[mikeh]

50 hand simulation: easy to analyze. 37 times both 7N and 7♥ cold. 7 times essentially reduces to a club guess. 5 times 7♥ significantly better, and one time a spade ruff beats 7♥ while 7N cold.

[Cascade]

pclayton, on Feb 13 2008, 06:15 AM, said:

You pick up the best hand you'll hold all year:

♠Kx ♥AKQJxx ♦AK ♣KJT

You open 2♣. What is your strategy over a response that shows 4 controls?

I held a better one last year so not sure why you think this will be the best one I hold this year.

Scoring: MP

---

[Cascade]

mikeh, on Feb 13 2008, 11:20 AM, said:

50 hand simulation: easy to analyze. 37 times both 7N and 7♥ cold. 7 times essentially reduces to a club guess. 5 times 7♥ significantly better, and one time a spade ruff beats 7♥ while 7N cold.

I imagine you will also get hands without a heart fit but with a source of tricks that will make 7NT but not 7♥.

[cherdano]

mikeh, on Feb 12 2008, 04:20 PM, said:

50 hand simulation: easy to analyze. 37 times both 7N and 7♥ cold. 7 times essentially reduces to a club guess. 5 times 7♥ significantly better, and one time a spade ruff beats 7♥ while 7N cold.

That sounds like a big case for investigating to me, since it comes with very little cost here.

[the hog]

Cheapest H bid hoping to glean more information.

[rogerclee]

I'll make forcing heart bids and will reach 7♥ if I get a heart raise, 7NT if I don't (will bid 7♥ if partner keeps bidding diamonds and spades too).

In the play, say partner has a stiff heart and ♣Axx. I'll cash ♥AK very quickly, and then shift to the ♣J at lightning speed to read the tempo.

[the hog]

rogerclee, on Feb 13 2008, 11:54 AM, said:

In the play, say partner has a stiff heart and ♣Axx. I'll cash ♥AK very quickly, and then shift to the ♣J at lightning speed to read the tempo.

I hope you are joking else this is highly unethical.

[cherdano]

The_Hog, on Feb 12 2008, 11:19 PM, said:

rogerclee, on Feb 13 2008, 11:54 AM, said:

In the play, say partner has a stiff heart and ♣Axx. I'll cash ♥AK very quickly, and then shift to the ♣J at lightning speed to read the tempo.

I hope you are joking else this is highly unethical.

Huh?

[the hog]

No "huh" about it. Varying the tempo in this manner is unethical; end of story.

[fifee]

pclayton, on Feb 12 2008, 12:15 PM, said:

You pick up the best hand you'll hold all year:

♠Kx ♥AKQJxx ♦AK ♣KJT

You open 2♣. What is your strategy over a response that shows 4 controls?

With 4 controls, partner has 2 aces. What we need to find is the Queen situation for 7NT. Does partner have any Queens at all? There are methods to ask about suits after a 2♣ opener and step response. Perhaps you had this in your repertoire?

If not, simplest might be to set ♣s as trump and ask RKC. If no Q, then bid 5!S looking for other Queens since continuing guaranteed all other keys.

[skjaeran]

The_Hog, on Feb 13 2008, 07:04 AM, said:

No "huh" about it. Varying the tempo in this manner is unethical; end of story.

Not only unethical, it's illegal according to bridge law.

[whereagles]

he said checking LHOs tempo, not changing his own tempo

[rogerclee]

I'd be happy if someone who's very educated about the laws can explain why this is or is not an okay thing to do.

My response is the same as Arend's--"Huh?"

[rogerclee]

skaeran, on Feb 12 2008, 11:36 PM, said:

Not only unethical, it's illegal according to bridge law.

I'd actually like to see this law. I searched for a few minutes through the ACBL lawbook, but I was unable to find any law that dealt with this matter.

It is entirely possible that I couldn't find this law if it exists, or that this law exists in Europe but not in the ACBL.

The closest thing I found is:
Law 73D:
A player may not attempt to mislead an opponent by means of remark or gesture, through the haste or hesitancy of a call or play (as in hesitating before playing a singleton), or by the manner in which the call or play is made.

That is not the goal here. The goal is to read his tempo, not to mislead him as to my holding in clubs. In fact, I am sure that if my LHO does indeed hold the ♣Q, it will be clear to him within 3 seconds what my exact club holding is. For example, this law refers to a situation such as this:

I am declaring 3NT and have ♥KQJ. RHO gets in and leads a heart. It would be unethical and illegal for me to hesitate here and then play the K, possibly suggesting that my holding is Kxx or KJx. I must play a card in tempo, since I have nothing to think about. If for some reason I huddle a bit, I MUST play the J, not any other card, as this is the card which makes my holding most clear to the defenders, and even then, the opponents may be able to successfully nail me for this.

[the hog]

whereagles, on Feb 13 2008, 05:28 PM, said:

he said checking LHOs tempo, not changing his own tempo

Nuno, he said "I'll cash ♥AK very quickly, and then shift to the ♣J at lightning speed to read the tempo. " Suggests changing the tempo to me.

[whereagles]

well.. "very quickly" and "lightning speed" seem more or less the same to me

[Halo]

(74) C. Violations of Procedure
The following are considered violations of procedure:
.
.
.
7. varying the normal tempo of bidding or play for the purpose of
disconcerting an opponent.

Conduct and etiquette are part of the Laws.

[pclayton]

This is a variation of the lead against the grand in Riverside a few weeks ago :

Riverside problems

Brian's hand was actually: ♠Kx ♥AKQJx ♦AK ♦KJTx, not the one I posted here.

At the time, I imagined the hand I posted and thought - what is the best way to get a club lead against 7N? A: Bid clubs along the way - even check for key cards if necessary before subsiding in 7N.

Yes I'm suggesting a 3♣ rebid. Pard will either raise clubs or not. If he doesn't raise, I think there's a good chance he has Ax or A and 7♥ looks very good.

Pard may try 3♦ / 3♠. 7♥ again looks good, since pard probably has ♦Jxxxx / Jxxxxx / ♠Axxxx or Axxxxx.

I can't see any significant extra additional chances for 7♥ other than a ruffing value or a side suit. If pard is balanced, it seems 7N would play the same.

If pard raises clubs, which seems likely, we can key card and find out about the Queen. If pard lies about the Queen and shows us extra length, we can still bid 7N.

Since nearly everyone that posted thought that a heart lead was automatic against 7♥ 7N, after the big hand bids hearts and signs off, it think it stands to reason that club lead is just as likely if we start with clubs.

Furthermore, if LHO makes an offsuit lead that isn't obvious - like a sequence for instance, there is a strong inference that he has the ♣Q.