Spontaneous System Discussion?

[mgoetze]

Say I am playing a pickup game in the MBC, never played with any of the other 3 before. RHO opens 1NT (presumably 15-17 balanced), and I would like to bid, but have not discussed any defensive bidding with my partner. Assume for the moment neither of us mentions NT defences in our profiles, and pick the action you consider most acceptable in the poll. Further assume that, like >90% of the BBO population, all players claim to be "advanced" or "experts" and can thus be "reasonably" assumed to have heard of one or more NT defenses.

 

Then, discuss how this changes if

a. Partner's profile mentions "capp"

b. My profile mentions "dont"

c. All of the above

[peachy]

Option 4 is unacceptable.

[1eyedjack]

It really doesn't matter

 

I am playing a pickup game in the MBC

[TimG]

One option you neglected to mention is involving the opponents in the process.

 

I would bid naturally and discuss it later if I wanted to play a conventional defense.

 

If I wanted to play a conventional defense on the hand in play, I would privately ask the opponents if it was OK if I asked my partner what NT defense he wanted to play.

 

I would not suggest a specific conventional defense myself since I have seen my hand and thus know whether one might fit better on this occasion.

[Jlall]

Yeah you have to assume natural.

 

If you wanted to do something though, then you must ask partner what he plays, and you cannot reject it. Asking partner what they play and rejecting it gives you a freeroll and could easily be done unethically.

 

All of this would ensure that you are not picking the best possible defense for your actual hand.

[Aberlour10]

From my observations in the MBC, the option 1 is mostly prefered, especially by random choosen p und ops.

[Codo]

I hoped it is standard to ask partner which defence to choose. But of course even this could be used unethical- in a sense that you simply overcall natural with the hand for it and ask otherwise.

 

But I do not care too much about cheats at the mbc, so I let the opps discuss during the bidding.

[barmar]

I agree with Tim -- I'd ask the opps if it's OK for us to decide a defense now. If they say no, I'd assume natural.

[onoway]

What is appropriate when dropped into a tourney as a sub? Do you have to assume natural there? What if you and your pard's profile agree?

[helene_t]

in the main room I ask p. he usually suggests something I know. otherwise I either google whatever he said, or asked him to pick either landy ml dont capp or natural

 

in a tourney when subbing I say "ur profile" and if it doesnt specify an nt defense I assume natural.

[bluecalm]

I think 1 is the most safe and fair. It's not that bad either, it's not like conventional defence makes big difference in expected value anyway.

 

Other options are not acceptable which 2nd being the mildest offender.

With 3rd you will just waste opponents time: "What do we play partner ? - DONT - damn i hate it, something else ? - CAPP? - I hate it too, something else ?" I hope you see it doesn't make sense :)

 

4th and 5th are against spirit and rules of bridge. I think people doing that on BBO (many of them) are either morons or clueless beginners.

 

One interesting option which is not mentioned is to ask opponents to suggest the defence for you :). We use it in live friendly home games. Unfortunately I don't think you can do that on BBO. It won't be understood.

[pirate22]

More oil to the fire-----leads--- when ones pard makes a lead,and you purport to be ply Sayc low is enc, is that set in stone,what is more annoying is discards,is this set in stone even=i want it or is odd= i want it--then there is hi/low,

and there is no room on the profile------ yes one can say how long is a piece of string:) but 2 more lines would help greatly,and makes pick up games more enjoyable, any seconders

[gwnn]

I'm OK with all options if my opps do it, but I wouldn't personally do 3 or 4. I guess I would do 3 if someone suggested suction, though. I've actually done 4 also a few times (when some rare convention came up) but only as a joke. The only thing I wouldn't like is if my opps did 4 more than once (agreeing to natural 2♣ when he gets dealt a natural clubs hand, then on next hand agreeing to majors because he has majors).