chasetb

I don't know how others plays a FSJ, but I play it as 2 of the top 3, or AJT/AJ9, so I wouldn't even consider 4♦. I see that Frances and han both went with that option though.

Yeah, don't worry about it. My lowest score ever live was a 30.56% - NOTHING went right that day, and there wasn't a single top to be found. Of the 3 that should have been tops, the same pair (more accurately, the wife) made 3 stupid sacrifices, and they finished 2nd in our direction. And on every other hand, good contracts would go down, bad contracts would make, and everyone else in the room couldn't defend. We played again 2-3 weeks later, and were first with a ~61%. Now it could be that you don't fit well with this player, but more likely is that the proverbial $#!t hit the fan for you that day.

The only time there's even remotely a controversy is with a hand like ♠Qxxx ♥KQxxxx ♦xxx ♣--- , when we might be better off in Spades than Hearts. Otherwise, a void can make me want to be more aggressive on a pre-empt.

For those who don't know, han and Zel are having the same conversation as they did 18 months ago. Han's first post is on page 2, see http://www.bridgebase.com/forums/topic/47554-quick-poll-1d-2c-x/

While I'm sure that it does happen that pairs can languish in 1M + 3 / 4, Opener is clearly to blame in this case. I would open this 2♣ and easily end up in 4♥.

There once was a lad from Lancaster Whose newest goal was to be a Life Master So he went to the Club But was proven a dub Now pretty lasses are all that he's after :lol:

Like the two above me said, Strong 2s came about at the same time as Contract Bridge did. Its main attraction is with Rubber Bridge, where being able to bid slams was of very high importance so you can win by a larger margin (and gain more money when playing for stakes). The positives and negatives for it are below: Positives (in order of strength): 1.) You are able to show the two main features of the hand in one bid - lots of strength, and your main suit. 2.) Slam bidding can be more accurate because you can set trump at a lower level. 3.) Lots of players know Strong 2s. Negatives (in order of thought process): 1.) The frequency is VERY low. 2.) Most people bid very poorly over Strong 2s, either by opening them too often, or responding very poorly. Generally today, only weak players in the USA play them Strong. 3.) Many of the hands can be bid just as well by moving them into the 2♣ opener (which was underutilized). And in good partnerships, you don't have to be worried about opening some unbalanced hands with 20-21 HCP at the one level and getting passed out. 4.) With Matchpoints, averaging better scores over a set of boards was more important than finding slams. So Weak 2s came about. 5.) Weak 2s apply a lot of pressure on your opponents. It causes them to make mistakes, and I remember quite a few times when partner was able to bid 21-23 HCP games that were cold because of card placement. 6.) When using a Strong Club or Strong Diamond systems (like Precision, Polish Club, Swedish Club, Magic Diamond, etc.), the Strong 2 bids aren't needed. On top of that, those systems needed the 2♣ bid to be natural, to fill in a hole in the system. Honestly, unless you are into the evolution of bidding or play with people who still use Strong 2s, don't bother with it. All you need is 2♣ in natural systems, and at teams possibly a Strong 2♦ that shows either Diamonds or a GF balanced hand.

Audrey Grant's Bridge Master 2000 is the same as Bridge Master 2000, only none of the hands are above Intermediate-Advanced difficulty. While I have never used it, for declarer play and defense play, I would bet it is worthwhile. I would also recommend the BIL, they have mentors there, the website itself has plenty of articles, and you can meet someone through the website and the free lessons some of the people give.

Steve, are you registered on the website? Because I just logged in and downloaded "Toad Club - Relay Precision", and it works perfectly. If you aren't registered, then go ahead and register; you might have to PM downagain on BBO to make sure it goes through. Then, just log in and click on the icon to the right of the date uploaded.

First off, I HATE East bidding over the X. Partner's bid just shot your hand down in value; if (s)he has the single-suiter, you should be in 3NT, and if (s)he has Clubs and Hearts, then your Pass will slow things down. If there was no X, I would have bid 3♦, showing strength and implying length in that suit. That would bring things to a screeching halt. If this is a regular partnership, then go to Karen Walker's link on SJS bidding and responding. This doesn't excuse West bidding 6♥ though. Over the 5♦ cuebid, East tried to sign off with 5♥. In order for West to move over that, (s)he should have extras, like a running Club suit or several honors in Hearts. There is neither, so pass is the only option. So, I blame both partners, but West gets more of my consternation for a slight overbid initially followed by a major overbid.

I also agree that the 3♠ bid by South is way too aggressive, it's just slightly worse than the 4♠ acceptance by North. I would have used 2♣ and then 2♠, and played it there.

I will open 1NT. Aces and Kings are bad for NT if you don't have a way to develop any tricks, and while the intermediates are nice, you are still 4333 shape.

ahydra, what you have in principle is An Unassuming Club, which is more or less a Polish Club with a weak NT + a few minor changes. This Link is more concise, and easier to understand. Just change your 1♣ to include 4414 (which Polish does) and change your 1♦ to 4+ (which Polish changed to because 5+ was way too difficult) and you should be set. Don't use Mini-Roman. It had a specific purpose, to fill in a gap left by the Roman system. It is worthless otherwise. EDIT - Actually, now that I think about it your system is really close to Nightmare Club, since they use transfers and all that. However, they have 18-19 bal. hands in 1♦ (so technically they only promise 2+), and 2♣ contains all the 5+ Clubs and 4M hands.

http://tinyurl.com/apqu48k My X isn't ideal, but why is GIB pulling it with balanced garbage? I would have expected Pass to be the first choice (though I admit I don't know GIB at all), second option would be 1♥. This goes even without the XX, as I would expect 2♣ in this situation to always be 5+ Clubs.

I know plenty of work needs done in this area. First off, here is the hand, I was unable to send a robot report - http://tinyurl.com/b49ok2l Over my 1NT overcall, whether it is Pass, X, or 2♣ by LHO, do 'Systems on', or in other words just use the standard structure. It isn't ideal, but it's far better than that disaster.

I open 1♠ as well, this hand is worth a lot more than 17. And I will go to 3♠ as well for the reasons the other posters listed above.

1♠ with every person I know, not even close. Only if you are old fashioned and want 9-12 as a Weak 2 (Fantunes not included, because of the system) should you open this 2♠. There is no other option.

This song came out 10 years before I was born; it wasn't until last week that I discovered it. It suits my mood/life perfectly as of right now - and who doesn't love a guy singing while on a bike and a rotating stage?

Allowing more kids to get educated and at an earlier age is never a bad idea, and should have been started awhile ago. Indoctrinating them with liberal ideas and that President Obama is the 'greatest' ever is very bad. Teach them facts and let them think for themselves, don't do their thinking for them. That's how the USA got into this mess. * For the record, I am a 25 year old conservative libertarian (I am located in the upper right, closer to moderate then the edge, look it up because my dial-up isn't working too well) who DOES NOT watch Fox or any other major cable network, though if I were to watch it would probably be split somewhere between Fox, Headline News, and a little MSNBC. They are all bad, every politician currently in DC needs to be voted out, and strict limits need to be set on future terms.

Speaking of bands, I can't be the first one to mention Tommy Tutone and 867-5309 (ask for Jenny)

So guys, I am starting up a band, where I am lead singer. I am changing my last name to 'Singer' and my middle name to 'the', so I can be Chase the Singer. I have a buddy whose last name is Sitar, and he is going to play the sitar. Any other people want to jump in?

Yeah, well I KNOW when JLall is drunk in 6 posts or so, but that is always because he mentions in that or a later post that he is drunk. Is this a personal attack? No it isn't, because I have no ill will towards Justin, and there is truth to that statement. Now THIS is a personal attack: Your mother is so [... snipped before a person could get offended at a joke that not only had no malicious intent, but had no truth whatsoever to it - random moderator]

Well, unfortunately BBF lost, and I'll take the blame on it. One hand I played extremely poorly after making a poor decision, and the other hand I made a bad (horrible? wimpy? stupid?) decision. [hv=pc=n&s=skt853h6dkj4cqj98&d=e&v=n&b=2&a=pp4hpp]133|200[/hv] What would you do? If you are a non-passer, how much weaker / less shape would the hand have to be for you to not compete? Here is the board: http://tinyurl.com/c6uj3h4 On a side note, since I've taken the blame, would you take any action with the North hand? If you said no, how much stronger / more shape would the hand need before you take any action? If you said yes, how much weaker / less shape would the hand need to be before you pass?

You definitely have a 2.5 ♥ rebid. If I had a partner who bid soundly, or if I could play the spots off the cards, I would go with 3♥. Also, since it is MPs I will go the low road with 2♥.

I'm in. Even if I'm not selected, I'll be on BBO just in case somebody doesn't or can't show up.