Weirdest/worst agreements you've encountered at the table?

[Finch]

And finally there's a pair who play

1♣=12-14 any

1♦=15-17 any

1♥=18-20 any

1♠=21-23 any

1NT=24+ any

 

Such a system has already been mentioned upthread but they also have point-showing replies!

 

step 1=0-5 any

step 2=6-8 any

step 3=9-11 any

step 4=12-14 any

step 5=15-17 any

 

 

That way, each response but step 1 actually always shows a given total range for the partnership. E.g., 1♣-2♣, 1♦-2♣, 1♥-2♣, and 1♠-2♣ all show that your partnership has 27-31 hcp. Kind of useless of course and fails a lot in practice (with or without interference) but at least you practice your basic algebra.

 

That system isn't legal in England (the responses are, but not the openings). We've had requests for it to be permitted at least twice that I can remember.

[Zelandakh]

That system isn't legal in England (the responses are, but not the openings). We've had requests for it to be permitted at least twice that I can remember.

Please consider changing your minds - I just love it when opps play something like this against me!

[Vampyr]

Please consider changing your minds - I just love it when opps play something like this against me!

 

Yes and please also consider changing your minds about transfer openings.

[Cyberyeti]

Same pair, 3 bits of strangeness last night (husband and wife, in a Norfolk context reasonable players who've played together for decades):

 

Partner opens a strong club, RHO overcalls 2♠ and plays there. We met the one pair in the universe that plays strong jump overcalls over a 16+ club, overcaller had an 18 count with 6 good spades and ♦ KQxx, his partner had ♦AJxxxx, a stiff spade and out, they made 4.

 

Auction starts 1♣-(1♦)-1♥ and dummy subsequently goes down with 4-4M so I ask what double would have meant instead of 1♥ and was told they just bid 4 card majors (reasonable), but that X didn't exist (not reasonable).

 

The above auction continues on 1♣-(1♦)-1♥-P-2♣-P-2♦-P-2N. I didn't pick the 2N bidder for a stiff spade in a 1345.

[barmar]

Partner opens a strong club, RHO overcalls 2♠ and plays there. We met the one pair in the universe that plays strong jump overcalls over a 16+ club, opener had an 18 count with 6 good spades and ♦ KQxx, his partner had ♦AJxxxx, a stiff spade and out, they made 4.

Surely it was the overcaller who had 6 good spades, not the strong club opener.

[Cyberyeti]

Surely it was the overcaller who had 6 good spades, not the strong club opener.

Sorry yes, post edited.

[Zelandakh]

Partner opens a strong club, RHO overcalls 2♠ and plays there. We met the one pair in the universe that plays strong jump overcalls over a 16+ club

Perhaps a jump overcall is strong without a question but weak after asking the meaning of 1♣.

[manudude03]

I had this auction tonight:

 

(P)-P-(2C)-3S.

 

I somewhat assumed this would just be natural pre-emptive. Partner alerts it as intermediate (11-15), we may be waiting a while for that to come up again.

[perko90]

Worst agreement:

 

Ptr: 1NT (15-17)

Them: X

Me: "What's the X?"

Them "Takeout"

Me: "Takeout?!"

Them: "Yes, he promises 3-card support in all the suits and opening count"

(after hand)

Me: (to myself) sure enough, a 13 pt pancake!

[Zelandakh]

Ptr: 1NT (15-17)

Them: X

Me: "What's the X?"

Them "Takeout"

It is a surprisingly common agreement.

[Siegmund]

Yes, extremely common among the live novices. And it's completely impossible to get them to alert it, indicate it on their convention card, or otherwise grasp that that isn't the standard meaning of the call. Sigh.

[mycroft]

One of the many reasons we play "rescues on over all doubles, Alerted or not." But 12-14 is my *strong* NT.

 

Of course our rescues allow us (in fact, encourage us) to play 1NTx and 1NTxx...

[TylerE]

One local pair plays what I refer to as reverse 2/1.

 

So, something like 1♦-p-2♠ shows opening values and 4+ cards.

[32519]

Last night I encountered this crazy agreement at the table -

1♣ = 9+ cards in the black suits, 5-15 HCP

1♦ = 9+ cards in the red suits, 5-15 HCP

1♥ = 9+ cards in ♥ and ♣, 5-15 HCP

1♠ = 9+ cards in ♠ and ♦, 5-15 HCP

1NT = 9+ cards in the majors, 8-15 HCP

2♣ = 16+ HCP, any distribution

These guys didn't seem to have any bid for the common 4333, 4432, 5332 hand patterns, 12-15 HCP. No surprise then when they ended up stone last for the evening?

[gordontd]

Last night I encountered this crazy agreement at the table -

1♣ = 9+ cards in the black suits, 5-15 HCP

1♦ = 9+ cards in the red suits, 5-15 HCP

1♥ = 9+ cards in ♥ and ♣, 5-15 HCP

1♠ = 9+ cards in ♠ and ♦, 5-15 HCP

1NT = 9+ cards in the majors, 8-15 HCP

2♣ = 16+ HCP, any distribution

These guys didn't seem to have any bid for the common 4333, 4432, 5332 hand patterns, 12-15 HCP. No surprise then when they ended up stone last for the evening?

They probably had fun though. Unless the cards had been dealt by hand.

[Zelandakh]

Last night I encountered this crazy agreement at the table -

 

These guys didn't seem to have any bid for the common 4333, 4432, 5332 hand patterns, 12-15 HCP. No surprise then when they ended up stone last for the evening?

According to your list they also have no opening for hands with both minors and 4441s. It seems quite likely to me that you have an incomplete understanding of their system from the few hands you played against them and they either use 2♦ and/or 2NT to cover some of these hands or bundle them into a lower opening such as 1♣.

 

Out of interest, were you playing your Lee 2♦ opening against them? It might be that they had a similar impression about you as you got from them! ;)

[32519]

According to your list they also have no opening for hands with both minors and 4441s. It seems quite likely to me that you have an incomplete understanding of their system from the few hands you played against them and they either use 2♦ and/or 2NT to cover some of these hands or bundle them into a lower opening such as 1♣.

Turns out you were right about this. Having now played many more hands against these guys, I still think it is a dumb system. The opening bid is based on where the MAJORITY of HCP's lie, minimum suit length = 3. The better players in the club are starting to exploit this weakness in their system. It tells you in which direction to take any needed finesse in all 4 suits! To update the first post on this crazy agreement, this is what we now have -

1♣ = majority of HCP's are in the black suits

1♦ = majority of HCP's are in the red suits

1♥ = majority of HCP's are in ♥ and ♣

1♠ = majority of HCP's are in ♠ and ♦

1NT = majority of HCP's are in the majors

2♣ = 1 suited hand, 16+ HCP's

2♦ = 1 suited hand, 16+ HCP's

2♥ = 1 suited hand, 16+ HCP's

2♠ = 1 suited hand, 16+ HCP's

 

The only thing about this crazy agreement which (to me) seems to have any merit is this: the more cards you have in the two suits shown with the opening bid, the lower the HCP count needed for the opening bid.

 

Just to illustrate this dumb agreement, last night these guys missed a laydown 4♥ contract. The opener had 5 babies without a single honour. He had (I think) 12 HCP's in total with the majority concentrated in ♠ and ♦. Systemically he opened 1♠, his partner had preference for ♦ and they ended up playing in 2♦ which made. Responder had 3 cards in the ♥ suit, all of them honours. Everyone else bid and made 4♥.

[32519]

These guys have finally cottoned on to the the fact that the better players at the club were exploiting the fundamental weakness of their system i.e. when they open the bidding and our side ends up declaring, we know in which direction to take any required finesse in all four suits. They now have a new system which isn't any better. They have come up with this for their opening bids -

1♣ = 8-10 HCP

1♦ = 11-12 HCP

1♥ = 13-14 HCP

1♠ = 15-16 HCP

1NT = 17-18 HCP

2♣ = 14+ HCP majority of the HCP concentrated in the black suits

2♦ = 14+ HCP majority of the HCP concentrated in the red suits

2♥ = 14+ HCP majority of the HCP concentrated in ♥ and ♣

2♠ = 14+ HCP majority of the HCP concentrated in ♠ and ♦

2NT = 14+ HCP majority of the HCP concentrated in ♥ and ♠

 

Their previous 1-level opening bids has now become their 2-level opening bids, but with more specifics a) the HCP starts off at 14, and b) both the promised suits must now contain a minimum of 4-cards each.