally, 11 -12 hcp. This converts to 16-18 banzai points I know others dislike banzai, but I find it to be a worthwhile adjustment when evaluating NT contract levels

1♥ is correct, even with his 19 count p should know that game is not an option and he has no reason to believe that there is a better contract. Maybe opps will back into the auction and get into trouble. The problem is that people do not understand that they MUST bid at the two level with 8 hcp and a 4 card major, if p does not trust you to have a really bad hand he might bid 2♥ and turn a plus into a minus

EBU rules are slightly different. You must alert 2♣ if it is Stayman but does not promise a 4 card major. Otherwise you announce "Stayman"

3♣ for me. If partner passes we probably have no game. If I double we may go 2♠ 3♣ 3♦ 4♣ losing 2♦ and 2♣. I think I want a more solid club suit to double and then bid ♣. No trumps requires a lot from partner, Ax♣ and a ♦ stop. If partner has nothing in ♣, even weak opps will find the hole in ♦ or ♠.

Bid 3♥ over 1♦

Sorry guys but surely double is a support dbl showing 3 card support and a decent hand. Now I double again. I think its going down p but if you have a good offensive hand feel free to bid 4 spades Its not a responsive double. That is if p had doubled on round 1. It is not a negative double, that is when it is partner who opened. An immediate 3 spades would be same strength but with 4 card support.

Rating Systems are fraught with danger. If the site calculates your ability and you care, you might stop playing with lowly people even in casual games if you thought it would affect your ranking. An expert who kindly chooses to play with beginners (or gets paid for it) may well have a poor ranking

I think what this forum thread demonstrates clearly, is that you cannot say "I play EBU Modern Acol, but I choose to open my 4 card minor in preference to my 4 card major." It is no longer Modern Acol and you must review every aspect of the system to make sure it still hangs together

One other route is to play inverse minors. When would you prefer to bid 1♦ to 2♣ when you have a good hand and club support?

I open 1♣ with the hand shown. I like to use transfer Walsh style bids over it. Without that style, I prefer to respond 1♠ with 4♠ and 4♦. If I have 4♠ and 5♦, I bid 1♦. Now I expect p to bid his 4 card major rather than 1 (or even 2) NT. The problem as I see it is that checkback is now looking at both majors so we could easily have the following sequence: 1♣ 1♦ 1N 2♣ checkback 2♠ Club opener is Kxxx Kxx KQ Axxx Responder has xx Qxxx Axxxx xx which means you cant use checkback but suppose Responder has Qxxx xx Axxxx xx I would much prefer to be in 2♠ than 1N Also suppose I have 4♣ and 4♥ and p opens 1♣ 1♣ 1♥ 1N playing checkback, I can't retreat to 2♣ and 1N could easily be down on a ♦ lead I do use checkback after 1♦ 1M 1N, and 1♥, 1♠, 1N. I then find out if P opened with a 5 card suit or if he has 3 card suppoort for my suit or 4 of the unbid major

My partner knows I can have a bad hand with short clubs. He can pass and wait to hear my bid, presumably I will reopen with a double with majors and 3♦ with a 5 carder and a 4 card major with a club suit I will bid 3N. So partner does not have to double for take out. Therefore double is penalty and I would hope he would only do that with 5 clubs. There might be a case for double to be both majors, but only if you have the agreement that garbage Stayman is not allowed which is OK with strong NT.

I guess I stand corrected. imho if you are going to wait for a hand that strong you will wait forever. As previously pointed out, the next bid you hear will be 4♥, which will be passed out, probably for an average score. I think that if partner knows what to expect (mine does) (not at red), he is in a much better position to judge what to do with 4♥, and we have put more pressure on North who has no chance to be scientific.

This hand is why Leaping Michaels was invented. Get the hand off your chest with 4♣, then pass for the rest of the auction with a clear conscience. If you are not playing this, I think you have to pass.

Another interesting question is what is 2♠? I play it as strong with shortage in ♠ If the 2♠ is natural, then it seems logical to play double as pass or correct and 2N as lebensohl

Thanks for pointing out my inability to count :) Take a card out of one of the short suits and you can see how close you are to game opposite a hand that would pass 1♠ without pausing for thought. Which shows how dangerous it is not to include these hands in your two level scheme.

FWIW I prefer b to a. 8 playing tricks in a minor can be opened at the one or 4 level depending on other factors. 2 suited hands should be opened at the one level unless you are really GF. I agree with the principle of semi positive 2♦. I try to cater more to the major single suited hands by making 2♥ negative or semi- positive opposite 8 playing trick hand with ♠ (maybe passed) 2♠ negative opposite ♠ and semi- positive opposite 8 playing tricks in ♥ (may be passed). I do not like to bid more unless I am showing an AKQxxx or better suit. Let opener show his hand. Most of the time he will be bidding 2N and we do not want to take that away as we all have a bidding structure to deal with that AKQxxx Axx KQx x xxx xxx x xxxxxx 2♣ 2♦ 2♠ 3♠ pass A 2♦ bid can be made on a ruffing value provided you can stop at the 3 level. Note that if you swap the red suits game becomes a good shot as the ruffing value must be in a minor and opps have not bid their clubs

1N 2♠ 2N 3♦

I would like to think my partner would bid 1M with a 4M 5c hand As he is a passed hand his shape is 3325, 3316 or 3235 if he bids 1D 2C. So I am probably going to pass 2C