se12sam

1. I would not really care -- provided it has the same "feel" as a live match. I mean with all the pauses as declarer/defenders stop to think etc. If it were to become a GIB-like high-speed bidding and play of cards with no time for expert commentators, I will almost certainly not watch. 2. How will it work in practice? Will the commentators be typing "live" into a set of bids and plays that Vugraph has logged about 30 minutes earlier? I have often seen commentators point out to vugraph operators about an input error. If (a wrong) Vugraph entry was done 30 min. earlier, there is no opportunity to correct!

Agreed that partner should have a singleton club, and after all these comments I am still convinced the best return is a low club. However, a (late) thought that comes to mind is "If West is the hand approx that Gerben shows, why did West not bid 3♠ to investigate a 3NT declared by East?". As luck would have it, our ♦Qxx means that 3NT should be cold on a finesse even after a low spade opening lead. And after any other opening lead, it should be even easier to score 9 tricks in 3NT.

I agree with jdonn completely. Having a "rule" save a lot of stress and thought. I also suspect (but have no way of proving) that Barry Crane's rule may have had some statistical validity in times of manually shuffled / duplicated boards. With the advent of computer dealt truly random hands, the value of the rule is only for peace of mind.

Hehe do you mean this isnt my best hand diagram or not my best play? I never post my good hands on here :rolleyes: I think the preferred way to show a defensive hand (opening leader + dummy) is to show the declarer (closed hand) as South and display your (opening leader's) hand as West + dummy as North. Your display may have confused because you are South, declarer is East and dummy is West. Did you lead the ♠3? Then declarer must have put up dummy's ♠9 which wins, and would then have set up the clubs in dummy while the ♠A was still in dummy. How about leading ♠J instead? Would it have defeated the contract?

Win in dummy, finesse the ♥Q and play ♣Q from hand. Good defenders will most likely signal count on this to each other. - If there is adequate reason to believe East has odd # of clubs, we can play East to have 5-3-2-3. Continue by cashing ♣A, then play ♦10. West wins and plays a spade. If East is indeed 5-3-2-3, he has to duck this trick (otherwise it is easy to set up the 4th diamond by conceding to west later). Now cash the ♣K, play a low diamond to the ♦A and exit with the ♠Q. This also works if East started with 5-4-1-3. - If East shows even # of clubs, it might be better to simply cash the ♥A and hope the ♥K falls on this trick.

Declarer most likely started with ♣KQ tight. When you win ♥10, you can start disconnecting declarer from dummy by giving up a spade trick and switching to ♠J. Declarer can win the ♠Q in hand, if they wish. When you win the next trick, you can exit with ♠K (after cashing ♥A if still with you) and completely break off communications for declarer. Your side can then hope to score the fifth trick in due course.

I'm no expert and therefore I fear I could be wrong. But at the point when you led a heart, if West is out of heart cards you are always down. West will over-ruff with his presumed ♠A and lead a club. Assuming the ♠9 did not fall on trick 6, the fourth club promotes a trump trick for the defense. And if East fails to follow to the 3rd heart, it means we are playing West to have started with 3-4-1-5 OR for East to have ducked the first trump holding ♠A9x (West 2-4-2-5). Maybe it's best to put all your eggs in one basket and play for 3-3 in hearts.

Six loser hand. If partner has what he promises (8 losers, 4 card spade), I can afford to be in game. I do not expect to make it every time, but at IMPs the odds may surely favour going on to game.

[hv=d=e&v=b&n=sa854h4dk64cq8432&s=skqhk86dat952cak9]133|200|Scoring: MP Your side reaches 3NT by South with no opposition bidding[/hv] LHO leads the ♥2 (4th best) which East wins with the ♥Ace; and continues at trick two with ♥J to your King and West's 5 as you discard a diamond from dummy. At trick 3, you cash the ♣Ace to which West plays the ♣10 and East the ♣5. What next at MPs? Are percentages for any specific line of play worth the risk? EDIT: Apologies! This is probably a useless example. Sorry to waste your time!

Actually the top line of the OP says "Sys : SAYC" and does not say "Sys : 2/1". I completely agree that if playing 2/1, the 2♣ launches you into a GF auction and there is no need to jump in hearts etc. but if I were playing SAYC, the 2♥ rebid does not show the quality of the hand (17 HCP, useful feature in partner's suit, useful shortness etc)

My humble inputs -- though I could be totally wrong here. 1. The 3♣ bidder may not have made this bid if he had 3-card support for his partner's heart. Therefore, he has 1-2 heart cards (0 heart cards is less likely) 2. I have clubs double stopped and partner could have hearts double stopped. 3. Even if partner puts down a good spade doubleton (Ax or Qx), we cannot be sure of 4♠ contract from our side due to risk of ruffs after a heart lead. I bid 3♥ asking partner if 3NT is feasible. If he bids 3♠, I will raise to game because of the scoring and vul. status

1. The South 2♥ call is a severe underbid. What more does South need to make a forcing jump bid? 2. I believe the 2♠ is similarly an underbid, though some may disagree.

If partner is not bidding in a totally illogical manner, could he be 5-6 (or 4-7 or 5-7) in the minors? His 4♠x can be an improvised Lightner dbl. I lead a high heart because I think partner will ruff and lead back a diamond (hopefully underleading his ace).

4N followed by 5♥ over 5♣/5♦ but pass over 5♠

I hate bidding 98% grands. Just not enough upside. Especially when 7NT is 100%, and the bidding has discovered 13 cold tricks

1. I'd open the south hand with 1♦. I believe all 6-5 or 7-5 (longer minor+ 5-card major) bid better when opened 1m. And I recall reading articles that recommended opening the minor (Danny Kleinman's book, possibly?) 2. What if there is a diamond opening lead? After this sequence, East does not need a Lightner dbl (which allows you into a cold 7NT) to secure a ruff. A 4-0 split (West 4-card) though against odds is still probably a 2+% chance.

What if partner spurns your splinter and bids 4♠. Will you pass now with the South hand or make one more move? If the consensus is "one more move" then why not 5♣ as Exclusion Key Card immediately?

If I had to act, I'd possibly bid 3NT. 1. Would partner interpret it as minors? I guess so. 2. Is this a bigger risk vs. double? I can't see it -- if I double & partner has a boring 3-4-3-3, he may pass (taking his chances). Finally, there is a small chance we play in 3NT (dbld?) with a loss smaller than allowing 3♠x or playing in 4m dbl.

I'm not convinced anyone is to blame in either contract. 1. 4♥ is good only because trumps are 2-2, South has a doubleton spade, north's ♣J is valuable etc. It's most likely anti-percentage to be in game. Also, impossible to reach scientifically after the 3♦ overcall. 2. Again, many guesses involved. Too many things were right to make 4♥.

My attempt at answering: 1. 3♣. If partner acts again, we can hope to play 4♥ or 5♣. If he is minimum with scattered values, our side may have 4 losers in 4♥ 2. Pass? 3. Dbl. The info of your 4-card heart suit (and some diamond length) may be useful to partner in competition 4. 2♠. Natural suit. 5. 3♥. If contract reaches 6♣, the strong hand will anyway declare.

At the table I passed. However, I was seriously considering bidding 5♣ -- I did not bid because of partner's hesitation. My "sound bridge reason" line of thought was as follows: 1. Based on opponents bidding, partner most likely had 0 or 1 ♠ cards 2. I have a singleton diamond -- only one loser there. 3. If North's 3♠ jump bid shows some distribution (most likely) then partner must have heart values as well. If partner had not hesitated, I thought I had a good 5♣ sacrifice going. Partner's hand was: ♠x ♥KQx ♦KJTx ♣KJ9xx }Partner's diamonds were worthless (♦AQ were over the dummy) despite which And as above, I held: ♠JTx ♥J987x ♦x ♣QTxx } our side has 9 tricks for -300. Spades were 5-4, hearts were 3-2 and 4♠ was making easily. I fully agree, it was poor judgement on my part to bid only 4♣. However, I believe there was additional information available to me after the 4♠ bid (assuming no hesitation by partner) a. It increases the possibility of a 5-4 or 6-4 spade split. Until then a 4-4 spade fit was possible (increases our loser by one) b. It reduces the possibility of our side having club tricks in 4♠. Opponents will choose to play 4♣X if both of them have club losers.

OK, a clarification. I am not a director and am not sure how a director would rule. But I think the noticeable hesitation in this specific instance would qualify as a BIT.

[hv=d=e&v=n&s=sjtxhj987xdxcqtxx]133|100|Scoring: MP The bidding so far: East South West North 1♦ - pass - 1♠ - 2♣ 3♠* - 4♣ - 4♠ - pass** pass - ???[/hv] You are South. * The stop card was used and you bid 4♣ after an appropriate pause. ** Partner hesitates (noticeable/not disputed) before passing At MPs, does your hand still have a sound bridge reason to bid 5♣? Would appreciate your comments and poll choice

I think after a 3NT bid (which must be based on good playing tricks / HCP), North can re-evaluate his hand and bid 4NT. The 13 HCP does not matter because the diamonds are worth much more in a NT contract than their suggested HCP value Will South interpret this as Quantitative? Not sure. But if this is the logical meaning, South could jump to 6NT at his next turn.

I think you misread the auction, Phil. After 1♣ P 1♠, double is played, by most of us, as both reds... and his diamonds are a little suspect :lol: I agree with the criticism of the heart 5, if that was actually the spot played. Yes, the ♥5 was the actual spot card played. I suppose the highest available spot ♥6 would be better (in a sense of discouraging a heart continuation), but then I was not at the table and was shown this hand later.