Jinksy

Why? You might not like the treatment, but it seems no more confusing/blame transferring than an invite - you give partner a choice of two options (or you don't), and he chooses. It lets you penalise on hands where (for eg) they're in a Moyesian, with trumps 3-3.

4♣, omitting the 'stop' card.

Maybe optional isn't the right name. Don't know what is, but we play them as basically showing somewhere in the middle of actively seeking penalties and no interest in penalties.

[hv=d=s&v=e&b=3&a=1c(1%2B)dpprp1dpp1n]133|100[/hv] Our competitive agreements are fairly standard, but this hadn't come up before, and we had differing views on what to expect from each other's bidding. The one relevant non-standard (I think) agreement is that after a penalty pass, we play optional doubles (ie denying the substance to pass a double from P, but with some defensive merit). What are the canonical hands for east and west at this point? Scoring is IMPed teams.

This probably would have been a more interesting problem had I posted it from my partner's perspective, but since after an excellent session his comment here was 'oh yeah, this is the hand where you flipped out', I couldn't resist :P Anyway, this is the bidding challenge he faced: [hv=pc=n&w=sakt82hjdakj63cat&d=n&v=0&b=1&a=pp1sd2s4hp]133|200[/hv] First question - do you agree with his initial double? Second question - inasmuch as you can look at the hand in isolation, is it clear what he should do now? Third question - if S had dealt, and the auction had proceeded 1♠ X 2♠ 4♥ / P, what should he do in this case?

I do like passing here - it's hard to imagine my honours pulling any kind of weight, and P's rebid is almost certainly going to be 2♥ or 2♠ - but I fully expect to be told I'm hopelessly timid.

If either partnership fails to materialise, Nick and I would be happy to play (so long as it's IMPs).

Upvoted Wesley's post because I'm too lazy to upvote all Fluffy's. Sorry Gonzalo :P

[hv=pc=n&w=s95hkqt862d9cqt73&d=n&v=n&b=5&a=1c(4%2B)1s3c(pre)p3npp]133|200[/hv] IMP pairs. North is fairly strong, S maybe an average+ club player. Do you X? Is it close?

[hv=pc=n&e=shq98643dt2cq9742&d=n&v=0&b=1&a=pp1sd2s]133|200[/hv] IMP pairs. What's your call? No special agreements besides (theoretically) common sense.

You can see the meanings of any of the highlighted bids in the OP by clicking on them.

Double here is whatever the partnership agrees. Personally I'd just play it as values, and expect P not to pull unless he expects to make.

Suppose you play void splinters, or have some other way to communicate a void specifically: a) What would be the normal meaning of a cue of P's void? ai) What would be the normal meaning of bypassing a cue of P's void then subsequently bidding it at a higher level? b) What would be the normal meaning of a cue of your own void? bi) What would be the normal meaning of bypassing a cue of your own void then subsequently bidding it at a higher level?

Doesn't it depend on what it would have been before? If pens, then I guess it shows a hand like this. If something else (in which case 2♦ was presumably forcing after all), don't we need it just to show a big hand?

X.

Ick. A♦ I guess.

What was W's X?

Pass. It might be going off on the right lead, but I don't have much confidence about what that will be.

X. Plenty of defence if P passes, and a Moyesian spade fit might be our best game.

I'll double this one and later regret it.

Pass. Suspect our best spot is 5♦, but don't know how to sanely get there.

Pass. There's not a single defensive trick I'm confident about making.

I'm not crazy about my 2♦ bid - wasn't there a risk I could play there? Having got this far, I'll venture 5♥. I don't like it much, but I know X is ending the auction, and I doubt we'll score much for letting them play in 5♦. On a really bad day, they'll make it. (ETA if double was penalties over 1N, I double now)

I want to X, but scared about the lead. It's surely a spade, but guessing wrong about high/low could easily carve the suit. Can W have 3 spades? If not, I guess I X and lead the J.

The complement - I pass unless partner is known not to.