[Zelandakh]

movingon, on 2013-January-22, 08:43, said:

The other hand was: xx, AKxxx, AQx, xxx

That looks like a (weak) NT opening to me.

[movingon]

Zelandakh, on 2013-January-22, 09:11, said:

That looks like a (weak) NT opening to me.

[mikeh]

movingon, on 2013-January-22, 08:43, said:

This hand was sent to me and I had chosen the 4nt response--find out right away if partner has 3 keycards.
The partner's hand was sent to me this morning:

The other hand was: xx, AKxxx, AQx, xxx Spades split 2/2 so makes 7 without a club lead and 6 with a club lead.

4N is awful. Sorry, but it is. You have zero 5 level safety: imagine xx AQxxx KQx Qx: a full opener and you are off 2 minor Aces and need a lucky lie in trumps, and imagine worse hands. Bidding 4N is the mark of a non-expert.

What if his 3 keycard were xx Kxxxx AQx Axx? Now you need 2-2 trumps and the Ace onside.

As it was, you needed both majors 2-2, playing in spades, which is not a probable layout. Hearts, you can survive 3-1 spades if hearts are 2=2, but even this combination is against the odds by a small margin.

If your post was for the purpose of showing us how good you are, for reaching this slam: well, you have done so, but maybe not the way you intended

As it is, I am not assuming that is the reason for the post...I assume you posted in order to find out how the resident experts would deal with this hand. There was no true consensus but none of the better players here opted for 4N, which should tell you something.

[han]

helene_t, on 2013-January-22, 04:15, said:

This time he is dead serious.

So given that he posts all this idiocy here, how do you know he was joking in the other thread?

[PhilKing]

han, on 2013-January-22, 12:54, said:

So given that he posts all this idiocy here, how do you know he was joking in the other thread?

2♣ stopped the lead. Now 4NT leads to an even better auction than suggested by OP. It's clear to bid it even missing two key cards, since the opening lead is 90% likely to be a singleton spade and partner may have the AK of diamonds.

[JLOGIC]

han, on 2013-January-22, 12:54, said:

So given that he posts all this idiocy here, how do you know he was joking in the other thread?

Ouch, bad day?

[Phil]

han, on 2013-January-22, 12:54, said:

So given that he posts all this idiocy here, how do you know he was joking in the other thread?

I wasn't joking.

However, if this serves to unite MikeH and HanP over a common cause, it has served a valuable purpose.

[wyman]

Maybe no one has said so since the call is silly to begin with, but all this "4N RKC" talk is making me wonder if I missed the boat. Don't people play 1M-4N as straight BW still?

[kenrexford]

gwnn, on 2013-January-21, 15:59, said:

Since kenrexford is not here: 2♣.

Damn! I was reading through to see if the obvious 2♣ was bid, and then stumbled upon this!


EDIT: The actual hand was posted and will rebid 2♦.
1♥-P-2♣-P
2♦-P-2♥ is a nice start. Hearts agreed, GF, nothing else really known. Cuebids from here on out.

[gwnn]

kenrexford, on 2013-January-22, 15:21, said:

Damn! I was reading through to see if the obvious 2♣ was bid, and then stumbled upon this!


EDIT: The actual hand was posted and will rebid 2♦.
1♥-P-2♣-P
2♦-P-2♥ is a nice start. Hearts agreed, GF, nothing else really known. Cuebids from here on out.

And 2♦ is a fuzzy rebid right? And opener will soon soldier on with an emphathetic splinter in clubs. I miss these posts!!

Spoiler

this is NOT sarcasm, I really do miss them.

[movingon]

mikeh, on 2013-January-22, 10:16, said:

4N is awful. Sorry, but it is. You have zero 5 level safety: imagine xx AQxxx KQx Qx: a full opener and you are off 2 minor Aces and need a lucky lie in trumps, and imagine worse hands. Bidding 4N is the mark of a non-expert.

What if his 3 keycard were xx Kxxxx AQx Axx? Now you need 2-2 trumps and the Ace onside.

As it was, you needed both majors 2-2, playing in spades, which is not a probable layout. Hearts, you can survive 3-1 spades if hearts are 2=2, but even this combination is against the odds by a small margin.

If your post was for the purpose of showing us how good you are, for reaching this slam: well, you have done so, but maybe not the way you intended

As it is, I am not assuming that is the reason for the post...I assume you posted in order to find out how the resident experts would deal with this hand. There was no true consensus but none of the better players here opted for 4N, which should tell you something.

Such rudeness I don't understand.

I was curious as to how others would respond. I did not know why my friend sent the hand out or what the result at the table could be.
My friend sent the hand out to a number of us and the results were extremely varied. I had intended to share the recommendations made here but those were wildly varied too (and many of these recommendations are based an specific partnership understandings).

I still sthink 4nt keycard blackwood is as good a bid as any. Partnership will be playing this in either 5 or 6 hearts.

It will be a long time before I post another hand here, for sure.

By the way, my friend indicated that she found this hand on Bridge Baron and it recommended a splinter.

[PhilKing]

movingon, on 2013-January-22, 17:31, said:

By the way, my friend indicated that she found this hand on Bridge Baron and it recommended a splinter.

Which one? I think we all want to know what the Baron said.

[Fluffy]

movingon, on 2013-January-22, 17:31, said:

I still sthink 4nt keycard blackwood is as good a bid as any. Partnership will be playing this in either 5 or 6 hearts.

How do you answer keycard when you have 2 + queen of trumps?

[PhilKing]

Fluffy, on 2013-January-22, 17:59, said:

How do you answer keycard when you have 2 + queen of trumps?

5♠ should be as safe as the Bank of England. Oh, wait ...

[mikeh]

movingon, on 2013-January-22, 17:31, said:

Such rudeness I don't understand.

I was curious as to how others would respond. I did not know why my friend sent the hand out or what the result at the table could be.
My friend sent the hand out to a number of us and the results were extremely varied. I had intended to share the recommendations made here but those were wildly varied too (and many of these recommendations are based an specific partnership understandings).

I still sthink 4nt keycard blackwood is as good a bid as any. Partnership will be playing this in either 5 or 6 hearts.

It will be a long time before I post another hand here, for sure.

By the way, my friend indicated that she found this hand on Bridge Baron and it recommended a splinter.

I am sorry you feel that my post will stop you from posting in the future. I am also sorry that, even with the arguments posted here against your choice, you still think it is 'as good a bid as any'.

We were all beginners at one point. Some of us became advanced and then some became expert. I know nobody who was expert from the start, and one of the traits of the non-expert is to make bad bids (experts make bad bids as well, but fewer and the errors are often more subtle than those of the non-expert). The hallmark of the non-expert who will become an expert is that he or she tries to learn from the advice/comments of the better players.

This forum is an amazing resource for anyone wanting to become a better player, and one of the best ways of doing so is to post hands, with questions. So you will get criticized for bad bidding: you can either learn from it and get better, or refuse to learn and stay a non-expert, while simultaneously feeling angry at the criticism. Your choice.