wyman

Anything could be right, but I'm leading the ♠A also.

is 5d actually demonstrably suggested by the ui? south has clubs, north can be thinking about x'ing, bidding clubs, whatever.

To me, opener sounds like he has 0-1 KC and 3-2 in the pointeds, probably a 14-15 count. I'm biased, though, since I am opener :)

WaterMan and Free, Do you also use a system in which 4S DNE after 1S-2N, assuming you play some form of J2N? Just curious. edit: [or perhaps what I mean is: do you play a system where 4S is not a super-min rebid]

Right. For whatever reason, I thought I'd need to spend my last trump in dummy to get back to play a spade up, giving up the ruff/sluff. But looking at it more carefully, that's not true, even if hearts end up breaking 2-0. Thanks for noticing.

if my opponents were pretty good and rho unblocked an honor under the spade ace, I'd pay off to KQ tight by playing dummy's trump to hand and leading a spade up.

You need the club A onside, so you'll assume that. Then your choices are to play either for both spades onside or spade Hx on your right. I'm inclined to think that the hands look like: RHO: Hx / x / KJ10xxxx / Hxx LHO: H10xxx / x / Qx / AHxxx or so. What I'll do then is win this, ruff a diamond to hand, draw trump (hopefully in 1, but I think I can afford 2), lead a club up. My plan is to win 1 club, and ruff 2 diamonds and a club. When LHO wins the club ace, if he plays a spade, I'll win the ace. Once I've stripped the hand, I'll still have a heart in both hands, so I'll duck a spade to righty, and he'll be forced to lead a diamond for a ruff & sluff. Do I win?

After pen X, I think X of 2H should be penalty as well. I'd bid 3H at the table (and voted as such), but if I thought P and I would be on the same wavelength about 4C leaping michaels, that would be great.

To be clear: "par" is the lowest level contract, possibly doubled, in which neither side can improve its score by bidding. For example, if NS has 10 tricks available in spades and EW has 8 tricks available in hearts, par is 4S= at w/w (bidding 5H would result in 5Hx-3 for -500 for EW) and 5Hx-3 with EW favorable (-500 vs -620, and NS cannot bid over it; the best they can do is X and collect their penalty).

Even worse. Thanks for the correction.

Wait a sec. This isn't a case of "partner was deciding between two calls, so you have logical alternatives to consider, one or more of which may be suggested by UI." This is: - overcaller botches system - advancer creates a BIT during the auction period - sometime before his call following the BIT, overcaller remembers that he has botched the system (evidently) I thought in these cases it was near universal that a bidder cannot "wake-up" to his side's bidding misunderstanding after an irregularity such as a BIT unless it's clear from bridge knowledge that something funny is going on. Add to that: overcaller never alerted the other side to the possibility that advancer may just have hearts. If all he said was "5-5 inv" and then passed, there's a problem.

If advancer bids 3H in tempo, there's no problem. Overcaller is allowed to wake up to the fact that they are not playing transfers. If there's a BIT by advancer that wakes up overcaller, then this should be adjusted, likely to 4Sx. Additionally there's the problem of what overcaller's 2S means to advancer, who has UI from the announcement of the transfer. Looks like a normal UI case though to me.

... and this from the confirmed bridge nit! :P

Those sessions are pretty early; give them a break! :)

wd guys

There is so much wrong with this, I am speechless. It is his partner's responsibility to inform the opponents of these tendencies, as they constitute an implicit agreement. After this, he will be less successful everywhere. This will actually benefit him, too, since he'll learn.

No drury? Also, everyone* opens anything in 3rd seat these days. As long as he holds spades for 1♠, it's probably not really much of a psyche. If responder has an 11 count with 5 spades and bids 2S, and opener bids 1S with a 6 count and 3 spades, just call the director and say that you're confused by the bidding and that there seems to have been some failure to alert both 1S and 2S. * not really everyone, but a lot of people.

IIRC, it only worked because he psyched against fairly inexperienced players; even good I/A players should have revealed that one and bid their cold game (had the tables been reversed, we would have had no trouble with it, and we were at the time probably I+).

Other than playing with friends, every time I've convinced myself an opponent outright psyched during an auction, I've been wrong. Just play your game. Psyches, even when they fool you, are far from guaranteed to produce a good result.

I agree with you in principle. But in ACBL-land, that's simply not the way things work. I think it was Meckstroth, though I'm prepared to be corrected, who told an audience that "if you are in 3rd seat nonvul and you have 5 spades and you have an ace in your hand, and you're not opening, then you don't understand the state of bridge today." I have no problem if you want to take the moral high ground and not do this -- this was my position for a long time. But so long as I can't get a TD to rule against an opponent who does it, it is not de facto illegal, and I don't feel bad taking advantage of the implicit rules. edit: same thing for the 0-15 precision diamond in 3rd seat. People open that with way more frequency than is acceptable for a psychic. It's a tactical bid, and it happens to be the right bridge decision very frequently, but there's an implicit agreement there after such a frequent maneuver. And by the letter of the law, it's illegal. But good luck getting a ruling. edit2: also I should include the caveat that this is just my experience, which is of course quite limited. Perhaps some of the more serious players in the audience can weigh in.

All I'm saying is that I think AKxx / xxxx / xxxx / x is a 1S opener in 3rd seat, and my partner might agree, but the ACBL says we can't agree to open this. But if you call the director (and the director is a good TD, not just a random club director) and say something about an illegal agreement to open 7 counts, he'll probably tell you to bugger off. You'd be right, of course, by the letter of the law, as written by the regulating authority (ACBL). But it's not enforced anywhere. And my point re: the 2N bid is that we should be forthcoming if partner does this with any frequency, and I wouldn't hold my breath for an illegal agreement ruling against an opponent who did this.

But while directors answer these kind of "accusations" with "grow up, guys" or "it's just bridge" or "you might be right, but everybody does it, so just move on," I'll continue to bid (and disclose) as though I'm not running afoul of anything. edit: the regs are fashioned essentially so that all things that the "pros" do (and essentially only those things) are fair game anyway, so while this might not be consistent with the letter of the regulations, it's almost certainly consistent with the (implicit) spirit of the law.

I usually say something like: this is ostensibly a game try; he's asking me to further describe my hand. But (at w/r, I might add "especially at these colors" ) this could just be tactical as well.

JB, over a strong club, I usually keep it simple: X = majors 1N = minors but these don't have to be particularly shapely everything else natural (except 2N/4N, more shapely with minors -- maybe I should have a 'more shapely with majors' but whatever), jump bids preemptive and natural Simple overcalls may be on 4 cards and may just be lead directing Jump overcalls may be on 5 cards. With a good hand, pass and come in on the next round. Same idea after (1C) P (1D). There is something to be said for 2-suited overcalls, but I don't have much experience playing them here. What I do know is that many intermediate players who play a strong club don't end up making good decisions after interference, so I like to get in there with a wide range (that includes a fair amount of dreck). Against good opps, I get in there with lead-directors and aggressive jump overcalls to help partner and to jam the bidding, but be careful, as these players are better able to penalize you when it's right.

Anyone is allowed to draw attention to an irregularity during the auction period. I don't see why I wouldn't be allowed to say something.