Would you be more circumspect bidding 7 at teams amarone? I find those decisions quite tough - a non-making 7 against their 6 is 16 IMPs and could easily cost you the match (and the ire of your teammates). OTOH if small slam is ‘obvious’ then pushing 7 is how you win matches.
Most good teams in our league are pretty conservative with grands, thin penalty doubles etc in my experience.
I would be more likely to bid the grand at IMPs, but still want it to be a fair bit better than 50%. If you can be sure opponents will bid 6, then you only need the grand to be better than 56% - win 13 versus lose 17. But sometimes opponents miss slam altogether, so you probably want the grand to be better than 65%
Two questions for English players. I recently started playing a little on Funbridge, against robots. It occurred to me that I could get some EBU points if I entered the right tournaments. My EBU ranking was such that I had enough green points for the next level, but not enough black, so maybe I could get the blacks on Funbridge. So I looked into it and discovered that I need a lot more points than before.
When did the EBU change the rankings to need a lot more points?
If I played an EBU Funbridge tournament, how many points can I win? For example, what does first place typically pay and how do the points decrease with a lower position.
Thanks
I’m sorry but the SBU is distinct from the EBU. In case it helps, the SBU black points are the lowest level, and are awarded as 30 for first place, 20 for second, and 10 for third (given sufficient players), with red points the next level up. I have yet to directly win any red points.
Are you still a paid-up member of the EBU? I don’t think you’re going to get EBU points unless you are a member.
Yes, I maintain my membership. I thought I needed another 7,000 Black points for the next ranking level, but it looks like I now need 22,000, so if EBU is similar to SBU in the number awarded, that seems impossible.
You will need to enter events that award higher-level points.
I have another bidding-problem story, where I’m not sure I did the right thing:
4th in hand, no-one vulnerable, I pick up S Jxx H AKQJxxx D - C Kxx
LHO opens 1D, Partner overcalls 1S, RHO passes.
I bid 2H, pass from LHO, 2S from partner, pass to me. Now what?
I bid 4S, reasoning that the hand would likely play better in Spades (my Heart suit should give plenty of discards, and he can ruff Diamonds in the short-trump hand).
4S made comfortably, but partner had S KQ9xx H x D Jxx C Axxx, so we should have been in 6H.
Maybe I should have bid 2D first round rather than 2H, but I think he still bids 2S
I’d say that’s tough to bid. What really makes the hand is your diamond void opposite nothing in D from your partner. If you switch his diamond and club holdings, then slam doesn’t make almost certainly as they have two cashing A’s.
Your hearts are too good not to mention them first. If you had four spades and you played a jump to 3D (or 4D) on your first bid as a splinter, you might get to slam. I wouldn’t advise a splinter with only 3 trumps, and a splinter doesn’t promise a void.
The bidding I could see (if you held 4S and say Kx in clubs) would go
1D 1S P 3D
P 4C P 4H**
P 4S P 5D***
P 6S
*it’s not obvious partner would wish to explore for slam.
** or 5D Exclusion Blackwood if you play it or regular
*** confirming the splinter is a void and that you have extras (probably two of KC, KH, AS from partner’s viewpoint)
However, I’m not at all sure I’d do all that at the table.
For partner to rebid Spades he should have 6. He should have passed your 2H or bid 3C (showing 5-4 or 5-5). But I think you should have bid 4H straight off. You have a fit in spades and your hearts are solid. If you were feeling brave you could bid 5D - Exclusion Blackwood - and pass 5H (no aces) and raise 5S (1 Ace) to 6H. Note that this is safe as the lead comes round to your King of Clubs.
That’s a sweet auction Quartz!
The 2H response is non-forcing, right? Surely the hand wants to be in at least a game. Is 2H a gamble, figuring the auction won’t end? Even if that’s a good risk, IMO it makes subsequent bids confusing — how can a limited hand try for slam?
I’ve wondered if void-showing bids would have merit, at least in some auctions. For example 1D 1S P 3D — the jump in diamonds could be defined to show a void. (Yes, voids are rare, but this space-wasting jump should also be rare. To show a singleton might be to spend the bid telling partner what he might guess anyway.) The void-showing bid would automatically allow an excluded-ace Blackwood of course, but other than that I’m not sure it helps much on this hand since it is the 3D bidder who holds the key cards: KC, JS and running hearts all essential in addition to the D void.
I’d play the 2H bid as forcing for one round, so you don’t have to worry about missing game at that stage. Since I don’t play 5-card majors, I also wouldn’t assume that partner’s 2S bid shows 6 - could be 5-4 (or even 5-5 but with spades being the stronger suit). So I know we have an 8-card fit in spades, and that partner has at least some points (as if very weak I’d expect him to have overcalled 3S/4S as a pre-empt). It’s also safe to assume he has a few points in spades.
On the 2S bid I think I’d want to reply 4NT (RKCB), agreeing spades as trumps. But on the 5H response, I don’t know if one of the two key cards is the useless king of diamonds, so probably have to sign off in 5S.
I think despite the brilliance of your heart suit, for all you know partner could be void in hearts and you know you have at least an 8-card spade fit, so it’s really hard to decide the hand is better played in hearts than spades. Indeed, on another deal it’s the sort of decision that could make partner quite cross, I think!
The 1S bid was an overcall, thus indicating five cards in the suit. So a repetition would indicate six (or more).
If you’re playing RKCB then KD isn’t counted as an Ace because diamonds are not trumps. Or did you mean Ace of Diamonds?
If you’re agreeing spades as trumps then your bid is 4D, a control-showing cue bid, not a splinter. Note that you are thereby denying first-round control of clubs. Partner will try to sign off in 4S.
I disagree: with hearts as trumps you have no trouble getting to your hand and can use spades to cross to partner’s hand but the reverse is not necessarily true. Plus there is the issue of the King of Clubs.
Ah yes - thanks.
I did mean the Ace, thanks.
That makes sense. So partner replies 4S (denying first-round control in hearts), how do you know if that is ‘signing off’ or showing first-round control in spades? In this case, clearly you want to bid on with 5C (second-round control of clubs), partner then bids 5H? Showing second round control in hearts but not diamonds (neither of which is relevant to your hand, of course). What is your bid then? Sign off in 5S (which will be passed) to stop yourselves going too high on not enough information?
Fair enough - I hadn’t thought of it like that (that’s why I’m not a good player). Thanks.
A bid of 5C by you would show first round control of clubs - i.e. a void - and also indicate the Ace of Spades. (Partner will dismiss the possibility that you are void in both minors and thus place you with the Ace of Diamonds and thereafter things get tricky.) If you’ve decided to go for a slam then immediately using Exclusion Blackwood is the better bet. However, I urge you to remember the 60% rule: over the long run it’s better to achieve the 60% score (i.e. 4H/4S +2) than always try for the 100% score. Because the former will make more often than the latter. If you look at the results after a pairs event you’ll see that the top pairs are usually in the 60%s.
I’m not a good player either. Not yet. I’ve learned a lot from this thread.
I’ve got to go back and look at the hand with a more cautious eye. I think that Exclusion Blackwood straight off is [del]dangerous[/del]bold as partner may have overcalled with a Queen high suit. A straight cue bid of 2D is a better bet. Partner should then bid 3C and things then get interesting.
Belay that - you’ve already denied first round control. But since partner hasn’t offered first round control, why are you showing second round control? And you’re still implicitly showing the Ace of Spades.
I picked up a mountain of a hand the other day. Playing matchpoints, nobody vulnerable, the bidding goes 1H, pass, 1S to you, and you hold:
S: -
H: 4
D: AKQ1087
C: AKQ1097
What’s your plan?
where do you guys get these hands?
There are two strategies:
1 - preempt as much as you can, as soon as you can. In this case, bid 5NT
2 - play it cute… bid slow and get partner to pick a minor and then get pushed up to the 6 level
Either could backfire. In 1 the opponents might get goaded into bidding 6 of a major. In 2 you run the risk of letting of letting them exchange more info about their hands.
I would probably pick something in between: bid 4NT followed by 5NT. They might be fooled into doubling your “sacrifice”.
We’re a bit off the original question now (and thanks for your posts), but just to clarify - isn’t knowing about second round controls useful even if you’re missing a first round control? Because that missing first round control could be your only loser, making a small slam still possible.
Wouldn’t a double here be for takeout? Which gives partner the opportunity to name their minor. Then you could just bid 6 of them (can’t see partner having the ace of hearts - in fact, since there has been an opening and a positive response by the opposition, it’s fairly likely partner has a Yarborough). Of course, LHO will probably want to make another bid over your double, which means partner might pass. But that’s fine, as you can keep doubling for takeout until partner responds! I think 6 of a minor probably plays better than 5NT and is either a good sacrifice or an easy slam.
As usual, very grateful for any corrections to my thinking (I certainly wouldn’t presume to contradict the previous post).