mtvesuvius

[hv=pc=n&n=s8hkj2dqjt96542ck&d=e&v=e&b=6&a=1sp3s(*Pre-emptive)]133|200[/hv] Your call over 3♠? Scoring is BAM.

So partner's actual hand was x Kxx xxxxxx Txx... I bid 4♣ and made 4 if I remember right, but I was wondering if I had overthought the hand in assuming partner was a favorite to hold 6♦.

1N

I bid 4♠ and hope for diamond shortness... 3N will have no play with what I expect (AQT♠ and perhaps an outside jack/queen)

http://www.theonion.com/articles/row-of-asterisks-spices-up-otherwise-ordinary-emai,18475/ !!!!!

*****. Testing profanity filter, which does not include Belgium apparently :) http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/hitchhikers/guide/belgium.shtml

1♦ - P - 1♥ - 4♠ 4N - P - 5♦ - P 5♠ - P - 6♦ - AP

Definitely not. I pass.

FYP (was appearing weird for me -- with a bunch of "&nsb" things) I would have bid 3♦ before. I'll bid 3♠ now.

Richard: North has a 4324 hand Raising to 2♠ seems completely normal unless you overcall on total crap (which I guess you do?) Although sh*t happens, this is an awful lot of sh*t happening IMO. What kind of good results usually come from overcalling bad 4 card suits that you don't want led when you are vulnerable? Please explain. RHO would also bid this way with Kxx♠ or Kx even.

Haha :) My laptop is downstairs in my room... Desktop is upstairs in civilization =) I do think it would be nice to discuss/post problem hands after, but perhaps duplicated boards wouldn't be too easy to do (and it wouldn't be practical for earlier rounds...)

Your partner is, to put it diplomatically, out of his mind. 1N is the normal call planning on making the weak preference to 2♥. 1♠ is ridiculous. Your hand is a clear 2♣ call, 3♣ is awful. The 2♠ vs 2N problem is an interesting one, and I'd probably go for 2♠, however 2N is not unreasonable at all. Bidding 3N with partner's hand deserves a nomination for worst bid of the month (worse than even pirate22!).

I agree strongly with no barometer, and also if you need, you can create more matches with alternate accounts of yours (or I can do it with one of mine lol)

1. Double 2. 2♦

[hv=pc=n&s=s854hadakqckq7543&d=s&v=n&b=15&a=1c1sp3s]133|200|Your poison?[/hv]

IMO it should be similar to the WBF regulations: http://www.worldbridge.org/departments/laws/internationalcode/international.asp

That is true, but partner also denied the ♣K already with his 5♦ call.

Yes, and in general, if we had the chance to ask for kings, and fail to do so, it is also a 3rd round control ask. With Qxx, partner can bid 6N. By bidding 7x, it shows a doubleton.

The earliest version I used was Windows 1995 (the year before I was born ;)), I just recently found a few CDs that I used to play when I was younger, none were compatible beyond Windows 98... Bleh.

True, and hands that have 6♣ and 4♦ or 5♠ and 4♦ or a possible double squeeze, albeit unlikely, should bring 7♥ to around 82% or so I guess... I suck at math :)

3♠ RKC seems like the dream agreement here, a simple 3rd round control ask will get you where you want: 1♦ - 1♥ 2♥ - 2N 3♦ - 3♠ 4♦ - 4♠ (King ask) 5♦ - 6♣ (DK, no others/3rd round ♣ control ask) 7♥ - P (Yes - Doubleton/OK great!) As a side note, do we really want to be in the grand? Needs either 2-2 trumps or 3-3 diamonds, not too awful I suppose though, around 78%? Without 3♠ as RKC, it becomes extremely hard to find, and I cannot think of an auction to get us there confidently. EDIT: Looks like Tim beat me by 3 minutes while I was typing, lol

This was my thoughts as well, but I always guess wrong, so probably not a good sign :D

I am a big fan of 4 card overcalls, but that's pushing it a bit too far IMO. If I am going to take a call with the South hand, it would be double. North *could* have passed over 1N, but with 4 card support, I really can't give too much blame to North. Overall I would say 75% South, 10% North, 15.1% Unlucky.

West will be on lead against 5♠.

Counting is hard for me, lol