mtvesuvius

[rant] [hv=lin=pn|mtvesuvius,~~M53252,~~M53250,~~M53251|st||md|4S24569AH7KD89C8QA%2CS7KH249TJD2C457TK%2CS3H38QD67JQKAC26J%2C|rh||ah|Board%202|sv|n|mb|p|mb|1S|an|Major%20suit%20opening%20--%205%2B%20S%3B%2011-21%20HCP%3B%2012-22%20total%20points|mb|2S%21|an|Michaels%20--%205%2B%20H%3B%209%2B%20total%20points%3B%20forcing%20|mb|d|an|Penalty%20double%20--%2010%2B%20HCP%20|mb|p|mb|p|mb|3C|an|4%2B%20C%3B%205%2B%20H%3B%209%2B%20total%20points%20|mb|d|an|2%2B%20C%3B%2010%2B%20HCP%20|mb|p|mb|p|mb|p|pc|DK|pc|D3|pc|D8|pc|D2|pc|S3|pc|SQ|pc|SA|pc|SK|pc|D9|pc|C5|pc|D6|pc|D4|pc|S7|pc|C6|pc|S8|pc|S2|pc|DA|pc|D5|pc|S4|pc|C7|pc|C4|pc|C2|pc|C9|pc|CQ|pc|S5|pc|H2|pc|CJ|pc|ST|pc|H3|pc|H6|pc|HK|pc|H4|pc|S6|pc|H9|pc|D7|pc|SJ|pc|C3|pc|CA|pc|CK|pc|H8|pc|S9|pc|CT|pc|DQ|pc|H5|pc|HJ|pc|HQ|pc|HA|pc|H7|pc|DT|pc|C8|pc|HT|pc|DJ|]400|300[/hv] East's failure to take a preference here is quite odd. Fortunately I was on the right side of this one, and collected 800 :)

I count 18 beans, so I open 1♣. I hate upgrading or downgrading these hands, and have not gotten hardly any good results from it, while getting quite a lot of bad ones.

Or the ACBL could provide the phones.

I think this would be really cool. I know I could use it, and I would think it may be a step towards getting rid of the clunky Bridgemates/Bridgepads on the tables. Seems like a great idea, and a good example for what to work towards in the future... I'd say go for it!

Double for me. If partner bids spades, I am not terribly unhappy. If partner bids something else, I will be well placed on the next round.

All's well that ends well :)

I'm not getting to 6♣ either: Pass - (1♠) - X 2♣ - 2♠ 3N - AP

I'd pass if partner doubled.

Because there are 4♠, 1♥, 2♦ and 2♣ tricks in 3N. I agree with 3♥ here -- It says I have extras, but don't know what the right place to play is. Partner with a heart stopper will bid 3N, and otherwise will do something else to further describe their hand. From there hopefully we will know what to do.

Generally exposing one level psyches are quite easy. If you made a 3♠ fit-jump it might be harder ;) It is also good to have the agreement that (1x)-P-(1y)-2x or 2y are both natural. Similarly after partner doubles, 2x would be a cuebid, and 2y is natural. With this agreement in place, you can uncover psyches much easier. I think that there are certainly times for psyching a 1♠ call, but this isn't one of them. If I were to do anything, I would bid 4♠ or make a fit-jump then 5♥ when LHO slams the double on the table. A 1♠ psych on these hands generally won't do much except not allow you to show your hand and judge accurately later.

I will bid game over 3♥, but won't make a slam try over 4♥... 4♥ says partner is accepting, and tends to deny a slam try... Partner had the entire 3 and 4 level to do something slammish. I would prefer to bid 3♠ as a splinter, but I play all jumps here as fit-showing with different degrees of fit.

IMO this is backwards if this were a forcing pass auction. Partner isn't that eager to defend if they have 2 small spades opposite your marked shortness, however partner would be happy to defend with a bunch of there values in spades. Therefore I would expect 2 or 3 small spades from partner (maybe Jxx). This should not be a forcing pass for a lot of reasons: Partner bid under pressure, we are W/R, and we made a pre-emptive raise (which I am not a fan of). There is no reason for us to think it is our hand. One of the reasons that I don't like the pre-emptive raise is that we will have no idea what to do in situations similar to this. If we were to show a limit raise which this hand is certainly worth then at least we wouldn't feel nearly as constrained to bid on later, and at least for me we would be in a Forcing Pass situation. Given the auction as it is, I would try 6♦ as a lead director. I don't think that we are beating 5♠, and I have a bit more than partner expected.

LOL

Right. How else would you show a black 2 suiter after all? :)

I'll try 4♠. At IMPs I'd bid 3, but I think putting LHO who rates to have a lot of red cards under a lot of pressure is best. If they manage to sit out 4♠ doubled when it's right, I will be the first to congratulate them.

I'm going to hate my choices later if I pass. I don't like 2♠ with a balanced hand, and although AT♥ is kind of wimpy, I think 1N is best here.

I'll start with 2♠... No idea how I'd gonna find the information I need, but it can't hurt to try. Over 3♦ I am painfully tempted to rebid 3N, but I guess I'll try 4♦ (or 4♥) to keycard now. After that I'll probably punt 6N.

As a minimum balanced hand? Yes, of course, showing two suits and showing a fragment in the third always shows a minimum balanced hand.

Generally I like rebidding 1N here, however I like to have at least some positional values -- Even Jx would be enough for me. I agree with Han that partner is a favorite to have spade length, but I think rebidding 1N on 2 small will still wrongside things often enough to not be worthwhile. I'd bid 2♣ here I think, although it's very close to a 1N call.

If you're going to be an resulter you should at least try to be accurate about it. 4♠ cannot make double dummy on any lead.

Bridge with pirate22 for money? SIGN ME UP!

3♥. I think the passers are crazy.

Can you not READ?! Obviously he is talking about the fact that a passed hand should not be able to GF.

Definitely 1N. Jx and Qx are nice holdings in the doubletons, and I HATE rebidding 3♣ on these hands. I might sooner rebid 1♠ :)

I know GIB likes to raise a bit heavy, but the bonus 3 card trump support I didn't expect. I suspect West GIB thought the same. I guess it's a good thing, otherwise my crazy bid wouldn't have worked :) http://tinyurl.com/6xokrsw