JLOL

Yeah before I knew results I was gonna say Frances convinced me, it's probably not even close. It's weird I knew all the reasons spades would play bad and it didn't occur to me to NOT PLAY SPADES lol.

Well I'm with him in spirit that people open too light based on shape (many threads on this discussion), I just think its going too far with AQ A in your suits... the point remains that you might get too high opposite a misfitting 13 or whatever that game forces but I think passing this hand just takes it too far. Anyways not really LOL just style and judgement.

First instinct was 4N, it actually seemed quite normal, but I am really worried 6S is the right spot (AKTxx Ax AKQx Kx etc) and we won't get there if I bid 4N. Maybe partner will bid 5N and pass 6S though with that... I don't really see what else I can do anyways. Actually reconsidering it maybe I am supposed to just drive to slam? I think that's too much though... so back to 4N heh. Actually I have changed my mind again, I think it's not worth a slam force but I like 5S. It gives us a presumably safe out, and makes sure we get to spades when it's right. Good problem.

Anyone who is overcalling 2S red/white deserves an LOL imo.

3C, I think 2H would be quite reasonable at MP though.

Am I the only one really concerned that if 5D gets passed out we missed a probable down 300 or even 100 into their vul game?

Wow @ not opening. Anyways as awm said just bid out your shape after opening.

I would really expect partner to move with Qxxxx of hearts and the CK. I also think that even though we could clearly miss some good slams we have no 5 level safety opposite a hand that signs off over 4D and we will get too high much more often than getting to a good slam by bidding again.

I'd bid 5H, it's pretty likely they are making and we have a good save, and it's possible that we make.

yep natural, you can bid 3N without stoppers as responder in this auction (since you should have so much in the way of values that it won't be an issue that often).

Almost all major forums have an ignore or block feature fwiw.

Why didn't partner overtake lol.

Just unlucky

1♠ won't keep them out? I believe you if you say so, just curious. My incompetent teammates stayed out but thats another story. Not really, even if they were stupid to stay out of it it is not uncommon that you induce the opps to make more errors by opening than passing. In fact this is a major reason for opening.

X, pass, 4C

3H. I don't understand how we can make a non forcing and non forward going bid after partner has bid 1N freely.

4C, 5C is tempting but it seems like partner might want to take a crack at 4H.

Also I still have no clue what you mean by "I expect to increase the trick expectancy in a suit by 1." Do you always accept a game try when you have the ace of that suit, regardless of the rest? Look at it this way, if you could have Ax of hearts and a side queen or Qx of hearts and a side ace, which would you prefer? Obviously Qx of hearts plus an ace would be better. Trying to decide what to do without looking at the rest of your hand is silly. Having the Q and a doubleton in the suit partner has game tried in increases the value of that queen and that doubleton by a lot which is why Qx of hearts is such a great holding. If you had QJx of hearts that would be even better, because now both of those honors have increased in value by so much compared to an average QJx combination.

You are making it all quite complicated, but if your end result is that Qx is worth .75 tricks on average then that is a pretty damn good queen. The whole point of a game try is to figure out how the hands fit, and how well your honors are working. I think that you basically ended up concluding that Qx is a good holding after 3H? Anyways, you are making it way too complicated, and your numbers are complete guesswork anyways. I also don't think it's good guesswork, for instance Qx is much better than xx when partner has a holding like KJxx, or AJxx when you have only 3 trumps it is not like you can just assume you will typically get 2 ruffs in dummy on accurate defense. A much simpler and less convoluted way to look at it is to evaluate your overall hand strength and your holding in the suit partner has bid. Your heart holding is well above average, both the doubleton and the queen will usually be working. Your holding is significantly better than both xx and Qxx. Your values are working here. Your overall hand strength is at the top of your range for a 2S raise with 8 points and 9 support points, and the quality of the points in the non heart suits (remember the heart suit is a seperate issue) is good; 2 kings being very nice. I don't understand how you can justify not bidding game when every consideration points to it. It's not like you need a top 10 % hand to accept a game try, it's more like a top 50 % hand. Also, of course everyone would be happy to bid 3C if it was defined as a short suit game try. In fact this would be a non problem playing that method. Given that that method was not specified, and that if that method was in use this would be a non problem, there is no reason to assume you play it. It is of no use to answer a bidding problem with a system that is not in use, all bidding problems are in context of the system in use. Of course "standard" is assumed as a default when nothing is specified, so perhaps you just think 3C here as a short suit game try is standard but I would just say that you are out of touch with what is standard in that case.

yep you don't need a stopper in this auction

I think your bidding was auto Fred.

You should never bid 5D, at least bid 4N if you bid. I would pass the double though.

Yeah I agree with that, it really doesn't make sense. I guess a lot of it is psychology, some people just feel like you have to commit to something right now and others are more prone to try and make a call that hedges your bets and keeps partner involved. What do you like on this hand, I'm guessing you would not pass from what I know about you (actually I'll guess you like 3H).

I hope you didn't tank before 6♣! :lol: How would tanking even suggest to partner that he should bid 7? Tank 6C is generally just trying to decide whether or not to bid 6. 6C would also almost always be preceded by a tank anyways.

Why would he "prebalance" with length in hearts. Even if such a thing exists, certainly it just means bidding quite light when you are the one who is short?