Jlall

Yeah but you're missing a trump. The truth is partner is going to bid 4S a lot and 3N only sometimes. And of course when they decline the invite, they're going to bid 3S. It seems like our expected HCP is about 22-25 (sometimes 21, sometimes 26), and our expected number of trumps is 7 so moving past 2S is too much imo. Still not the worst thing anyones done obv and as you said it could work.

Seriously epic game, and topalov evens it up. han: 11:43 am (11:43:50 AM): why doesn't he surrender like a man? jlall :11:48 am (11:48:43 AM): what (11:48:46 AM): he resigned (11:50:14 AM): lol lol, hanp rules!

It's also worth noting that when we're off 2 aces and down in 6, we COULD be down in 5 (xx KQJxx AKQxx x) which doesn't matter now, but is an argument for bidding 6 the first time. Of course partner could just have a stiff spade (1552 or 1651) or the SK so it's not that compelling, just something interesting to think about. It's also possible that we are not off 2 aces and go down in 5 when hearts split badly (for instance if partner has xx AQxxx AKQxx x, and hearts are 5-2 without the king dropping), so that's something to be said for bidding 5 rather than 6. Honestly I still think we're just cold for 6 most of the time.

Also I love the new hanp-mikeh warz. GOGOGOGO.

concur on the latter. 4♥ would tilt me pretty bad though. Not really sure what about E's bidding is so attractive. [hv=w=saxxxhkqxdxcaqjtx&e=sqtxxhaj10xxdt9xcx]266|100|[/hv] LOL. Here's one: x KQxxxx x Axxxx. Since the example hands have nothing to do with the auction, I'll just list a hand where 4H is the right contract also.

Yeah I guess 90 % was an overstatement since we could be off 2 aces. Our hand is really good though.

Yeah I mean I wouldn't be surprised if it made on 3-3 hearts or the HJ coming down but they won't bid it.

There are BBO criteria.

lol

Even though I don't like to play this way, I'll assume partner took my pass as showing extras since that's how most experts play, and also because I doubt partner would jump to 3H very often if they didn't think pass showed extras! lol. xxx diamond should not be THAT bad, because assuming partner is not terrible he should downgrade for his own diamond holding. Still if partner has 4 trumps, no diamond wastage, and the nuts he can bid 4H on his own (eg Kxx Axxx xx Kxxx should bid game on it's own if pass was forward going). Something like Kxxx Jxxx xx AJx is possible and that game is very good. Something like Kx Axxx xxx Kxxx is also possible and that is a no play game. Basically it seems like most hands where partner has 2 diamonds game is pretty good, and with 3 diamonds game is terrible, and I think partner is more likely to have 2 diamonds so I'll bid game. Also in these situations I always err on the side of bidding cuz, you know, it's a vul game yo!

I know it's unlikely but partner CAN be 4432. It is more likely than usual when the auction starts this way and we have this hand I bet. You are also screwing yourself any time partner has 4 hearts and the opps are not bidding 4S. Even if they bid 4S a massive 75 % of the time that partner has 4 hearts (I doubt they do), are you willing to get to 3N or 5D twenty five % of the time that the opponents don't bid 4S and partner has 4 hearts? You could just go down in 5D cold for 4H. It seems silly to me to risk these 2 things.

When I played with my last partner we lived together and played a ton and I would say we made modifications at least every month. It would usually be something like "so I was thinking...we should change this" and sometimes it would be something major like "our structure here is bad, and I saw Meckwell do this..." With my current partner he is not that good with system changes but I'd say we make a couple of minor changes before every tournament and very few major changes. Whenever I notice something that can be improved upon I force myself not to say anything unless it's very important for the sake of not tinkering non stop since he doesn't like it.

ahh ok. That was a random nitpick then lol

6D which I obviously would have bid last round also (though maybe I should try for 7 with 5S?). I expect this to make at least 90 % of the time so my 5D bid was horrible unless I was "walking the dog" or something which is also horrible since I don't fear a w/w 7C save when I can lead my stiff heart, and I don't expect the opponents to usually bid 6C.

In any case - WD. Diamonds were 4-1 and clubs 3-2 with 10-9 on your right. The declarer at the table played, ♦A, ♦ducked, ♥through, ♦ to K, ♣hook losing for -2. Lol...a victory for counting your tricks. Ez game. I think Han doesn't get full credit though since he didn't duck the heart and went down that way :)

?? LHO can still have QJxxx, what else can we do but duck the heart? Indeed it looks like a mortal lock that LHO has exactly QJ832 based on the way the hearts have gone. As for the play obviously play on clubs. If we can get 4 club tricks we have 9 tricks. If we set up diamonds and get 4 diamond tricks we only have 8 tricks and need some more stuff to happen (like a club hook). Hans fork is a nice addition if the clubs go A small small small. We will need luck to make it after that but it's an extra shot nonetheless. If RHO plays the T or 9 then play the jack next and claim unless they were playing a game with us with KT9x :)

If partner didn't have a yarborough he would be able to cover some of those losers! 2C is not a strong bid so you can't just bid on yarbs and hope to get away with it, partner is entitled to think you have something.

You're right, I did not see the squeeze possibility given our very bad spade spots. Hopefully the flight B declarer will miss it too lol :) This I really don't agree with though. Why should partner not be playing the J from KJ6 and KJT as well as KJT6? As you say it does not make sense with Qx in dummy for the jack to be informatory about the ten/queen, so it is an irrelevant card that can be used for attitude. Even if dummy had xx, assuming my ace denied the king the jack should be an attitude signal in this type of situation (cashout, when I've denied the AK).

2H is non forcing, and when we are 5-5 in the blacks I expect partner to very likely be 5-6 because the only time he wouldn't reopen X is if he has short clubs and spade length. I suppose 2461 is still possible, but something like 3451 or 3460 is now very unlikely. I would expect partner to reopen with 2H on just about any 5-6 hand, so I think bidding 2N is fine. And in general I think treating this auction like a normal reverse is bad given that partner can reopen X on almost all x45x hands, and that this bid isn't even forcing, and is generally based more on shape than strength (and a combination of the 2).

I'm sure jdonn said that tongue-in-cheek lol

Seems like it depends a lot on your preempting style. For me the choice is between double and 3H, double really seems like too much of a crap shoot given that I expect to make 3H a very large portion of the time, so I'd bid 3H.

I thought it was more manly to bid NT bypassing majors.

natural

If declarer is 2137 with the DQ, you can still beat it by playing a heart. If he has the QJ of diamonds you've messed up though. A heart back seems really clear here. declarer can just have 2 hearts and something like 2227 +SK, or 1237, or w/e. A heart back almost never gives up the contract. Leading anything but the HA is completely terrible.

I don't see how east can stop after a reverse, maybe it's just be but if I had a 3145 19 count and it went 1C 1H 2D 2H I would never just bid 3N. I guess this has more to do with my style of responding very light and not reversing with random 16 counts and a stiff in partners suit though. A nice 7 count with good spots I am always GFing opp the reverse so that I don't miss 25 and 26 HCP games.