uva72uva72 Posted May 15, 2015 Report Share Posted May 15, 2015 http://www.bridgebase.com/tools/handviewer.html?bbo=y&lin=pn|uva72uva72,~~M34001,~~M33999,~~M34000|st||md|2S5AH24JD46KAC35TK%2CS8QKH569QD27JC8JA%2CS49TJH7TKAD8TQC49%2C|rh||ah|Board%2012|sv|n|mb|1C|an|Minor%20suit%20opening%20--%203%2B%20!C%3B%2011-21%20HCP%3B%2012-22%20total%20points%20|mb|p|mb|p|mb|1N|an|Balancing%20notrump%20--%2011-14%20HCP|mb|p|mb|p|mb|p|pc|H5|pc|H7|pc|H8|pc|HJ|pc|H2|pc|H9|pc|HT|pc|H3|pc|SJ|pc|S7|pc|S5|pc|SQ|pc|D7|pc|DT|pc|D3|pc|D4|pc|S4|pc|S3|pc|SA|pc|S8|pc|D6|pc|DJ|pc|DQ|pc|D5|pc|ST|pc|S6|pc|C3|pc|SK|pc|CA|pc|C4|pc|C7|pc|C5|pc|CJ|pc|C9|pc|C6|pc|CK|mc|10| IMPs, ACBL robot individual So here I am in 1NT making 4, with 25 HCP between the 2 hands and knowing where virtually all the high cards are. A major loss? No, a slight gain, because only 1 of the 17 participants reached the cold game, and he/she failed to make it. This is all a function of BBO's dysfunctional handling of balanced hands in the pass-out seat, which provides no way to bid a normal 1NT opening. Last time I faced this situation, I overbid slightly and ended up down. This time I made the BBO-favored underbid and scored a plus. IMO, too much of one's success in BBO's tournaments is tied to one's familiarity with BBO's idiosyncracies and coverage gaps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bbradley62 Posted May 16, 2015 Report Share Posted May 16, 2015 [hv=?bbo=y&lin=pn|uva72uva72,~~M34001,~~M33999,~~M34000|st%7C%7Cmd%7C2S5AH24JD46KAC35TK%2CS8QKH569QD27JC8JA%2CS49TJH7TKAD8TQC49%2C%7Crh%7C%7Cah%7CBoard%2012%7Csv%7Cn%7Cmb%7C1C%7Can%7CMinor%20suit%20opening%20--%203%2B%20%21C%3B%2011-21%20HCP%3B%2012-22%20total%20points%20%7Cmb%7Cp%7Cmb%7Cp%7Cmb%7C1N%7Can%7CBalancing%20notrump%20--%2011-14%20HCP%7Cmb%7Cp%7Cmb%7Cp%7Cmb%7Cp%7Cpc%7CH5%7Cpc%7CH7%7Cpc%7CH8%7Cpc%7CHJ%7Cpc%7CH2%7Cpc%7CH9%7Cpc%7CHT%7Cpc%7CH3%7Cpc%7CSJ%7Cpc%7CS7%7Cpc%7CS5%7Cpc%7CSQ%7Cpc%7CD7%7Cpc%7CDT%7Cpc%7CD3%7Cpc%7CD4%7Cpc%7CS4%7Cpc%7CS3%7Cpc%7CSA%7Cpc%7CS8%7Cpc%7CD6%7Cpc%7CDJ%7Cpc%7CDQ%7Cpc%7CD5%7Cpc%7CST%7Cpc%7CS6%7Cpc%7CC3%7Cpc%7CSK%7Cpc%7CCA%7Cpc%7CC4%7Cpc%7CC7%7Cpc%7CC5%7Cpc%7CCJ%7Cpc%7CC9%7Cpc%7CC6%7Cpc%7CCK%7Cmc%7C10%7C]360|270[/hv]IMPs, ACBL robot individual So here I am in 1NT making 4, with 25 HCP between the 2 hands and knowing where virtually all the high cards are. A major loss? No, a slight gain, because only 1 of the 17 participants reached the cold game, and he/she failed to make it. This is all a function of BBO's dysfunctional handling of balanced hands in the pass-out seat, which provides no way to bid a normal 1NT opening. Last time I faced this situation, I overbid slightly and ended up down. This time I made the BBO-favored underbid and scored a plus. IMO, too much of one's success in BBO's tournaments is tied to one's familiarity with BBO's idiosyncracies and coverage gaps.[hv=http://www.bridgebase.com/tools/handviewer.html?bbo=y&lin=pn|pdncl,~~M34019,~~M34017,~~M34018|st%7C%7Cmd%7C2S5AH24JD46KAC35TK%2CS8QKH569QD27JC8JA%2CS49TJH7TKAD8TQC49%2C%7Crh%7C%7Cah%7CBoard%2012%7Csv%7Cn%7Cmb%7C1C%7Can%7CMinor%20suit%20opening%20--%203%2B%20%21C%3B%2011-21%20HCP%3B%2012-22%20total%20points%20%7Cmb%7Cp%7Cmb%7Cp%7Cmb%7Cd%7Can%7C3%2B%20%21D%3B%203%2B%20%21H%3B%203%2B%20%21S%3B%209%2B%20HCP%7Cmb%7Cp%7Cmb%7C2C%7Can%7C11-16%20total%20points%3B%20forcing%20%7Cmb%7Cp%7Cmb%7C3N%7Can%7C2-5%20%21C%3B%202-5%20%21D%3B%202-4%20%21H%3B%202-4%20%21S%3B%2018-20%20HC%7Cmb%7Cp%7Cmb%7Cp%7Cmb%7Cp%7C]360|270[/hv]If only there could be a way to bid NT more than you did, but less than the other South did... hmmm... I have no Earthly idea why it didn't occur to any of the players in your game to double then bid 2N over the 2♣ response. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iandayre Posted May 16, 2015 Report Share Posted May 16, 2015 In Mike Lawrence's excellent book on balancing, the range for a 1NT balance after 1x-P-P varies based on the suit which was opened. The higher ranking the suit, the higher the top end of the range, up to 16 over 1S. I believe this is the best answer to this difficult bidding problem, although it's far from perfect. I would say this is a low priority for correction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1eyedjack Posted May 16, 2015 Report Share Posted May 16, 2015 Bidding balanced hands in protective seat is hard. You have to fit a wide range of values into a limited number of available sequences. It is inevitable in those circumstances that at the extreme ends of prescribed ranges you will not get it right every time. Having said all that, you do need to commit systemically how you split up the ranges, and that process involves leaving no gaps. Currently we have gaps. Those, a least, need to be eliminated. At that point, and not before, it may be appropriate to debate the demarcation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bbradley62 Posted May 16, 2015 Report Share Posted May 16, 2015 ... BBO's idiosyncracies and coverage gaps.... Currently we have gaps. Those, a least, need to be eliminated... At that point, and not before, it may be appropriate to debate the demarcation.First of all, if there are gaps, it is appropriate to debate the demarcation first, so that the programmers can make ONE fix, not make a fix then have to make another one to accommodate the debate results. More relevantly, there are no gaps in this sequence. Balancing with 1NT shows 11-14. Balancing with a double then bidding 2NT over 2♣ shows 15-17. Balancing with a double then jumping to 3N over 2♣ shows 18-20. Where are the gaps? Having more than 20?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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