I pass. I guess you'll tell me that partner has the stiff club jack, RHO the stiff club king, and that 3NT rolls.

Oh well.

Qx. RHO stiff 10.

I felt really bad passing here. I really feel like we have a game, even possibly in a Moysian if partner is (2-4)=6=1 or something, or maybe in diamonds. Ultimately I decided he had X to show a 2-suiter and 4D to show a good hand with diamonds as options, and I passed.

I think we got like 1 or 2 of 10 matchpoints. I guess because LHO didn't preempt on 6 to the AKJ at some other tables.

Partner has something like Axx / Kxx / AKJxx/ Qx.

The other thing I was wondering was whether to sit for a X. I think I will with 10 here just because of the colors, but blech.

Preempts work.

Preempts suck!


When people do them against me

We do not have a major-suit game in the Moysian imo. But I like our chances in game. I think 5D is right, as we should have only one club loser most of the time, and one outside loser seems about right.

At IMPs this is easier.

My worry about a diamond game is that partner could double quite often with:

1. A very strong hand with diamonds.
2. A hand with stoppers in both majors also (hoping we can bid 3NT).
3. A solid diamond suit and a card outside (again hoping to hear 3NT).

I'd quite often expect to see him show up with like Axx Qxx AQTxxx x, which is a pretty decent hand that isn't going to make game on this auction very often. Maybe I'm being pessimistic, and/or reading too much into partner's failure to double instead of bidding 3D.

For Imps, BBO.

Hand One

LHO is first to act and opens 1. Partner passes. RHO bids 1.

I have:

AT7
KJ83
A8
AJ43

and I bid 1NT.

LHO bids 2. All pass.

They make with no overtricks and score 1.8.

Partner had:

62
9
QT97532
976

Did he have any kind of bid in diamonds after my 1NT overcall?

Indeed, the 1NT overcall is straightforward, yes?


Hand Two - Different Partner

I am dealer and deal myself:

T976
T62
AK82
K3

and I pass.

LHO bids 1. Partner passes. RHO passes. I double for takeout. LHO passes. Partner bids 2NT. RHO passes.

At this point, partner types into chat about a misclick and I ask for an undo. This is kindly granted. The bidding goes back to me and I double for takeout. LHO passes and partner once again places us in 2NT. RHO passes. I pass. LHO doubles. It is passed out in 2NT.

I am happy to pass as it should be clear to partner that I do not have 14pts as I have already passed once and with the same reasoning for partner it means that 3NT is not doable.

Partner has:

QJ2
K8
Q6543
J82

We go down by one and opponents make 2.67.

How bad is 2NT?

1NT is by the book, at least the older books, but it's not necessarily a bid you want to make. I mean, yes, you do have 17 points and a balanced hand, so there's nothing "wrong" with 1NT per se, but:

1. Where are you going to get the tricks for 1NT when partner has, on a good day, about 5 points? Keep in mind you are going to be leading from your hand a lot, so maybe you get one finesse on a good day.

2. The opponents are in a forcing auction; let's see where they end up. Even if it's in two spades, I'd much rather they play it without knowing about my hand.

Partner would love to play in diamonds after your 1NT overcall. Unfortunately, 3D shows a rather better hand than he has. It should be inviting a 3NT bid from you--and he certainly doesn't have THAT kind of hand! 3D here would probably be more like xx x KQTxxxx xxx.

There are ways of distinguishing between weak hands that just want to play 3D, and real hands that can go further (google: lebensohl convention), but in the absence of those partner very reasonably didn't want to risk a misunderstanding.

2. On this hand, I guess I might double 1C for takeout also, but I'd probably hate it, and on my good days I'd just pass. Your club king is terribly placed. What would you do with

T976
T62
AK82
53

on this auction? Because that's about what your hand's worth.

2NT is an atrocious bid, regardless. A sensible way to react when responding to a balancing action by partner is to mentally subtract a king from your hand. Especially when said partner is a passed hand.

1NT would be an awful bid too because he doesn't have a club stopper. 1D would easily suffice, with no second-best bid on the radar. I'd make a note of the guy and just find a reason to excuse myself from the table.

Hand 1: I think he has a 3D bid. If you are playing no systems it's scary from his perspective, though.

Hand 2: Your partner is a moron. He should bid 2D; you should compete to 3D if necessary.

2D, opposite a passed partner who's just balancing? Seems awfully optimistic.

It's not optimistic at all. It's blocking. Pard usually has three diamonds at least; I have five. We have about half the high cards. 2D may buy it, and if we don't make it the opponents have a profitable spot they should be in.

1D has approximately zero chance of buying the hand if the opponents are under the age of ninety. Because I know I'm willing to go as high as 2D (competitive auction, we probably have eight trump), I go there now, while there's at least some chance opps won't find their fit.

The high card points have almost nothing to do with any of this.

It's not that I'm worried 2D will be a disaster, it's that I'm worried partner will take it seriously and continue on when I have exactly the wrong kind of hand for that.

Partner is a passed hand. I neglected an opportunity to double 1C or to overcall one diamond, and I wasn't sitting for a penalty, so I am very unlikely to have more than a good ten count, and probably not even that. I also probably don't have a sixth diamond or I'd have overcalled 2D (or more). If he gets excited it is not my fault, it is the fault of the one who didn't listen to the auction.

Except that assuming he was listening to the auction, he knows that you know he's a passed hand and, despite that, you're willing to encourage him to go further (which 2D does). I suspect that he'll go on to 3D quite often if he has four diamonds--say with the example hand, assuming that it's an acceptable double in your partnership.

And quite often when 3D is bid, the next thing you hear will be double, followed by a snappy down two. Looking at the two hands in play here, it looks like two spades, a heart, a possible spade ruff, and two clubs on a fairly normal day. On the other hand, the opponents are making...well, not much. I guess 2H on a very good day.

If I'm bidding 2D, it's because I have some redeeming feature to my hand that encourages partner to go on. Q6543 of diamonds, jack-third of clubs and QJx of spades are all pretty awful holdings (the spades could be useful, it's unlucky they aren't here).

The highlighted is the problem.

2D describes the hand -- which I described above. It is not encouraging per se, it is descriptive. I happen to have the bottom of my range for my bid (in terms of shape), but I have it.

If he gets excited -- why? There is literally no hand I can have where game is good. None. And for competitive bidding, my hand has what I promised: five cards in diamonds.

I guess I was assuming matchpoints, by the way. At IMPs I see your point, though I still make the bid. (maybe red/white I don't)

The highlighted is the problem.

Your hand is in the box of "I didn't act over 1C". Given that, you're saying that you have a good hand for partner. You don't have a good hand at all. Except for the fifth diamond, every feature of your hand is screaming defense. Keeping in mind that partner is a passed hand and is expecting you to take this into account, you have effectively a 6-count with poor values and no shape.

I think I'd consider a 2D bid to be something more like AQx KJx Q9xxx xx or so. Or whatever your dead maximum is for not overcalling 1D in the first place. Take away the heart jack, or the spade queen. This isn't a 1D overcall (the suit sucks, no preemptive value, no lead directional value, and you're not really excited to have partner go on) but at least if partner bids 3D you aren't going to hate it.

You really can't have a roughly 9-count with a good suit, because you would have already bid 1D with that. And you can't have much more than the above because you'd have bid 1D or doubled with that too. But you can have more than a bad 9-count with five diamonds and no shape.

For Imps, BBO.

This hand immediately precedes hand two from Two Strange Hands.

RHO passes.

I have:

K4
A9754
A874
J8

and I bid 1.

LHO passes.

Partner has:

AQJ853
T8
52
QT7

and bids 1.

RHO passes.

I rebid 2.

LHO passes.

Partner rebids 2.

RHO passes.

I have a suspicion partner may have more than 10HCP and that we may have an eight card fit but I have defined my hand as at least ?-5-4-? and he should be able to see that. We have a mismatch and I have showed no more than a minimum in terms of points so I decide to leave it at 2 assuming he has placed the contract. I also fear we could end up making ten tricks.

It is passed out.

We make 10 tricks for 1.73 IMPs.

What is my response to 2? How good is 2 as a rebid by responder? If partner had had more than 10HCP what would his second bid have been?

2 looks to be the right spot from here. I'm not totally sure you can make it with perfect defense (unless the hearts split 3-3). Bidding was fine imo.

Pass is automatic with your hand over 2S. You did fine; in fact, you did well to take 10 tricks. That is reflected in your +1.73. Had you missed a game you should have bid, you'd probably be near -6 or -7 for the hand.

Al, what is your BBO screen name?

I have PMed this to you.

My mistake. We were actually -1.73 for this hand joint bottom out of 16 tables.

Funny thing is, nearly everyone contracted 2 yet those that did those and only made one overtrick scored better than us (-0.67 (as did 3)) and those that made no overtricks did better still (0.40). Two teams contracted 4 and both went down one and were joint top with 4.67.

There is something mysterious about IMPs.

You'll be looking at the hand from the perspective of the opponents. IMPs are quite often given as scored by N-S, so if you're E-W you need to reverse them.

Yeah this is impossible. You must be looking at the scores of the defenders.

Those in 2S= made +110 (30x2 for the tricks and 50 for making a partscore)
Those in 2S+1 or 3S= made 140 (30x3 for the tricks +50)
You made 170 for 2S+2
4S-1 would be -50.

You are +30, +60, or +220 over those scores, which translates into an IMP difference of +1, +2, or +5 I believe. Averaged, you scored +1.73 imps per opponent.

Also, please PM me your name on BBO. I'm wyman.

Thanks for the above. It all makes perfect sense now.

I have PMed you my screen name.

Observations On BBO:

It is clearly superior to Yahoo but there are two very small things that seem to be better on Yahoo; it is possible to boot a table host if he has been inactive for 180 seconds and it is possible to proactively invite players to one's table if one is host.