This hand is so an opener.

I admit things like the vulnerability, the lack of majors, and your partner's weird opening habits (his openers/pre-empts should be more sound from 2nd position, especially vulnerable) are all negatives.

But aces are awesome. If the opponents want to steal this hand away, let them, the aces are great for defense, and -50 is better than zero.

This is just my gut feeling, but this hand has to average better than a zero over the long term.

FWIW, that "Rule of 15" thing only applies to hands you wouldn't open otherwise. You still obviously open something with x AKQxxxx Axxx x and a bunch of other hands.

Playing strong NT, I open 1D, but I expect my partner's openings in 2nd seat to be solid, especially at these colors. In particular, 3rd seat couldn't say anything white v red, so I expect my partner to have a pretty decent hand opposite mine.

The question in my mind is why didn't third seat make a call.

Three aces are just "too good"; maybe the only kind of
hands I would pass in fourth seat with exactly three aces
would look like:

Ax Ax xxxxx Axxx

but here, you have an okay holding in clubs: JTxx. This is
easily an opening hand in fourth seat despite holding only
two spades.

The better question is this: will it be better in the long run
to open this or pass, i.e, do you expect to get a better
matchpoint score to do so? If you pass this, you will be
"going against the field" since almost everyone will open
this hand and I'd expect more than half of the time when
fourth seat opens this hand, they will go "plus". Even if
your opponents outbid you when you open in fourth seat,
some of the time you'll be +50 or even +100.

r/w, lho dealing, imps. two passes then rho bids 1, what's our line with:

T84
AQ65
AJ6
K97

is passing too nitty here? i don't see a sensible overcall and a double is imo misleading, eventually opponents find their way to 3nt-3.

next hand, partner open passes, rho bids 1nt, passed round to partner who then doubles? what's that supposed to mean, and what am i supposed to do with:

J74
32
KT754
K84

after rho passes, apart from think partner is a moran?

Warning-I'm certainly no expert: I would double, why do you say it's misleading?

Why would you think Partner misbid? I would read it as:

from http://www.prairienet.org/bridge/BB/b_dbl1.htm

With only seven HCP and 5-card diamond suit, I'd probably bid 2d rather than let it get passed out at 1ntX.

I don't think passing is nitty here at all. You don't really have shape, and a takeout double is slightly misleading. You can sit back, and get more information about the hand (with your solid defensive values, and most of the points with RHO, you're in good shape). If LHO passes, partner is probably going to balance, and you'll find your way into the auction. IMO, passing is correct here. You're rarely going to be playing 1, so you'll get another chance to show your hand.

My only guess is that he's showing a one-suited hand. Since he didn't open with a weak-2, my guess is that he has 6 clubs, and some good distributional value. Does DONT still apply if the auction goes 1N-p-p-X?

4-3-3-3 fourteen count? Seems like an easy pass. The
auction won't die and partner might find a call.
Depends on your agreement. I'm skeptical to think in IMPs
the idea/convention suggesting it's 11-12+ points will work
in the long run (in matchpoints, maybe) since if LHO has
good 6 to bad 8, he could redouble and it's possible there's
no place to run. Even if you defend, most of the defensive
values will be marked in the doubler's hand (Declarer: "What
is that?" You: "11-12 HCP" Declarer: "Great! Thanks!"). If
it really is 11-12 HCP, you prefer to pull to 2.

Most players don't play DONT and Cappelletti has its flaws.

Slightly off-topic:

Is CRASH allowed in ACBL-land today? And what's good to
use in the balancing seat (by the dealer that originally
passed)?

i generally only double 1nt for penalties, i've not learned anything fancy for it and don't expect your random bbo player to know the same, i certainly wouldn't double anything i wouldn't open the first time around. still, what he was doubling this for:

T32
KJ54
A63
J96

i'm not quite sure about.

Looks like he's not very good at bidding. Sorry mate. I remember when I used to play on the internet with random partners, you'd open 1h, partner would be 4h, opponents would double and partner would leave. Then he'd lay down 6HCP and a void in hearts. Yay for random partners.

I'd double, but I could be easily convinced that it's wrong. I certainly wouldn't criticize a pass.
I'd think this should show 11-12 NT, balanced hand. If you had 10 - 14 balanced, you could pass this for a juicy penalty, but with your hand I would play it safe and bid 2.

This of course assumes that you aren't playing some specific defense to 1NT.

NOW I'd think partner was a moran.

You've kind of convinced me. I don't think doubling 1NT on any 11-12 balanced could be good in the long run.

Maybe something that's improved knowing that all the strength is on the right, like

Kxx
Kxx
KQJxx
xx

Seems like an awfully small target to shoot for; probably better to use double here for some other bid, like a two-suiter.

Still, undiscussed, I'd assume 11-12 balanced.

1 is very unlikely to be a bid with a marginal opener, since it takes away so little space. In matchpoints I really like a 1NT overcall (though risky at vul vs non-vul), if only because it means opponents can no longer bid it. In IMPs, however, especially at this vulnerability, it's just too dangerous. Also, we don't have game,so just let it go unless the bidding dies out really soon.

Partner is a moran, that's about it. The only plausible explanation is that he misread his hand at the first round. I'd pass, since I'm clearly not asked for my input here.

(NOTE: this is also MUCH different at matchpoints, where I'm ahppy to bid 2 now)

If you've agreed to play Capp or DONT, partner likely assumes that treatment still applies as a passed hand in balancing suit. (It's more useful that most of the alternatives.) In the absence of that agreement, the passed-hand double ought to be a maximum passed hand, you pull if weak and pass if strong.

On the 3-4-3-3 14-count, I would call pass obvious, and would quite sharply criticize a double. (If the CK were the SK, double would be forgiveable, if still not quite obvious.)

On CRASH... the 2D overcall with no known suit is a midchart convention, which means in most of the ACBL it's allowed only in top brackets of team matches. However, each tournament sponsor chooses what it wants to allow at its tournaments, and districts 17, 18, 20, and 21 (all of the western US except for Washington) have chosen to allow all defences to 1NT in all their regionals. I live in District 19, and as a result, I have chosen to play "Chasm", color-shape-majors, which is GCC-legal: double for blacks or reds, 2C for CH or DS, 2D for HS (2H and 2S natural, 2NT minors) and keeps to the spirit of CRASH as much as it can.

I just finished playing one of my first team games at the club, and I have a quickie. You're both vulnerable.

LHO opens 1, partner passes, and RHO bids 1NT (forcing).

T 8
5
K Q J T 9 8 7 6 4
J

What do you bid?

I can't see how you make any other call. Sometimes you
take a telephone number and opponents don't have a slam,
but c'est la vie.

5 seems automatic. If partner brings just 1 trick, it's a good save, and if he doesn't, they may well have grand slam on.
If they continue to 5 (or whatever), I'm done with the hand, hoping I kept them out of slam.

I went to a NLM game, and had to play with a pick-up partner. We agreed that jump shifts would be weak, both in competition and out. I have two hands for you guys:

w/w, I'm in third seat

A J T 7
A K Q J 5
Q 3
J 9

Two passes, and I open 1. LHO passes, and partner bids 3. I'm taking this as a weak jump shift. What do I do here?

Is this the right line of thinking? What else should I consider?

Second hand: w/w, I'm in 4th seat.

K
Q 5 4 2
A T 6
A Q J 7 4

LHO opens 1, partner passes, and RHO bids 3.

At this point, I figure that my partner maybe has a queen at best, but if he has length in any of the other suits, we have a good sac on our hands. The K is worthless, unless RHO shows up with AQ in spades (right?). So, do I make a bid here?

Reactions to stuff that's come up while I've been away:

• Bidding 5D with nine good diamonds seems pretty clear. Walking the dog is always fun, but with diamonds it rarely works. You're going there anyway, and now is at least as good a time as any other. The only other reasonable alternative is 2H, which could work against opponents who aren't on solid ground in weird auctions. If opps play "constructive raises," meaning the 1NT is often a prelude to a three-trump limit raise, then it won't do much good, but if not, it very well could preempt their game- or slam-going fit. Have to hope partner can take a joke, however.
• Declining to open, fourth chair, with 2=3=4=4, three aces, and a side JT -- yeah, that's too tight. Never mind the rule of fifteen -- this is good enough even using the rule of sixteen. The idea that "aces-and-spaces" is bad is just wrong. Open 1D, pass a 1H or 1NT response, maybe pass 1S though I'd bid 1NT. Or play weak notrumps.
• Without special agreements, a balancing double of a strong NT shows transferable values and a maximum pass. The player that perpetrated this one is probably an idiot, but some people just get hung up on the idea that letting the opponents play 1NT is never right. Those players are wrong, but whatever. In this case I'd pull to 2D (probably down two, but you may well not be doubled). Notice that diamonds are unlikely to run, in which case LHO has 1NT made practically off the top and has lots of chances at an overtrick.
• Making a vulnerable 1NT overcall with a 4333 fourteen count is a really bad idea. Add a jack, and it's still a bad idea. (1NT overcalls should be 15+ to 19-, or around there.) Pass is fine, double is fine (but if you double, never bid again).
• With the nineteen count opposite the WJS -- if partner can be trusted to know what a nonvulnerable WJS looks like, you will not be making any game. Pass. (KQxxxx is an absolute maximum here, and side strength darned well better be nonexistent. You can set up the clubs, but never reach them Also, partner should not have hearts, probably not even a doubleton. Take the plus.)
• With the 1=4=3=5 sixteen count and opps bidding to 3S: a double will not let you outcompete the opponents, and may help LHO locate your heart queen or drop your spade king. Pass. (I'm assuming RHO's raise was limit -- if it's weak, you can consider doubling [for takeout, obviously].)
• I haven't found my ace-asking writeup, but have another place yet to look. I did find many pages of writeups, most of which will do no normal person any good because they're for my weird relay system.
• Suction is better than CRASH. The west-coast rules are confusing at nationals -- I remember the last time the NABC was in Vegas, a pair used suction agaist partner's 1NT opener. I knew darned well partner wouldn't be able to deal with it, so I called the director immediately. He (It was Rick Beye, who should know better) gave me a sarcastic "good luck" when I asked for an adjustment -- but I got it on appeal.
• Suction is still legal (in ACBL general chart events) against artificial openings and responses, and I like to use it for that. What's better is "inverted psycho suction", wherein a suit bid shows either a two suiter, with the bid suit and the next one up, or a one-suiter with the suit two suits up. No anchor suit, but the suction bid can be passed if partner "knows" you can't have the one-suiter. (He often takes a false prefernce to the next suit up, just in case.) Very disturbing, even to moderately sophisticated opponents.

First hand: If this is a weak jump shift, partner can't have
a good five-count or better, i.e., you almost never will
have a game and partner could simply just have 7 clubs.

He might even have a hand as weak as:

xxx x xx KTxxxxx

Second hand: I'm assuming the three spade call was
invitational and not "Bergen" or weak. Spades are "boss",
so...shhh! [ Don't give away you've got almost all the
"goods". ] Also, why so pessimistic about the K?
It will be okay for defense if RHO has the ace or partner
has the queen (almost half of the time).

won the noob section at nabc, 730pm session. 74%. Punted 2 boards that get us to near 80. whoops? Up to 3.8ish MPs after 3 sessions basically.

if you see a poker player-sized person (6' 2", 265 or so) in illinois gear and red hair, that's me, say hi, etc.

My NABC update:

World Junior Trials (USA U-26): Moved on to the semifinals after surviving a 5-team round robin. (4 x 8) Semis are 48 boards. First 16 lost 63-56. Second 16 lost 119-3. Resigned.

Collegiate Finals: Moved on to the semifinals after surviving an 8 team round robin (7 x 8). Lost to the eventual winners (CalTech) by 24 in a 28 board match. Lost the 3rd place match to Harvard, but in fairness we went through 2 bottles of wine, and my partnership played a (previously undiscussed and midchart, hence illegal) phantom club, and Harvard's pair, getting in the spirit of the consolation game, played a magic diamond. We lost by 1 imp, but it was fun. 2.6 gold.

Oh yeah, that Harvard match was shortened from 28 to 14 boards after we played the first 14 with teammates sitting the same direction at the opposite table. Oooooooops

::sigh:: At least poker went well.

Nicely Done!

74% is excellent against any field at any time.

What's the standard bid here? This is on BBO, MPs, w/r.

I'm in second seat. RHO and I both pass. LHO opens 1:heart" and partner doubles. RHO passes again

8 4 3
9 6 5 2
K 6 5
T 7 2

You bid 1S, in tempo. This sort of hand is the reason doubler shouldn't raise on four spades and a typical fourteen count. (Actually, you'd make this same bid with a 3=4=3=3 zero count, so count yourself lucky. And imagine your shape were 2=5=3=3, and you still lacked the strength to float the double...)

I you're thinking of passing the double, don't -- the doubled overtricks will be expensive. And a 1NT advance of a takeout double requires actual strength -- six or seven useful high card points is a minimum. That leaves 1S.