Drinks?

IMPS Both sides vulnerable

4
AQJ42
952
QJ53

AT32
K6
JT74
K98

Auction went

1H - (1S) - 1N - (P) - 2C -(P) - 2H - (2S) - P - (P) - DBL - ...

2SX was cold when E was found to have hidden 3 card spade support and 10 points on his first turn.

What is the best way to improve on this auction, if at all?

My fairly serious, no, really response:

If I opened the north hand (I would do so only in a partnership that has agreed to open light), I would pull the double. Pard's notrump bid limited his hand enough that I know the best we can have is half the deck (and it will often be a bit less), and we will often have only five spades between us (in part because with 5=2=3=3 or so, pard might have passed and waited for a reopening double). It is no surprise that advancer has support — it was either that or a really long suit with intervenor. (Granted that the latter is more likely, but that would actually tend to be worse for the double.) Doubling at the two level with an average of 19 HCP and a moderate suspicion that we may not have a dominating stack, at IMPs, is not a very good idea.

The double itself is a little frisky, too, which such awful spots, but I think it's fine if pard is expected to have a normal hand (unlike what he actually has) or if he will pull the double when appropriate (as here).

Edit: Come to think of it, when opener pulls from 1NT to 2C, he almost always has a singleton or void spade; the double will be right on HCP on average (because he can't know that opener is so weak), but wrong on trump count, and wronger still with the spots being 32. Assuming that logic is right (I guess maybe opener with 2=5=2=4, with small spades, would also pull a lot of the times and 2=5=1=5 very likely would), I guess responder should sell to 2S; whether opener acts again is close.

1H 1S 2NT ap seems right to me, though i dont like opening 1H unless you're playing light openers, as atak said.

But I guess this hand is a perfect example for why a style that includes light openers is so effective, as S knows to just pass and try to go plus rather than double.

i don't consider myself a particularly light opener but will generally open shapely 11s with length in a major

this hand i wouldn't open in 1st though

Hand from Gatlinburg:

You are in 4H... opponents silent throughout (auction sucked, but this is where you are...)

3
AJ3
KJ642
J876


AKJ97
T752
A9
AT

Trick 1: Kc, 6, 2, A
Trick 2: 2h, 4, J, 6

Plan the play...

spade to the J (maybe lefty has KQ clubs and KQ hearts and you said he passed throughout so maybe that's a clue!)

Bidding 1NT with an 11-count and two useful T's is pretty bad ==> 2NT.
After that giving preference to just 2H seems another excellent way to miss game, but you have put yourself in an impossible situation already
The dbl is fine, north must obviously pull to 3H, which makes or pretty close to it.

Winner!

LHO has

xxxx
KQ9x
Qx
KQx

Improve this auction please:

Imps, R/R... West dealer

N:

x
Axx
AKx
AKQJTx

S:

AJxx
xxx
QJxx
9x

(1S)-X-(P)-1NT
(P)-3C-(P)-3NT

Making 7 on a small spade won in hand with the 9

I think I'd bid 2S then clubs with north.

Thats a good start... then what?

Meh, something like

(1S) - X - 1NT
2S - 2NT (?!)
3C - 3D (?!)
4C (these are trump) - 4S
4NT (RKC) - one key
5NT (anything else?) - 6C (nope)

but there's a lot of questionable bids along the way here IMO

I'm sure this auction can be improved by some artificiality eg using 2NT as a "waiting" bid after 2S, but after 2S 3D 4C 4S i think south has shown his hand pretty darn accurately.

Q 9 4
K 5 2
A Q J T 8
A Q


A T 8 4
3
K 7 6 3
K J 9 4

Using normal 2/1 bidding, how do you get to 6 here? Specifically, I'm looking for when N opens, but might be interesting to look at it from either hand opening.

Hell of a 6d, not seeing it after a standard 1d-1s-2nt start. Requires some quite some agreements after that point.

I think if N opens, this is a fairly easy 6D. After 1D-1S-2NT south must be seeing slam with 4 trumps, AKK and a singleton. The Kh opposite the singleton fit poorly, but the slam is still good.

1D-1S
2NT-3D
3S-4D
4H-4NT
5S-6D
pass


If south opens the hand is more difficult, because north will hear about the singleton heart and look unfavorably at his Kh
1C-1D
1S-2H
3D-3H
4D-5D (6D?)
pass

Another interesting Gatlinburg KO hand:

White/Red IMPs

you hold:

xxxx
KQJTx
xxx
x

Auction starts on your right:

(1C)-P*-(2C!)-3D
(3S)-?

*you may not agree with the pass here, but it's what i chose at the time.

2C is alerted as invitational or better, denies a 4cM

What do you do here and why?

I think I bid 5D because I want to save in 5D over 5C and give them minimal space to find out whether 6C is good or not. I don't see the reason to bid hearts because I'm about to be on lead anyway. If LHO bids 3NT, partner's just going to screw up the lead anyway even if we could otherwise beat it.

There is some important inferential information you are not considering...

gotta overcall with this hand dc

I'm bidding 4H, but I would have overcalled 2H in the first round.