Jlall

Totally normal imo.

South should not X 2D, a better way to bid his hand is to pass 2D and then double 2S imo. Now partner knows you have a light takeout double and can bid accordingly.

He got out of his coma yesterday, he is talking some and recovering slowly.

PASS VS JLALL BECAUSE HE WILL OWN YOUR SOUL?!

Heart is a totally automatic lead on this auction for an expert imo. You should almost always be leading a heart on this auction the way most people bid, and certainly when it is your best suit it is obvious. The north hand is very typical. People have stoppers in the unbid suits and long running clubs for this auction. Ergo they have short hearts. That is also the suit they may not have stopped. They also have short hearts because they aren't interested in playing hearts. Even with Hx of hearts they may be worried about shutting partner up at this point in the auction sometimes. The only question is which heart to lead, the queen could definitely be right, but that's pretty irrelevant on this hand. This is a really well known situation, and similarly it is standard to lead Q from Qxx of hearts or J from Jxx of hearts if you have that holding on this auction also.

4H for sure, might run good one time...

This hand has a 7 card suit and a ridiculous amount of spot cards and 8 points! Seriously don't consider giving a negative response with this. You are way overreacting to having a stiff K. There is almost no 8 count I would not give a positive with, maybe QJ Jxxx Qxx Qxxx. Part of playing a strong club system is realizing that the biggest benefit is when you get to create a low level game force and have a great auction. Doesn't really matter what system you're playing, if you are in a GF at the 1 or 2 level AND one of you has shown a suit already you are in great shape over any natural system. Conversely if you have a 1C-1D auction your auctions are not going to be great, even if you have the best possible system over that. You have to negotiate stopping at a low level or finding games if possible as well as finding 4-4 fits and 5-3 fits with both of you having extremely wide ranges. The last thing you want to do is widen your range of bidding 1C p 1D. If it is ever at all reasonable, make a positive. 99 % of 8 point hands should qualify.

Who leads the 9 fom 97x of hearts? 97 doubleton is clearly better imo. At the very least most people lead high from a doubleton and low from 3 in trumps even if they don't know why. This also happens to usually be the right thing to do when you are leading from one of those holdings. It should also be of note that we are weighing 97x vs 97, and 9xx is irrelevant since playing either the jack or low will work (the 7 is going to fall the 2nd round if RHO has Q7 doubleton). Also of note is that from 97x they have 3 choices of leads, from 97 they have 2. This obviously does not make up for the fact that there are twice as many combos of 97x, but it does help. For instance if I think they will lead the 7 30 % of the time, the x 50 %, and the 9 20 % from 97x, and I think they will lead the 9 60 % of the time from 97, then it is about 1.5x as likely they have 97 doubleton than 97x. This is very significant, and I think those numbers are off in the sense that they are leading the 9 from 97x less than that, and the 9 from 97 doubleton more than that. Also, if LHO has Jxxxx 9 AJxx Kxx the only way to make on the heart 9 lead is to cover, pull 4 rounds of trumps, and lead a diamond. LHO wins perforce and exits. we win the DQ, cash our trump and play a diamond squeezing lefty. If RHO does not cover trick one then we just cash 3 spades pitching 3 diamonds, hook the heart, and claim. Sure a stiff trump is not that likely, but if LHO hated his options enough to lead one that is the type of hand he would do it with. So we have some added equity with that.

If kenrexford won't try for a perfecta slam then nobody can!

Even if I was 4216 I would not bid

Agree with Ken as always :)

I think kens point in his second auction is that north would raise hearts directly rather than bid 2N if he had Kxx, ergo he has Kx. This is def true in 2/1, have no idea how to play a non 2/1 GF system though. Don't know what to say other than 4 card majors + 2/1 not game forcing is a crappy system for bidding grands.

2N, passing at MP could work but I think your hand is just too good and partner didn't open 2D in 4th so there's some inference there.

We all know that cuebid by Responder shows support for Opener's suit ( limit raise or better ). But I don't think it works the other-way-around for Opener's cuebid. 3H! is a general force, to be clarified later. It is asking for more info with the first priority as asking for a Ht-stop. no not really

double is penalty, other bids are natural, 3H shows short hearts and 4+ clubs.

I think a hand with 0 points (or 1) is different than a normal submin hand. Your goal is no longer constructive at all, and you don't really care at all about finding a superior partial, your goal is simply to steal. If you are playing a standard system your goal is also to steal and not get completely burned. Meck and Martel had different problems though, since Meck was playing strong club. In a strong club system you absolutely know that they have a game, so the only question is what is a more effective steal, 1S or 1N? 2H is too risky since that's the only bid partner can go crazy over, and it's not effective anyways. The best reason to bid 1N in precision rather than 1S is it gives LHO MANY more problems. Why? Because he is likely to have a good hand without spade length. If you bid 1N he cannot really make a takeout double if hes like 2254 or 1354 because he's worried about spade bids. 1444 would be the absolute best because he would have no bid at all. He also can no longer overcall a natural NT. This forces him into making an awkward decision to overcall with a bad suit and a lot of points and risk missing the other minor, or just to pass and hop to defend, or to make maybe a very heavy 2 level overcall, or whatever. Contrast this to bidding 1S and giving LHO an easy takeout double on all of those hand types. I'm sure if meckstroth had 6 points (they play constructive raises) with that shape he would bid 1S. As for Martel, he had no dreams of playing a superior spade partial because his partner likely had a very strong hand. If he was going to play spades after bidding 1S it would be at the 4 level. In an ideal world by bidding 1N he might get to play 2S after passing a reverse on 1H 1N 2S. If partner did not have a very strong hand, 1N would be best as a steal for the same reasons it was for meckstroth. So either way 1N is better than 1S. Again if Martel had 5 points or w/e (maybe 6, not sure if he plays constructive raises) I'm sure he would have bid 1S. edit: Now beaten by cherdano, wtf

As for this thread, I think 3S is natural and forcing. Responder can be 6-2 or 5 good spades as mentioned earlier (AKJTx xx xxx xxx). I think 3C is natural and non forcing. I disagree with the 3D=forcing camp, I definitely think there are hands in the 6-7 range that can bid this way, especially if they are 5242 that do not want 3D to be forcing. For example: xxxx Ax Qxxx xxx cannot pass 2D since it will easily bid game if partner is 6-4 reds, and will at least try opposite 5-5 reds. AJxxx Qx xxxx xx cannot pass 2D since it will try for game if partner has 3 spades, and will bid game if partner is 6-4. After 2N this hand would rather bid 3D than 3N though. etc. I also don't see that much gain in having 3D be forcing, I guess you get to explore below 3N sometimes but that's not enough for me to give up on being able to play the best spot sometimes. Guess I am primitive but I think you can guess the final contract reasonably well after this auction. With this hand I would just bid 4H.

I think I have clearly said that I prefer a 5-3 heart fit to a 4-3 spade fit. I am not that concerned about foregoing a 4-4 spade fit instead of a 5-3 heart fit. I also think a lot of the time, I will play 2♥ when you play 3♠. I am never losing out on a 5-4 spade fit unless partner has 5 spades, BECAUSE I AM ONLY BIDDING 1♠ WITH 5 and if thats the case I have a 6-3 heart fit. Capiche? LOL I know I wasn't even involved in this one but it was very funny. (emphasis mine) emphasis mine ORLY? But then later! (emphasis mine) So first you made sure we are clear that you are not bidding 1S with 5-3 in the majors. Then when jdonn challenges this view, you say IN CAPS that you are only bidding 1S with 5-3. LOL. Then the obnoxious capiche? Jdonn clearly was arguing the whole time for bidding 1S with 5S and 3H, and his arguement was centered around finding a 5-4 spade fit by doing so. You clearly said you would not bid 1S with 5-3, but I guess when you realized jdonn had won this argument you decided to give an argument as to why not bid 1S with 4-3 (which jdonn never mentioned doing), and said that you would ONLY BID 1S WITH 5!!!!!!! Ok I get it, capiche! edit: jdonn posted his while I was posting :(

I mean, for instance you could use 1H p 2S to fill all of your mini splinter needs if you wanted to. This is better than using 2S/3C/3D for that (or just 3C/3D and not having a spade mini splinter available), but maybe in his system he can't afford to lose his 2S bid. edit: meant to quote phil.

2254 maximum. a 2D response is non forcing, so you cannot bid that with a max, and 3C is more descriptive than 3D when you are 2254.

Umm, you can also redouble showing the ace, and then leave it to partner! Don't forget that their double gives you 2 very valuable bids, XX and pass, that did not exist before their double.

It COULD be ok in the framework of your system if all of the other bids seem absolutely necessary, but in general if you are using at least 7 bids all showing a splinter you are using your bidding space very inefficiently. The passed hand question also depends on whether you use drury, and how you play 1M p 2N as a passed hand etc.

By far the easiest way to get to slam is to have some auction where south to show 5-5 in the majors and then show 3 keycards (see kenrexford). North can easily bid 7 opposite that, even if souths minor suit lengths are unknown. If south ends up taking control ever it is more difficult and he will have to learn about third round control of hearts via keycard (see mbodell), or some cuebidding auction where north gets to cuebid hearts twice. Those seem like the basic ways to get there. Fill in the details as you like.

1) 4H. I am not making any slam move, so it's just a question of which major to bid. Seems pretty close, 4S could go down losing the HA, a diamond, and 2 ruffs, or 2 diamonds and the HA and a ruff. Also some chance of 5-0 spades. 4H could go down if partners hearts are not that great especially if he gets tapped and hearts are 4-1. However given all of our HCP and their diamond bidding it seems unlikely partner has bad hearts unless he has 6-5 (in which case he could stretch a lot to bid 4C). A lot of the 5-5 hands he would just pass 3D with. I am also not worried about them being able to kill the spades and it be necessary, we have a spade and club entry and possibly the HJ entry. 2) Over 3N I think you should just bid 4N keycard for hearts planning to follow with 5N. It is important for your hand to take control, because if partner shows the CK you can bid 7, and since you have already shown your SK partner can bid 7 when that's all he needs also (after 4N 5N). It is not possible partner doesn't have a diamond control after 3N. If he had no D control and had a club control he would have bid 4C, and if he had no control in either minor he couldn't have a 3H bid and would bid 4H anyways. It is possible he bid 3N with both minor suit controls to avoid preempting you out of a club cuebid. Obviously you were hoping for 4C-4D-4N, but since you don't need the diamond cuebid from him you risked. Also the way I play 3H asks for aces first, and if you have no ace but a king you bid 3S (3N shows the spade ace). 3H should be reserved for hands with a specific goal in mind opposite a certain cuebid, and an ace and a king should be able to force to the 5 level opposite that so you can bid in natural order (4C then 4S). Most hands that bid 3H should care whether you have an ace or a king. Not everyone plays this way and bids 3H much more often than me, in which case bidding 1st/2nd round controls equally is probably better. As for what to do now, I'm not sure. Could partner have AQx AKQTxxx Ax x? Could he have Ax AKQTxxx Ax Kx? I suppose if he has this hand he is supposed to bid 6C asking for third round control. With the SQ, CQ, or DK you will know you have an extra trick so you can bid 7 (and there is no hand you can have where the CQ is better than one of the other cards). How about Ax AKQTxxx AQx x? I guess that is a valid construction and 7 is bad. This also shows why we can't just bid 7 with the CK and nothing else, which means 6C should show the K and not the Q. If we have complete faith in partner I think we cannot bid 7 with just the CQ extra. If he has the CK 5N was a bad bid. 3) The question is which is more likely 5C making and 4S down, or 4S down and 5C making? When partner has 2 keycards we can make 5C barring a spade ruff, but might go down in 4S. For instance if partner has Kxxxx xxx Axx xx playing in 4S on a heart lead ruffed in dummy is a disaster. When partner has only 1 keycard, it is possible 4S makes and 5C goes down but generally only when partner has 6 spades with good spots and even then it's dicey. The most likely example of 4S making and 5C going down is when partner also has a heart stopper to stop the tap, as well as 6 good spades. They key is our hand cannot stand repeated taps. I would definitely bid 5C. 4) That heart ten and matchpoint scoring are very tempting... Mark me down for 1N because I'm willing to compete to 3D over 2H, and if they don't bid 2H partner is likely to have 4 of them in which case 1N will often score better than 2D I think. The best advantage of 2D is that we can sell out after bidding it since partner is involved in the 3 level decision. We are also better placed if they compete heavily (like if we need to bid 4D over 3H). Maybe this 1N bid is too greedy. I really want 120 lol. 5) This hand is not as great as it looks. We need 2 keycards from partner for starters, and even then we are not close to home (a fifth heart would be a big help though). Asking for a 5th heart and 2 keycards or some spade help + 2 keycards is a lot, and there is no safety at the 5 level if we find out we're missing 2 keycards. Especially as we are likely to get a bad split in trumps. 4H. 6) Finally an easy one. What on earth could you bid but 3C, showing a game forcing hand with hearts and clubs not strong enough to open 2C...perfect!

I would routinely pass a responsive X with 3433 after 2S X 3S X so I hope they do start raising very aggressively :D They are probably about 99 % to have a 9 card fit after 1S X 3S X though so I wouldn't always pass with 3433, but I often would. Also are you implying you would bid 4C with 3433? If you would bid 4H you are in game already anyways. If you bid 4C you are only going to play partial if partner is passing that anyways so I don't see you as losing much. You might even play 4C down instead of 4H making that way when partner is 1354.