From the Casual Game at BBO today. SAYC.
(On each hand EW vul, NS non-vul if it matters.)

(1) South deals and holds
KJxxx
AQx
Tx
AKx
North holds
xxx
KTxxxxx
x
xx
The auction is competitive:
S - W - N - E
1S 2D P 3D
3S P P 4D
P P 4H P
P P
Four Hearts makes, so perhaps "All's well that ends well."
But North's passes seem too timid. How should the bidding go?
(Would/should a first-round 3H bid by North mutate from
strong to preempt because of the over-call?)

(2) After two passes North opens 1C with
QJ7xx
-
-
AKQJ8xxx
South responds 1S and North, evidently not one
to waste time, bids Seven Clubs. South writes
"ridiculous" and removes himself from the game.
South has Axxx in spades; singleton King is on-side;
West scores his Spade Ten eventually as declarer
takes the percentage finesse.

I mention this hand because the all-black North hand
seems too thrilling not to preserve for posterity!
Given the low quality of Casual bidding at BBO,
I do not find North's gambling grand unreasonable.
Still I'd be interested in how experts might bid.

Cheers,
James

On Friday, August 4, 2023 at 8:55:45 AM UTC-5, James Dow Allen wrote:
> From the Casual Game at BBO today. SAYC.
> (On each hand EW vul, NS non-vul if it matters.)
>
> (1) South deals and holds
> KJxxx
> AQx
> Tx
> AKx
> North holds
> xxx
> KTxxxxx
> x
> xx
> The auction is competitive:
> S - W - N - E
> 1S 2D P 3D
> 3S P P 4D
> P P 4H P
> P P
> Four Hearts makes, so perhaps "All's well that ends well."
> But North's passes seem too timid. How should the bidding go?
> (Would/should a first-round 3H bid by North mutate from
> strong to preempt because of the over-call?)
>
> (2) After two passes North opens 1C with
> QJ7xx
> -
> -
> AKQJ8xxx
> South responds 1S and North, evidently not one
> to waste time, bids Seven Clubs. South writes
> "ridiculous" and removes himself from the game.
> South has Axxx in spades; singleton King is on-side;
> West scores his Spade Ten eventually as declarer
> takes the percentage finesse.
>
> I mention this hand because the all-black North hand
> seems too thrilling not to preserve for posterity!
> Given the low quality of Casual bidding at BBO,
> I do not find North's gambling grand unreasonable.
> Still I'd be interested in how experts might bid.
>
> Cheers,
> James

(1) North should have bid 3H over 2D.
South should not bid 3S opposite a passed hand with just 17 HCP and S:KJxxx.. If N had 4 spades (needed for a Total Tricks contract of 3S), he would have raised in the first place. You were lucky to escape a disaster. N's passing 3S is normal given that he has 3 spades for you.

(2) In a game where nobody knows how to bid, I would probably settle for 4S instead of 7C. Otherwise, a 4D Splinter followed by RKCB (to see if I can locate the S:AK) seems the most reasonable approach to me if S shows more than a minimum.

On 8/4/23 9:55 AM, James Dow Allen wrote:
> From the Casual Game at BBO today. SAYC.
> (On each hand EW vul, NS non-vul if it matters.)
>
> (1) South deals and holds
> KJxxx
> AQx
> Tx
> AKx
> North holds
> xxx
> KTxxxxx
> x
> xx
> The auction is competitive:
> S - W - N - E
> 1S 2D P 3D
> 3S P P 4D
> P P 4H P
> P P
> Four Hearts makes, so perhaps "All's well that ends well."
> But North's passes seem too timid. How should the bidding go?
> (Would/should a first-round 3H bid by North mutate from
> strong to preempt because of the over-call?)
>

I would open 1N with South and Texas transfer with North(4D->4H). If you
think South is too strong for 1N, reasonable, I'd double 3D; I have no
idea what 3S is supposed to be. North's bidding is reasonable.

In article <uapo7h$2n02q$1@dont-email.me>,
Travis Crump <pretzalz@techhouse.org> wrote:
....
>I would open 1N with South and Texas transfer with North(4D->4H). If you
>think South is too strong for 1N, reasonable, I'd double 3D; I have no
>idea what 3S is supposed to be. North's bidding is reasonable.

I agree - with the caveat that this is online bridge.

In a real game, with a real partner, I think opening 1N holding 5 spades is
just too weird. I wouldn't do it. But, and this is a big but, I figured
out early on that when playing online, it usually worked out well to open
any hand in the point count range (15-17) with 1N, regardless of shape.

In fact, that might be a good thread to start up in this newsgroup: How
to bid when playing online with a rando. Lots of techniques I've
developed. Here's just one: If pd bids 4N, pass if at all possible. I.e.,
pass unless it is absolutely clear that 4N is not going to be a reasonable
spot. You'd be amazed how often this works out - and avoids ending up in a
ridiculous slam.

--
"If our country is going broke, let it be from feeding the poor and caring for
the elderly. And not from pampering the rich and fighting wars for them."

--Living Blue in a Red State--

On Friday, August 4, 2023 at 9:55:45 AM UTC-4, James Dow Allen wrote:
> From the Casual Game at BBO today. SAYC.
> (On each hand EW vul, NS non-vul if it matters.)
>
> (1) South deals and holds
> KJxxx
> AQx
> Tx
> AKx
> North holds
> xxx
> KTxxxxx
> x
> xx
> The auction is competitive:
> S - W - N - E
> 1S 2D P 3D
> 3S P P 4D
> P P 4H P
> P P

South's 3S bid is unspeakable. The normal result is playing a 5-1 fit instead of a 5-3 or 6-3 etc.

The only downside of doubling is the fear that North will pass out of fear of bidding. But it's not for money.

(Of course, South should open 1NT. What did they plan to do after a 1NT response?)

On Tuesday, August 22, 2023 at 4:06:49 PM UTC-5, judyo...@gmail.com wrote:
> On Friday, August 4, 2023 at 9:55:45 AM UTC-4, James Dow Allen wrote:
> > From the Casual Game at BBO today. SAYC.
> > (On each hand EW vul, NS non-vul if it matters.)
> >
> > (1) South deals and holds
> > KJxxx
> > AQx
> > Tx
> > AKx
> > North holds
> > xxx
> > KTxxxxx
> > x
> > xx
> > The auction is competitive:
> > S - W - N - E
> > 1S 2D P 3D
> > 3S P P 4D
> > P P 4H P
> > P P
> South's 3S bid is unspeakable. The normal result is playing a 5-1 fit instead of a 5-3 or 6-3 etc.
>
> The only downside of doubling is the fear that North will pass out of fear of bidding. But it's not for money.
>
> (Of course, South should open 1NT. What did they plan to do after a 1NT response?)

In favor of opening 1S is that (1) the hand is too strong for 1NT, (2) the AQ and AK are better for a suit contract than NT, (3) an easy continuation after 1S-1NT is 2C which, in 2/1 Forcing, can be bid with three clubs, and (4) although there's nothing wrong with opening 1NT with an unstopped minor suit doubleton, in this case it is more of a potential problem in NT than in spades.

On the other hand, change the H:AQx to H:KQx (17 HCP, one less ace) and I would open it 1NT playing Puppet Stayman.

On Tuesday, August 22, 2023 at 7:45:00 PM UTC-4, cshe...@gmail.com wrote:
> On Tuesday, August 22, 2023 at 4:06:49 PM UTC-5, judyo...@gmail.com wrote:
> > On Friday, August 4, 2023 at 9:55:45 AM UTC-4, James Dow Allen wrote:
> > > From the Casual Game at BBO today. SAYC.
> > > (On each hand EW vul, NS non-vul if it matters.)
>(3) an easy continuation after 1S-1NT is 2C which, in 2/1 Forcing, can be bid with three clubs
>
>
You are not playing 1NT forcing. Responder will routinely pass 2C with xxxx and a minimum; they should give false preference to spades only when they are happy if opener bids on. OK, provided it really _is_ a minimum.

"You are not playing 1NT forcing."
I specified playing 2/1 Forcing, part of which is 1NT Forcing, so I don't know what you are talking about.

"they should give false preference to spades only when they are happy if opener bids on"
By responding 1NT over 1S, he has limited his HCP to 12 and his number of spades to two.
By next bidding 2S instead of passing 2C, responder shows fewer than five clubs, meaning he has to have 4+ diamonds or 4+ hearts.
When he skips over those suits to show his two spades, he limits his HCP to <10.

Knowing all that, opener should bid on over 2S only if he has the HCP to do so, in which case yes, responder should be happy for opener to bid on.

On Wednesday, August 23, 2023 at 5:21:17 AM UTC-4, cshe...@gmail.com wrote:
> "You are not playing 1NT forcing."
> I specified playing 2/1 Forcing, part of which is 1NT Forcing, so I don't know what you are talking about.
> "they should give false preference to spades only when they are happy if opener bids on"
> By responding 1NT over 1S, he has limited his HCP to 12 and his number of spades to two.
> By next bidding 2S instead of passing 2C, responder shows fewer than five clubs, meaning he has to have 4+ diamonds or 4+ hearts.
> When he skips over those suits to show his two spades, he limits his HCP to <10.
>
> Knowing all that, opener should bid on over 2S only if he has the HCP to do so, in which case yes, responder should be happy for opener to bid on.
The original post said SAYC.

In article <6b328024-b13c-45cd-905c-663703c6b48fn@googlegroups.com>,
cshe...@gmail.com <cshearts@gmail.com> wrote:
>"You are not playing 1NT forcing."
>I specified playing 2/1 Forcing, part of which is 1NT Forcing, so I don't know
>what you are talking about.

OP specified BBO random pickjp, which means (at best) an approximation of SAYC.

You are, of course free to mutate the problem into one involving another
system, but, at the same time, other posters are free to call you out for
doing so.

--
To most Christians, the Bible is like a software license. Nobody
actually reads it. They just scroll to the bottom and click "I agree."

- author unknown -