awful clichés

[barmar]

See the OP (hence the word cliché).

That tends to happen a lot when threads like this get long.

 

I came close to posting the "good choice" cliché, but just noticed that it was in #2.

[ArtK78]

One that I often do when laying down dummy, particularly in an auction where I have never bid and partner is playing a doubled contract:

 

"Sorry if I overbid this."

 

[i hope this is not a duplicate, especially if the prior poster was me]

[Trinidad]

When dummy comes down after a transfer auction, particularly when dummy is completely broke: "Wow! That is pretty good trump support!".

 

Rik

[gwnn]

Has anyone ever seen people bidding with playing cards? I thought it was pretty funny the one time I saw it (it was in a long competitive auction with someone who had already shown a lot of spades "bid" 6♠ over 6♣ with the six of spades). Of course you can only do it with understanding opps in a non-competitive game, and once every 10 years seems enough.

[aguahombre]

Has anyone ever seen people bidding with playing cards? I thought it was pretty funny the one time I saw it (it was in a long competitive auction with someone who had already shown a lot of spades "bid" 6♠ over 6♣ with the six of spades). Of course you can only do it with understanding opps in a non-competitive game, and once every 10 years seems enough.

I have seen this. I, his understanding opponent, understandingly accepted his "lead". After we laughed a bit, he doesn't do it any more.

[Trinidad]

Has anyone ever seen people bidding with playing cards? I thought it was pretty funny the one time I saw it (it was in a long competitive auction with someone who had already shown a lot of spades "bid" 6♠ over 6♣ with the six of spades). Of course you can only do it with understanding opps in a non-competitive game, and once every 10 years seems enough.

I have seen this in real life, but it wouldn't fit this category.

 

My RHO, an elderly lady, dealt and opened the bidding by putting the ♦2 on the table. After our initial objection, it was clear that she was not aware that she did anything wrong (or funny). So, we called the TD.

 

We told him what had happened, and he asked the lady why she put the ♦2 on the table. Her response: "Why? What is wrong with opening 2♦?". It took the TD quite some convincing to let her pick up the playing card and pull out the bidding card. I am pretty sure this lady is not with us anymore, but if she would be she probably still thinks that we were illegally trying to bar her from opening a perfectly allowed 2♦.

 

(I must say that this was in the ACBL, where the bridge players are very old, and at a time that bidding boxes were just starting to be introduced there (around 1995!).)

 

Rik

[ArtK78]

Has anyone ever seen people bidding with playing cards? I thought it was pretty funny the one time I saw it (it was in a long competitive auction with someone who had already shown a lot of spades "bid" 6♠ over 6♣ with the six of spades). Of course you can only do it with understanding opps in a non-competitive game, and once every 10 years seems enough.

Dave Treadwell used to do this quite a bit. Furthermore, after the bidding was concluded, he would often say "You didn't have your bid." If I had bid 4♠, he would then demonstrate that I didn't have my bid by putting the ♠4 down in the dummy.

[mycroft]

That was one of the standards in the "crazy bridge" tournaments. You could only bid what was in your hand. Of course, book didn't count - you could bid 1♠ to take 1 trick (I can't remember what the scoring rules were).

[blackshoe]

Has anyone ever seen people bidding with playing cards? I thought it was pretty funny the one time I saw it (it was in a long competitive auction with someone who had already shown a lot of spades "bid" 6♠ over 6♣ with the six of spades). Of course you can only do it with understanding opps in a non-competitive game, and once every 10 years seems enough.

I've seen it once. I almost did it myself once, but I caught it before I put the card out.

[GreenMan]

Dave Treadwell used to do this quite a bit. Furthermore, after the bidding was concluded, he would often say "You didn't have your bid." If I had bid 4♠, he would then demonstrate that I didn't have my bid by putting the ♠4 down in the dummy.

 

Once against Helgemo-Forrester, Forrester made some conventional call that Helgemo explained as showing 4 spades, but when Forrester put down the dummy he had only ♠J4 and apologized for his misbid. Then he said, "Actually, my bid showed the 4 of spades. His English isn't too good."

[GreenMan]

Forgot one of the classics: "Grossly underbid". Said when you bid a normal part-score that makes enough tricks for game, or a game that makes slam, because of an extremely favorable lie of the cards.

 

I sometimes say, "Meckwell would've bid it," especially if it's such an unlikely result that even R-M wouldn't go near it.

[GreenMan]

Some I'm prone to:

 

Bidding dies out at the 1 level: "Don't everybody get excited at once."

 

Auction something like (I'm in 2nd seat)

 

1♣ P 1♥ 1♠

X P 2♥ P

P 2♠ 3♥ all pass

 

"Operation Push Them To The 3 Level has succeeded."

[aguahombre]

Some I'm prone to:

 

Bidding dies out at the 1 level: "Don't everybody get excited at once."

 

Auction something like (I'm in 2nd seat)

 

1♣ P 1♥ 1♠

X P 2♥ P

P 2♠ 3♥ all pass

 

"Operation Push Them To The 3 Level has succeeded."

There are certainly auctions like that at the club...not possible, though, if we are at the table either direction.

[gordontd]

I've several times seen the thing of people showing a card to make the bid, but I'm told that Bocchi has just sent the ♣2 through the screen on the tray to bid 2♣!

[jallerton]

I've several times seen the thing of people showing a card to make the bid, but I'm told that Bocchi has just sent the ♣2 through the screen on the tray to bid 2♣!

 

An exposed card during the auction? How did you rule? Or was ♣2 known to be from another pack?

[gordontd]

An exposed card during the auction? How did you rule? Or was ♣2 known to be from another pack?

I wasn't asked to rule. None of the players at the table commented.

[paua]

We have a player at our club, whenever the defensive cards break 3-3 he says "Oh, you good people."

[the hog]

We have a player at our club, whenever the defensive cards break 3-3 he says "Oh, you good people."

 

 

Once when playing in a 7-6 fit, partner played a round for fun and then said, "Oh good, they break."

[GreenMan]

I had a regular partner who called the 13th card in a 4333 suit Elmer. As dummy after all followed to three rounds he would sometimes say "Who's got Elmer?"

 

Playing with him I occasionally got to call for Elmer off the dummy. I am easily amused.

[shyams]

I'd heard this one somewhere before.

 

Partner overbids and gets to declare. He finesses on the opening lead, takes a deep finesse on the next trick, cashes trumps which split 3-2, does a few more shenanigans and lands with an overtrick or two.

 

LHO say to my partner "with your luck, it's a surprise the trump suit didn't break 2½ - 2½ !!"