This is quite expensive

[junyi_zhu]

Gib holds S9 HAKQJTxxxx DK CKJ

I held QT8532 9x xxx xx

The bidding went

1D(LHO) x(my gib) 2C (RHO) pass(me)

3C(LHO) p p 3S(shows 3-8 total points and 5+ spades in the explanation, which fits my hand well)

x all pass.

It went -1100 for me. when 4H can be cold if I happend to hold CQ or one ace or H9 and make the right guess in C.

 

The general "total points" based scheme is the origin of this ridiculous result. A sound improvement should discard the total points nonsense, cause this hand counts for only

2+17+2+1 = 22 total points, but it really justifies a 4H bid at any time and 4H should never be expensive when you hold the royal flush headed 9 card suit. At least, the explanation should be either 25+ points or 9+ total tricks. This really isn't a huge change IMO.

[arigreen]

Thanks for the report. I agree that tricks would be an interesting feature to add.