Definitely bid; there are many options, but I like double best. Should show a good hand, as opposed to 2NT, which should show more shape and less HCP. If you play lebensohl, I'll know whether to go on to 4H or not.

As for the other options, 3H is fine too. 4H is a little risky at these colors, since LHO will often know whether to bid 4S or double (since he knows his partner shouldn't have any defensive strength, he's in a great position to make the right bid). 3NT is shooting for a very small target.

BTW, I have no clue what 3C or 3S would mean here, maybe looking for 3NT? In that case, maybe 3C, asking for a club stopper, could be an option.

Yeah I think 3c is telling partner to bid 3nt with a club stopper

I like the simple 4 bid. You need very little to make (Jxx/-/Jxx/xxxxxxx gives you chances for example). It does depend whether 2 is strong or weak however. If it's strong, 4 is very likely to induce a further bid as happened which makes it more attractive.

With your hand, I'm pretty sure this is a weak jump shift. I would bid 3C, intending to play in 4H (but maybe higher, depending on if partner has the right values in the right spots).

I think y'all dont have much respect for the opening bid on your left or the pass across the table from you. I am satisfied with 3H now. If they expose a big spade fit by raising, maybe I can bid more expecting to ruff spade losers in the dummy. As it is, I see West leading his short spade, and I see partner's face cards in clubs not being much help to me. I wouldn't say 4H is wrong -- but I am not as optimistic as most of you.

So I read this.. http://www.prairienet.org/bridge/basics.htm

Got a decent idea on how to start to define my hand.

I have no idea what to do once we past the first or second bid. I find myself just lost. Anyone have good suggested reading?

Just started tonight and improved a ton but I am losing a lot of value here.

Just as a warning, some pairs play 3 here as natural. This isn't as crazy as it sounds, since opener needs only 3 clubs to have his bid. Especially with a pickup partner, I wouldn't make the assumption that any suit opps have bid is off limits.

Of course, others play it as asking for a club stopper, and others still play it as an artificial force.

As for this hand, I bid 4 and expect to make opposite 2 small. A WJS in spades (can't really be strong with our values unless LHO opened some weird distributional garbage) is < 6 points, so either partner has some spade values, or lefty has some spade values, in which case partner is ruffing spades. Note that even if lefty is the one ruffing spades, the most he can ever expect is something like stiff spade to righty's ace, spade ruff, ... can't get back, cause righty's got crap.

Welcome to the cult... err club.

To start, worry less about bidding, and start to understand the cardplay. The bidding is often off-putting to beginners, as there are so many different systems, and many bids are only well-defined in the context of an auction. How to play a Bridge Hand, by Bill Root, is a great place to start. I don't know what a reasonable modern bidding book is, but feel free to ask here (and get a variety of opinions) about any situation in which you're unsure.

Best of luck.

Once you understand how the hand will play out (like pulling trump, cross-ruffing, establishing a suit, how to play some card combinations....etc), you'll have a better way to judge the strength of your hand. The point-count method is a good way to quantitatively judge the strength of your hand, but often times, there are some 10 and 11 point hands which are much more powerful than a 14 point hand. I agree with Wyman; start by just playing a lot of hands, to try and figure out how the hand is usually played.

There are tons of different bidding systems, and although you should eventually be a little familiar with SAYC (since most people on the internet and in clubs are familiar with it), work on the card play first.

This website is a pretty good resource, but don't fret over memorizing tons of information. Honestly, it's a lot more logical and pattern-oriented than it looks, and you'll get the hang of it just by playing out a few hands.

http://bridgehands.com/Conventions/SAYC.htm

I just feel a lot more confident in my ability to quickly learn the card play than to understand the bidding.

But I played in that bidding simulator with Chuckles for like an hour last night and gained a lot of ground.

I am becoming fairly competent with the first two bids but I really start to lose it after that, still.

Don't feel bad. There are debates among experts on what the "right" bid is in given auctions. In fact, in the bridge bulletin each month, there is a list of hands (and auctions), and readers are encouraged to write in their next bids. Then a panel of experts is surveyed, and the answers are scored based on the panels' votes:

e.g.
3H = 100
3D = 90
4H = 70
3N = 20

Part of what makes bridge fun is that these decisions are not always clear-cut. Hence this thread...

What you'll need to do is begin to understand which bids are forcing, which can be passed, and what jumps and cuebids mean. By the 3rd or 4th bid, you'll be able to place most contracts in a reasonable spot. Then you can start thinking about fancy stuff.

I started playing in '03. I was a novice until '06, and I am barely pushing the intermediate-advanced level now. So don't be discouraged. Playing lots of hands, just like in poker, is the best way to see situations come up.

If lefty has spade values, we are not going to be able to play 4, as they will definitely bid 4 at these colors (whether it is to make or as a sac we will have no clue). It really reduces the upside of the 4H bid imo.

If LHO has spade values, they will probably be in 4S anyway. I am bidding to make. If LHO interferes, my partner knows I bid 4H without hearing from him, and he'll be well-placed to figure out what's going on in the hand.

I don't like a double here. What do you expect partner to do if he's 3=2=3=5, as an example? You don't have enough to pull 3D even, a bid he will make with many hands on which 4H is cold.

Out of curiosity, over opps' weak 2H, what do you expect if partner bids: 2S? 3S? X-3m-3S?

I was planning on bidding 3 over 3 (if able). Nobody else seems to like double though, so maybe I'm off base with it.

2 pretty much just shows an opening spade bid, with maybe a bit better suit requirements.

I don't know the difference between 3S and X-3m-3S, I guess double should show at least a mild interest in playing in another strain.

Ah, imo over 2H:

X-3m-3s shows a non-constructive hand with long spades.
2s shows what you suggest, an opener with a nice-ish spade suit.
3s shows > opener (very good 16+, or so) with very good spades.

If this is how you're playing, then your hand is misdescribed by X followed by 3h. Obviously this is up for partnership agreement.

I think in the absence of an agreement about (1X)-P-WJS-??, I'm likely to play responses as over a weak 2, but I could be convinced that this is bad. I want partner to know what I have though, and the sooner the better.

w/w MPs, i'm in 2nd seat. RHO opens 1.

7 4
K Q 2
A K Q 9
Q 9 8 4

I hold my breath and pass. LHO bids 2, and two passes come back to me. Now, is doubling here (we play doubles negative through 3) the right bid?

Yes. (Minor quibble: it is the right call; a bid is of a suit or notrump, while pass, double and redouble, in addition to all bids, are calls. This is Bridge World and other expert terminology; many publications, including those put out by the ACBL, are sloppy about this.)

Your failure to double the first time means to partner that your hand is imperfect (as it is), so he should not go crazy; hence, you're safe.

[Incidentally, this has absolutely nothing to do with negative doubles, which apply only when parter has bid.]

If you were something like 3=2=4=4, with no real support for hearts, you would bid 2NT, which could not be natural. With length only in the reds you could now double and then rebid 3D if partner advanced 3C -- note this could not show extras after your initial pass, so it would not be misleading. (Some partnerships play that that sequence wouldn't show extras even if you hadn't passed, but that's not standard [though it's a good agreement to have, in my opinion; it's called equal level conversion). With clubs and hearts but not diamonds, you wouldn't have any great options.

Incidentally, with your actual hand a lot of people would double the first time, though few would fault you for your pass.

why not double 1S off the bat? Seems like the logical call.

Another incidentally: there is little reason not to play negative doubles through at least 4H. Many good players play them through 4S; I play them through anything from 4H through 6H, depending on partner's predilections. Playing them lower than 4H is kind of silly, I think: you're almost never going to have a sequence like 1D (3H) and really wish you had a penalty double available (as opposed to reopening doubles -- you may have a penalty double, but when a penalty is profitable, partner will almost always be there for you), while you will moderately frequently want a negative double.

AT432 across from Q965. Optimal line to keep it to one loser? it's trumps in a slam ldo

On the 2-3-4-4 hand, I double the first time. But yes, doubling 2S when it comes back is still takeout.

Re negative doubles, I am content to play them just through 3S, and at the 4-level have them be more of a cards / "do what looks right, p" double showing values than have them make any promises about the unbid major. There are people who claim to play them all the way up to 7H... I don't complain if any of my partners asks me to play them through 4H.

I'm sad that the only atak posts I get to read any more is in the stupid bridge thread, and I don't play stupid bridge.

This game is so hard.

I think I playing ace first, and trying to finesse the king is best. The problem with playing the 9 and letting it ride is you still have to guess on where the cards lie if the jack takes it after the duck. It is really close though

FYP

Working on an answer to your question about how to learn what to do later in the auction, just haven't been able to find a good block of time to type it out.