Phil Posted October 12, 2009 Report Share Posted October 12, 2009 I am flat addicted to ACBL Robot DOOPS. WD Uday and Fred. Yesterday, I signed up for a tourney. I didn't recognize anyone on the list except a recent hall of famer. Interesting, I thought. Here are five key bidding decisions. Get them right and maybe one day you'll be in the hall of fame too. All MPs. 1. ♠KT ♥A732 ♦A743 ♣JT2 1♦ - 1♥1♠ - ? 3. ♠A ♥AK ♦AJ873 ♣KQT86 1♦ - 1♥3♣ - 3♠? 3♠ is noted as 5+H's, 5+ S's (!); 4 card heart, 6+ points 7. ♠KJ63, ♥AKQ985, ♦5, ♣J8 (all vul); 1♥ - (pass) - 2♥ - (dbl);? 9. ♠A9x ♥KQ876 ♦AKJ ♣A8 What is your opening bid? I'll give you the continuation in a few hours. 11. ♠QJT7x ♥K ♦Q9xxx ♣A8 (nv / nv) 1♠ - (pass) - 2♠ - (3♥)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdonn Posted October 12, 2009 Report Share Posted October 12, 2009 1. On this strength 2♦ is normal (remember he has a 12 count at most!) but the controls and shape are so good that I'll bid 3♦. Hopefully he won't pass on most hands with 6 diamonds and then I can reach 5♦. 3. 3NT anything else is obviously quite risky. Remember with Gib you might be unable to stop in 4NT if you bid 4♣. 7. 4♥ just like I would do in normal bridge. The spades are onside too. Won't always make but seems clearly with the odds. 9. I would upgrade IRL but 2NT with Gib because he bids toward game and slam extremely aggressively, both after 2NT openers and 2♣ openers. 11. Pass, he might bid game if I bid 3♠ (or if I pass!) The heart honor and bad diamonds point to defending anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jlall Posted October 12, 2009 Report Share Posted October 12, 2009 Before I answer are these things best hand also or not? I've never played the MP ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdonn Posted October 12, 2009 Report Share Posted October 12, 2009 Yeah the ACBL MP robot 12 board duplicates are best hand, I assume that's the tourneys he meant. If it's not best hand I rescind my answers quickly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maggieb Posted October 12, 2009 Report Share Posted October 12, 2009 Agree with josh about everything except on hand 1, where I would just settle on 1N, since it's best hand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pooltuna Posted October 12, 2009 Report Share Posted October 12, 2009 1) 3♦3) 6♥7) 4♥9) 2♣11) pass Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jlall Posted October 12, 2009 Report Share Posted October 12, 2009 Yeah the ACBL MP robot 12 board duplicates are best hand, I assume that's the tourneys he meant. If it's not best hand I rescind my answers quickly. And speed is no longer a factor right since there's a set amount of hands so we don't necessarily have to hog? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maggieb Posted October 12, 2009 Report Share Posted October 12, 2009 Yeah the ACBL MP robot 12 board duplicates are best hand, I assume that's the tourneys he meant. If it's not best hand I rescind my answers quickly. And speed is no longer a factor right since there's a set amount of hands so we don't necessarily have to hog? You have to hog anyway, GIB is a really bad declarer since: 1) He plays on a pretty fast setting and consequently takes some very anti-percentage lines sometimes.2) He doesn't know it's matchpoints.3) BY FAR THE BIGGEST REASON: GIB doesn't know how to exploit GIB's weird defensive tendencies. Also GIB defends terribly when you misdescribe your hand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Posted October 12, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 12, 2009 Best hand I assume unless I've had a mad rush of cards for the last 6 months playing these. 55 minutes for 12 boards. If you place your trust in Barry GIB then no need to hand hog. And time isn't much of a factor either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jlall Posted October 12, 2009 Report Share Posted October 12, 2009 3. 3N 7. 4H 9. 2N 11. P These all seemed really easy. 3,7,11 just seem like normal good bridge actions. The only one where I do something different live is board 9 where I would upgrade. With gib upgrading out of 2N is crazy though, it slam tries super aggressively etc over 2N. I am almost sure jdonn will agree when I go back and read his answers. The only interesting one to me is board 1. Obviously I will NOT invite game if it's best hand MP, but I could bid 2D or 1N. 1N is gonna win if I get 120 vs 110 or 150 vs 130. 2D is gonna win if its 130 vs 120 or 110 vs 90. Honestly I think it's close, and if everything else were equal (we were both declaring both contracts, gibs defended perfectly), I would choose 2D since I think it's slightly more likely to gain, but in this MP duplicate I'm gonna go for it. There's just huge upside to me declaring 1N, I am more likely to steal a trick and if I do it will be huge. So I'll go with 1N. Hopefully my answers agree with the best robot race player in the world! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jlall Posted October 12, 2009 Report Share Posted October 12, 2009 Yeah the ACBL MP robot 12 board duplicates are best hand, I assume that's the tourneys he meant. If it's not best hand I rescind my answers quickly. And speed is no longer a factor right since there's a set amount of hands so we don't necessarily have to hog? You have to hog anyway, GIB is a really bad declarer since: 1) He plays on a pretty fast setting and consequently takes some very anti-percentage lines sometimes.2) He doesn't know it's matchpoints.3) BY FAR THE BIGGEST REASON: GIB doesn't know how to exploit GIB's weird defensive tendencies. Also GIB defends terribly when you misdescribe your hand. Obv I'm better than gib but I think gib plays fine in general and I don't go out of my way to hog from it (just like in real life if I think I'm better than my pard but that my pard is confident). The main reason I hog in the robot race tourneys is because I'm way faster and speed is a huge issue, but I am generally confident in gibs declarer play that I'll only hog if I think it's quite close. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdonn Posted October 12, 2009 Report Share Posted October 12, 2009 Yeah the ACBL MP robot 12 board duplicates are best hand, I assume that's the tourneys he meant. If it's not best hand I rescind my answers quickly. And speed is no longer a factor right since there's a set amount of hands so we don't necessarily have to hog? Well you have 55 min for 12 boards, so no speed is not a factor. I usually play one, then go play another, and when I finish the second one I go back to the first one and watch the last players finish for 10 minutes to see how I did. Btw I'm talked into 1NT on the first one. Mostly that if partner is balanced we are fine, if not he probably rebids 2♦ and then I'm going to simply bid 5♦ lol (would do less but he won't do the right thing anyway, and I think it's more with the odds than passing). I still want to choose an action that doesn't give up on game if he is 4-6, and 2♦ does since he will pass so I still don't like it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maggieb Posted October 12, 2009 Report Share Posted October 12, 2009 sorry misread Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdonn Posted October 12, 2009 Report Share Posted October 12, 2009 quoted misread! =P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwnn Posted October 12, 2009 Report Share Posted October 12, 2009 1. On this strength 2♦ is normal (remember he has a 12 count at most!) Really? How does it work out for him then? I mean I don't doubt you but I just don't understand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jlall Posted October 12, 2009 Report Share Posted October 12, 2009 1. On this strength 2♦ is normal (remember he has a 12 count at most!) Really? How does it work out for him then? I mean I don't doubt you but I just don't understand. What do you mean? If it's best hand and you have 12, your partner (and each opp) can have at most 12. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwnn Posted October 12, 2009 Report Share Posted October 12, 2009 oh that's right lol, thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ochinko Posted October 12, 2009 Report Share Posted October 12, 2009 I have forgotten what 4th suit meant with GIB, but even though we are not rich point wise I'll still try 2♣ pushing towards 3NT or invite a ♦ game if GIB denies a ♣ stopper. All the other bids look like I stole them from Jlall, but I didn't cause I don't read the other answers before I make up my mind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeavyDluxe Posted October 12, 2009 Report Share Posted October 12, 2009 These all seemed really easy. 3,7,11 just seem like normal good bridge actions. The only one where I do something different live is board 9 where I would upgrade... And may explain why my answers lined up with the smart folks (though I'm still giddy about it).... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Posted October 12, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 12, 2009 By the way on #9 if you open 2♣ pard bids 2N (8-11). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdonn Posted October 12, 2009 Report Share Posted October 12, 2009 By the way on #9 if you open 2♣ pard bids 2N (8-11). Alerted 8-11 but he does it with as little as 6. Over that you would clearly just want to bid 3NT. For one thing it may be an overstrength game that makes as much in notrump. But even more importantly, Gib has (had?) this habit of raising 3M on this auction to 5M on a doubleton, which would not exactly be fantastic here! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
georgeac Posted October 12, 2009 Report Share Posted October 12, 2009 I dont have anything to add as far as the bidding but jdonn beat me recently in one of these by .10% ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdonn Posted October 12, 2009 Report Share Posted October 12, 2009 I dont have anything to add as far as the bidding but jdonn beat me recently in one of these by .10% :( You got a 34.57%? ;) I'm definitely better at the robot races. I'm still good at these but high variance, I get lots of tops and bottoms (opposite of how I play in real life) so have a fair amount of lousy tourneys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Posted October 12, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 12, 2009 I'll take these in no specific order. #9 the hands looked something like this: [hv=d=s&v=n&n=sxxhajtxdq9xxxcxx&s=saxxhkq8xxdakjcax]133|200|Scoring: MP[/hv] I did upgrade and raised 2N to 3N. 12 tricks was worth 45%. Mr. HOF opened 2N as most of you did. North made a 3♠ slam try after 3♣ - 3♥ and obviously you cooperate on the stone nuts in South. His +980 was a 76%. Diamonds were 4-1 and trump were 3-1, so you can't make 13 tricks in hearts by the way, otherwise this would have been a total disaster for me even losing to the 4♥ n00bs. It's curious that North gets more excited over a 2N opening than the upgraded rebid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdonn Posted October 12, 2009 Report Share Posted October 12, 2009 It's curious that North gets more excited over a 2N opening than the upgraded rebid. He got more excited opposite a fit when he could make a try below game than opposite no fit when his try would come above game. Of course the real fault lies in the 2NT bid. Told you he goes nuts when you open 2NT by the way! No need to upgrade, ever. He does it with bidding game too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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