[inquiry]

I was wondering if we could start a thread on favorite pscyhics (and are any psychs basically "manditory" like the mandatory falsecard situations)? Below is a list of some of the pscyhic bids I have made or observed in the last couple of weeks.

Pard  East  YOU
1C    DBL   1S   <---- sometimes big club fit, weak, no real spades

3D   DLB   3NT  <--- willing to down 9 non-vul if they don't dbl

1S  P  4C  <--- splinter when not really a splinter hoping to get a non-club lead

Not vul versus vul
P - 1D - DBL  <-- on bunch of junk trying to mislead declearer (I have a number of huge swings --both ways) with this one...a good one to try if behind in a imp match I think

P -  P - 1NT  <-- not vul  with very weak and long suit.

Do you use any of these? What other type of psychic bids do you use ?

Finally, how many times would you have to use one of these bids before someone should alert. Should you self-alert that you "occassionally psych in this position??? Or should your partner send a private message if he is aware that you have a history of preempting in this specific situation, even if he is going to respond as if it was 100% normal bid?

[the hog]

Opening 4H nv vs vul in third seat on

xxx
void
xx
KQJTxxxx

[inquiry]

Quote

Opening 4H nv vs vul in third seat on

xxx
void
xx
KQJTxxxx

Cute. But for sure your partner will have a few hearts and may want to raise the preempt if LHO bids 4S. But all in all, has a good chance to wreck havoc on opponents and to get your partner off to a great heart lead against a Spade contract by your LHO.

[the hog]

If he raises H and if (when) you get doubled, you just have to pull to C and hope partner gets the gag. It can have other effects if lefty has H and goes into the tank for ages - can't double as this is for takeout. If he takes ages and passes, does rho have the values to open?

[mishovnbg]

I am one of the players that use pscyh's like all normal bids. When hand "cry" for bluff u must do it!
My favorite bluff is not first one, but SECOND! Good players will most of time recognize first but second...

Example ( playing precision ):

I have: xx,QJxxx,QJxx,xx

Bids ( both vul):

Partner Opp1 Me     Opp2
1HE        Dbl   1S!    Pass
1NT        Dbl    2DI!  Pass
Pass      Pass  

2D was down 2, but Opp - 4S game

[inquiry]

Quote

I am one of the players that use pscyh's like all normal bids. When hand "cry" for bluff u must do it!
My favorite bluff is not first one, but SECOND! Good players will most of time recognize first but second...

Example ( playing precision ):

I have: xx,QJxxx,QJxx,xx

Bids ( both vul):

Partner Opp1 Me     Opp2
1HE        Dbl   1S!    Pass
1NT        Dbl    2DI!  Pass
Pass      Pass  

2D was down 2, but Opp - 4S game

Misho, that is just plain EVIL.... lol......

A new one for my bag of tricks.. hope no one else reads this one, let's keep it just between us.   

[guido]

My favorite is opening 1M in 3rd chair with something like AQx-xxx-Kxx-Jxxx (open the major with honors). Stolen from T. Reese, by the way.

Other psychic silliness I use:
  Pass partner's Multi 2D opening with a flat weak hand   (say: Qxx-Kx-xxx-xxxxx)

  Passing partner's Crash overcall of a strong club (or 2C) with just about any hand that can not seriously preempt.

Partner sends a message to the opponents telling them about our tendencies here. Somehow, this feels "better" than alerting the call when you really are bidding honestly.

Paul  (guido online)

[modaddy]

Just curious.... does anyone know the difference between a psyche and a tactical bid?  Is the former a subset  of the latter?   Last week on OKB, after 1D (precision) - double, I responded with 1S holding:

842
875
Q872
K53

Which had the pleasant effect of opps going down in 3NT cold for 4S.  Opps started  in with the usual "what was 1S?  how many spades did it promise?  how often do you psyche?"  Partner answered, "technically it's not a psyche, it's a tactical bid."  I'm not sure I understand the difference...

Following on with that hand, partner had:
A5
JT2
AJT54
J94

and led a low diamond instead of a spade.  (His RHO was the one who bid NT over my spade)  Could  he be accused of fielding the psyche?  

-Modaddy

[inquiry]

modaddy asked... does anyone know the difference between a psyche and a tactical bid?

I think there is a big difference. A psyche being a gross exaggeration of you stregth and/or distribution. Many of which have been given above. A tatical bid is something to gain by an intentional mild misdiscription. Who hasn't opened 1D with xxx when holding AKJT of club in the hopes of discouraging a diamond lead when they rebid 1NT over partner's 1M reply?

842
875
Q872
K53
1D-X-1S <---- a very popular "psyche" mentioned in first part of this thread. Your partner is quite wrong that this is a tatical bid, as you either promised 8+ and 5 spades. With three to dirt, this is a gross exaggeration, and is a clearly a pscyhe. Your opponents have every right to wonder "how often do you psyche" not in general, but his specific bid. I know several players who bid 1S almost automatically regardless of how many spades they hold, and their partners never, ever jump raise spades. Those players need to alert their opponents.

Guido comment "Partner sends a message to the opponents telling them about our tendencies here. Somehow, this feels "better" than alerting the call when you really are bidding honestly" is clearly how I would treat this situation. It just feels ugly alerting a bid that you frequently psyche when you have your bid... but if your partner is going to treat it as a possible psyche, or at least is well aware it is a frequent pcyhe, he should point this out.


Following on with that hand, partner had:
A5
JT2
AJT54
J94

and led a low diamond instead of a spade.  (His RHO was the one who bid NT over my spade)  Could  he be accused of fielding the psyche?  

Have you or he/she ever used this psyche before? It not, don't worry about it. Your partner has reason to suspect that perhpas you psyched. You promised five+ spades and some points. Someone, somewhere has the heart suit and didn't bid it, hearts are not 5-3 or 4-4, so partner has some hearts. Your partner made a great guess that spades would not be a good lead.

If you have used this before, ethically this would be just too easy to catch, however. The important clue is your partner LEAD LOW from AJTxx, rather than J or T, when your SPADES are in theory behing the doubler's and his diamonds are in theory behind RHO. Also, his lack of a double of 3NT if this wsa Matchpoints might suggest a catch as well. After all, if you had 9 points or more for your bid, they bid 3NT on a 20 point hand with Spades presumably behind the doubler and diamonds behind the NT bidder.

[hrothgar]

Quote

Just curious.... does anyone know the difference between a psyche and a tactical bid?  Is the former a subset  of the latter?  

A tactical bid is a deliberate misrepresentation of your hand that is either approved of by the powers that be or was made by an individual that the powers that be approve of.  For example, despite the fact that Zia has a habit of systematically opening 1NT with balanced hands with 7-9 HCP when behind in a team match, this is not a systemic psyche because the ACBL approves of Zia.

A psyche is a is a deliberate misrepresentation of your hand that is not approved of by the powers that be OR was made by an individual that the powers that do no deliberately favor.

[EricK]

Quote

A tactical bid is a deliberate misrepresentation of your hand that is either approved of by the powers that be or was made by an individual that the powers that be approve of.  For example, despite the fact that Zia has a habit of systematically opening 1NT with balanced hands with 7-9 HCP when behind in a team match, this is not a systemic psyche because the ACBL approves of Zia.

A psyche is a is a deliberate misrepresentation of your hand that is not approved of by the powers that be OR was made by an individual that the powers that do no deliberately favor.

What would happen if someone of whom the ACBL disapproves was playing in the same event as Zia, and they both made the same Tactical Bid/Psyche?

Eric

[BurnKryten]

By far the most frequent psych I make is a random bid (or overcall) of one of a suit in third seat with a very weak hand opposite a passed partner.  For example, with two passes to me holding: Qxxxx, x, xxx, Jxxx  I might call anything, even one heart!


Below is a psych I made a couple months ago that I wrote up on rec.games.bridge to find out what other players might have done in my position.  About 10 different calls were suggested, including natural calls in all four suits and NT!

Playing Basic SAYC on Bridge Base Online with a pickup partner:
EW vul, IMPs
[fixed]
West     North    East     South
.........1 D......Pass.....?
[/fixed]
You hold:  AT9, -, AQ9742, T963


I didn't have any systemic call for this hand, since we were playing Basic SAYC.  There isn't a forcing raise, no splinters, and 1S and 2C both misdescribe my hand to some degree.  The opponents probably have a 9 card or better heart fit as well, given that my partner didn't open 1H.  So, I called 1H to prevent the opponents from getting in, and to see what my partner would bid.  Here's what happened:
[fixed]
West     North    East     South
.........1 D......Pass.....1 H
Dbl......1 NT.....Pass.....5 D
All pass
[/fixed]

Partner took 9 tricks for an average result

by the way, posting in fixed text isn't as easy as I hoped  
Putting in the fixed flag, or changing the font to courier sort of helped, but yabb kept throwing away the spaces I was using.  I finally ended up with an avalanche of periods >

John

[luis]

1) One interesting bid at MPs is the "fake control" when a major is supported and you have, for example AQx in diammonds and xx in clubs you can cue-bid clubs making the opps "clear" that you lack the diammond control, you will get a diammond lead and have many chances of extra tricks.

2)  More a funny story than a psyche
In a national tournament I recently held:
Ax, -, AJTxxxxx, xxx
In 1st position all vul I opened 1h :-)
Bidding followed
E           S          W          N
            1h!        P          2c
P           2d(1)     P          2s(2)
P           3c          P          3h(3)
P           3N(4)     P          4c
P           4d          P          4N
P           5h(5)      P          P
Dbl!!      6c!(6)     P          P
dbl(7)     rdbl       P          P

(1) Completing the biggest canape ever seen
(2) Fourth suit forcing
(3) Oh, no problems
(4)  Will I escape?
(5)  If two aces are missing and he passes I'm dead
(6)  Thanks a lot mr opp (we were playing 5h vul on Qxx and a void)
(7)  (With AK of hearts and the cA)

Result: 6cxx making pd's hand:
KJx, Qxx, Kx, KQJTx
(heart lead ruffed, west asks if I opened 1h, I say I can't remeber, club to the K and Ace, east asks if I had opened 1h I say I can't remember but not likely on a void, heart ruffed in dummy and now pd returned to hand playing.... playing.... a diammond!!!! which held.)

[lenze]

I once had a partner open 2D(Flannery) holding
QJT985432   4  765  9. I , being naive, bid 2H on my 3 small. I was down 7 (I had an Ace) for a top. I believe the powers that be have now outlawed this type of psych